Jorge Luis Borges
“The Aleph” is a short story (20-ish pages) by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. It’s the first thing I’ve read by him (after his works being referenced in Pazienza’s Pompeo) and it made quite an impression.
His prose is really poetic and technically impressive, using a wide range of vocabulary that you don’t see to often in modern literature. I am also of the opinion that Spanish poetry feels and flows better than English poetry as it is a much easier language to rhyme and allows for a better transmission of emotion. That said, I’m pretty biased as Spanish is my mother tongue and the vast majority of the poetry I’ve consumed was in this language (even if more than 90% of the books, comics, series, etc I read are in English). Personally, very few can compare to the works of Federico García Lorca, Luis Cernuda, Miguel Hernández, Joaquín Sabina or, returning to the topic at hand, Luis Borges (even though this isn' poetry).
I also really appreciated the metaliterary commentary and overall enjoyed his narrative style, with the story always seemingly revolving around a character that isn’t even in the story. The literary device that is the Aleph works with a very magical realism vibe to it, which I felt was quite fitting for the story at hand.
After this very positive first contact with Borges, I’m dying to check out more of his work and will be starting his Fictions really soon.
First Law Trilogy
Joe Abercrombie’s First Law is one of the most loved fantasy series of the last decade and one of the main representatives of the grimdark subgenre.
After reading book one more than a year ago (January 2020), I decided to give the series another go. I quite enjoyed book two to be honest, as the author’s work with character really shines through, but the ending to the series felt like a slap in the face, as it denies the readers any semblance of catharsis or closure. There’s no rewarding the good (less evil) characters and punishing the worse ones, it is all random and chaotic and undeserved.
Don’t get me wrong, life is usually like that, but it’s not what I was personally looking for in this story. I like this aspect in stories like Pazienza´s Zanardi or Winshluss’ Pinocchio, in which this kind of behavior and conclusions (if you can call the unfinished Zanardi to have that) are to be expected. In a long series with a big focus, I prefer an ending that feels deserved in some way or another.
So if you are thinking about picking this series up, keep in mind what you are getting into and level your expectations thus.
The man without talent
A very interesting manga that reminds me of the work of 90s revolution artist Chris Ware and later ones like Nick Drnaso, though more philosophical and with less mundane a story. It's also much less depressing than some of the works by those aforementioned cartoonist, mainly due to it not overindulging in the mundanity and lack of meaning of life (even though those themes are still present).
The semi-autobiographical style of the narrative also appealed greatly to me and it seems to be a subgenre I'm particularly fond of, especially in comic form, as I think it’s particulary well-suited to the medium.
An other aspect of the comic I found particularly interesting was the author/character's continual dismissal/rejection of the comics medium, which is not something you see often from a creator, no matter how pissed they are at the current state of the industry.
I really enjoyed the art style, as it was simplistic and cartoony but was still able to convey a wide range of emotions as well as get somewhat more detailed when the story required (an aspect I also really appreciate in my comics).
Overall, I think this is a very solid style that merges the social and mundane styles of the likes of Chris Ware with a less depressing narrative and really nice cartoony art.
Freddy Lombard
The comet of Carthage by Yves Chaland is a very interesting story that starts as a typical action-adventure-mistery but gets metaphorical as it goes on. These references reminded me a lot of the Alix comics by Jacques Martin, set in ancient Rome and sometimes involving narratives that revolve around religious cults and extraordinary events (similarly to how the coming of the comet works in this story).
The story starts as a relatively innocent murder mystery but evolves into a more complex narrative that involves historical and mythical/religious references. It also lacked any sense of humor that was so essential to its predecessors, opting for a more critical/satirical approach. This also applies to the characters and especially to Freddy Lombard. He isn’t a great detective and man of honor like Gil Jourdan, he’s not morally impeccable like Spirou and Fantasio tend to be, he’s not even all that competent at whatever it is he does. This is probably the more clashing element of this story when compared to earlier works in similar genres.
The art is a very classic ligne claire (see Tintin or Spirou), as are the character designs (see Gil Jourdan). Some people may like it, others may hate it, I am personally fond of this style as I grew up reading European comics of the Belgian school and it brings some good memories. That said, the way action happens and is drawn reminded me more of Blutch’s style in Peplum (it’s very chaotic and happens really quickly, without glorifying or overextending it). This, as well, translates to how the narrative is structured, as it jumps from scene to scene quite abruptly, forcing the reader to fill in the gaps and adding a level of abstraction to the story that was quite jarring at the beginning but I grew to enjoy.
Soft City
Chris Ware calls it a “graphic poem” and “ a four-dimensional readable image” and, after finishing it, I can definitely see where he’s coming from.
Almost wordless and spanning some 150 pages, Soft City tells the story of a world that is controlled by a huge mega-corporation and the lives of everyone are mapped to the second, leaving no free will, no real characters within its pages. It’s, at its core, a classic science fiction dystopia much like Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 or Orwell’s 1984.
The distinct aspect (one of them at least), is that the characters never stop to question the system, there’s never the thought of rebellion, the idea of change. It is a world so dark that any sort of progress is impossible, eradicated by Soft City co through media and screens and a monopoly on the job market and everything else.
The art is the most unique aspect of this work. Hariton Pushwagner was a Norwegian pop artist with an extremely colorful and surreal style that reminds one (or at least myself) of the music of guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix. But, in Soft City (at least the English edition by New York Review Comics) he uses a much drabber color palette, made up almost exclusively of blacks and whites. His people are also drawn with a very unique style, being both extremely lacking in detail but doing so in such a way that the story ends up feeling like a fever dream.
Overall, this is a comic that is experienced more than read, a phrase that makes one sound snobbish and over the top, but that is quite fitting for this tittle in particular. That said, if you need characters to get attached to to enjoy a story, then you should probably skip this one as it doesn’t really have anything to offer in that department.
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