kurtwombat's review
4.0
I likely will be the only person mentioning Zora Neale Hurston’s THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD when reviewing this graphic novel, but it kept coming to mind. There is a passage at the heart of that wonderful book that describes humanity as once being one great glittering mass that jealous angels beat down into tiny bits of sparkle, buried and lost in the mud that still sing out and seek each other to be whole again. A lovely description of how we as humans clutch at many things to try and make ourselves whole, often to our own detriment—sometimes to our own destruction. The narrative of THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD takes the main character many places, but ultimately she ends up where she started—though wiser and stronger for the journey. In LUNA PARK, this circular pattern is repeated toward no good end for its characters. While Hurston’s work retains hope despite admitting a certain futility, LUNA PARK seems only to despair. The desperation that drives it’s characters to find each other creates a dark inescapable momentum that carries them past the finish line into another lap ‘round the track. The joy in this joyless world is in the vivid rendering of the journey—particularly the dark and lovely art work of Danijel Žeželj. The subtle distinctions that make each face unique—specifically the three significant women in the narrator’s life—all dark, lovely and strong yet individuals. The whole book is a dark passage, the use of partial light throughout gives the book the feel of memory—smothered and inescapable. Enjoyed the writing as well, conveying a lot with a little. The dialogue was both natural and foreboding and aching with grief. Choices once made are often inescapable, linking personal history to moments of world history gives them the feeling of destiny. A looping narrative could feel redundant or like a trap, but each journey through LUNA PARK feels like a fresh hell.
wolfdreamer's review
3.0
Too abstract and bizarre to make any sense. The best thing about this book is the artwork, which paints a surreal portrait of this dark and dreary world. Unfortunately, the story suffers. The characters lack the kind of depth expected in a story so glum and tragic. I should feel for their situation, but I just don't. And the ending...um... I get it, but it don't get it. At least not enough to enjoy the book.
jasonfurman's review
4.0
An excellent graphic novel. Much darker than Kevin Baker's prose novels, about a low-level Russian mob enforcer in Coney Island who was formerly a soldier in Chechnya. Although most of the "action" is in Brooklyn, it constantly drifts back to wars throughout Russian history. His father and grandfather and great grandfather fought in other Russian wars -- and recall wars from still earlier periods. Each of these is a series of betrayals, of women, by women, and all ending up badly for everyone. And the artwork is haunting.
superfamoustia's review
Really looking forward to this! The art looks great, and I really enjoyed Kevin Baker's historical novel, Dreamland. Old Coney Island is a fascinating setting...
* * *
Finished. This is MASTERFUL. Seriously...fans of graphic novels, please put this on your list. Don't read anything about it, just read it.
* * *
Finished. This is MASTERFUL. Seriously...fans of graphic novels, please put this on your list. Don't read anything about it, just read it.
jhstack's review
2.0
Very circular. The present mirrors the past which mirrors the past which is all in the head of ... well, I'll keep that a secret if you choose to read it.
laughinglibra84's review
4.0
There are at least one or two full spread scenes that are amazing. I loved most of the sepia strips of story. It started out as a really good "Fool me once" story. Then came some historical scenes, which were great until it became the whole story. I get where Kevin was going with in the theme, it was just too many war scenes than I expected.
ulabear's review
3.0
Read for Adult Popular Literature as a graphic novel selection. Beautiful and raw art, kind of confusing story, though.
eleneariel's review
4.0
This book kind of broke my brain, but not for the twist ending (I'm so proud of myself: I picked up on the first subtle clue). Parts of it were staggeringly beautiful, and more of it was staggeringly heartbreaking.
I wish the art had a little more definition, but that's just personal preference. It's strong and evocative and suits the story well.
The story itself isn't what it seems at first and ultimately asks the question: is humanity doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again?
I wish the art had a little more definition, but that's just personal preference. It's strong and evocative and suits the story well.
The story itself isn't what it seems at first and ultimately asks the question: is humanity doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again?
booknooknoggin's review
3.0
This story seemed to jump all over the place in the end. I understood that it was political,but it got too weird,and didn't make sense.
kellswitch's review
2.0
I debated reviewing this since I know I'm not the target audience for this book and I hesitate giving it a starred review for that reason.
I was first interested in it for the art that I saw in an article, but sadly it turns out the art I saw that interested me was pretty much the only art in the book I enjoyed.
All of the art was done in shades of gray, black and browns and in the end just sort of blurred into each other making it hard to make out what was happening or to tell who was who and it made this book very hard to read.
For me and graphic novels, something had to really pop and stand out, if it can't be the story then it better be the art, in this case for me both failed.
The story was a dark and depressing one, unrelentingly so. Which automatically turns me off most stories. After awhile it just gets boring. Oh look, a new character I get he treats the protagonist badly...and look he did! Oh look, a new plot twist..I bet it ends badly for the protagonist...and look, yes it did!
When nothing but bad things happen, it just gets old and hard to care about after awhile.
I did like the section that used a tarot deck, the images were strong and they actually used them correctly, which is always a nice surprise.
I gave this one two stars for the few images that worked for me, the nice use of the tarot and an interesting story idea, but I had to force myself to finish it because I found it boring and tedious over all.
I was first interested in it for the art that I saw in an article, but sadly it turns out the art I saw that interested me was pretty much the only art in the book I enjoyed.
All of the art was done in shades of gray, black and browns and in the end just sort of blurred into each other making it hard to make out what was happening or to tell who was who and it made this book very hard to read.
For me and graphic novels, something had to really pop and stand out, if it can't be the story then it better be the art, in this case for me both failed.
The story was a dark and depressing one, unrelentingly so. Which automatically turns me off most stories. After awhile it just gets boring. Oh look, a new character I get he treats the protagonist badly...and look he did! Oh look, a new plot twist..I bet it ends badly for the protagonist...and look, yes it did!
When nothing but bad things happen, it just gets old and hard to care about after awhile.
I did like the section that used a tarot deck, the images were strong and they actually used them correctly, which is always a nice surprise.
I gave this one two stars for the few images that worked for me, the nice use of the tarot and an interesting story idea, but I had to force myself to finish it because I found it boring and tedious over all.