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Book/Manga/Movie/TV Recs, as of 5/2/11
Monday, May 2nd, 2011 04:53 pmIn Books:
Looking for Calvin & Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and his Revolutionary Comic Strip, by Nevin Martell: This book--which is interesting, funny, and engaging--is like reading a Drawing With the Left Side of the Brain exercise; specifically, the exercise where you draw negative space around an object to get a better understanding of the object's shape, weight, and light. In this book's case, Martell is working with the biggest negative space of all; he's trying to write a biography of a man who rejected any and all offers of fame, money, and steadfastly refuses to grant interviews. Martell comes from a true fan's perspective, and cheerfully admits his fandom up front. The book's a pet project, one that took him far beyond what he thought it was going to be. In the process of interviewing everyone *except* Bill Watterson, Martell presents as true a picture as he can of the man, his cartoon, and its lasting influence on comic book art.
While I was reading this book, I found myself simultaneously impressed by and mad at Bill Watterson. I admire anyone who sticks to their principles, and in Watterson's case, the chutzpah it took to do this is evident. In some ways, I think the strip is better for it, and will stand the test of time better when it's not commodified and collectible. (As much as I love comic books, the collectibility standards drive me crazy--I'm not making an investment, I just want to read my stories, dammit!) And yet, on the other hand, I'm sort of disappointed. I am not a fan who thinks that a creator/author owes me anything; I don't obsessively try to follow the lives of authors and artists who I like. It's a nice treat if I get to meet them in person and tell them that I like their work. In the case of Bill Watterson... well, I'd just like to shake his hand. I'd like to tell him that when my sister was in 4th/5th grade and professed to "hate reading," Calvin and Hobbes were the books that got her hooked and that she poured over them on long car trips. I'd like to tell him how much I love the illustrations of Hobbes when he's stalking Calvin, or Calvin's Mom's world-weary expressions of consternation (having seen them on my own Mom's face and waiting for them to alight on my own in no doubt short order). I'd like to thank him for not selling out. A negative space portrait is certainly a beautiful thing. It's just no handshake.
In Manga:
Kingyo Used Books, Vol. 3: This delightful series that is a love song to all things manga and reading continues and includes stories about the horror manga works of Kasuo Umezu, Sailormoon, and the lives of manga re-sale agents (sedori). While the meta-plot barely gets advanced, that is not the point of these stories at all. I only wish that I could go to a really good used manga store and buy all the manga that are the subjects of these stories! Especially the out-of-print ones!
XXXHolic, Vols 18-19 and "Final Guidebook": Many fans have already lamented, at great length, the somewhat unsatisfying ending of this series, and I'm sort of reluctant to jump on that bandwagon. Yes, I would have preferred a somewhat tidier ending for all the characters, but I've given up anything approaching a clean, tidy ending with CLAMP. That's just not their style. What can I say without spoiling the whole thing? The final pages of the manga are beautiful, and classically CLAMP, with birds, smoke, and butterflies; they make the purchase price of the entire volume so worth it. The accompanying guidebook has the usual plot summary, character essays, a recipe for molten lava cake, other artist tributes, and a fortune-telling game that informed me I was most similar in personality to Himawari, which makes me very happy. I'm sorry it's over, and that certain events within the storyline happened, but it's CLAMP's party, and I was just glad to be along for the gorgeous ride.
In Movies:
Waste Land: I ending up teaching with this movie, which on the surface, sounds like a real downer: it's about the lives of the catadores, the "pickers" of recyclable material in the world's largest landfill in Brazil, and their interactions with the conceptual artist Vik Muniz, who's one of my favorite living, modern artists. However, instead of being depressing, this excellent documentary is a commentary on the transformative power of art, and the mysterious connections between people. This is also an excellent movie that stands as an antidote to "first world problems." Seriously, it's just fabulous. I'm sad it lost in the Oscar race this year, especially after seeing the effect it had on my class. 5 Stars!
On TV:
Doctor Who, Series 6: ( Spoilers for The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon )
Looking for Calvin & Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and his Revolutionary Comic Strip, by Nevin Martell: This book--which is interesting, funny, and engaging--is like reading a Drawing With the Left Side of the Brain exercise; specifically, the exercise where you draw negative space around an object to get a better understanding of the object's shape, weight, and light. In this book's case, Martell is working with the biggest negative space of all; he's trying to write a biography of a man who rejected any and all offers of fame, money, and steadfastly refuses to grant interviews. Martell comes from a true fan's perspective, and cheerfully admits his fandom up front. The book's a pet project, one that took him far beyond what he thought it was going to be. In the process of interviewing everyone *except* Bill Watterson, Martell presents as true a picture as he can of the man, his cartoon, and its lasting influence on comic book art.
While I was reading this book, I found myself simultaneously impressed by and mad at Bill Watterson. I admire anyone who sticks to their principles, and in Watterson's case, the chutzpah it took to do this is evident. In some ways, I think the strip is better for it, and will stand the test of time better when it's not commodified and collectible. (As much as I love comic books, the collectibility standards drive me crazy--I'm not making an investment, I just want to read my stories, dammit!) And yet, on the other hand, I'm sort of disappointed. I am not a fan who thinks that a creator/author owes me anything; I don't obsessively try to follow the lives of authors and artists who I like. It's a nice treat if I get to meet them in person and tell them that I like their work. In the case of Bill Watterson... well, I'd just like to shake his hand. I'd like to tell him that when my sister was in 4th/5th grade and professed to "hate reading," Calvin and Hobbes were the books that got her hooked and that she poured over them on long car trips. I'd like to tell him how much I love the illustrations of Hobbes when he's stalking Calvin, or Calvin's Mom's world-weary expressions of consternation (having seen them on my own Mom's face and waiting for them to alight on my own in no doubt short order). I'd like to thank him for not selling out. A negative space portrait is certainly a beautiful thing. It's just no handshake.
In Manga:
Kingyo Used Books, Vol. 3: This delightful series that is a love song to all things manga and reading continues and includes stories about the horror manga works of Kasuo Umezu, Sailormoon, and the lives of manga re-sale agents (sedori). While the meta-plot barely gets advanced, that is not the point of these stories at all. I only wish that I could go to a really good used manga store and buy all the manga that are the subjects of these stories! Especially the out-of-print ones!
XXXHolic, Vols 18-19 and "Final Guidebook": Many fans have already lamented, at great length, the somewhat unsatisfying ending of this series, and I'm sort of reluctant to jump on that bandwagon. Yes, I would have preferred a somewhat tidier ending for all the characters, but I've given up anything approaching a clean, tidy ending with CLAMP. That's just not their style. What can I say without spoiling the whole thing? The final pages of the manga are beautiful, and classically CLAMP, with birds, smoke, and butterflies; they make the purchase price of the entire volume so worth it. The accompanying guidebook has the usual plot summary, character essays, a recipe for molten lava cake, other artist tributes, and a fortune-telling game that informed me I was most similar in personality to Himawari, which makes me very happy. I'm sorry it's over, and that certain events within the storyline happened, but it's CLAMP's party, and I was just glad to be along for the gorgeous ride.
In Movies:
Waste Land: I ending up teaching with this movie, which on the surface, sounds like a real downer: it's about the lives of the catadores, the "pickers" of recyclable material in the world's largest landfill in Brazil, and their interactions with the conceptual artist Vik Muniz, who's one of my favorite living, modern artists. However, instead of being depressing, this excellent documentary is a commentary on the transformative power of art, and the mysterious connections between people. This is also an excellent movie that stands as an antidote to "first world problems." Seriously, it's just fabulous. I'm sad it lost in the Oscar race this year, especially after seeing the effect it had on my class. 5 Stars!
On TV:
Doctor Who, Series 6: ( Spoilers for The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon )
