thenorpa's review against another edition
4.0
Mam ambiwalentne uczucia wobec powieści graficzniej Buzzatiego. Dzieło zdecydowanie było nowatorskie jak na swoje czasy, co też można przeczytać w posłowie. Bardzo ciekawe obrazy, i narracja traktowana niczym didaskalia. Buzzati zdecydowanie sprawił, że mit o Orfeuszu i Eurydyce nabrał współczesnego charakteru. To, co mnie raziło, to zdecydowanie "męskie" spojrzenie - rozumiany w negatywny sposób. Kobiety są przedstawione przedmiotowo, tylko w relacji do głównego bohatera, poza nią nie istnieją. Ale zakładam, że to bolączka tamtych czasów. Zdecydowanie polecam fanom powieści graficznych i odważnych eksperymentów.
chelseamartinez's review
3.0
psychedelic italian illustrated poem with boobs and grim reapers. i think something was definitely lost in translation for me but musings on death in pastel cartoon form were pretty cool.
bengisue's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
pedantichumbug's review
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
khepiari's review
1.0
Took me goddamn three months to finish, not because I was busy or the story to complicated. When you throw words like comics and poetry together I get intrigued and end up buying books like this. And one never expects a bad read from New York Review Books.
But here we are, this is an extremely well produced disappointing piece of poetry strip book. A retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice myth. A myth I am so well versed in because of its timeless appeal of man versus mortality. Yet there should be a ban on how much people can exploit this myth in name of art and creative writing.
Orfi the protagonist a singer lives opposite a mysterious shape shifting house on a street that can’t be spotted on a map. People avoid the road in night as many people have vanished on this street. And one day his fiancé Eura enters the building.
From there on it’s a tussle between Orfi and the various shades of distractions and temptations in the underworld. I must inform the beginning was beautiful and scary, but it loses its charm after 15 pages into the dry poetry of scattered build up.
Have I ever said how much disgusted I am with human males’ obsession with breasts? Well this book escalated my anger. Big and bigger, round and spherical the comics is full of naked well endowed women trying to lure Orfi.
And that’s it, just naked women, more naked boobies and either helpless looking skinny men ogling at them or fat rich men evaluating them and some random musings of life and death, creativity and destruction, and love and loss bla and bla. After a while the various art styles got blurred in my head and this entire book seemed like a product of mind that had snorted Cocaine and slept in a bed made of breasts.
Was it a critique of extravagance of society and commodification of female sex?
I have no idea. One can critique the bad in the world without catering to the male gaze too. You don’t need to show it. So no, I doubt it achieved anything by parading naked butts that don’t wrinkle and breasts that don’t shag.
But here we are, this is an extremely well produced disappointing piece of poetry strip book. A retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice myth. A myth I am so well versed in because of its timeless appeal of man versus mortality. Yet there should be a ban on how much people can exploit this myth in name of art and creative writing.
Orfi the protagonist a singer lives opposite a mysterious shape shifting house on a street that can’t be spotted on a map. People avoid the road in night as many people have vanished on this street. And one day his fiancé Eura enters the building.
From there on it’s a tussle between Orfi and the various shades of distractions and temptations in the underworld. I must inform the beginning was beautiful and scary, but it loses its charm after 15 pages into the dry poetry of scattered build up.
Have I ever said how much disgusted I am with human males’ obsession with breasts? Well this book escalated my anger. Big and bigger, round and spherical the comics is full of naked well endowed women trying to lure Orfi.
And that’s it, just naked women, more naked boobies and either helpless looking skinny men ogling at them or fat rich men evaluating them and some random musings of life and death, creativity and destruction, and love and loss bla and bla. After a while the various art styles got blurred in my head and this entire book seemed like a product of mind that had snorted Cocaine and slept in a bed made of breasts.
Was it a critique of extravagance of society and commodification of female sex?
I have no idea. One can critique the bad in the world without catering to the male gaze too. You don’t need to show it. So no, I doubt it achieved anything by parading naked butts that don’t wrinkle and breasts that don’t shag.
jimmylorunning's review
2.0
I agree with one of my GR friend's review who said "Adolescent. And not in a good way". It's got redeeming qualities though. Some of the artwork is really good, though it never has the subtlety and the attention to detail that he paid to his other, children's book [b:The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily|83015|The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily|Dino Buzzati|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171035457s/83015.jpg|209145]. In fact, the graphical vibe is very different: it is bold, energetic, random, and erotic. Its weak point is definitely the writing, though. The language is just so cliche and uninteresting (and yes, I know what it's based on, but that's not an excuse). I felt almost no investment in the story.
jeffhall's review
5.0
Dino Buzzati's Poem Strip is great stuff; a distinctly psychedelic re-telling of the myth of Orpheus which explores some unique angels that (to my knowledge) were not part of the original legend. The artwork is simple and occasionally amateurish, but appropriate nonetheless to the trippy tale that Buzzati is weaving. Even in translation from the original Italian, the poetry is rich, fluid and highly complementary to the drawings on each page. Buzzati loves devils, buxom women, and general surreal weirdness, and all of these elements work in his favor to make Poem Strip a highly original creation that succeeds on every level.
jveevers's review
The writing and message were interesting but seemed secondary to his desire to draw naked women.