tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post6136341400326152183..comments2024-02-04T05:13:04.501-05:00Comments on Nik at Nite: Books in 2013: #14 Ghost World by Daniel ClowesNikki Staffordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463618183850438914noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-80212011922696477972013-07-18T16:11:35.186-04:002013-07-18T16:11:35.186-04:00LOL! Y: The Last Man is probably my all-time favou...LOL! Y: The Last Man is probably my all-time favourite graphic novel series. Well, OK, tied with Sandman (which I've decided I'm going to read again). Nikki Staffordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04463618183850438914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-51626478628399205992013-07-18T15:55:24.161-04:002013-07-18T15:55:24.161-04:00I think I'll start Ghost World next. I'm f...I think I'll start Ghost World next. I'm finishing up Sandman now and it is so awesome. Not sure if you have read Preacher or Y the Last Man yet but they are a couple of my favourites (I added the u for you.)Chuck Powerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998065196063073480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-46154247779521119962013-07-18T15:09:42.256-04:002013-07-18T15:09:42.256-04:00I always saw it as both but with an emphasis on Be...I always saw it as both but with an emphasis on Becky. I agree even that's ambiguous. I just think it's beautiful regardlessGraemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14874622261770189776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-92147954334145387622013-07-18T15:01:55.779-04:002013-07-18T15:01:55.779-04:00Graeme: Something that someone pointed out in our ...Graeme: Something that someone pointed out in our book club discussion was specifically on that last line. Enid is looking through a window and can see Becky, and she says it. But... is the line directed at Becky, or herself, whom she can see reflected in the window? Or both? I immediately assumed Becky, but when that person suggested that I thought wow, it could be any of those possibilities. :) It made me love the line even more. Nikki Staffordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04463618183850438914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-24657151034381948902013-07-18T14:51:58.077-04:002013-07-18T14:51:58.077-04:00I love both the film and the graphic novel though ...I love both the film and the graphic novel though they're very different beasts. I think the thing about the graphic novel is you start from the outside looking in, which is why Enid and Becky seem so unpleasant at first-- because honestly, teenagers can be really. But the great thing about it is the change up that happens around the point where Enid's playing the record she loved as a little girl. And suddenly you're no longer on the outside, you're inside it. And the later chapters become more and more poignant. <br /><br />I love the ending-- Enid looking at Becky, now wearing glasses, through the diner window and saying "You've grown into a beautiful young woman". I know what happens to Enid next is ambiguous but for me that's perfunctory. The ending is in these two friends now on parallel courses and Enid saying something rather lovely rather than rather snarky showing her own growth.<br /><br />The movie shares DNA but is so different not only because of Steve Buscemi but because of the found art storyline. But it also kind of puts us inside with Enid right from the start (I love the opening sequence where she dances along with the film Gumnaam) and the Buscemi character is there to do the rest of the fleshing out of her character in a way that Becky never can.<br /><br />I think both are profound and wonderful but the graphic novel edges it out because it has that gorgeous last line. I never understood why the movie didn't adapt that.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14874622261770189776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-50678963802284250532013-07-18T11:17:47.091-04:002013-07-18T11:17:47.091-04:00Ghost World is an alt-comic-staple blind spot for ...<i>Ghost World</i> is an alt-comic-staple blind spot for me. I've read a bunch of Clowes' book <i>Eightball</i>, but I never got around to <i>Ghost World</i> or the film adaptation (though I also bow at the altar of <i>Crumb</i>, which is just so very odd and extraordinary and a film I inevitably revisit every couple of years). I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually, but at this point I don't even own a copy.<br /><br />Speaking of blind spots, my most recent read is <i>Earth Abides</i>, the seminal postapocalyptic novel by George R. Stewart. Published in the 1940s, <i>Earth Abides</i> is one of the earliest examples of postapocalyptic narrative and has been claimed as the primary literary inspiration for no less than Stephen King's <i>The Stand</i>, among others. I've been meaning to read it ever since high school but somehow never managed to do so until now. It's beautifully written, soft and measured considering the bleakness of the subject matter -- almost meditative in the way it breaks down the steady decline and eventual reemergence of humanity post-pandemic, reminiscent of Alan Weisman's superb nonfiction book <i>The World Without Us</i> from several years ago. Right now, it's the best thing I've read in 2013. Ironic, I suppose, considering it's 65 years old, but there it is.yourblindspothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17976169517693699335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-84831814862715030172013-07-18T10:35:03.685-04:002013-07-18T10:35:03.685-04:00My daughter and I saw the film at a preview screen...My daughter and I saw the film at a preview screening. Those girls were so like her and her friend it was scary. Though they've never tormented Steve Buscemi. Colleen/redeem147noreply@blogger.com