Recommended Graphic Novels

Hi All.

I just wanted to share with you two books I have stumbled upon in the last week. Funny thing is, they're both graphic novels, or just larger comics. This means the most progressive literary medium is the graphic novel, don;t you think. I already recommended these books to Priya. I hope she does get to find a comic book store in London so she can get them. I really hope both Sumayya and Priya are alright that side.

Blankets by Craig Thompson is a coming of age story set in a small town in Wisconsin. It's an autoboographical account about family and first love. I'm sure it will relate to many people who give this a try. It was Time magazine's number one graphic novel in 2003. The art is fantastic and the writing, superb. His words fill the pages with such poetry, but the silences are even more telling. And the actual blanket plays a role as a theme. The book is just blatantly beautiful.

Another graphic novel I recommend is Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. Also an autobiographical coming of age story, it tells of a girl's struggle with herself, and more so with her rather cold father. He shows bouts of affection but they're too few and far between. But the distance from his family is merely to protect them from his secret. It's very sombre and decadent and if you're in the mood for painful drama, this is a perfect read. The drawings are great and lends itself to the atmosphere perfectly.

Just one last thing, in between these books I filled that time re-reading Alan Moore's Watchmen. It's a fictional piece, voted number fourteen in Time magazine's Top 100 Books of the 20th Century. And this is amongst a list of books like Atlas Shrugged, Fountainhead, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. However, I must point out, DC/Vertigo is part of the Time-Warner conglomerate, so I'm not surprised they added this comic book on the list. Nevertheless, it's one of the greatest stories I've ever read. It was published in the 1980s and depicted an alternate 80s where Richard Nixon was running his third term as president of the USA. Set in New York, a former super hero is murdered. Suddenly there is a conspiracy that there is someone out there targeting all former super heroes. At the same time the Cold War reaches its boiling point and the Russians just trekked into Afghanistan. The art by Dave Gibbons is asotunding, that typical 80s style. Lot of the clues are in the background of the frames and the dialogue is witty. It all reveals a pattern in life, scientifically and spiritually.

The covers of these books can be seen on my virtual Shelfari shelf on the right of this screen. Just move your cursor over the cover and a box will pop up displaying more information.

For now, Ciao.