Blankets

[megladon8]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/blankets.jpg


I honestly didn't know a book could make me feel so much pain.


I thought Black Hole was an emotional journey...but this has quite literally broken my heart.

It was wonderful. It's one of the best pieces of literature I have ever read.

But my God...it hurts.

[Weapon Ick]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/blankets.jpg


I honestly didn't know a book could make me feel so much pain.


I thought Black Hole was an emotional journey...but this has quite literally broken my heart.

It was wonderful. It's one of the best pieces of literature I have ever read.

But my God...it hurts.

Everyone I know has had the same reaction to this book.

One day I sent over a copy of Thompson's "Goodbye Chunky Rice" to a friend of mine via the local library system (I am an employee). Since the library was close to his work, he walked over and picked it up from the reserve shelf on his lunch break. While on his break he read the whole thing and told me that he had to take the rest of the day off because he was crying too much. He later bought "Blankets" and said that he had never related to piece of art so much in his life before. He said it was almost creepy how much it had mirrored his own expiriences. Craig Thompson is an amazing storyteller.

I liked Blankets but Chunky Rice has to be one of my all time favorite books. It just gets to me. I am with you and recommend "Blankets" to anyone who wants to expirience and emotional journey.

[Apathy Boy]

I will be (what I assume will be) the lone voice of dissent.

Was BLANKETS masterfully crafted? Undeniably so. Beautiful art and Thompson obviously spent a lot of time mapping the story out. He should be commended for taking on such a massive undertaking.

But did BLANKETS move me? No. It felt like reading whiny teenage poetry. Well-written whiny teenage poetry, but whiny teenage poetry nonetheless.

Edit: Err... I just realized that this might've come across as me crapping on a book that obviously means a lot to some people. Sorry, not my intention. I can see why people would dig this book, but for some reason it just rang hollow to me.

[Weapon Ick]

I will be (what I assume will be) the lone voice of dissent.

Was BLANKETS masterfully crafted? Undeniably so. Beautiful art and Thompson obviously spent a lot of time mapping the story out. He should be commended for taking on such a massive undertaking.

But did BLANKETS move me? No. It felt like reading whiny teenage poetry. Well-written whiny teenage poetry, but whiny teenage poetry nonetheless.

Edit: Err... I just realized that this might've come across as me crapping on a book that obviously means a lot to some people. Sorry, not my intention. I can see why people would dig this book, but for some reason it just rang hollow to me.

I hear what you're saying. Although I really enjoyed the book, it did not move me as much as it did my friends who have read it. "Chunky Rice" affected me much more. I might be inclined to agree with you that it does have the ring of "Well written whiney teengage poetry". It is beautiful story but I did not relate to it as personally as others did. (Even though I was very sensitive back in the day and I had the same haircut as the main character)

[Winslow]

I will be (what I assume will be) the lone voice of dissent.

Was BLANKETS masterfully crafted? Undeniably so. Beautiful art and Thompson obviously spent a lot of time mapping the story out. He should be commended for taking on such a massive undertaking.

But did BLANKETS move me? No. It felt like reading whiny teenage poetry. Well-written whiny teenage poetry, but whiny teenage poetry nonetheless.

Edit: Err... I just realized that this might've come across as me crapping on a book that obviously means a lot to some people. Sorry, not my intention. I can see why people would dig this book, but for some reason it just rang hollow to me.

I hear what you're saying too . . .

But for me, it reminded me of what it was like to be a teen and in love.

Oh - and I'm 43 BTW, so it was a distant memory. :D

[megladon8]

I'd really love to read Goodbye, Chunky Rice. I'll have to track down a copy.

[Ayo]

Shouldn't apologize for disliking a book.

There's nothing worse than group think and go-with-the-flow mentality.



I think Blankets is a lovely book, but not a perfect book. It's a book that Thompson has done better than (Good-Bye, Chunky Rice) and it's a book that several other creators have easily outdone, prior to and since it's publication. I doubt it would crack my "top ten" of graphic novels. Maybe, I haven't given the subject that much thought as of late.

[Petersen]

I really love this book and am very impressed with all the creative aspects of Thompson's story telling. I think its relateable to a very large audience without succumbing to "lowest common denomenator syndrome"

Apathy Boy: I can see where you are coming from. There were a few points in the book I got that feel, but saw it as a plus rather than a minus. Just based on your name "Apathy Boy" I wouldn't expect you to like whiny teen poetry. I think you summed up your points well (too bad there aren't more posters out there willing to give something a negative review without bashing it or simply saying "it sux!!")

[TJ Shoun]

By the end of the book, Thompson ends up losing any sympathy (or empathy) I had for him during the first half.

I'm sorry, but I thought the looked pathetic in the end. It was painfully obvious that she had zero romantic feelings for him - and if the truth be known she was probably purposefully leading him on. The relationship was glaringly platonic in her eyes, yet he blindly clung to a completely different interpretation of what was going on.

I appreciate the honest conveyance of emotion that comes from the book, but in the end that was part of the problem.

Toward the end I just wanted to tell the guy, "Move on! She doesn't want you as a boyfriend. She never did!"

I've got friends who do this with women -- and I don't feel sorry for them either. I just want them to stop emotionally investing in a girl who plainly has no desire to reciprocate in the same way.

Yeah, I agree -- Blankets comes across as whiney teenage melodrama.

[stealthwise]

Whiny teenage melodrama? Yeah.

I prefer the phrase "well-crafted, sequential masturbation" though.

Sometimes I get really turned off by all of the "Great Indie Books" that come along, mostly because they usually end up semi-(or fully)-autobiographical and often come across as narcissistic bitching. I love Harvey Pekar, but he basically helped spawn several generations of this type of crap.

Give me Andi Watson or Alex Robinson any day of the week.

[Brad Curran]

I liked Chunky Rice more, but I still found it moving and gorgeous. It doesn't quite live up to the hype it recieved when it was released, but it's still a fine read. I was a little unsatisifed by how it just sort of ended, but I guess you can't expect everything to be tied up neatly in an autobio story. This reminds me that I never did pick up Carnet de Voyage.

[Ryan K]

I will be (what I assume will be) the lone voice of dissent.

Was BLANKETS masterfully crafted? Undeniably so. Beautiful art and Thompson obviously spent a lot of time mapping the story out. He should be commended for taking on such a massive undertaking.

But did BLANKETS move me? No. It felt like reading whiny teenage poetry. Well-written whiny teenage poetry, but whiny teenage poetry nonetheless.


Took the words out of my moth. I enjoyed reading Blankets, but it'll be a long time before I ever read it again. I think my biggest problem was that I just didn't like the main character. Oh well.

And just for the record, I liked Goodbye Chunky Rice less.

[ratzo]

It was painfully obvious that she had zero romantic feelings for him - and if the truth be known she was probably purposefully leading him on. The relationship was glaringly platonic in her eyes, yet he blindly clung to a completely different interpretation of what was going on.

And that, I believe, was the whole idea. He was so very into her, but it took him such a long time to realize that this relationship simply wasn't working - and he does realize it in the end, when he burns all her stuff. Does it go on a little too long? Yeah, it does, but I think Thompson perfectly captured what it felt like to be young and hopelessly in love for the first time - both achingly beautiful and horribly painful. Naturally it's gonna take him awhile to get a clue; he'd never been in such a situation before.

[geordiesteve]

Every time I go to my local comic store I keep seeing this and am tempted. Now, I just don't know.

A relationship comic that I found does live up to the hype, and so much more, is Strangers in Paradise. Again I came to the party late, got the pocket books, but I love the book and am just sad it is coming to an end, but better now than stringing it on for five more years when no-one cares, like they did with the X-Files. Mulder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry, had a Scully flashback)

[Josh S]

I saw this at the bookstore today and was midly tempted, but the price made me hold off. After reading this thread I'm glad I did. I knew nothing of the book, other than everyone seemed to be singing its praises. It doesn't sound like anything I need to be spending money on, but hopefully I can track it down at a library or Half Price Books.

[stealthwise]

Every time I go to my local comic store I keep seeing this and am tempted. Now, I just don't know.

A relationship comic that I found does live up to the hype, and so much more, is Strangers in Paradise. Again I came to the party late, got the pocket books, but I love the book and am just sad it is coming to an end, but better now than stringing it on for five more years when no-one cares, like they did with the X-Files. Mulder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry, had a Scully flashback)

I thought that Blankets was about fifty times better than the first three tpbs of Strangers in Paradise, so fly at 'er.

Then again, I figure that just about anything is better than SiP, hell, I'd rather read Liefeld's entire run of Youngblood.

[geordiesteve]

I thought that Blankets was about fifty times better than the first three tpbs of Strangers in Paradise, so fly at 'er.

Then again, I figure that just about anything is better than SiP, hell, I'd rather read Liefeld's entire run of Youngblood.

I've no idea what fly at 'er means, but I'm guessing you don't like SiP. Fair enough, I think it's excellent and am sad it's ending soon.