pickStorytelling in the second person works superbly for the terror and magic. Not difficult to predict, but that's never been a problem for me. A good plot twist on its own won't make a short story survive time: this story is about keeping beauty young forever, about immortality. If the preservation of beauty beyond what is natural is a sign of the supernatural, this story is an apparition. I thought it was beautiful.
pickIt's hard to stop reading with such an enthralling story. It's not just about the Holocaust or WW2: the novel touches what it's like to live through the weight of a story that isn't yours. Every panel, even if all the characters had dainty mouse ears, felt genuine and autobiographical: weaving the horrible past we all know well with the worn present that, actually, holds equivalent amounts of truth of who Art, Vladek or Anja Spiegelman are.
pickShimamura loves reading about Western ballet. Emphasis on reading. Although he has the means, he would never watch a ballet in Japan because he'd rather live in fantasy than know the truth. No wonder he retreats into 'the floating world' of two geisha, never cares for his wife or family, & longs for beauty but never faces reality.
A novel I discovered by accident, and glad to have done so. Recommend its beautiful prose, among many things.
pickWhat sticks out about Holden was how quickly he described his younger siblings as intelligent people. Some teens my age are quick to scoff at kids: they forget they once were a child too. But Holden, as edgy as he seems, never lets go of childhood. Maybe a defense mechanism after his brother's death. Maybe it's common in all teens. I wonder: does he still wish to save Allie, or has he gone too deep,and now tries to catch himself from the fall?
