I have heard it said that American tourists to Ireland are invariably tracing their relatives and that the Irish think we are an interesting lot given this geneological mania and subsequent identification as Irish ourselves thanks to our ancestors. I do indeed have Irish blood in my veins (my great-grandmother even had the requisite red hair and fair skin and I suspect she's the source of the freckles that were the bane of my existence as a child) but I don't know that that accounts for my attraction to all things Irish. I think rather that I've romanticized the vibrantly green hills and fields dotted with white sheep that dominate postcards of the country. And given that a British friend mentioned the sheer amount of rain necessary to keep those hills so beautifully green, I might just keep reading about the Emerald Isle rather than visiting it. Thankfully, visiting it in the pages of one of the books in this series is perfectly delightful.
The second book in the series, this is a charming continuation of Williams' and Breen's life in rural Ireland. In their first book, they chronicle their first year living on the small farm in Ireland that was once Christine's grandfather's, shedding their New York existence, and learning the rhythms of the land and farm in their tiny Irish hamlet. This second book then is a more settled account of this quietly fulfilling life they've chosen. Despite the overall feeling of contentment that blankets the writing, there are moments of unhappiness too because such is life. Christine is perhaps not as wedded to staying in Ireland forever as Niall seems to be and both of them are devastated by the news that they are unable to have children. Their decision to pursue adoption is considered, dreaded and anticipated, and becomes a strong thread running through their everyday narrative. There are still moments of learning as one year on the farm has not unveiled all the surprises of rural life and husbandry.
Written mostly by Williams with occasional entries and art work from Breen's diary, the book is a gentle and lovely read. Williams invites the reader not only into their lives but also into their hearts, sharing their deepest hopes and fears as they go through the adoption process. The descriptions of the farm, the animals, and daily life are well-drawn and easily pictured. The contrast of their life now with life in New York, highlighted by a return trip to the city when the first book is being published, serves to reconfirm their choice reminding them of the oftentimes harried, dazzling life they relinquished for their small patch of green Ireland. There is a calmness and a settled happiness to the writing here, offering the reader a quiet, peaceful read. I am quite looking forward to reading the next one.
When my dad gave eight-year old me a red leather copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I treasured the beautiful book both for its physical appearance and for its fantastical story. As I grew older and visited Wonderland again in a kiddie lit class in college, I learned a bit about the story behind the story. Alice Liddell. The girl for whom Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland. The waif in many of the decidedly un-Victorian photographs that Charles Dodgson took. A hint of impropriety. And really that is the sum total of what I knew about "the real Alice" before I started Benjamin's fascinating novelization.
Opening with an aged Alice, immediately after the sale of her original manuscript, reflecting on her life as the inspiration for the famous nursery tale. How it has been tiring to be the object of such speculation. From thence, traveling back in time, Alice narrates her life starting with her early childhood in Oxford where her family was intimately acquainted with mathematics teacher Charles Dodgson. Alice's childhood and relationship with Dodgson are drawn in shimmering, sympathetic detail. The friendship between the adult Dodgson and the child Alice starts off innocently but eventually becomes fraught and captured through innuendo, causing a shiver of distaste, worry, or foreboding to travel down the reader's spine. The break between the Liddells and Dodgson comes without explicitly speculating on the reason behind it but suggesting, as the rumors of the day did, that there was ultimately an inappropriateness to Dodgson's relationship with Alice.
Whatever the cause, Alice Liddell did not forever remain the child Dodgson immortalized but indeed grew up and lived out a life that was certainly not the stuff of fairy tales. Benjamin chronicles Alice's adult life, the disappointments and losses as well as the late dawning realization of love and what it has meant to her to be, her whole life, "that Alice."
Using what is known for certain about Alice's life and adding in reasonable speculation, Benjamin has created a nuanced and beautifully written story. Alice is a sympathetic character. Dodgson comes off as somehow both innocent and lecherous. And the tale as a whole is not only readable but fascinatingly addictive. Having Alice narrate her own life gives a poignancy, bittersweetness, and retrospective feel to the novel as it retains the Victorian sensibility that was likely a cornerstone of the real Alice Liddell's entire life. Beautifully rendered, if you've ever wondered about Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell, wondered what life was like on this side of the looking glass, this is the book for you.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to review.
I read the first Persepolis in an effort to overcome my dislike of graphic novels. And although my opinion of the genre didn't change, I decided to go ahead and read the second of these memoirs (mostly because I already had it waiting for me in the house). It also didn't change my opinion of graphic memoirs. I think I'm just not destined to like them much. It's not a snobbery thing. I appreciate how difficult it is to be succinct, draw aesthetically pleasing pictures, and manage to marry the two in such a way that they tell a complex and nuanced story. I just don't enjoy the result. A personal failing perhaps, but there you have it.
Persepolis 2 tells Satrapi's story from her early teens when she left a war torn Iran for Austria, through her unsettled and rootless life in Vienna as she faced culture shock, experienced racism, and rebelled against so much, to her eventual return to Iran and her family, her education once home, her marriage, and her eventual decision to leave Iran forever. As in the first book, the heavy, dark illustrations underline the bleakness of Satrapi's experiences. She endured much at an age long before anyone should be asked to shoulder such responsibility and the unsophisticated, simple artwork conveys that.
Her tale is a wrenching one but for me, the drawings detract from the sympathy I should have been feeling. And I couldn't shake the feeling that there was much left out, especially anything positive, at least in part because of the constraints of graphic novels. Overall, everything about the story felt detached to me. I know that both Persepolis and Persepolis 2 have earned much acclaim but they just didn't move me. Whether I would have appreciated the story told in a more traditional novel format I can't say, but I definitely think that graphic novels are not for me.
I looked at doing this challenge last year but never did commit. And this year given how many outstanding challenges I still haven't completed, it seems counterproductive to add another one in at this stage but I'm going to do it anyway. Suzi at Packabook is taking over this challenge where participants each read a book or books set in the country of the month. Since I am joining a tad late, I have about two weeks to read something set in Afghanistan, October's country. Shouldn't be too hard to find something appropriate on my shelves! In any case, here's the rest of the 12 month challenge countries:
October – Afghanistsan
November – Turkey
December – Greece
January – Iran
February – England
March – Ireland
April – Jamaica
May – Pakistan
June – Russia
July – Spain
August – Thailand
September – India
I know I can find some great reads for all of these places. Want to join in? Just click the link above to Packabook and sign yourself up too!
