Reading update

Reading update:

First, a list of graphic narratives (or, something similar to that). These things are addictive and I’m making myself stop (cold-turkey).

Graphic books:
It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken by Seth
The Fixer by Joe Sacco
A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Against Pain by Ronrege Jr.

The Seth and Sacco books were disappointing. Seth, primarily because it wasn’t what I was looking for — an a/b narrative, in a stricter sense of the genre. Sacco’s book is interesting, but his arrangement of the frames disorients the reader (which might very well be the point) but I also am not drawn to his artistic style. Also, I suspect he, Spiegelman, Pekar, Crum, et al work off of each other in a little comix boys club, which is off-putting to me (not to mention my disgust for what too often seems to be an acceptance/tolerance for anger and violence; these folks might be in need of anger management classes…. But, of course, Maus is a must-read. And, Sacco’s work on the Bosnian war is quite important; I’m just not sure his aesthetics are as well-thought out as say — Bechdel, Satrapi, or Spiegelman’s work.) Tatsumi’s brilliant — this work just wasn’t quite what I was looking for (again, I’ve been seeking out a particular sub-genre in this field). Ronrege’s Against Pain, however, is fantastic. Avant-garde and difficult to read sometimes, but very very interesting artwork there. Though, there’s nothing autobiographical about his cartoons, if that’s something you’re hoping to find.

Other reading (not comprehensive):
–Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
–James Dawes, That the World May Know: Bearing Witness to Atrocity. Crazzzy awesome book. I’d only read an excerpted chapter before, which *did not* do justice to the entire book project. Highly recommend!
–Language of Comics
–Felman and Laub’s Testimony: Crises of Witnessing in Literature, Psychoanalysis, and History. An oldie, but goodie. Also, essential for trauma theory.
–Also numerous articles here and there. Too disbursed to list them all, but there are several interesting pieces from the latest PMLA on the topic of war.