Respondants: Rating Books This Semester

1. Fun Home
I really enjoyed Fun Home. I was having a bad day and read it all in one sitting, and it was both engaging and thoughtful. I thought the end was really quite beautiful… it was a bit of a kicker somehow. Mostly, though, I think the narrative kept me on my feet. It was never dull or expected, and it used both the images and the words to full capacity.

2. The Dark Knight Returns
I think I liked the Dark Knight because it was the most obvious of the comic books on the list, and it still wasn’t what I expected. The art was engaging and the story teetering between comic silliness and disturbing psychological reality. There is also something really fun about reading Batman with such seriousness.

3. Maus
This is not the first time I read Maus, but I enjoyed it much more this time. I think it was a matter of working on the presentation for a few pages making me look harder at everything. The story is amazing, but the relationships are what are most engaging more me.

4. The Watchmen
Another one I’ve read before. Liked it then, like it now. There was a lot I gained from the class that I really didn’t know going into it either. It seems like a comic book for people who read comic books, and I appreciated the perspective I gained this time.

5. Uzumaki
I really liked the artwork in this. It was both creepy and attractive, though the story loses steam as it progresses, I think. It’s strange reading something that doesn’t end, but what’s there is interesting.

6. American Born Chinese
I’d call ABC cute, and not much else. It was a quick, easy read, but there was nothing really lasting about it, I don’t think.

7. Jimmy Corrigan
I don’t think I hated this book with the seething passion of most people, but it was a bit of a chore to fight through. I did have pity for Jimmy, though, and hope against hope that someday he’ll get his shit together. The diagrams and things are neat, though the book itself drove me a little nuts at times.

8. Persepolis
Read this before. Found it boring then too. I think the beginning when she is a kid is kinda charming, but it loses that as it goes on and just becomes something of a struggle to get through. It loses its spirit as Marjane does, I think.

9. In My Darkest Hour
Confusing, gross, confusing a little bit more… I appreciate the work that went into it, but ick.