lewis_fishman's review against another edition
5.0
is the world shaped by your interactions, or are your interactions shaped by the world?
penguin_horowitz's review
1.0
These stories do nothing new, and the familiar things they do they don't do particularly well. The third short story comes close to making a mark, but still doesn't really land. One can only read so many stories about terrible people who don't change or grow (the first two stories) before becoming dissatisfied. And the latter two stories, which are almost intriguing, don't go the extra distance to make it work. The lack of conclusions to these short graphic stories doesn't feel artsy or even intentional--it feels lazy.
hampton_reads's review
3.0
Really didn't like the first couple of stories, but I picked the book up again and finished the rest in one sitting -- nearly making me late to work the following morning because I had stayed up too late. Tomine has a really interesting art style and the story endings feel a bit like Salinger. This wasn't my favorite of the medium, but I'm willing to read more Tomine based off of this -- I think Killing and Dying will by my next.
jekutree's review
5.0
This collection of short stories follows up directly after the Sleep Walk collection and it’s basically an improvement on all fronts from then. The stories are longer, better paced, more engaging and more complex. Tomine’s art doesn’t improve much but his writing improves tenfold.
Similar to Sleep Walk, the stories presented here are yet again are peeks into normal peoples’ lives. The stories in this volume follow more of a narrative function and feel more like stories than the vignettes found in Sleep Walk. It’s about the same length as Sleep Walk with about a quarter of the stories. The self titled “Summer Blonde” might be my favorite story Tomine has told across all his collections. It’s a dive into 3 characters with interconnected lives and it takes the reader on a journey. “Hawaiian Getaway” is also pretty damn brilliant, I enjoy the chapter-like structure of this story a lot and it has the most fleshed out character out of any of Tomine’s work I’ve read.
Adrian Tomine’s Art needs no long discussion, it’s great. His characters are expressive and easy to distinguish from one another.
His writing however is interesting. His over reliance on narration boxes from Sleep Walk was largely non existent.
SOLID 9/10 not a bad story here, just a few questionable moves.
Similar to Sleep Walk, the stories presented here are yet again are peeks into normal peoples’ lives. The stories in this volume follow more of a narrative function and feel more like stories than the vignettes found in Sleep Walk. It’s about the same length as Sleep Walk with about a quarter of the stories. The self titled “Summer Blonde” might be my favorite story Tomine has told across all his collections. It’s a dive into 3 characters with interconnected lives and it takes the reader on a journey. “Hawaiian Getaway” is also pretty damn brilliant, I enjoy the chapter-like structure of this story a lot and it has the most fleshed out character out of any of Tomine’s work I’ve read.
Adrian Tomine’s Art needs no long discussion, it’s great. His characters are expressive and easy to distinguish from one another.
His writing however is interesting. His over reliance on narration boxes from Sleep Walk was largely non existent.
SOLID 9/10 not a bad story here, just a few questionable moves.
valerie2776's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
liebenwir's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
tomhill's review
5.0
The four stories here are gripping, both visually and emotionally. In both style and substance, Tomine is not far removed from artists like Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, Craig Thompson, Noah Van Sciver. Maybe that's just me over simplifying things and showing my lack of any real knowledge when it comes to comics and graphic novels. But I love this style of artwork and the themes Tomine chooses to focus on: loneliness, alienation, yearning, and he does it in such a subtle and emotionally resonant way. All four stories are at least very, very good. But the last, "Bomb Scare" is perfect. If you went to high school, you'll probably relate on some level, whether you fit the role of one of the main characters, or were simply an observer watching a similar story unfold. Each time I am lucky enough to discover new graphic novels/comics by artists like Adrian Tomine, it feels like a small miracle. I wish it happened more often.
nick_jenkins's review
3.0
I suppose my reaction to the stories in this book is largely dependent on my hope that Tomine is truly critiquing the "nice guy" types who are the protagonists of his stories. Making a character loathsome is not the same thing as calling into question the basic validity of their self-image (for evidence that the two aren't necessarily the same thing, see Philip Roth or Martin Amis or Richard Ford).
The way that most of Tomine's female characters remain locked in the terms of manic-pixie-dream-girl fantasies is perhaps evidence that, while Tomine wants to show the limitations of the "nice guy," he's also somewhat afraid that those limitations reveal something inherent and true about the interactions of men and women. Or, to put it a different way, he seems to believe that the way a lonely, introverted man or boy looks at women has some validity as criticism of the way that society works to prevent better, more open, mutually fulfilling relationships between men and women. But the way that Tomine seems to define those relationships is, at best, heteronormative and, at worst, still misogynist--the idea he presents of what a better, healthier society would look like is simply one that sweeps away the bad gender norms and social structures that keeps nice guys from getting the girls they want, and allows girls to get the nice guys they deserve.
This is still misogynistic because 1) it presumes that the purpose of women--especially pretty women--is to be in a relationship with a man (just a man who's better at seeing their worth) and 2) it sees women as mostly to blame for not helping nice guys to overcome this system. Women are victims, but they're not fighting back, and that's why nice guys can't have nice things. That's obviously a toxic view of women, yet one that tragically has all too convincing a logic to the kind of young men (and some young women) reading works like this, accomplished and polished as it is.
The way that most of Tomine's female characters remain locked in the terms of manic-pixie-dream-girl fantasies is perhaps evidence that, while Tomine wants to show the limitations of the "nice guy," he's also somewhat afraid that those limitations reveal something inherent and true about the interactions of men and women. Or, to put it a different way, he seems to believe that the way a lonely, introverted man or boy looks at women has some validity as criticism of the way that society works to prevent better, more open, mutually fulfilling relationships between men and women. But the way that Tomine seems to define those relationships is, at best, heteronormative and, at worst, still misogynist--the idea he presents of what a better, healthier society would look like is simply one that sweeps away the bad gender norms and social structures that keeps nice guys from getting the girls they want, and allows girls to get the nice guys they deserve.
This is still misogynistic because 1) it presumes that the purpose of women--especially pretty women--is to be in a relationship with a man (just a man who's better at seeing their worth) and 2) it sees women as mostly to blame for not helping nice guys to overcome this system. Women are victims, but they're not fighting back, and that's why nice guys can't have nice things. That's obviously a toxic view of women, yet one that tragically has all too convincing a logic to the kind of young men (and some young women) reading works like this, accomplished and polished as it is.