Two more down the hatch!

I often fall in love with graphic novels, but how do you know when you want to make the super commitment of purchasing one when you're a struggling college student? I have decided to make a list of all my favorites at the end of the summer when I'm done with my graphic novel binge, and then based on the "connection" I felt to each one (quite arbitrary; connection does not necessitate actually relating to the main subject, as is exemplified with the novel Epileptic by David B.) I'll pick out a few that I want to add to my permanent book collection.

The reason that I bring this up is that after reading Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, I feel that it will wind up in the collection of those novels that I wish to one day purchase. No, I can't relate to what it's like being a lesbian who grew up in a home of a dysfunctional family who runs a funeral parlor, but something about the narration of her childhood and her particular rationality with life matters reminds me in little specks of my own. The story, without being completely "relatable" to me personally, is captivating and entertaining, and simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking. I like a good sense of duality in a novel and I like life stories, especially when they're illustrated well and are written intelligently. I learned quite a few new words! Bechdel, by example of her father, is quite the literary junkie and has an expansive vocabulary not often seen in comic form. She also has a pretty good sense of humor for someone who grew up with death as a reoccurring theme in everyday life. It's a really good book, and one day I'm going to buy it! OVERALL RATING: 5

Sloth by Gilbert Hernandez is an unusual form of storytelling as compared to other books I've read so far. He begins with the story of teenager Miguel, who has recently awoken from a coma. One day, Miguel says, he simply did not wake up. And then a year later he did. The only defect left with him after being in a coma is a physical slowness. He and his two best friends are intelligent and talented, too much so for the suburban settings they reside in. He says that falling into a coma is a much better way to deal with life than most of their peers choose (ie. drugs, alcohol, bullying, etc.).

So, you get to what you think is a turning point in the story and suddenly a new story begins. His girlfriend/best friend is the one who has been in a coma. By the end of the book, his best guy friend is in a coma. Each of the characters take on the main plot of the original character. Why does Hernandez do this? I'm not sure, but it's interesting to see how perspectives change and sympathies shift when it's a sub-character that suddenly becomes the main character. I don't know if it's some sort of existential message, and I'm not particularly up to analyzing it that far. What I do know is that it's well-drawn, well written, certainly unique, and at times it's even spooky. I admit that I may not have fully grasped the point but at least I can appreciate what is an original! OVERALL RATING: 4.5