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tabone's review against another edition
5.0
A great primer to Adrian Tomine, Summer Blonde is fantastic. Harsh, true, and (unfortunately?) reflective. The art is gorgeous and the writing seemingly effortless. One of the best true-to-life graphic novels I've ever read.
nunuseli's review against another edition
5.0
‘Rubia de verano’ me ha fascinado. Está entre las obras literarias que más me han llegado, la colocaría en mi lista de libros favoritos, sean cómics o no. Visualmente seguramente no será tan impactante como otros cómics contemporáneos que tienen probablemente más renombre (estoy pensacndo concretamente en el 'Jimmy Corrigan' y 'Blankets'), aunque el estilo visual de Tomine no deja de ser perfectamente efectivo. Y además narrativamente es infinitamente más satisfactorio. Son cuatro historias breves que me recordaron en cierto modo a los mejores cuentos de Raymond Carver, porque como estos hablan de personajes complejos y contradictorios, porque son trozos de vida, porque están despojados de todo lo superfluo (nada de florituras visuales, esta vez), porque son sobrios y secos, y porque además la última viñeta es demoledora y es la que da sentido a toda la historia. Son piezas perfectas de literatura. Y punto.
diane21's review against another edition
3.0
Not my cup of tea, really. I'll give it a three for, painfully, realistic dialog and for the illustration. And, I loved the last scene in Hawaiian Getaway. But, for the most part, but his characters completely lack redeeming qualities. That's probably the point and I'm just not hip enough to get it. That is fine with me.
twilliamson's review against another edition
5.0
Adrian Tomine is a master craftsman when it comes to delivering character-driven story. Each of the four stories contained in this book features characters whose problems are complex and whose ability to navigate those problems is fundamentally underdeveloped. Tomine's characters, as a result, feel fallibly human, and the discomfort of watching their lives fall apart is one of the ways the book emphasizes the importance of empathy.
I've often felt that Tomine's stories about broken people are much more a reflection on the listless generation of Millennials, even if Tomine himself would belong to Gen X. The stories he writes captures the anxiety of trying to adapt to a modern society that dictates selfishness as a feature of consumption. So many of his characters don't know how to do anything other than use somebody else as a means to give structure to their lives; the human social language they speak is driven by ideas of a society enslaved by the ideological processes of late capitalism.
This isn't to say that Tomine's work is overtly political, but it's seldom, if ever, completely apolitical. Instead, Tomine asks us to come along on a journey to sample brief snapshots of the complicated, unhappy lives of his characters, as if seeing their flaws in the light of day may help us make sense of our own. It's one of the many things that makes him such a clear frontrunner in the world of comic literature.
I've often felt that Tomine's stories about broken people are much more a reflection on the listless generation of Millennials, even if Tomine himself would belong to Gen X. The stories he writes captures the anxiety of trying to adapt to a modern society that dictates selfishness as a feature of consumption. So many of his characters don't know how to do anything other than use somebody else as a means to give structure to their lives; the human social language they speak is driven by ideas of a society enslaved by the ideological processes of late capitalism.
This isn't to say that Tomine's work is overtly political, but it's seldom, if ever, completely apolitical. Instead, Tomine asks us to come along on a journey to sample brief snapshots of the complicated, unhappy lives of his characters, as if seeing their flaws in the light of day may help us make sense of our own. It's one of the many things that makes him such a clear frontrunner in the world of comic literature.
robin_dh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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.