I really had every intention of wrapping Blankets up with a thoughtful blog post about what I thought about the ending. But that's not going to happen. Not tonight, anyway. I'm pretty sure I've got the plague (okay, I'm dramatic) and I'm too tired to be insightful. All I can really say is that I'm just sort of glad that it is over. Not that I didn't enjoy the story. I did. I am just done going back and rereading parts to try and come up with something to say about the book. I could probably talk about how I like that he finally just lets go of Raina or how I like that when he comes back from Raina's he tries to form a kind of bond with his brother. Or I could talk about how it was sort of interesting the way that he transitioned from being someone who had a lot of faith to someone who was questioning to being someone who flat out had no faith at all. Maybe instead I'll talk about it in class.
Right now I'd like to just take a moment to say that the new Panic at the Disco song was released yesterday (I think, that was when I heard it anyway) and it's pretty good. They are kind of my guilty pleasure. Please, reserve all judgments. I do have some concept of good and bad music, I just tend to like a little bit of everything. And I happen to like that song a lot. Listen for yourself if you'd like:
Also, I work at Borders and we get the promotional stuff when the store is done with it and I grabbed the Eisley cd and also Circa Survive. I've heard of Eisley but not really the other. Opinions, anyone?
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
sometimes i hate the internet
Blankets. Again, I'll probably spend the duration of my blog rattling on about the graphic novel instead of saying anything at all about Understanding Comics. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike McCloud's work... I just don't like it nearly as much as I do Thompson's and I don't have nearly as much to say about it. I should probably preface this post with the fact that I waited to do it until after I got off work and I worked all day on no sleep. With that said, some of this might make no sense, though maybe it will make more sense than anything else I've written thus far. You've been warned.
When leafing through the chapters that were assigned for Monday, there was one panel that stood out to me more than any of the others. On page 360, the panel where Craig and Raina are in the diner. We've spent a lot of time in class discussing size in the graphic novel and I thought that it was really interesting how Thompson decided to portray the distance between the two by making them tiny in comparison to the table they are sitting at and all the items on the table. And the body language of the two characters in the panel I think says a lot about what they are feeling. Craig is looking at Raina in such a longing way but the expression on his face is almost hopeless. And she's reaching for him, as if she really does want to be with him, but at the same time she has her head turned away because they are in public where other people can see her. Another thing that emphasizes the space between them is the length of the panel. Instead of breaking it up like the other panels on the page he's let the panel reach from side to side. It reminded me of McCloud's discussion on panel length and how it represents space and time.
I feel like I could or should say more but as I'm looking through the chapters I don't have anything else to say at the moment. Not that I don't have a feeling one way or another as to the rest of the going ons in the two chapters we read but nothing just jumped right out at me other than that panel. Maybe next time. Maybe next time I will also put some spiffy pictures in here to help break up the text a little. I'm too tired to do it tonight.
And random aside... this was one of the best weekends ever.
When leafing through the chapters that were assigned for Monday, there was one panel that stood out to me more than any of the others. On page 360, the panel where Craig and Raina are in the diner. We've spent a lot of time in class discussing size in the graphic novel and I thought that it was really interesting how Thompson decided to portray the distance between the two by making them tiny in comparison to the table they are sitting at and all the items on the table. And the body language of the two characters in the panel I think says a lot about what they are feeling. Craig is looking at Raina in such a longing way but the expression on his face is almost hopeless. And she's reaching for him, as if she really does want to be with him, but at the same time she has her head turned away because they are in public where other people can see her. Another thing that emphasizes the space between them is the length of the panel. Instead of breaking it up like the other panels on the page he's let the panel reach from side to side. It reminded me of McCloud's discussion on panel length and how it represents space and time.
I feel like I could or should say more but as I'm looking through the chapters I don't have anything else to say at the moment. Not that I don't have a feeling one way or another as to the rest of the going ons in the two chapters we read but nothing just jumped right out at me other than that panel. Maybe next time. Maybe next time I will also put some spiffy pictures in here to help break up the text a little. I'm too tired to do it tonight.
And random aside... this was one of the best weekends ever.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
winter challenges
The scene in chapter three of Blankets that stood out to me the most was the contest between the two brothers. Of all the scenes in the chapters that we read this time I think that this one is perhaps the most revealing about Craig, or one of the most revealing. The point of the contest is to be able to walk on the ice covered snow without falling through. Thompson's text reads, "...but I knew that I wasn't competing against him, but against myself -- against my own clumsy humanity that had lost synchronization with the earth" (134). As the graphic novel progresses we are shown more and more about Craig's internal struggle with his religious identity. Even when he was a little boy Craig seemed to be at conflict with his identity and it's really interesting to see how he copes with that as a child. As if walking on top of the snow without breaking the ice is a way to fix the problem that he has in feeling so disconnected from everything. Ultimately he breaks through the ice and there is just a drawing of him standing shin deep in snow and the rest of the page is white except for the text that reads, "In that sense, I always lost" (134). The text just foreshadows the fact that his struggles are going to continue on as he grows up, especially as he gets into adolescence.
I thought it was interesting how the scene where they are having the ice challenge transitions into Craig's inability to produce art. While his conflict with identity is shown through being unable to keep the ice from breaking as a child, it is manifested through his inability to draw as a teenager. It isn't until he starts getting letters from Raina that he gets a creative spark and starts producing art again. The thing that causes his creativity to rekindle is the also the exact thing that he spends so much time confused about. Because Craig finds his relationship with Raina to be inappropriate it makes everything that much more difficult for him. On one hand he has his faith that dictates how he should feel and how he should think and on the other he has Raina, who he is drawn to in an almost indescribable way. The relationship is just one more thing to confuse him and cause more anxiety for him as the story progresses. The image of Craig huddled on the floor after throwing away the paper he's masturbated into just reinforces the idea that he is completely torn apart by his feelings for Raina in contrast to what he should be feeling for his religion. Thinking of Raina pushed him into that particular scene and he is ashamed of the result because of what his religion dictates that he should think or feel about such things.
And now on a completely unrelated topic, if anyone is actually reading this, go see Cloverfield. It was definitely awesome and worth the wait.
I thought it was interesting how the scene where they are having the ice challenge transitions into Craig's inability to produce art. While his conflict with identity is shown through being unable to keep the ice from breaking as a child, it is manifested through his inability to draw as a teenager. It isn't until he starts getting letters from Raina that he gets a creative spark and starts producing art again. The thing that causes his creativity to rekindle is the also the exact thing that he spends so much time confused about. Because Craig finds his relationship with Raina to be inappropriate it makes everything that much more difficult for him. On one hand he has his faith that dictates how he should feel and how he should think and on the other he has Raina, who he is drawn to in an almost indescribable way. The relationship is just one more thing to confuse him and cause more anxiety for him as the story progresses. The image of Craig huddled on the floor after throwing away the paper he's masturbated into just reinforces the idea that he is completely torn apart by his feelings for Raina in contrast to what he should be feeling for his religion. Thinking of Raina pushed him into that particular scene and he is ashamed of the result because of what his religion dictates that he should think or feel about such things.
And now on a completely unrelated topic, if anyone is actually reading this, go see Cloverfield. It was definitely awesome and worth the wait.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
cubby hole
I finished reading Blankets today because I really couldn't stop at the end of 'Cubby Hole' but for the sake of anyone reading this who didn't read ahead I will do my best not to spoil anything that comes later in the graphic novel.
I suppose that a good place to start would be with why I like the story so much but it is difficult to pin it down on just one thing. The art, for starters, is definitely one of the features that drew me in right from the first page. The characters themselves seem really simple but each panel has so much detail that I found myself taking the time to study all the art before moving on to the next page. What I liked most about the art was the juxtaposition of realism and fantasy. Because most of the chapter focuses around Craig as a child it is fitting that a lot of the images are focused around his imagination. The image of the cot in the cubby hole as a monster adds to the sense of fear that the reader understands Phil is feeling and at the same time it adds depth to the story because you are seeing things as the brothers saw them as children.
The other thing that really made me like the graphic novel was the story. Saying what I like so much about it is difficult without speaking in terms of relatability, which I suppose is how I'll talk about it. I guess I've just always been interested in coming of age tales on account of the fact that I've spent a good portion of my life coming of age, but another thing that I really like about it is how the novel portrays the relationship between brothers. At least as the focus for most of the first chapter, anyway. As the youngest of five kids it kind of rings a few bells (mostly just with the fact that I was probably insanely annoying to my older siblings much the way Phil is to Craig) and it makes me wonder how they felt about me at that age in contrast in how they feel about me now.
I don't really have much to say, at the moment, about McCloud's Understanding Comics, but I did enjoy it. The read was fairly entertaining and definitely easy to get through. Though I will say that I laughed when I saw the drawing of the kraft parmesan cheese container because I am definitely someone who always saw a face in the top of it. Another thing I really liked about the two chapters was how McCloud likened Ancient Egyptian artwork to comics. As an anthropology major I've seen a lot of paintings and diagrams like the one in the book and it was interesting to see them from the perspective McCloud takes and definitely cool to get to think of them as comics.
There's probably more to say but I'll stop before I start rambling and save some of the other thoughts I had for when we are a little further along in the book.
Until then.
I suppose that a good place to start would be with why I like the story so much but it is difficult to pin it down on just one thing. The art, for starters, is definitely one of the features that drew me in right from the first page. The characters themselves seem really simple but each panel has so much detail that I found myself taking the time to study all the art before moving on to the next page. What I liked most about the art was the juxtaposition of realism and fantasy. Because most of the chapter focuses around Craig as a child it is fitting that a lot of the images are focused around his imagination. The image of the cot in the cubby hole as a monster adds to the sense of fear that the reader understands Phil is feeling and at the same time it adds depth to the story because you are seeing things as the brothers saw them as children.
The other thing that really made me like the graphic novel was the story. Saying what I like so much about it is difficult without speaking in terms of relatability, which I suppose is how I'll talk about it. I guess I've just always been interested in coming of age tales on account of the fact that I've spent a good portion of my life coming of age, but another thing that I really like about it is how the novel portrays the relationship between brothers. At least as the focus for most of the first chapter, anyway. As the youngest of five kids it kind of rings a few bells (mostly just with the fact that I was probably insanely annoying to my older siblings much the way Phil is to Craig) and it makes me wonder how they felt about me at that age in contrast in how they feel about me now.
I don't really have much to say, at the moment, about McCloud's Understanding Comics, but I did enjoy it. The read was fairly entertaining and definitely easy to get through. Though I will say that I laughed when I saw the drawing of the kraft parmesan cheese container because I am definitely someone who always saw a face in the top of it. Another thing I really liked about the two chapters was how McCloud likened Ancient Egyptian artwork to comics. As an anthropology major I've seen a lot of paintings and diagrams like the one in the book and it was interesting to see them from the perspective McCloud takes and definitely cool to get to think of them as comics.
There's probably more to say but I'll stop before I start rambling and save some of the other thoughts I had for when we are a little further along in the book.
Until then.
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