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bookblogging
Dec. 16th, 2008 12:10 amNovels/prose books:
Gillespie, Tarleton: Wired Shut: copyright and the shape of digital culture
(I read this for a paper, but it's worth reading for its own sake: this is the most insightful book about DRM, aka Digital Rights Management, that I've ever read, and I've read a few. Gillespie's a scholar of communications, which means the whole model is right up my alley, but I think it's quite readable even if you didn't major in communications).
Graphic novels/comics:
Bechdel, Alison: The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For
(the fantastic review in the NYT that prompted me to go out and buy this the very day I read it, described this as "Doonesbury with more references to sex toys." I think that this is not inaccurate. I'm at a loss as how to expand on that review, so I'll settle for endorsing this as an excellent trade for $25. Every single time I read something--anything--by Bechdel, I'm ever more impressed with her as a creator).
Cooke, Darwyn: The Spirit, vol. 1
(Cooke is one of the only comics creators around right now who evidently gets it. Cooke's distinctive retro style--in both tone and art--is the perfect match for Eisner's creation, without being any kind of aping of Eisner.).
Simmonds, Posy: Tamara Drewe
(this has a lot in common with Gemma Bovary, and that's not a complaint. I love Simmonds' books; they're beautifully written, and she really makes that prose/illustration/comics panels mix work. It's so smooth that it never even occurs to me how easily it could go awry).
Towle, Ben: Midnight Sun
(unspectacular, but a good read).
Manga:
Hayashi Seiichi: Red-Colored Elegy
(Dammit, I was all set to lift my eyebrows at this being considered a classic work of its era, but somewhere after page 85 or so, it got to me. Semi-coherent, yes, dated, yes, but oh my god, those double-page spreads stunned me, and I had to stop and stare at them. I didn't entirely connect with it, but I want prints of those pages on my wall anyway.).
Mizushiro Setona: After School Nightmare vols. 5-7
(captivating, as usual. The gorgeous art, the weird atmosphere, the premise, which feels strange and unsettling even for manga--yes, manga, the holy source of pure cracktastic oddity--the touching moments of human connection).
Takahashi Rumiko: One Pound Gospel vols. 3-4
(this must be the most concise romance Takahashi's ever written. There's nothing particularly about the formula that begs a quick resolution--she could easily have stretched this out for another eight or twelve volumes, and it would have been no worse the wear for it than my beloved Maison Ikkoku--so I'm guessing that it just got canceled. I would have been happy to read more, but this is fine, too; it doesn't come across as unduly rushed).
Tezuka Osamu: Black Jack vol. 1
(Christ, this is awesome. I knew it would be, because Shaenon Garrity said so, and she's always right about this kind of thing.).
Gillespie, Tarleton: Wired Shut: copyright and the shape of digital culture
(I read this for a paper, but it's worth reading for its own sake: this is the most insightful book about DRM, aka Digital Rights Management, that I've ever read, and I've read a few. Gillespie's a scholar of communications, which means the whole model is right up my alley, but I think it's quite readable even if you didn't major in communications).
Graphic novels/comics:
Bechdel, Alison: The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For
(the fantastic review in the NYT that prompted me to go out and buy this the very day I read it, described this as "Doonesbury with more references to sex toys." I think that this is not inaccurate. I'm at a loss as how to expand on that review, so I'll settle for endorsing this as an excellent trade for $25. Every single time I read something--anything--by Bechdel, I'm ever more impressed with her as a creator).
Cooke, Darwyn: The Spirit, vol. 1
(Cooke is one of the only comics creators around right now who evidently gets it. Cooke's distinctive retro style--in both tone and art--is the perfect match for Eisner's creation, without being any kind of aping of Eisner.).
Simmonds, Posy: Tamara Drewe
(this has a lot in common with Gemma Bovary, and that's not a complaint. I love Simmonds' books; they're beautifully written, and she really makes that prose/illustration/comics panels mix work. It's so smooth that it never even occurs to me how easily it could go awry).
Towle, Ben: Midnight Sun
(unspectacular, but a good read).
Manga:
Hayashi Seiichi: Red-Colored Elegy
(Dammit, I was all set to lift my eyebrows at this being considered a classic work of its era, but somewhere after page 85 or so, it got to me. Semi-coherent, yes, dated, yes, but oh my god, those double-page spreads stunned me, and I had to stop and stare at them. I didn't entirely connect with it, but I want prints of those pages on my wall anyway.).
Mizushiro Setona: After School Nightmare vols. 5-7
(captivating, as usual. The gorgeous art, the weird atmosphere, the premise, which feels strange and unsettling even for manga--yes, manga, the holy source of pure cracktastic oddity--the touching moments of human connection).
Takahashi Rumiko: One Pound Gospel vols. 3-4
(this must be the most concise romance Takahashi's ever written. There's nothing particularly about the formula that begs a quick resolution--she could easily have stretched this out for another eight or twelve volumes, and it would have been no worse the wear for it than my beloved Maison Ikkoku--so I'm guessing that it just got canceled. I would have been happy to read more, but this is fine, too; it doesn't come across as unduly rushed).
Tezuka Osamu: Black Jack vol. 1
(Christ, this is awesome. I knew it would be, because Shaenon Garrity said so, and she's always right about this kind of thing.).
