Meat cake

Title: Meat Cake

Author: Dame Darcy

This book was promising to me on the shelf as it proposed that it was reminiscent of the lines of Edward Gorey but alas. At least Gorey's stories make sense (even if its NONsense.)

Some of the art is nice, it is definitely of a style. 

I was hoping that it would have some good horror or alternative storylines due to the work being vaguely reminiscent of Molly Crabapple's work. Boy howdy was I wrong.

This is the first book that I have come across in a very long time that I have no issue saying is absolute rubbish. There are no real storylines, the characters are extremely lackluster (though some had promising names), and the whole thing is a confusing mess. 

Its not the kind of mess I like.

There are some things that I do like to be confusing or nonsensical or bizarre... but this does not to appear to have been done on purpose and is very much more the kind of random things one would write/draw in class on the sidelines of homework to pass time.

I definitely will not be reading more of Miss Darcy's work.

I may from time to time check in to see what non comic based art she has done though as her visual style is aesthetically pleasing.

She does not appear to carry the version of the book that I checked out from the library, so 

find that here: https://www.amazon.com/Meat-Cake-Dame-Darcy/dp/1606993461/

ISBN: 978-1-60699-346-0

Gold pollen and other stories

Title: Gold pollen and other stories

Author: Seiichi Hayashi

Gold pollen and other stories has some interesting visuals. The tale of Gold pollen itself has a Goddess who takes form as a giant skeleton which is based on the Gashadokuro of Japanese lore. Others are just as striking due to the two tone printing process.

The stories themselves I find lackluster and I am a firm believer that the story/words within the visuals should be able to tell you almost everything you need to know. You should not require an essay to explain what just happened in the story (unless its a cultural thing. Which these are not.)

This book is split into two parts, the manga (majority) which is read in the traditional right to left, and at the other side the essays explaining the manga which are read traditional american... left to right. There is no boundary in the middle telling that this switch over has occurred and the way I figured it out was the formatting and the roman numerals that began to descend as I tried to read the (at the time) nonsense. The *back* of the book has the page that explains which format should be read how. I think this would make more sense in the center of the book betwixt. Forming the boundary between.

While a few of the images in the Gold pollen story were inspirational to look upon (as I love yokai, the things that go bump in Japan's night...) This book overall did nothing for me, and I can barely tell you what the stories were about at all.

It is chock full of symbolism that is not clear for those who have not studied Japanese culture, and to people who have not, i'm sure it comes off as READING an Andy Warhol painting. 

The essays held therein are ESSENTIAL for those people, and are what I found more interesting than the actual manga.

Seiichi Hayashi is a well known artist from the 60s and 70s in Japan. His work is the Japanese portion of "pop art"

I do not think I will be reading any more of his comics, but I may look at them for visuals in the future.

Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Seiichi-Hayashi-Pollen-Other-Stories/dp/1939799074

ISBN: 978-1-939799-07-4

Among the Living

Title: Among the Living
Author: Jonathan Rabb

This was a really well thought out book. I didn't mean to read another holocaust book so quickly but a glance at my library renew list showed that it is due today and cannot be renewed due to other holds on it.

So I read it today.

This is the story of a man named Yitzhak who is a survivor of the holocaust. After he gets out of a sanatorium he travels to Savannah, GA to find his last remaining relatives and start his life anew. Life blooms with a few hiccups along the way, and new love. Soon the least expected thing imaginable happens and he finds himself face to face with the girl he thought dead: his fiance from before the concentration camps.

This was a descent read. I rather liked it. 

Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Among-Living-Jonathan-Rabb/dp/1590518039

ISBN: 978-159051803-8

My Russian grandmother and her American vacuum cleaner: a family memoir

Title: My Russian grandmother and her American vacuum cleaner: a family memoir
author: Meir Shalev

This book was a hard read for me because of the authors' writing style. Meir Shalev does a good job explaining the family tales that surround the mystery of his grandmother's vacuum cleaner as well as the fundamentals of what the village she lived in was like. He does a decent job at showing what his family life was, and how everyone came about in telling family stories from their own viewpoint but all around the central hub of his grandma Tonia.

I do not think I could have hung around with his grandma, much too structured in ways that I find unfamiliar. She was obviously the keystone of his and his families lives and a legend in the area.
Strewn throughout this memoir among glimpses of grandma Tonia, stories that are passed down either through physical practice (industrial cleaning of the family houses) or through tales passed down (including that of the title piece... Her American vacuum cleaner.).

The story of the cleaner however holds the whole thing together and continues through to the end of the book itself, in a rather surprising ending. (In fact, there is a point near the end that made me both laugh out loud and cringe dealing with the woman and her "sveip-per")

Overall it was an okay book. I think if I had been able to skip straight through and only have the tale of grandma Tonia's vacuum I would have liked it more, but I understand that in being a memoir it was not the only part of the tale to tell. I probably will not read any more of the authors works due to his writing style which is too jumpy for my brain to be able read properly (linear is WAY easier for me to retain). That should not dissuade you though, as like I said, the book itself a okay.


Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Grandmother-American-Vacuum-Cleaner/dp/0805242872

ISBN: 978-0-8052-4287-4

KIKI de montparnasse

Title: KIKI de Montparnasse
Author: Catel & Bocquet

This book is based on the life of a real person. (As you can see in the above image, the photo to the right is the REAL Kiki, also known as Alice Prin. She was a lively woman, who happened to live a life full of art, prostitution, cocaine, and DADA. She seemed to enjoy herself thoroughly and to have lived at the edge of her seat in an "I do what I want" fashion. 

There are no real words to describe how she was, though this comic does an excellent job of portraying her in a proper timeline. She had not the best of morals, but she isn't painted in a bad light. More of that she had a joy of life that let her go seamlessly about her way.

I was surprised at the end of the book to find that she was a real person. (Though the artists mentioned throughout I already knew to be real.)

Find it here:  https://www.amazon.com/Kiki-Montparnasse-Catel-Muller/dp/1906838259

ISBN: 978-1-906838-25-6

ONCE

I'm a sucker for books having to do with the holocaust, so this is easily another one where the cover drew me to it.

Title: Once
Author: Morris Gleitzman

This is part of a trilogy, which I will be finding the other books in the series to read. It was a bit of a hard read for me because it is from the point of view of a very young child. That being said after you start reading it from that standpoint and block out any outside knowledge of the holocaust, it becomes a gripping tale of confusion and trying to look on the bright side of things.

The view point is that of a ten year old polish Jewish boy who has been sheltered thus far from the holocaust. He is living in a catholic orphanage waiting to be reunited with his parents during 1942.

Soon he runs away and embarks on his own, seeing through his unspoiled childs eyes, learning slowly the terrors of what lay in store for people who shared his faith. 

This is the story of a very strong little boy, and i'd say that it is safely juvenile fiction. It might be highly upsetting to children as they continue reading it though because as he starts realizing what is happening it all becomes very clear, the Nazi agenda. 

I really love that it is from the standpoint of such a young child. It really brings a whole new aspect to the reality of the holocaust and may even drive the point home more of: these were PEOPLE. People just like everyone else, who were singled out. To them, they were no different than anyone else. Just as if you were to have this happen. There would be no real understanding from your part, and definitely not from the children. It's terrible that it happened in the first place, but its a good lesson to look back upon so that we do not repeat our mistakes of the past. 

Find it here:  https://www.amazon.com/Once-Morris-Gleitzman/dp/0312653042

ISBN: 978-0-8050-9026-0

Threadbare: clothes, sex & trafficking

Trying to keep up with the blog, it is difficult. Four years ago it would have been much easier, before all the memory problems set in. I used to be able to read very quickly and retain everything. Now i'm relegated to 4 hours for a simple manga, and a day for a thin book. Makes me a bit frustrated.

I used to be able to go and pick up 40 odd books from the library and finish/return them within the week. Now... Not so much.



Today's book is:

Title: Threadbare: Clothes, sex & trafficking
by: The Ladydrawers and Anne Elizabeth Moore

This is a comic book style informative project. It reminds me very much of the comics you see in asia that explain everyday scenarios and objects. (A few of those books were available at the library this time around so I was able to get those as well. Those are always exciting to me -yes i know. So bland. haha) 

There are a lot of artists in this one, I'll write out the names of the ones it lists on the back of the book. (pardon me if I miss any)  

Leela Corman

Julia Gfrorer

Simon Haussle

Delia Jean

Ellen Lindner

Melissa Mendes

This is a pretty rad book. It looks into the intertwining aspects of the sex industry, womens rights, and the clothing industry. 

It has four sections broken up into 5-6 comics apiece; with notes at the end of each "chapter" so that you can look up the topics on your own, a sort of bibliography. 

The sections are:

The United States

Austria

Cambodia

The World

It seems to start off with the modeling and clothing industries and slowly niggles its way into the more taboo topics of prostitution and sweatshops. There are a lot of things that I learned reading this book, the majority of which were found in the Austria section. I just had no idea. 

This book is full of taboo and controversial topics but is definitely a  good, informative read. I will be looking up other books by this group of writers. =)

Find it here: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/6190/

ISBN: 978-1-62106-739-9