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How the stories loop in and out--expertly done. The second thread is about Bechdel growing up and how she felt around her father. and coming out as a lesbian. This was very good. Highly recommended. One of the main two stories is about Bechdel's father who was a very interesting man -- accomplished renovator and decorator of old houses, director of the family-run funeral home, teacher, lover of younger men. It's a graphic novel that weaves several stories together. Yet, he presented himself to the world as straight straight straight.
One of the best books I've read in a long time. Unbelievable. This was an amazing book--an honest, personal memoir, full of fun and awkward coming of age moments, unraveling the mystery of parents, personal identity, sprinkled with literary allusions to Odysseus and Joyce, and the most touching ending I've ever read-seen. Beautiful.it brought me to tears, sobs, complete catharsis.
I was disappointed when the book ended, I wanted to read more.and look at more pictures. I was very moved by this book, and by all the drawings that showed so much detail. :) I have explored her website, and I am interested in reading more of her life.from the comic strip "Dykes To Watch Out For" I strongly recommend this book. I really liked the style the author used to tell her memoir. She used the style called 'graphic' which is an adult comic book, to put it simply.
The title refers to the family's funeral home; her father was a high school English teacher but also worked part-time as the funeral director. While her mother was not warm or open, either--she had her share of anger and resentment--Bechdel eventually develops a stronger relationship with her, too. She grapples, too, with the possibility that her father committed suicide. Many of the pictures show the children playing and laughing--including in the funeral home. In this graphic memoir, Bechdel focused on her relationship with her father.
The words and pictures then complement, reinforce, or even contradict each other, and so Bechdel uses the graphic form to add more depth to the work. In many cases, something different is going on in the pictures from what's being said in the narration. She had a good relationship with her two brothers, and she had multiple friends. Second, the pictures don't always directly illustrate the words. These resentments come out in coldness and even violence toward the children; a sterile, angry marriage; and secret homosexual affairs (sometimes with teenaged boys.But Bechdel seems to come to some understanding of her father by the end of the book, and she sees their commonalities. These central allusions focus each chapter, serving as a kind of theme or unifying principle, but not heavy-handedly. He seems to have been a very unhappy man, frustrated in his limited life, and perhaps believing that he should have had a more glamorous, artistic, and open life. First, each chapter is centered on a literary character or idea, a reflection of Bechdel's (and her father's) interest in books.
She gradually reveals his struggles with his own sexuality, as well as her own coming out. And much of the book is funny, with quirky, precise observations.There are two techniques in the book that I really liked. He was, too, an obsessive decorate and renovator. She doesn't deny his shortcomings, but she comes to greater acceptance of him as a full, complex person, just as she does of herself.Their childhood was not completely bleak, either.
But beyond the superheroes, there are some even more interesting subjects. Bechdel uses literary allusions, impactful artwork, and real emotion to bring this story to life.I have absolutely nothing in common with the writer or her father except one key thing that she brings out in the story -humanity. I admire her for her contribution to the genre - she is one of the greats. We are living in the best era in history for the graphic novel/comic genre. If you would never dream of picking up an autobiographical graphic novel by the author of a comic called "Dykes to Watch Out For" then do it anyway and read this book. He divides his time between reading great literature, running a funeral home, being a father, and cruising for underage boys. Maybe, just maybe, you will be blown away like I was.
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel is a tour de force, rightfully occupying a prominent position in the pantheon of great graphic novels. She is not self-indulgent, she is honest and pure and heart-warming.The world is a better place because of artists like Alison Bechdel. With this masterpiece, Bechdel lets us inside - she bares it all. Bechdel elevates the format with this ground-breaking book.Now let me describe Fun Home to scare you away from reading it - it is a "tragicomic" story of Alison Bechdel, a lesbian comic artist, and her relationship with her deceased, closeted gay father. I feel like I know him and I even feel some of Alison Bechdel's conflicted love/hate feelings for him.
Perhaps Hollywood has driven the renewed interest in the comic medium. As flawed as the man she describes is, I feel a sense of loss that I never met him myself. Her father is complex and flawed, part genius, part miscreant. The quality of artwork, the emotional depth, and the serious meaning in the genre has never been equaled. The setting is a funeral home in rural Pennsylvania.
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