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A review by saidtheraina
Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel: A Graphic Novel by Anya Ulinich
5.0
Bread and butter, friends. This thing is my bread and butter. I could read this shit all day long.
Thank you - so much, Meghan, for pointing this book out to me.
Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel seems to be a barely veiled autobiographical tale. Lena is a 37-year-old woman who is getting divorced. Here, she decides to enter the dating pool again. We learn about her childhood (mostly lived in Russia), her familial relationships (she has two daughters), her life as a famous novelist, her friendships, her exploits with men (sadly, she only experiments with straight relationships). There's a literary allusion folded in here, and she goes into some detail about her relationships and romantic choices. Long-term, short-term, personal reflection, grown-up decisions. Love it.
Though speech bubbles are everywhere, most of the book doesn't have more than one panel to a page. Which is good, because most of the pages are cram-packed with text. It's all black and white, which gives the feeling of an art-journal or sketchbook, rather than a more fully-produced graphic novel. Flipping through the book, I'm struck by the beauty of these layouts.
I was a little let-down by the ending, but I think that's because I simply didn't want it to end. I wanted to know Lena's next choice, and where it led her. I found myself reading portions out to other people in the room.
I identified with Lena's story - of late romantic experimentation, of intentional & cerebral self-experimentation, of personal reinvention, of finding the boundaries between adult behavior and freedom. Of responsibility, and impulse, and knowing you're hurting future-you but not caring. Of irrational despair.
Yeah, might need to own this one.
Thank you - so much, Meghan, for pointing this book out to me.
Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel seems to be a barely veiled autobiographical tale. Lena is a 37-year-old woman who is getting divorced. Here, she decides to enter the dating pool again. We learn about her childhood (mostly lived in Russia), her familial relationships (she has two daughters), her life as a famous novelist, her friendships, her exploits with men (sadly, she only experiments with straight relationships). There's a literary allusion folded in here, and she goes into some detail about her relationships and romantic choices. Long-term, short-term, personal reflection, grown-up decisions. Love it.
Though speech bubbles are everywhere, most of the book doesn't have more than one panel to a page. Which is good, because most of the pages are cram-packed with text. It's all black and white, which gives the feeling of an art-journal or sketchbook, rather than a more fully-produced graphic novel. Flipping through the book, I'm struck by the beauty of these layouts.
I was a little let-down by the ending, but I think that's because I simply didn't want it to end. I wanted to know Lena's next choice, and where it led her. I found myself reading portions out to other people in the room.
I identified with Lena's story - of late romantic experimentation, of intentional & cerebral self-experimentation, of personal reinvention, of finding the boundaries between adult behavior and freedom. Of responsibility, and impulse, and knowing you're hurting future-you but not caring. Of irrational despair.
Yeah, might need to own this one.