Graphically, I found
Fun House to be extremely engaging. I
think Alison Bechdel is a great artist. She draws from different angles, uses
enough color so that her images are not dry, and emphasizes facial expressions
in ways that help me relate to the characters. As I flip through the text,
every page looks different and important images, usually
realizations/reflections/clues, are made larger so that the reader really gets
a glimpse into her life. Her stories generally follow a regular pace, which is
easy to pick up on, and I thought it was so strategic the way that she created
P220-221. Looking at those small panels almost remind me of a strobe light
(haha strange parallel), but when I was looking at those panels I could really
feel the tension of that conversation because of the way she used the smaller
panels to break down time.
One of the most
difficult parts about the memoir, for me personally, were her references to
literature that I was unfamiliar with. I feel like this memoir is not nearly as
profound as it could be for a reader who is unfamiliar with Ulysses (like myself). I understand her love for English
literature and know that literature was her way of connecting with her father,
but I feel like I was unable to share that connection/profoundness because I am
unfamiliar with her literary favorites.
I like the story
because it has a lot of Layers. Some
of the layers I find interesting are:
- - Bechdel’s family work at funeral home (never had imagined how this type of work would affect a family until reading this memoir)
- Alison’s attempts to understand her fathers sexuality through the lens of her own queerness (how that leads her to critique and understand him both
- Their emotionally detached home life and how they all coped with the emotional detachment (individually – image p 134)
While reading this
memoir, I also thought there were some elements that could have been further
explored. The biggest area that I felt was missing was Alison’s empathy for her
mother. I was trying to understand why I didn’t see much empathy/exploration of
empathy towards her mom’s character. She shows us scenes where her father is
really violent towards her mother – ie. Cheating on her, calling her a “crazy
bitch” (p72) when she finds out that he cheated on her. And I think Alison does
feel for her mom a little bit, as she tells her to leave the home and that it
has been enough, but she is much more interested in unpacking her father’s
mysteries than her mother’s stories as well. I find this really interesting
considering that Alison seems to identify as a feminist lesbian (always reading
books about feminism). Maybe it has to do with Alison being a more masculine
woman that she feels like she can understand herself more through her father…I’m
not sure. But I notice that she spends much more energy unpacking her father’s
story.
- shaina patel
- shaina patel
well, lucky for you, we are reading her next one, Are You My Mother? I see the difficulty in all the references and i do believe there are a slew and too many to look up (because i don't mind working for my literature, but not this much)
ReplyDeletehowever you did salvage some story and beautiful observations from the narrative line and the graphics.
e
I agree, the references were tough! But there were a ton of layers to the story, it was easy to get caught up in the constant flow of memories and reflections. Like you pointed out, the illustrations were fantastic, and she must have spent a good amount of time on every frame. There is so much detail, but I found that it all helped to characterize the story. For example, her father's obsession with decorating really came to life through the pictures showing the elaborately furnished rooms. I also found it a little bit odd that she spent so much time reading feminist literature while seeming so much more devoted to figuring out her father. (I didn't know that the mother gets a whole book to herself though!) It will be interesting to see the story unfold from another point of view.
ReplyDeleteLucy
thank you, thank you for admitting your unfamiliarity with her references! i tell ya, a tattered copy of Ulysses ended up in my hands as a child (somehow). ask me if I remember anything from it!
ReplyDeletethe fact that she used a literary reference for pretty much every aspect of her young life is hilarious to me -- one, she's insanely nerdy for it (during masturbation? AND sex? REALLY?), two, not just that it's a familial bond, but (now) one she shares with her audience. i think it takes a pretty good sense of humor to put yourself out there like that -- to be able to reflect on your life through pages of canonical references in the same way that some of us now use Internet Memes. i hope it's not an art form that's lost on our generation!