Report on flist recs

[cahn]

nolly: Fallout: J. Robert Oppenheimer... etc.: Awesome. This is what graphic novels were meant for. (Well, in the nonfiction category, anyway.) This should be required reading for anyone who is interested in science/physics and the ways in which it interacts with society/politics. (And who, like me, is too lazy to actually read a non-graphic biography.) Also, YAY primary sources! My only complaint was that the changing artistic styles sometimes made it so that I could no longer tell who was who, but that may just be my non-artsy side showing up.

ase: Y: The Last Man (vols 3-10): So, Y did some good stuff. Then... they lost me by being one of those plot-heavy books that does not explain well a huge chunk of the plot. (Other contenders in this area include Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series, which sucked that way, and Series of Unfortunate Events, which actually won huge points with me by managing to pull it off.) Still, a graphic novel worth reading if you can find it at the library. Better than V for Vendetta; I still like Watchmen better.

julianyap: Sean Stewart (Galveston, Mockingbird): I am intrigued by Stewart. I also suspect I need to come back to him in a couple of years. Lots of interesting family stuff (Galveston in particular hauled me in with its parent/child relationships), and he's clearly a good writer, but somehow it never quite all clicked for me. Mockingbird, I think, had the problem that I thought the main character was being a little... silly. Galveston had no such problem... if anything, maybe I identified a bit too much with the main female character.

lightreads and abigail_n: Joe Hill (20th-Century Ghosts). I don't usually read horror. I think I will continue not to. The non-horror dark-fantasy stories in this volume (e.g., the title story and "Pop Art") were really well done. The horror stories were also well done, though I personally have a much harder time with horror in general. Still, if you like that kind of thing, I very much recommend the book.

Comments

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Check out some of Ottaviani's other books, too -- they don't all change art style as much.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

I will, thanks!

[ase.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you didn't like Y as much as me, but then, it's a feminist post-apocalyptic story with geek jokes. I also haven't finished the last two collections (waiting on the library to get #10). What do you like about Watchmen? It's very good, but so dark I'm in no rush to reread it, movie or not.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

Right, I think we agreed there was no way I could like it as much as you because it pushed all your buttons, which aren't the same as mine. But I did like it quite a lot-- I think my opinion of it was colored by a negative reaction to certain specifics of the last two collections (which may not bother you at all), so I'll be interested to see what you think of them so that I can discuss with spoilers!

I liked how Watchmen is filled with allusions and repeated visual motifs, and I loved the little articles between sections. I also loved how you could get a lot more of the story in further readings (e.g., once you know who Rorschach is you can recognize him in early scenes, and there are lots of details that make more sense once you learn other things, like looking again at the relationships between various superheroes in the flashbacks after reading some of the articles/notes-between-sections). Also, it was my first introduction to graphic novels (besides Maus, which is also very extremely dark and highly recommended by me). Also, I was blown away by how Rorschach was actually given a moment where I highly felt for him-- I thought that was quite an accomplishment. But yeah, depressing enough that I can't read it very often.

And I'm a sucker for alternate universes, possibly in the same way that you love post-apocalyptic stories :)

Y is also filled with allusions, but unfortunately a lot of them were not known to me-- I had a lot of sympathy for 355 when she's all "what the heck are you talking about?" And starts knitting. Yeah! (I don't knit, but I like the general principle.) (Reminds me of Farscape in this regard, actually-- Crichton used to drive me nuts with his little pop culture thingies.) It's also possible Y turns up more on further readings; once the whole thing comes out in a single volume (if that happens) I might check it out again.

[ase.livejournal.com]

Right, I think we agreed there was no way I could like it as much as you because it pushed all your buttons

Yes, that's what didn't make it into my comment. (I should know better than to post early in the day!)

Also, it was my first introduction to graphic novels (besides Maus, which is also very extremely dark and highly recommended by me).

Do I sense a correlation between dark and excellent? [/tongue in cheek] Maus gets excellent press, and some day I'll set aside the time to read it.

I think I missed some of the Watchmen motifs, at first because I didn't have time to reread and later because I wasn't inclined to. I acknowledge its technical excellence while being leery of its darkness. I'll probably reread it before the movie comes out, and enjoy more of its complexity then.

And I'm a sucker for alternate universes, possibly in the same way that you love post-apocalyptic stories :)

I'll keep my eyes open for stories about alternate universes, then. :-) They're so hard to do right: to make plausible and compelling. Fortunately, some authors can pull it off. (I'm assuming you've heard of Michael Chabon?)

I know many of Yorik's pop culture allusions, so I get the in-joke buzz that you cruelly have been denied.

(Reminds me of Farscape in this regard, actually-- Crichton used to drive me nuts with his little pop culture thingies.)

Yorik Brown and John Crichton would totally be in sympathy, and (more) craziness would ensue. Pizza and margarita shooters for everyone!

Poor 355! Being stuck guarding the Last Hope of Humanity - who's sort of a slacker - must be a trial sometimes. (All the time.)

It's also possible Y turns up more on further readings; once the whole thing comes out in a single volume (if that happens) I might check it out again.

I think the 10 graphic novels are as collected as they're likely to get in the near future, from what I understand of comics.

Because my county library system is run by irony, I still can't read Y #10 without shelling out cash or sitting in a Borders. I sense some ILL attempts in my near future.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

Do I sense a correlation between dark and excellent?

Hee. I think it may be more that graphic novels felt like they had to be dark to get respect? I think Y is the least dark graphic novel I've read (well, I've only read, like, 5) which is saying something. Considering it's about apocalypse and such.

Yeah, alternate universes are really hard to do right, and even then I sometimes don't get into them unless I like the history branchoff. I really like Dragon Waiting (Ford) for its alternate-magic-vampires Byzantium-Richard III branch, though others have told me they find it kind of slow.

I've heard of Chabon, but haven't checked him out yet. Hmm!

Ha! I sat in a Borders and read the last half of the series (which may also have contributed to how I feel... rushed reading does not good criticism make). They make enough money off of me that I feel entirely unrepentant.