kurtwombat's review against another edition
5.0
There is a line that runs through our lives. It is where we would like our lives to go. We straddle it as best we can. Some gifts of birth make it easier, some make it virtually impossible. Then life intervenes. Somewhere along the way most of us fall off that line to the one side or the other--by events we couldn't foresee or the myriad choices we are forced to make. Some stray so far from that line that they forget it may have ever existed. That describes many of the characters in Yoshihiro Tatsumi's GOOD-BYE. A ground-breaking writer/artist who re-imagined what comic books could be in Japan the way western writers did by differentiating Graphic Novels from Comic Books. The writing is sparse, the images seem simple but as they flow one to the next the stifling frustration and angst, desperate grasping for hope beyond their reach....seeps into the reader. It is sad but beautiful in it's honesty. A fine collection of stories...my favorite being the first entitled HELL set right after the atomic bombing of Japan but they all are marvelous. There is hope here....but it costs...and it's worth it.
jekutree's review against another edition
5.0
Again Tatsumi impresses me.
In this volume, we see Tatsumi get even more confident in his work ditching his trope of silent male protagonists to feature a few female ones and now with narration. This shows his newfound confidence in his ability as a writer. The themes in the stories remain similar, but he branches out from telling stories exclusively about blue collar Japanese men to varied tales with some being almost fairy tale like in nature.
A cool thing I noticed about Tatsumi’s work is that almost every story has a panel of his character lost among of a sea of other faces, and I think that sums up the feeling of his work perfectly. Tatsumi spotlights those who would be lost in the crowd. His work feels as if he picks a random person and really just puts them at their lowest. These stories feel almost private at times and I think that’s such a great quality about the work.
In this volume, we see Tatsumi get even more confident in his work ditching his trope of silent male protagonists to feature a few female ones and now with narration. This shows his newfound confidence in his ability as a writer. The themes in the stories remain similar, but he branches out from telling stories exclusively about blue collar Japanese men to varied tales with some being almost fairy tale like in nature.
A cool thing I noticed about Tatsumi’s work is that almost every story has a panel of his character lost among of a sea of other faces, and I think that sums up the feeling of his work perfectly. Tatsumi spotlights those who would be lost in the crowd. His work feels as if he picks a random person and really just puts them at their lowest. These stories feel almost private at times and I think that’s such a great quality about the work.
pilarsangga's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
lapingveno's review against another edition
5.0
Another banger! I'm just going to dump my notes-while-reading below:
"Hell" - Murder. "Be sure your sin will find you out."
"Just a Man" - Retiree wants revenge on his wife. Tries adultery. Settles for living to spite her. Urinates on cannon (male symbol) to reduce its virility to his own pitiful level.
"Sky Burial" - [Imagined(?)] vultures haunt protag as symbol of looming death. His neighbor has died, summoning these vultures. He feels alive, but death still looms. As mentioned in opening, dead must be consumed for spirit to attain the sky.
"Rash" - Man (another retiree) bathes in poison ivy water (accidental?) to relieve p.ivy rash. Self-perpetuating cycle. Feels his life has been a waste. Rescues girl who attempted suicide. He gives her a mushroom as an invitation for coitus(?). Or has he simply "become a man" for the first time?
"Woman in the Mirror" - Only son in family of sisters and widow crossdresses after school as a way of escaping all the pressures put on him as the only man who "must be successful" for the sake of the family.
"Night Falls Again" - Loner/ly man in Osaka feeds lust to the EXTREME as a surrogate for having any kind of social/love life.
"Life Is So Sad" - Hostess's bf is in prison. She is faithful to him the whole time. On a visit, he doesn't believe her. She sleeps w/ her most devoted patron the night of her bf's release. Release? Declaration of independence? They do it on the very sheets bf deflowered her on--the night of his arrest 4 years prior.
"Click, Click, Click" - Man w/ SERIOUS foot/leg fetish (part-time volunteer barber) secretly wishes he could die during sex, or even better, he dreams of being stampeded to death by beautiful women's legs. Title refers to last panels: woman in heels walks by while he fondles leather boots he has prostitute wear as she steps on him.
"Good-Bye" - Japanese prostitute has regular GI who promises he'll marry her and take her back to USA. Psych! Dude's married in US (wife and kids). Leaves. Prostitute's father swings by occasionally for money. Feeling betrayed by all men after GI leaves, prostitute gets roaring drunk and sleeps with (semi-rapes even) he father on his next visit so that he'll be "just another man" she can hate and be failed by. Father looks over a scene of post-war Japan, thinking of it (and likely his permanently damaged relationship with his daughter) as a hell which will never end.
"Hell" - Murder. "Be sure your sin will find you out."
"Just a Man" - Retiree wants revenge on his wife. Tries adultery. Settles for living to spite her. Urinates on cannon (male symbol) to reduce its virility to his own pitiful level.
"Sky Burial" - [Imagined(?)] vultures haunt protag as symbol of looming death. His neighbor has died, summoning these vultures. He feels alive, but death still looms. As mentioned in opening, dead must be consumed for spirit to attain the sky.
"Rash" - Man (another retiree) bathes in poison ivy water (accidental?) to relieve p.ivy rash. Self-perpetuating cycle. Feels his life has been a waste. Rescues girl who attempted suicide. He gives her a mushroom as an invitation for coitus(?). Or has he simply "become a man" for the first time?
"Woman in the Mirror" - Only son in family of sisters and widow crossdresses after school as a way of escaping all the pressures put on him as the only man who "must be successful" for the sake of the family.
"Night Falls Again" - Loner/ly man in Osaka feeds lust to the EXTREME as a surrogate for having any kind of social/love life.
"Life Is So Sad" - Hostess's bf is in prison. She is faithful to him the whole time. On a visit, he doesn't believe her. She sleeps w/ her most devoted patron the night of her bf's release. Release? Declaration of independence? They do it on the very sheets bf deflowered her on--the night of his arrest 4 years prior.
"Click, Click, Click" - Man w/ SERIOUS foot/leg fetish (part-time volunteer barber) secretly wishes he could die during sex, or even better, he dreams of being stampeded to death by beautiful women's legs. Title refers to last panels: woman in heels walks by while he fondles leather boots he has prostitute wear as she steps on him.
"Good-Bye" - Japanese prostitute has regular GI who promises he'll marry her and take her back to USA. Psych! Dude's married in US (wife and kids). Leaves. Prostitute's father swings by occasionally for money. Feeling betrayed by all men after GI leaves, prostitute gets roaring drunk and sleeps with (semi-rapes even) he father on his next visit so that he'll be "just another man" she can hate and be failed by. Father looks over a scene of post-war Japan, thinking of it (and likely his permanently damaged relationship with his daughter) as a hell which will never end.
lookhome's review against another edition
4.0
Dark, disturbing and all too relevant.
The short stories found in this collection speak of a near universal sense of melancholy.
Men and women alike wander in their lives trying to find meaning and human connections only to find neither.
The characters in these stories are what old people refer to when they say -so and so is a 'lost soul'-.
That being said, the situations found in this collection are ultimately haunting in a good way.
They remind the reader that the even in the 1970s the world, be it Japan, Europe or the Americas, was a divided place.
Given the current political situation, this collection is oddly calming in that it shows us that there is always a need for honest storytelling as honest storytelling ages better. Truth is universal.
I am definitely checking out more from this author and I'm glad I stumbled upon the work.
The short stories found in this collection speak of a near universal sense of melancholy.
Men and women alike wander in their lives trying to find meaning and human connections only to find neither.
The characters in these stories are what old people refer to when they say -so and so is a 'lost soul'-.
That being said, the situations found in this collection are ultimately haunting in a good way.
They remind the reader that the even in the 1970s the world, be it Japan, Europe or the Americas, was a divided place.
Given the current political situation, this collection is oddly calming in that it shows us that there is always a need for honest storytelling as honest storytelling ages better. Truth is universal.
I am definitely checking out more from this author and I'm glad I stumbled upon the work.
chelseamartinez's review against another edition
3.0
Sad-sack (I mean this in a good way) tales of post-WWII Japan. The editor of this volume is Adrian Tomine, and you can definitely see the influence of Tatsumi's work on him and other 21st century quotidian comics artists like Chris Ware thematically. "Hell" is epic, but I liked the mildly dark endings of "Just a Man" and "Sky Burial" and "Rash" (possibly hopefully ending?) and "Click Click Click" best. Reading these stories of 1950s-60s "depraved" manhood takes me back to my Mad Magazine and Phillip Roth reading days, but it reads differently in another culture recovering from the harrowing experience of being so thoroughly bombed and defeated, the opposite of America post 1945.
bluenicorn's review against another edition
4.0
This was excellent. Some general creepiness, and a fair amount of unsexy sex-having, but each story was really gripping and well-done. I just need someone to read the story 'Rash' so I can talk about it with them and figure out what that ending was about.
dereksilva's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
The short stories were enjoyable for the most part, exploring the unhappiness that normal people experience in their day-to-day lives. I enjoyed that the stories were distinct but that their characters all kind of seemed to bleed into one another. Seeing main characters seemingly repeat as secondary characters in other stories made it feel like Tatsumi really just looked at a cross-section Japanese inhabitants instead of just a few random people whose experiences aren't representative of Japan as a whole. My biggest qualm is that the stories are also very centered on men, with men usually made out to be the victims, at the expense of women. I also think some of the stories needed another page or two to more fully explore their respective ideas.
jsjammersmith's review against another edition
5.0
The stories in the book reminded me a great deal of will Eisner and his artwork specifically in the way and explored real humanity and often flawed humanity. This collection was truly fascinating though for the way it explored post-WWII Japanese culture and the kind of societal trauma in the lives of everyday people.
I had never heard of Yoshihiro Tatsumi until I stumbled across this book and now I can’t wait to read the rest of his work.
I had never heard of Yoshihiro Tatsumi until I stumbled across this book and now I can’t wait to read the rest of his work.