Ghost World

Rating:
Summary: I knew people like this in High School...
Review: I saw the movie because of an interview of Daniel Clowes I heard on NPR. Then I bought the book because the movie was so good, and everyone knows the book is always better than the movie, right? Actually they're both good. Movies and comix (of the self-contained, non-superhero type) are similar enough that one translates pretty well into the other. The scene with the bus at the end, for example, is about as poigniant in the book as in the movie, but in a novel it'd just be stupid.

The art is interesting, blending a surrealistic attention to kitschy detail with a well-proportioned reasonableness. Everything is bathed in an eerie blue glow, which Clowes (NPR interview) likened to the illumination of a television screen at night. It does not shy from the boring ugliness of ordinary life.

The story is about Enid and Rebecca wresting with an adult world that, in the summer after their high school graduation, expects them to join it. As their caustic banter shows, they are very aware of adulthood's boring ugliness, and band together to resist. They rebel against tedium, with mixed success, before realizing that they need to get on with their lives. "Ghost World" tells this universal story of American life with grace and wit. I really recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: struggle to find who you are
Review: I saw the movie upon recommendation from my ex-girlfriend (as if that matters), and that's the way I found this gem out, as so many others have. This was my first encounter with Daniel Clowes, and I loved it. He always maintain some self-defacing quality in his humor (see Eightball, for example), but that actually translates to the search for true self in a rather seriously frustrating (pseudo-)real-world experiences of Enid and her pals. It is quite amazing what Clowes captures in what he probably could not experience himself --- the life of a "teenage girl" who avoids to fit in, yet could not find her own comfortable niche.

My criticism is that Ghost World is too short. I find some seriously deep qualities in what are depicted; yet the development of story goes too fast that literally nothing gets elaborate enough for me to slow down and appreciate to the extend that I wish. After reading, I just wished strongly I could read more of the stuff.

Maybe that's the joy of graphic novels --- so much is left for readers to wonder. Or it is just me having read numerous Japanese comics with elaborate story lines --- I can assure that a Japanese manga artist would make 20 volumes of comics out of a cool story like this. In any case, this one certainly made me interested in Clowes other works.

Rating:
Summary: struggle to find who you are
Review: I saw the movie upon recommendation from my ex-girlfriend (as if that matters), and that's the way I found this gem out, as so many others have. This was my first encounter with Daniel Clowes, and I loved it. He always maintain some self-defacing quality in his humor (see Eightball, for example), but that actually translates to the search for true self in a rather seriously frustrating (pseudo-)real-world experiences of Enid and her pals. It is quite amazing what Clowes captures in what he probably could not experience himself --- the life of a "teenage girl" who avoids to fit in, yet could not find her own comfortable niche.

My criticism is that Ghost World is too short. I find some seriously deep qualities in what are depicted; yet the development of story goes too fast that literally nothing gets elaborate enough for me to slow down and appreciate to the extend that I wish. After reading, I just wished strongly I could read more of the stuff.

Maybe that's the joy of graphic novels --- so much is left for readers to wonder. Or it is just me having read numerous Japanese comics with elaborate story lines --- I can assure that a Japanese manga artist would make 20 volumes of comics out of a cool story like this. In any case, this one certainly made me interested in Clowes other works.

Rating:
Summary: Life Like and Real
Review: I think this the most beleivable comic i have ever read. The charectors are very realistic and neat in thier own way. I thought it was sad the way Enid and Rebecca grew apart ( it's even sadder in the movie. I got mad at Enid for neglecting Rebecca all the time, and not content to move in with her ( which sort of made me hate the record collector for pulling them apart).

Rating:
Summary: For anyone who has seen the movie before the book......
Review: I would say that the story is a little different from what you saw on the big screen. The movie twisted a few of the plot points around, changing the character's interactions, but all in all it still is a good Graphic Novel to pick up. Pretty much an "in your face" kind of look into the day to day lives of the characters, much like the movie was. Still think the movie was a lot better story wise, but the book is a fun read, and a nice addition to your ghost world collection. So buy the book, but don't expect it to be exactly like the movie. This is what the movie was based on, so you'll see some familiar scenes, read some familiar lines, (even see a cameo by the "pervy" creator, lol) but it's not going to be the movie in book form. So if you just want something fun to read one day, order Ghost World.

Rating:
Summary: Solace for the Drunken Man
Review: I'd been up almost two days solid, drinking and shouting and carrying on. My eyes were red, my throat hurt and I was tired, tired so I ached in my bones (tired so my aura ached - the very air around me sensitive to pain, the very air around me hurting too). I just couldn't face the book I was reading on the train home. It wasn't the book's fault (I was reading "True Tales of American Life", edited by Paul Auster), I was loving the book, I just couldn't face the thought of words on a page. At the same time, however, I realised that if I didn't have something to occupy myself with I would start to analyse the various aches and pains and arrive at the conclusion that I needed to be ill, and I didn't want to be ill.

Which is where "Ghost World" comes in. Lots of people had told me they didn't like it. I know lots of people who have seen the film and loved it, loved it enough to seek out the graphic novel, only for the graphic novel to disappoint them. So I had various echoes of other people's opinions wobbling around my drunken head, but it didn't stop me: I just thought - serendipity: me and "Ghost World" were meant for each other at this particular time.

And I was right.

"Ghost World" is a great book. Not just a great graphic novel (because people use those words as if there is something bad about graphic novels: people hold up graphic novels the way that eighteenth century travellers held up tribal masks in their drawing rooms over tea - oh look, how marvellous, a graphic novel), a great book, a great piece of literature (if that makes you feel better). It made me laugh on a day when the very thought of laughter upset me like bad news. "Ghost World" is Harriet (the Spy) ten years on (and, as everybody - should - know, "Harriet the Spy" is one of the greatest books ever written, a monument to genius, and any book that can be whispered in the same breath is deserving of the highest praise).

What more can a tired man say but read "Ghost World" (or: read "Harriet the Spy" if you have already read "Ghost World", or read both "Ghost World" and "Harriet the Spy" if you've read neither; or: read "Ghost World" and "Harriet the Spy" if you've already read them both - you know that your life will be richer from another visit to either.)

Rating:
Summary: as good as comics get
Review: I'll admit the only reason I wanted to read this was because I had already seen the movie, which was excellent. I have to say that this probably the best comic I have ever read. Of course, my comic reading days were limited to Archie comics, and it's been a long time since I read those. The characters were all so funny and realistic. I can't help but relate to Enid as I felt alienated and alone also at that age.
This is worth a look at if you like comics of all kinds. Thumbs way up!

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous
Review: I've read this book so many times, I can't even count at this point. There's something somewhat intangible about the draw it has. Perhaps it's the *realness* of the characters--Enid and Rebecca--that makes it so appealing, and maybe it's the way we can all probably relate with them. At the point when they go to Josh's and leave the note, "We came to f*#k you, but you weren't here. Therefore you must be gay," (that's not totally accurate since I don't have the book in front of me, but you get the idea) you realize how much you love these girls and wish they would grow up at the same time (and, sadly, that's what they do at the end). And sometimes I think I used to be just like them when I was in high school.

I would say it's akin to Chester Brown's "I Never Liked You," or some of the stories in Adrian Tomine's "Sleepwalk." Needless to say, though, it's one of the best graphic novels I've read.

I also heard recently they're making this into a movie, with Thora Birch playing Enid. Dear lord, I hope they get it right. It would be simply devestating if it wasn't totally true to this beautiful graphic novel.

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: If you do not buy this and love it, you are stupid. This is definite.

Rating:
Summary: Teen Angst Tidily Summed Up
Review: In some edge city anywhere in the United States, our protagonists try to understand who they are whilst wreaking havoc on the lives of those around them.

Quite frankly, it bored me. I loved the movie, however, which is what drove me to get the book. Now, if only Steve Buscemi and Terry Zwigoff had worked on the book...