Ghost World by Daniel Clowes

I last read David Boring by Daniel Clowes and was not particularly moved, and throughout much of Ghost World I felt the same. I think part of what keeps bothering me is that the stories are determined to be so real but it isn't quite working.

The two main characters, two teenage girls named Enid and Rebecca, aren't really believable as teenage girls. They have a bad case of the "slightly too ___ for their age"; too witty, too jaded, and too aware. From being a teen rather recently (under 5 years ago) I can remember that we were all rather self-absorbed, and while we certainly had our fair share of angst and handfuls of mockery at the ready it never quite reached the level of these two, Enid in particular. They didn't contain enough stupidity to be believable teenagers, even though they certainly were frustrating enough. They cursed and did shitty things like make prank phone calls, sneak into sex shops, and make fun of waiters in a local diner. All of these things were teenagery enough but their personalities amidst all the activity makes them so unlikable! Enid bitches about and mocks everything while Rebecca winds up seeming like a pushover who isn't quite up to her friend's fake levels of coolness.

Somehow at the very last second (literally the last 3 pages) I found redeeming qualities in Enid, as though she had grown past her most annoying points. Sadly, you don't get to see the transformation but you're just given the inclination that it does happen.

While I have my reservations in saying I enjoyed the story, I did enjoy the art. It really makes a difference in my desire to read something if the art is respectable! I haven't seen the movie they made from this and I'm not sure I will, but if your thing is offbeat teenage girls trying to figure out life then this is probably for you. Maybe there's more than how much I've read into it, who knows, but for now it ranks average for me.