The Secret History, by Donna Tartt is one of my favourite novels. Despite it's loneliness and rather dark theme, it really drew me in when i started university. It tells the story of a lonely boy keeping his past a secret when he starts university, and existing in a somewhat apathetic aimless cloud. He eventually becomes part of a select enigmatic group though, and the cameraderie in the book is reassuring in real life, even when things go wrong and his new friends commit murder.
The way the book is written is elegant and while not overcomplicated, it shows a certain sophisticated flourish. The world it describes really becomes your own, and you will read for hours without realising. I myself read it in only 2 or 3 sittings, purely because I was never less than fully invested in the plot and characters.
This book is an effective escape, but never a shallow one. Even when things go horrendously wrong, you still want to stay there. Nothing is perfect, but it is certainly compelling.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Scott Pilgrim
Scott Pilgrim is one of the most beloved comic series of all time. With a movie coming out soon, it is not long 'til it becomes almost universally popular.
I want to talk a little about why I love it so much.
Firstly, it's an amalgam of all the influences a great many teenage boys share. Videogames, comics, manga and rock music all form equally important parts of Scott's world. Readers of this nerdy but broad persuasion can't help but wish to live in this world. The titular 'loser/hero hybrid' is an avatar through which nerds like me can experience his world, where despite being a useless bumbling happy go lucky guy (again, much like me and many fellow nerds) he is the 'best fighter' in toronto, is the bass player for a semi-successful band, and gets the girl of his dreams, all while participating in an exciting, action packed world.
Scott constantly makes references to nerd touchstones, telling his girlfriend about pivotal X-men storylines, or choosing drinks in a shop based on their 'stat bonuses'. This makes the reader feel that special 'in-joke' feeling, which nerds treasure above all else.
Secondly, Bryan Lee O'Malley, the artist and writer, is a master of loose yet detailed art, rich with animation and life. The books are in black and white, making use of interesting textures and techniques, but O'Malley also has a fine eye for interesting colour combinations, and below is one of his prints, this one is the one I own.
Scott Pilgrim is the ultimate comic book for young losers who want to live vicariously through another young loser who is extremely awesome. The character interaction and the videogame world really suck me in, and these books are amongst the most precious I own. Also, If anyone has a copy of 'Free Scott Pilgrim' they want to sell me, however remote the chance, I lent mine out and never got it back, so I'm willing to pay a fair amount
Generation A
Douglas Coupland has long held up a mirror to the times we live in, and has eerily accurately predicted the direction our shared world culture is taking.
Generation A is his latest book, and also a distillation of the main themes of his most successful previous books, most obviously Generation X and Girlfriend in a Coma. Generation A is a predicted account of the young adult lives of the next generation, essentially an updated book using a similar framework to his previous account of aimless twentysomethings: Coupland has long had an interest in the stories his characters would write and tell. But now the world has changed. Where twenty years ago it was enough to escape into a series of mcJobs and live in obscurity, now the internet has connected us with the rest of the Earth, and our only escape is to engage with it. Coupland's old premises of nuclear paranoia and lack of ambition have now been replaced with contemporary worries: the disappearance of bees, and a readily available drug called Solon, which gives the sensation of time passing quicker and extinguishes our need for socialisation. Essentially an anti-anxiety medication, Solon throws the way forward into sharper relief: The need for us to use our interconnected lives to come together and solve our problems.
Coupland, as an artist and designer as well as an author, often nods to this with his books, and so details the font used at the end of the book (in this case, Monotype Dante) it's history, and what he thinks of it.
He has also embarked on a new venture with Generation A: customising your own books. You can change the text and colours of the cover at www.customizedcoupland.com
Take a look!
Generation A is his latest book, and also a distillation of the main themes of his most successful previous books, most obviously Generation X and Girlfriend in a Coma. Generation A is a predicted account of the young adult lives of the next generation, essentially an updated book using a similar framework to his previous account of aimless twentysomethings: Coupland has long had an interest in the stories his characters would write and tell. But now the world has changed. Where twenty years ago it was enough to escape into a series of mcJobs and live in obscurity, now the internet has connected us with the rest of the Earth, and our only escape is to engage with it. Coupland's old premises of nuclear paranoia and lack of ambition have now been replaced with contemporary worries: the disappearance of bees, and a readily available drug called Solon, which gives the sensation of time passing quicker and extinguishes our need for socialisation. Essentially an anti-anxiety medication, Solon throws the way forward into sharper relief: The need for us to use our interconnected lives to come together and solve our problems.
Coupland, as an artist and designer as well as an author, often nods to this with his books, and so details the font used at the end of the book (in this case, Monotype Dante) it's history, and what he thinks of it.
He has also embarked on a new venture with Generation A: customising your own books. You can change the text and colours of the cover at www.customizedcoupland.com
Take a look!
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Where the wild things are
Where the Wild Things are is a cultural touchstone, anyone who has read it has been touched by it, any one who was read it as a child has treasured it their whole lives. The book is brought to life by the perfect art of Maurice Sendak, and it's calm yet detailed vistas conjured a world that took root in the minds of children everwhere.
With the imminent film, it seems appropriate that this book is seeing a resurgence, and stacks of copies are being sold at HMV now, which is great for anyone who doesn't own a copy.
Of note is the brilliant wrap around cover, featuring some incredible typography, somehow expressing the entire mood of the book in a few thick strokes.
It is a great example of storytelling minimalism, with simple layouts and sparing use of text. The text itself is more of a framework for the art, a direction for the progression of the pictures, the real heart of the book. The pictures may initially not reveal much, but small implications are in every tableau, my favourite being the one time Max lets slip a slight expression of fear, the first time he meets a Wild Thing, a great sea serpent.
The book has spawned an exhibition of art by designer fans, viewable here: http://www.terribleyelloweyes.com/
I really recommend checking it out.
Hellboy (comics)
Mike Mignola has created many things, but none so accomplished or respected as his Hellboy series. Both writing and drawing the entire main series himself (up until 'darkness calls'), Mignola crafted a unique world through his mastery of the visual narrative medium.
What I love so much about his pages is the atmosphere stirred up through his timing. Dialogue is spaced through the panels in a sparse, reflective manner, simplifying the reading of the page while enriching the world it illustrates. With no huge speech balloons obscuring the art and directing the hierarchy unnaturally, the eye is free to soak in the rich artwork and vivid colours. Other comic artists will have silent panels to describe a pause for thought, or to let the environment or action take centre stage, but Mignola is unique in his employment of small square panels dotted throughout his stories at key points, containing small designs or portions of architecture, rarely of any importance to the plot, but instrumental in making the story that much more real and tangible.
Hellboy is an essential comic, but on it's own terms, bending rules and unashamed of it's origins in pulp ideas. It is a pure example of the art, unpretentious and yet fanciful and experimental.
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