Brooklyn Dreams

Rating:
Summary: dreamlike
Review: "Can a book change your life? I don't know. But it can certainly take the unvoiced, inarticulate changes of the soul, put them into words and reflect them back at you-in brilliant, devastating ways." These words are not mine, but rather those of Vincent Carl Santini, main character of Brooklyn Dreams. In this passage he's discussing having read Dostoyevsky, but I find them very fitting words with which to introduce the novel itself.

Brooklyn Dreams is Santini's story; he narrates the events of his life as he reflects backwards on his senior year of high school, 1970-1971. Part Stand by Me, part Basketball Diaries, the tale utilizes the physical setting (Brooklyn, of course) and the drug culture of the time period as a backdrop for personal exploration. It is no coincidence that the main character is named Vincent but is called Carl in parts of the story, for this is really about Santini's search for himself, trying to pin down his identity. At the same time, he is trying to find the missing piece to the puzzle, the answers to the big questions in regards to love, family, death and the nature of God.

Brooklyn Dreams was an experiment when it was first released. Back in 1994 DC was just beginning to get its Paradox imprint off the ground. In those early days, Vertigo was still a place where you ran into superheroes on occasion, albeit heroes on the edge, and DC felt they needed to have a place where they could publish works completely outside of their universe, works that were for mature readers. I don't mean mature in the sense of violence and T&A but instead thought-provoking and meaningful. Paradox was that mature place, and Brooklyn Dreams was their flagship book.

Eventually the line failed, just shortly after the release of the now-famous Road to Perdition, but of all the works they released in their short time of publication, Brooklyn Dreams is the stand-out. Similar to Road to Perdition, it emulated manga in its design, being published in digest size and complete black and white. However, unlike that work, Brooklyn Dreams was released in four parts; each part had ninety-six pages and sold for 4.95 a piece. Just collected together in one volume and re-released for the first time back in mid-April, the book will now cost you 12.95, a considerable amount less than it would have almost ten years ago.

The writer of this graphic novel, J.M. DeMatteis, is a bit of a cipher. He is regularly known for writing titles in a vein that is a bit out there. His most recent works include the most recent Spectre series and the Seth Fisher-illustrated one-shot Green Lantern: Willworld, but he has also written some fairly standard superhero fare for Marvel with Spiderman and Captain America. He has written Moonshadow, Seekers into the Mystery and various other Vertigo titles, while at the same time he worked as co-writer with Keith Giffen of the madcap Justice League of the late '80s.

Obviously the versatility of DeMatteis is not in question, but had it been, Brooklyn Dreams would have solidified his reputation as a man capable of holding his own in any genre. Here he casts aside the conventions of fantasy and the superhero to set his story in a place that is at times much more absurd-the real world. The novel is populated with characters so real that you cannot believe they're complete fictions. It has a style that is so real you believe it must be thinly veiled autobiography, even if it's not. And I have no doubt that it isn't, that the author's life was nothing like the main character's. But the skill with which he weaves this tale makes you believe this was his life.

Honestly he at times even makes you believe it was YOUR life, that he's somehow telling your story. The work draws you in so much by fully painting a rounded picture of its setting that you feel as if you lived in Brooklyn circa the early 1970s, even if you're really from a small town in southern Illinois. And the characters react to one another in such a way that their emotional issues seem to reflect your own

Admittedly, the narrative itself is meandering and sometimes elusive. As I mentioned, the main character narrates his own story, and Santini has a tendency to ramble. He will sometimes interrupt his own story to go off on a tangent, even going so far as to tell asides within asides. But this is a story that the narrator admits is comprised of imperfect memories, so digressions seem only natural. Plus these departures allow him to take the long way towards his destination, and much of this book's beauty is in that journey, in the small character bits we might not get in other works that are more focused on a goal.

The book too leaves many questions unanswered, as characters who seemed important in the beginning float into the background and are gone. For example, in the final section of the novel, the Santini family seems to almost completely fade away. But in that way it IS like life, how in our youth the influences on us are constantly changing, how you grow apart from family, from your best friend, from yourself even.

By the end, despite some clunkiness in regards to the plot, Brooklyn Dreams will win you over through the atmosphere of sincerity it creates and the sheer humanity of the characters who populate its world. Be it fiction or fact, this story is one of truth, and of the search for truth we all go through as we grow up.

Rating:
Summary: dreamlike
Review: "Can a book change your life? I don't know. But it can certainly take the unvoiced, inarticulate changes of the soul, put them into words and reflect them back at you-in brilliant, devastating ways." These words are not mine, but rather those of Vincent Carl Santini, main character of Brooklyn Dreams. In this passage he's discussing having read Dostoyevsky, but I find them very fitting words with which to introduce the novel itself.

Brooklyn Dreams is Santini's story; he narrates the events of his life as he reflects backwards on his senior year of high school, 1970-1971. Part Stand by Me, part Basketball Diaries, the tale utilizes the physical setting (Brooklyn, of course) and the drug culture of the time period as a backdrop for personal exploration. It is no coincidence that the main character is named Vincent but is called Carl in parts of the story, for this is really about Santini's search for himself, trying to pin down his identity. At the same time, he is trying to find the missing piece to the puzzle, the answers to the big questions in regards to love, family, death and the nature of God.

Brooklyn Dreams was an experiment when it was first released. Back in 1994 DC was just beginning to get its Paradox imprint off the ground. In those early days, Vertigo was still a place where you ran into superheroes on occasion, albeit heroes on the edge, and DC felt they needed to have a place where they could publish works completely outside of their universe, works that were for mature readers. I don't mean mature in the sense of violence and T&A but instead thought-provoking and meaningful. Paradox was that mature place, and Brooklyn Dreams was their flagship book.

Eventually the line failed, just shortly after the release of the now-famous Road to Perdition, but of all the works they released in their short time of publication, Brooklyn Dreams is the stand-out. Similar to Road to Perdition, it emulated manga in its design, being published in digest size and complete black and white. However, unlike that work, Brooklyn Dreams was released in four parts; each part had ninety-six pages and sold for 4.95 a piece. Just collected together in one volume and re-released for the first time back in mid-April, the book will now cost you 12.95, a considerable amount less than it would have almost ten years ago.

The writer of this graphic novel, J.M. DeMatteis, is a bit of a cipher. He is regularly known for writing titles in a vein that is a bit out there. His most recent works include the most recent Spectre series and the Seth Fisher-illustrated one-shot Green Lantern: Willworld, but he has also written some fairly standard superhero fare for Marvel with Spiderman and Captain America. He has written Moonshadow, Seekers into the Mystery and various other Vertigo titles, while at the same time he worked as co-writer with Keith Giffen of the madcap Justice League of the late '80s.

Obviously the versatility of DeMatteis is not in question, but had it been, Brooklyn Dreams would have solidified his reputation as a man capable of holding his own in any genre. Here he casts aside the conventions of fantasy and the superhero to set his story in a place that is at times much more absurd-the real world. The novel is populated with characters so real that you cannot believe they're complete fictions. It has a style that is so real you believe it must be thinly veiled autobiography, even if it's not. And I have no doubt that it isn't, that the author's life was nothing like the main character's. But the skill with which he weaves this tale makes you believe this was his life.

Honestly he at times even makes you believe it was YOUR life, that he's somehow telling your story. The work draws you in so much by fully painting a rounded picture of its setting that you feel as if you lived in Brooklyn circa the early 1970s, even if you're really from a small town in southern Illinois. And the characters react to one another in such a way that their emotional issues seem to reflect your own

Admittedly, the narrative itself is meandering and sometimes elusive. As I mentioned, the main character narrates his own story, and Santini has a tendency to ramble. He will sometimes interrupt his own story to go off on a tangent, even going so far as to tell asides within asides. But this is a story that the narrator admits is comprised of imperfect memories, so digressions seem only natural. Plus these departures allow him to take the long way towards his destination, and much of this book's beauty is in that journey, in the small character bits we might not get in other works that are more focused on a goal.

The book too leaves many questions unanswered, as characters who seemed important in the beginning float into the background and are gone. For example, in the final section of the novel, the Santini family seems to almost completely fade away. But in that way it IS like life, how in our youth the influences on us are constantly changing, how you grow apart from family, from your best friend, from yourself even.

By the end, despite some clunkiness in regards to the plot, Brooklyn Dreams will win you over through the atmosphere of sincerity it creates and the sheer humanity of the characters who populate its world. Be it fiction or fact, this story is one of truth, and of the search for truth we all go through as we grow up.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of humor, spirit & autobiography!
Review: J. M. DeMatteis' wonderful series about being a confused, angry, yearning teenager in the late 60s is finally available in one volume, and it's long overdue! Anyone who came of age in those years will recognize the emotions & situations, sometimes all too closely & accurately for comfort. And if it did nothing more than recall those times, as it does in such perfect & incisive detail, the story would be a thorough success.

But as the narrator reminds us, "This is a story about God."

The voice of an adult Carl Vincent (or Vincent Carl) Santini -- don't worry, that's all explained -- provides the running commentary as we observe & enter into the troubled, searching life of our young protagonist, struggling to express himself, struggling to understand himself & the Universe, searching for Something long before he's consciously aware of it.

DeMatteis' prose is deceptively casual & easy-going, drawing the reader in as a confidante, but it's also insightful & honest. He cares passionately about the story he's sharing with us & that passion comes through. At the same time, his sense of humor prevents his story from ever becoming pretentious.

The powerful artwork of Glenn Barr brings this story to vivid life, changing to suit the tones of the story, ranging from cartoony to photo-realistic, often in the same panel. You'll pause & linger over many a page for the illustrations as much as for the words.

Quite a few writers are mentioned in the course of this story, all the usual suspects on the Road to Self-Discovery & Meaning -- Hesse, Huxley, Dostoyevsky, etc. Add DeMatteis to their company & get a copy of this superb book. I can't recommend it highly enough!