Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home pays extraordinary attention to detail; of course the details of the work come from a heavy slant given the material is shaped in a memoir, but the details are the creation. From illustrations to texts, the smallest details set the novel apart from the previously read works.
Observe the artistic portrayal of her father, a man who, from the very first page is presented in a light somewhat, different from those we’ve seen thus far. The material is black and white, like Nat Turner but Bechdel ensures there is no confusion in the artistry, no haziness in the lines, no ambiguity of the body. With a series of lines, Fun Home pays utmost attention to body hair, facial expression, lighting, clothing features, etc. the shading of the first page and the faded gaze of her father on the first page tells the reader to prepare for bare, open account. If there were any questions to the detail, observing her father’s cut-off shorts with the horizontal lines helps hint at Bechdel’s desire to share an open account. The numerous pages where the vertical lines to form his hairy legs or arms and chest hair do fair justice to constantly remind the reader that her father was a hairy man. Looking at the detail of Camus on page 48, one observes a remarkable detail to the accuracy of the picture. I’m not saying that every work until Bechdel has failed to portray the minute details in the illustrations, just that Bechdel’s seem somehow…different. I can’t explain it.
There is also her language; I cannot remember the last time I spoke the word “flesh” in my mind (which is to say, I read the word “flesh”). In fact, she uses the word “flesh” more often than I believe i’ve ever read; I seem to even recall the phrase “fleshy meat thing” somewhere in the text but upon a quick search, I can’t seem to find the phrase. Bechdel doesn’t hold any phrases from the reader; when was the last time a reader encountered a text with a father telling his daughter “tough titty.” These words are not new to me, nor is the phrase; however, Bechdel’s liberal use of such phrases and terminology struck me as quite fresh.
I can’t explain my experience with Fun Home. I can’t explain how words and themes and phrases and artistry not new to me, struck me as somehow…fresh. I can honestly say, Fun Home was quite the bit of freshness I have been looking for, and so glad to have found.