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A review by bluepigeon
FUN: Spies, Puzzle Solvers, and a Century of Crosswords by Paolo Bacilieri
3.0
FUN by Paolo Bacilieri is about a professor and writer who is writing a book about the history of crosswords. Professor Quester weaves the story of the invention of the crossword puzzle as we know it today in 1914 NYC and its spread to the UK and to Europe and beyond with the history of publishing as names like Hearst, New York World of Pulitzer fame, Simon & Schuster come up in relation to crosswords. He ties it in with some well known literary figures, whether due to their involvement in creating crossword puzzles or their addiction in solving them. He also meets a young comic artist (Zeno Porno, a recurring Bacilieri character), who is fascinated by crosswords and helps Quester in his research for the book.
But wait, there is a young woman who is following Quester and taking pictures of him all around Milan. And eventually she attacks Quester, manages to put an ice bullet through him (and poor Zeno's foot!) When questioned, she doesn't fess up to why she did it, until much later, when she painstakingly lets Zeno figure it out. And this story line seems unsatisfactory (as many pointed out) because it is not clear if this young lady is correct or not in her assumptions about her long lost mother and Quester... Now, there is that woman in the hospital who Quester visits and reads to, who is not an ex-wife, nor a daughter, and we never find out who she is. Are we to believe the young woman, in which case, perhaps this woman in the hospital is her mother? And Quester is visiting her out of some paternal duty for years? Impossible to tell, because the mysterious comatose lady remains just that: a mystery. Or are we to believe that the young lady made some serious assumptions based on what her lover found out about Quester (she took classes with him the year before, we find out later) and since Quester's age and divorce date matches certain things in her history, decided that Quester must have written his masterpiece based on real events in his life, events that match some of her life story? Again, impossible to know, because the relationship with the lover, her involvement with Quester, none of these are explored.
In addition to the main story line about Quester's history book and the assassination attempt, there are many snippets and short stories. Some of them are simply about Zeno's life, visiting his uncle, going to places with his daughter. None of these have very strong ties to the main storyline, but rather tangential ones, if any. Nevertheless, they are good, slice-of-life stories, which I enjoyed. Nothing major happens and there is no big finale to these; they just are little vignettes.
The art is phenomenal! The story is a bit of a declaration of love to Milan, often considered ugly and unlikable (especially compared to other romanticized cities in Italy). The drawings are beautiful, captivating, and detailed. The inking and coloring is effective. The architecture comes alive. The countryside, the people, the cafes, NYC, all of it just pops out of the page with vivid detail. The surreal piece where Zeno is walking around in a crossword puzzle (in a nightmare of sorts) is also great. Overall, Bacilieri really plays with the structure of the crossword puzzle in many different ways (also in the interview at the prison, for example) throughout the book.
All in all, just for the amazing art, FUN is worth a read. The story (or stories) will leave some unsatisfied and even confused, so if you don't like French films where the end does not seem like an end (i.e., you need everything neatly tied up and brought to a clear conclusion that does not sound ridiculous), I'd say you might not love the stories here that much.
Recommended for those who like French cafes, cats, roller coasters, art exhibits, pugs, petulant teenagers, and, of course, crosswords.
ps. The word for crossword in most Romance languages is similar to the one in English, but in Turkish (which sits Ural-Altaic branch of the linguistic tree with other Turkic languages), the word is "bulmaca," a brilliant construction, which roughly translates to "the finding [of things]."
But wait, there is a young woman who is following Quester and taking pictures of him all around Milan. And eventually she attacks Quester, manages to put an ice bullet through him (and poor Zeno's foot!) When questioned, she doesn't fess up to why she did it, until much later, when she painstakingly lets Zeno figure it out. And this story line seems unsatisfactory (as many pointed out) because it is not clear if this young lady is correct or not in her assumptions about her long lost mother and Quester... Now, there is that woman in the hospital who Quester visits and reads to, who is not an ex-wife, nor a daughter, and we never find out who she is. Are we to believe the young woman, in which case, perhaps this woman in the hospital is her mother? And Quester is visiting her out of some paternal duty for years? Impossible to tell, because the mysterious comatose lady remains just that: a mystery. Or are we to believe that the young lady made some serious assumptions based on what her lover found out about Quester (she took classes with him the year before, we find out later) and since Quester's age and divorce date matches certain things in her history, decided that Quester must have written his masterpiece based on real events in his life, events that match some of her life story? Again, impossible to know, because the relationship with the lover, her involvement with Quester, none of these are explored.
In addition to the main story line about Quester's history book and the assassination attempt, there are many snippets and short stories. Some of them are simply about Zeno's life, visiting his uncle, going to places with his daughter. None of these have very strong ties to the main storyline, but rather tangential ones, if any. Nevertheless, they are good, slice-of-life stories, which I enjoyed. Nothing major happens and there is no big finale to these; they just are little vignettes.
The art is phenomenal! The story is a bit of a declaration of love to Milan, often considered ugly and unlikable (especially compared to other romanticized cities in Italy). The drawings are beautiful, captivating, and detailed. The inking and coloring is effective. The architecture comes alive. The countryside, the people, the cafes, NYC, all of it just pops out of the page with vivid detail. The surreal piece where Zeno is walking around in a crossword puzzle (in a nightmare of sorts) is also great. Overall, Bacilieri really plays with the structure of the crossword puzzle in many different ways (also in the interview at the prison, for example) throughout the book.
All in all, just for the amazing art, FUN is worth a read. The story (or stories) will leave some unsatisfied and even confused, so if you don't like French films where the end does not seem like an end (i.e., you need everything neatly tied up and brought to a clear conclusion that does not sound ridiculous), I'd say you might not love the stories here that much.
Recommended for those who like French cafes, cats, roller coasters, art exhibits, pugs, petulant teenagers, and, of course, crosswords.
ps. The word for crossword in most Romance languages is similar to the one in English, but in Turkish (which sits Ural-Altaic branch of the linguistic tree with other Turkic languages), the word is "bulmaca," a brilliant construction, which roughly translates to "the finding [of things]."