Blankets: 20th Anniversary Edition

...and I've read quite a few. But first, let me tell you about a theory of mine. It is that the more complex the medium, the more powerful a message is possible. So, books, verbal, and art are all simple media, in that they are one concentrated, direct medium. All of these media have matured, in that there are the best books, the best speeches, and the best art already available. Music, graphic novels, and movies would be the next level of complexity in that they combine two forms of media. Music is the only one of these media that has fully matured, in that there is lots of music out there that is better than the best in either vocals or poetry. There have been a few movies that have transcended the separate media of photographs and literature, but really not very many. Movies is still a relatively new media, and I think that in about 20 years you will see lots of movies that are better than either of the components of photographs or literature. Which brings me to this book--this book is a land breaking book in that it finally pushed graphic novels past the point that either books or art can achieve on their own. Craig Thompson has finally brought the medium of graphic novels "into its own." And, then the Internet and "TV of the future" would be ultra-complex media. My guess is that it's about 100 years from now before anyone makes a website that's better than a good book. This story made me cry. Every chapter made me cry. I read it a chapter at a time, and savored it. I recommend that, because there is so much in this book. If you're looking to be surprised by a book, read another one. I could tell the ending from the first chapter or two, but it didn't matter. The strength of this book is in the emotions it evokes. This book did something really cool toward the middle--it portrayed perfection. Everything was perfect for just about 10 pages. I don't know how Craig Thompson did it, but he created something in this book that is larger than life, that is tangible, and that will probably stick with me forever. Maybe in a few years after I've read this book five more times, I'll figure out the magic of it and post another review and explain it all. But, for now all I can say is that I'm awed by how perfect this book is. Also, this book isn't a teenage love story. It's a story about childhood memories. It has the phantasmagoric effect of remembering. I loved it.

I don't know how to describe the way I feel about Blankets other than, when I closed its covers, it made me cry. Not because the ending was sad, because it wasn't, it was beautiful and hopeful, but because I couldn't believe what I had just experienced and I couldn't believe that it was over. For the first 200 pages of Blankets, I read slowly, immersing myself in every single drawing, every line, every word. For the last 350 pages I was consumed by the story. I have no recollection of anything happening outside of its pages. I was wholly a part of Craig's world and nothing could have drawn me out of it. Did hours pass? Possibly. I honestly couldn't tell you. All I can tell you is that I have never been moved by graphic novel like this and there are only a few traditional novels that have made me feel the same way. Craig Thompson says that Blankets came from the urge to describe what it is like to sleep in the same bed as someone for the first time. There is no sentence that sums up Blankets better than that, but there is so much more depth to it than that. Craig, the son of very religious parents, weaves two stories that have a blanket at their center: sharing a bed with his younger brother when they were children and falling in love for the first time with Raina, a girl he met at a Christian camp.. This is a book about passions (religious, sexual, familial, romantic) and how they are at once complementary and contradictory. They push and pull against one another as much as they make each other possible. When one passion cannot be reconciled with another, how we deal with the force of that disappointment eventually defines who we are. Blankets made me really think about my own religious journey. Religion is a huge part of this graphic novel and I know that that can turn some people away. At the center of the story is Craig's questioning of his faith, that until his young adulthood was a blind faith. It's honest, but it's still reverent. At the center of this novel is not losing one's faith, but being able to ask questions about it. About taking a personal journey to discover your relationship with faith, no matter what that faith or the result of that discovery may be. I know that I appreciate this part of the novel because the way Craig feels about things really mirrors my own life, but I don't think it should be a deterrent for anyone reading this novel. It is about so much more than just religion; it's one coming of age story in which everyone can find pieces of themselves. Often after finishing a novel I say, "Wow, that book made me want to go back to the front page and read it again." Well, for the first time, I actually did it. I read Blankets twice in one night and found that there were so many small things and connections that I missed after my first reading. For example, Raina and Craig begin their relationship as pen pals and at one point we see Craig draw a picture for Raina. Later, when he finally visits her house, that picture is on Raina's wall. It's details like that that truly make a graphic novel a masterpiece. But that is not the only thing that makes Blankets perfect. It's Thompson's excellent use of negative space, the recurring themes and images, like blankets and snow (blankets of snow!!), typography and so much more. Blankets will make you ache. It will make you pine for the particular way first love consumes you. It will bring you back to that particular loneliness that is high school, in all that you are forever surrounded by people. It will remind you of the fits of fanaticism that being a child and a teenager allow. Even if your life is completely different from Craig's, I challenge you not to find snippets of your own family here in both Craig and Raina's. I challenge you to read Blankets and not be moved. Please, please read this autobiographical comic: it doesn't get any better than this.

Sure, there may be a little bit of teen horniness in the story (it would be dishonest to exclude it completely) but I have never read something that so effectively portrayed the other side of the amazing feelings that come with young love. It was not fantastical romance. Not porn disguised as romance. It was just genuine real feelings of affection in the way they actually feel. And that’s just my thoughts on the romance part. I enjoyed the coming of age part even more, just struggle a little more to describe why. Also, book was in actual new condition, so kudos

This is a coming-of-age story. This is well-drawn, expressive, and nothing immoral about it. Sure, Craig slept with Raina. So? He’s human. So’s Raina. That relationship’s not gonna last long. It’s life. Why be upset with Craig ditching Christianity? It’s inevitable when the seeds of doubt fester. Remember Plato’s cave? Once the prisoner is let out, he sees the world differently. This book left out one detail though. What happens when he comes back to tell fellow prisoners about it. Anyway, excellent story. Strongly recommended. To hell what the bookburners say.

Ich war selten so begeistert von Story und Zeichenstil eines Comics, man kann ihn gar nicht mehr aus der Hand legen, so fesselnd ist die Geschichte. Kann ich nur empfehlen, auch ein super Geschenk. Es ist so liebevoll gezeichnet und so toll, dass ich mehrfach beim Lesen Gänsehaut hatte, so sehr hat mich dieses Buch berührt. Wenn man nur einen Comic haben will, muss man einfach dieses Buch haben.

Zamanında teslimat, titiz şekilde paketleme, çok teşekkürler, memnun kaldığım bir alışveriş daha oldu

A great book that is beautiful and bittersweet. Don't want to spoil it by giving away important details; but I would describe it as a John Hughes movie, accept in a book form.

Craig thompson is really good! When it comes to these kind of stories, his illustrations are also very meticulously drawn

En väldigt fin bok. Jättefint tecknad och en bra berättelse. Ett bra köp.