English reviews, September 2011 through June 2013



I Am Umberto Eco's Maid by Emilia Murther
In this short story (available, it appears, only in electronic format) the author claims to be Umberto Eco's maid about to let her employer know that she is considering leaving her job. For the past nine years a close relationship has developed between Eco and his maid, the writer sometimes doing the actual housekeeping because it helps with the organization and development of his writing. Not clear if this is a true account. It smacks of a spoof, but it is clever, intelligent and funny. What a pair of characters these two make! Sep 14, 2011

Westsiders by Tom Finn
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Westsiders is a collection of short stories written by Tom Finn, a Canadian writer “bred and buttered,” the reader is told, in the town of Corner Brook. His stories are all situated in or around the area of the western section of that town, a district also known as Humber West or Westside, thus the title. For those not familiar with the Canadian political structure, Corner Brook is in the insular part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, a region that joined the Canadian Confederation in 1949. And these stories bring back the simpler, tranquil days of the 40’s, highlighting the concerns, desires and dreams of characters who represent a small community’s social and human relationships: a microcosm where ties are deeply etched by the rugged conditions of the environment and the time.
Reading the stories, one is reminded of the oral tradition of retelling fond, local yarns, perhaps seated in front of a fire on a cold winter’s evening, when memories are transformed into vivid images of the collective past. For the voice of Tom Finn is clearly heard behind the many singular, odd but endearing individuals whose destiny has been to be born Westsiders and must either accept or fight their lot.
The members of the local constabulary who are well aware of the citizen’s foibles, a family trying to hide disgrace when a single girl becomes pregnant, funerals, patriotic ceremonies, infidelities are among nine different accounts that bring to life the past of Tom Finn’s people. In every case the reader identifies easily with the circumstances expounded in each account. Perhaps the best developed is a multilevel narration, polyhedric in its approach, titled Quigley’s Luck, the next-to-last story in the collection. Here the author displays mastery of structural, narrative and dialogical resources.
Tom Finn is the author of poetry and fiction including Malpeque Bay: A State of Mind, and Princes. Westsiders, a 191-page, small paperback, is published by Petra Books (who might have been a bit more generous with page margins), Toronto (ISBN 978-0-99685784-6-9). The cover displays a drawing of Broadway, main street, Corner Brook West, also by Tom Finn. Sep 16, 2011

Teaching Early Reader Comics and Graphic Novels… by Katie Monnin
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Katie Monnin’s guide to teaching comics and graphic novels in the classroom is another example of just how far comics have advanced in social acceptance terms. More than half a century has passed, but there are still many people who cannot forget Fredric Wertham and the traumatic images of teachers and young children burning comic books in school yards.
What this book demonstrates is that Teaching Early Reader Comics and Graphic Novels can be a valuable resource for the structured introduction of what is considered “the ninth art” to young students. The necessary decoding for interpretation of the combination of words and images (although there are also silent or wordless graphic novels such as the pioneering work of Ward and the modern stories coming out from the Norwegian artist Jason) is clearly explained by Dr. Monnin using the conceptual body of Scott McCloud´s seminal essays on the comics medium.
Showing and asking the students how to see and read are crucial steps for what can become later on a methodological framework of literary analysis (and graphic novels are indeed literature). The young mind is able to grasp notions that become building blocks towards the acquisition of valuable tools for the learning of other codes and, therefore, eases the path of, among other things, the learning of foreign languages.
The author of this book will probably not have much difficulty in awakening interest nor in maintaining it in the classroom. But, perhaps, obstacles could spring from school administrators or educational authorities who may not be completely convinced on the value of this method as a teaching aid. Let them read this work. The author is a teacher and knows both her job and the subject she teaches.
The text was made available through the Early Reviewers channel of Library Thing. The electronic format it came in could not be easily displayed either in a Kindle device or a personal computer. Sep 17, 2011


Moby-Dick in Pictures by Matt Kish
From the word "call" to the word "orphan," 552 pages of amazing drawings and inventive design with lines taken from every single page of Herman Melville's novel. A veritable tour de force achieved by Matt Kish in the period August 2009 through January 2011. A masterpiece! Nov 3, 2011


Don Quixote, Part I by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
An excellent adaptation, in two parts, for young readers. This publisher of a series of graphic novel adaptations of world literature is, somewhat unexpectedly, in India. According to their mission statement their aim is "to entertain and educate young minds by creating unique illustrated books to recount stories of human values, to arouse curiosity in the world around us, and to inspire by tales of great deeds of unforgettable people." This Don Quixote meets those goals very well indeed. The summarised story includes most of the universally known episodes such as the fight with the windmills or the challenge to the open cage of lions. For readers familiar with the original there are, however, some incongrous details: Sancho Panza's donkey is given the name "Dapple" and the background landscape that is featured in the panels is completely removed from the original setting. Nevertheless, these are minor qualms. The idiosyncratic Don Quixote, his view of honour, dignity and humanity, come through clearly in the text adapted by Lloyd S. Wagner and the drawings of Richard Kohlrus. Nov 23, 2011


Don Quixote, Part II by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
An excellent adaptation, in two parts, for young readers. This publisher of a series of graphic novel adaptations of world literature is, somewhat unexpectedly, in India. According to their mission statement their aim is "to entertain and educate young minds by creating unique illustrated books to recount stories of human values, to arouse curiosity in the world around us, and to inspire by tales of great deeds of unforgettable people." This Don Quixote meets those goals very well indeed. The summarised story includes most of the universally known episodes such as the fight with the windmills or the challenge to the open cage of lions. For readers familiar with the original there are, however, some incongrous details: Sancho Panza's donkey is given the name "Dapple" and the background landscape that is featured in the panels is completely removed from the original setting. Nevertheless, these are minor qualms. The idiosyncratic Don Quixote, his view of honour, dignity and humanity, come through clearly in the text adapted by Lloyd S. Wagner and the drawings of Vinod Kumar. Nov 23, 2011


Don Quixote, Volume 1 by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
A worthwhile effort of a graphic novel adaptation of the classic hidalgo. 2011 has seen already two graphic adaptations of the immortal novel conceived by Cervantes. In this case we owe the effort to British writer and artist Rob Davis (the second one is the adaptation for young readers done by Lloyd S. Wagner, a writer from the US, who had as collaborators Richard Kohlrus and Vinod Kumar for the illustrations). The adaptation by Rob Davis (Part I of Don Quixote) is a more complete, lengthy and detailed work, getting into the philosophical intricacies of the plot with a severe, realistic style of drawing that suits the narration very well. He incorporates Cervantes into the story as a narrator, unseen behind prison bars, to clarify and amplify on developments, a device that adds interest and scope to the graphic adaptation. Davis has been able to add a modern humourous touch to the dialogue which aptly lightens and speeds the reading. Hopefully, volume 2, which corresponds to Part II of Don Quixote, will be published soon. Nov 23, 2011


Kramers Ergot 8 by Sammy Harkham
Somewhat disappointed with this 8th edition. And it's not only the size of the book. Difficult to discern what the selection criteria were this time (if any). Why, even the cover seems unrelated to the medium. Time to mull over the choices and development of the overall project. Feb 7, 2012


Annotated Sandman, Vol. 1 by Leslie S. Klinger
I'm going slowly with the reading. It's a big book, difficult to handle and with so much detail that it has to be digested in small chunks. First impressions: when I read about its imminent publication, mention was made of a panel-by-panel annotation. It's not. Of course, not every panel has something interesting to note but, nevertheless, I feel the annotation tends to be uneven. There's a lot having to do with DC antecedents and referents which perhaps are of interest to specialists. Gaiman is very helpful with clarifications coming directly from him or from the scripts. If you have the Absolute edition, the colour will be sorely missed. As it stands, imagine the comic book in black and white, opened flat, with wide, black margins attached left and right where the annotations go. Klinger provides a commentary which sometimes I find banal and other times over my head (sending you to search for information elsewhere). I would recommend as a companion The Sandman Papers edited by Joe Sanders and published by Fantagraphics. All in all, and because books about books are one of my favourites, I will complete the collection as it is published. Feb 11, 2012


Dublinés by Alfonso Zapico
Let's see. This is a biography of James Joyce, done in graphic narration form (pictoliterature), with the purpose of offering the reader a straightforward, factual account of the Irish author's life. It is not interpretative in any way. Joyce's tortuous relationships with his family, friends, acquaintances, work and business dealings are treated in a black and white brilliant drawing style and clear narrative exposition. There's a subtle recognition of the humour behind Joyce's masterpieces of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. The factual approach tends sometimes to be, perhaps, a bit harsh but, overall, once finished Zapico's work is satisfyingly complete and illuminating. His work has been justly honoured with the Spanish National Comic Award for 2012. Nov 7, 2012


Prison Pit: Book Four by Johnny Ryan
Cannibalism, gore, impalement, slicing gone crazy. Now that Johnny Ryan has published his fourth book (out of a projected six), it's clear that his power for appalling, sickening and bloodthirsty development continues unabatted. Yet his genial inventiveness, detailed generative construction and humour have also not diminished a bit. From one episode to the next, from one panel to the following, the reader/spectator is put through the paces of a horrid adventure in a grotesque world of revolting situations and nauseous monsters. An incredible feat of drawing skill and imagination on its way to become a cult reference of the genre. Nov 29, 2012


La ruta Joyce by Alfonso Zapico
La ruta Joyce complements Alfonso Zapico's previous work on James Joyce's life (Dublinés). In graphic narrative style (pictoliterature), Zapico visits Dublin, Trieste, Paris and Zurich (where Joyce is buried) following the often harried and chaotic moves of the Irish author, his wife and children, and Samaritan brother Stanislaus. The book functions not only as a detailed guide for Joyce's wanderings, friends and influential connections who had a direct bearing on the publication and promotion of his works. Zapico has done his research thoroughly and there is also valuable information on institutions and scholars closely related with the Joycean ouvre. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there are two Spanish university professors who stand out internationally among Joycean experts. One of them, Francisco García Tortosa, has edited and translated (in collaboration with María Luisa Venegas) Ulysses. The other scholar, Carmelo Medina Casado, is active in seminars and teaching. La ruta Joyce is laid out in crisp black and white earthy drawings that depict people, buildings and cities following a humanistic approach not lacking in humour and sensitiveness. Dec 1, 2012


Dotter of Her Father's Eyes by Mary M. Talbot
Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes is the result of an original idea: crossing the lives of two outstanding women who experience very different times, and having a first-rate artist do the drawing of a graphic narrative scripted by one of the two women involved. The details of the undertaking are an interesting story in themselves, for the reader is treated in this gem of a book to the extraordinary (yet sad) existence of James Joyce’s daughter Lucia and that of Mary M. Talbot (née Atherton), the daughter of a Joycean scholar who wrote an essay still in print on the literary allusions in Finnegans Wake, and a scholar herself who has published widely on language, gender and power. The artist involved in this new example of pictoliterature is none other than Bryan Talbot (among other books author of Alice in Sunderland fame, creator of the character Luther Arkwright and collaborator in the Sandman series), a man who happens to be Mary’s husband.
This autobiography cum biography meshes neatly Mary’s upbringing in a strict paternal environment that appears to provide little concern for her feelings with Lucia’s appalling lack of understanding from her parents, and Joyce’s failure to offer any meaningful guidance or palliative action in the progressively deterioration of Lucia’s mental condition. Both situations offer heart-rending insights into the role of parents in the education of a child and, in general, the influence of social and professional objectives. Gender as a goal development doesn’t trail far behind.
Mary Talbot’s script deals adroitly with the difficult task of setting different chronological periods and viewpoints, adding for good measure valuable information on literary matters such as styles, schools and influential members of the contemporary canon. Together with the realistic approach employed by Bryan Talbot for the graphic presentation, the book is required reading for anyone even mildly interested in the personal side of Joyce and the multifarious facets surrounding him and those who came and continue to come under his mark. Dec 8, 2012


Ayako by Osamu Tezuka
The period is 1949-72. Twenty-three years that cover roughly the ill-fated existence of a young girl that, having grown up in seclusion and isolation, is thrown into a world that she cannot understand and has violently abused her. Born into a family of incestuous relations in which powerful traditions and connections rule, Ayako is a victim that reminds the reader of some well-known real cases of long-term incarceration suffered by children and youngsters. Yet Tezuka goes beyond the horror of the situation by placing it in the midst of a Japanese society torn after the upheavals of the Second World War. A dislocation that is marked by corruption and greed. Not a comfortable story to read but, nevertheless, an unforgettable one that reminds us of ethical values and the ways that life can sometimes go completely awry. Jan 28, 2013


Paying for It by Chester Brown
Chester Brown, the Canadian writer-artist who has demonstrated his skill in both endevours in a previous historical narrative on the Métis leader Louis Riel, turns here to an autobiographical graphic presentation which would seem frought with difficulties. Paying for It is, on a superficial level, a frank account of his many years of seeking services from sexual workers. On a deeper ground, his story is a profound and reasoned argument for the decriminalisation of paid sexual activity between consenting adults.
Brown argues (in my opinion convincingly) that society has more to gain from removing all penalties in this area than from trying (unsuccessfully) to regulate or penalise one or both sides of the transaction.
This work is a serious sociological approach to the many aspects and problems that the subject of prostitution has posed everywhere. Presented in graphic sequential fashion, with text in handwriting and a direct, even scholarly, style, Brown organises his work chronologically and, then, submitting a set of 23 appendices which serve as reasoned support for his point of view. There are also extensive notes to accompany and clarify several aspects of the narrative. Of a total of 280 pages, 51 make up this non-graphic (but presented as handwritten text) supporting part.
As to the graphic art, a quasi-uniform format of eight same-size vignettes per page peopled by small figures with repetitive situations and scant erotic content, seems to underline the mechanic nature of most of the action. Brown does well to include many thought balloons which enrich the narrative and often provide humour. Other characters, besides the sexual workers and Brown himself as the 'john' in the story, add depth to this example of how pictoliterature has broken the bounds of 'comics' to explore intelligently new and promising ground. Mar 22, 2013


Notes from a Defeatist by Joe Sacco
Collects Sacco's work done 1984 through 1991 that has been previously published in various ways. Shows the progression in drawing style and writing that have led to his famous and admired political analyses on Palestine and Gorazde. Exaggerated overall approach, but a clinical eye for detailed observation, marks the stories and the biographical narrative pointing to the method used later for his more profound investigation of contemporary issues.
Sacco writes in an introduction to this book that he ignores why a title such as Notes From a Defeatist was chosen for it. He cracks jokes about how (in 2002) he lives in Paris, has loads of money coming from his royalties and has joined a few French sex clubs... not exactly the attitude that one would expect from the characterization.
Early Sacco has a penchant for crowded, gross situations which are, indeed, caricatures of the time. Many of them hurt for they shake out violently any complacency. But Sacco is a master of graphic rendition and storytelling; the reader is rewarded in the end with a franck, fresh presentation of our worries, contradictions and inadequacies. Certainly a must for all Sacco admirers. Apr 1, 2013


The Real Mrs Miniver by Ysenda Maxtone-Graham
I haven’t seen the film nor have I read the book on which it was based. In October 1939, a collection of articles from the London’s The Times saw the light after two years of publication and faithful following from the newspaper’s readers. Joyce Maxtone Graham, née Joyce Anstruther, alias Jan Struther, was the writer and creator of Mrs Miniver, a very proper and endearing British woman, mother of two sons and daughter, married to a perfect husband. Joyce Maxtone Graham had started early a literary career having contributed short pieces and poems to Punch, among other British publications, and being also the author of inspiring hymns. The newspaper articles, the book collection and then the wildly free adaptation to film received general public attention during the late 30’s and early 40’s in the UK and North America. The MGM film, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon, distributed worldwide, was hugely successful and become an effective propaganda tool for the war effort during the Second World War. Winston Churchill is reported to have said that it did more for the Allied cause than a flotilla of battleships. Jan Struther herself contributed with several tours of acclaimed lectures in the United States to the promotion of the film and, indirectly, to edge the Americans from an isolationist position to participation in the war.
This, let’s say, is what might be called the official, formal story behind both character and her creator. Interesting as it is, it turned out that behind it or perhaps better, alongside it, a lesser known parallel reality, concealed for many years by the writer, evolved with plenty of passion, pain and adventure. Jan Struther’s grand-daughter, Ysenda Maxtone Graham, published in 2001 a book of recollections called The Real Mrs Miniver on the life of her famous grandmother. And the real Mrs Miniver is a fascinating story indeed. Slightly Foxed Ltd has now reissued the book in a limited edition of 2000 copies (No. 21 of the series Slightly Foxed Editions); the book is both a joy to read and handle in its small, hardback format.
I won’t be including any spoilers here. Only a recommendation to read all about the intense Jan Struther (who died as Joyce Placzek). Her grand-daughter does a marvelous job telling a story of love and human character. I have the film on order. Apr 4, 2013


Moby Dick: la atracción del abismo by Various
This book has been published in Spanish as the first of a series combining written essays and illustrations from graphic artists for a comprehensive view of literature's classic works. Moby-Dick leads the parade (after a full year of preparation) to be followed by Treasure Island. There is no editor as such in charge of the compilation. Contributors (among them writers well-known outside Spain such as Arturo Pérez Reverte, Fernando Savater and Antonio Muñoz Molina) apparently agree with the copublishers (a group of dedicated specialists and well-known artists under the name of Asociación Cultural Graphiclassic) on the general lines to follow, with the publisher, Ilarión Ediciones, collaborative input. If the present first result is any indication, success will surely smile on this brave and appealing project.
The literary and graphic study of Moby-Dick is a joy to read and examine. The short essays are to the point and informative. The illustrations complement the written work (most are original commissions, but famous artists like Rockwell Kent are also included). There are appreciations of the work, its time, Melville, his contemporaries, first editions and translations in languages other than English with special emphasis, of course, on Spanish, the adaptations of the theme into movies and the comics medium, besides in-depth analyses, for instance, of Ishmael and Captain Ahab. The world of whaling and the maritime culture of the time are also studied. Full-length editions and abridged or summarised ones (purportly to make the reading easier for younger readers) are mentioned.
There are extensive notes and references for the 27 separate chapters written and/or drawn by a team of as many contributors. A so called Post-Scriptum chapter adds curious facts and trivia. For instance, a note is made that Melville never wrote which leg did Ahab lose in his duel with the whale, yet all illustrators apparently agree that it was the left one. Jun 24, 2013