Fun Home

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel is a beautiful autobiographical graphic novel. Her strengths aren't just in prose or artwork, but the perfect marriage of both. It took Bechdel seven years to complete the piece due to her tedious and specific work flow (see video below), however, I believe it was well worth it. I literally can't wait to see what she creates next.

Alison tells her own story, giving great detail to everything from the Victorian funeral home her Dad spent more attention on than her, to the styles of clothing and the New York skyline from Greenwich Village during a family trip. I found the coming of age story to be almost haunting in it's style. While parts were funny, other parts were almost unbelievably awkward. Her references are mostly literary, it being one of the few ways for her to communicate about her (and his) homosexuality. Some readers may find the references elitist or unnecessary, but with basic knowledge of what she is referencing, (The Odyssey, James Joyce etc.) and a few trips to wikipedia and the dictionary for contextual information I found they added depth and intelligence to her narrative. Communicating to her father in this way (though books) was one of the few ways she was able to navigate her relationship with him in her adolescence and early twenties.

 Even though ultimately this book is a story of a gay woman's childhood and the way that impacted the relationship she had with her father and his death, I think that most readers will be able to relate to her family struggles in one way or another. I believe the way Bechdel took such care in crafting each element of the story really radiates through the whole piece, everything is there for a reason, everything has significance to her. The journey from confused child to adulthood and the realization that your parents may not be the model way to live your life is something everybody has to go through. I liked how she started on a good memory. Playing airplane with her Dad, she felt loved and uneasy and did for the rest of his life. But as she grew up she found confidence in who she was, something her father never found.

There was somewhat of a double narrative happening in the book. The dialogue was what was happening in the scene, as it was happening. But the narrative was from the perspective of her now, as an adult. This device really helped cement her perspective both past and present.

Maus

Maus deeply effected me. I loved the way Art Spiegelman interlaced the two storylines, the one taking place in the present focusing on his less than perfect relationship with his father and the recounting of Valdek's experience as a Polish Jes during Nazi reign. I believe this manipulation of the narrative is particularly important to the success of the piece because it helps remind the audience that we hear from Vladek comes second hand, the story he tells in through a filter. Art struggles to not only write his book truthfully, but simply just to tolerate being around him.

I particularly liked the way Spiegelman characterized the people, instead of humans he depicts them as animals. This device really establishes the divides between different groups during World War II. The Jews being mice comes from Nazi propaganda actually used during the time. But it also really establishes not only the way Nazi's looked at Jews as less than human (they're literally vermin) but I believe it also helps support the way the Jews looked at themselves, perpetually caught in a 'game' of cat and mouse. Not only are the Jews mice, Nazis and Germans are depicted as cats. The symbolism, though when described to someone who doesn't read comics seems almost belittling to the subject, it works flawlessly. The races aren't squeaky clean representation, there is depth and substance to each animal. Polish people are pigs, Americans are dogs, not doves and eagles which may represent honor and redemption. Each animal race reminds the audience that each side of the Holocaust had it's flaws. I don't think it blames anyone, but it's simply a truth not to be forgotten. Vladek himself is not without prejudice, he has a racist rant at one point over Art picking up a black hitchhiker, he refuses to talk to him in English and automatically assumes he will steal their groceries.

The sophistication of Maus is immense, there are so many details and levels to each decision made in the book. Each S in the dialogue is the lighting bolt from Nazi SS. When Anja and Vladek go into hiding their path looks like a Swastika. These small details are so have a great impact on the reader and reminds us that this event and this time in Vladek's life has influenced Art's entire existence. Part of what makes Maus so good is that it's so honest and refuses to look away when experiences and relationships get tough. Coinciding with Vladek's story is one of a son who can't stand being around his own father, who has endured so much. Art struggles not to love his father, that is evident, but to accept him with all his flaws. He blames him for his mothers suicide, the guilt he feels for being the child that lived, for never being able to truly understand what he went though so he could survive. This raw nature of the piece resonates with each page, piece of dialogue and brushstroke. I don't know if Art ever got through all those issues that while his father was alive, but I think that Maus is truly a labor of love and we as an audience benefit from his confessional honesty.