Blankets
2003
- nyt:paperback_graphic_books=2011-12-10
- long now manual for civilization
- teenage boys
- families
- brothers
- first loves
- catholic boys
- coming of age
- teenage artists
- comic books, strips
The story
Loosely based on the author's life, chronicling his journey from childhood to adulthood, exploring the people, experiences, and beliefs that he encountered along the way.
What it’s like
Heavy black-and-white ink with dense crosshatching, the pages alternating between tight gutter-to-gutter panels and full-page spreads of snow, pine and moonlight, so the book feels like it is breathing at two speeds. Thick, textured linework gives the faces a soft, pressed quality, and the winter scenes carry a cold, hushed stillness that makes reading them feel like sitting near a radiator while snow falls outside. The prose is sparse and confessional, mostly in hand-lettered captions and quiet dialogue, and it is best read slowly, one chapter at a time, on a grey afternoon or late at night with a single lamp on. Its vibe is tender melancholy with flickers of warmth: childhood cruelty and religious fervor sit beside first love in a cabin in the snow, and the emotional register stays raw and sincere without tipping into melodrama. Intensity is low to moderate: there is no gore, and the hardest material is emotional, including a rough, bullying household, sexual awakening handled with tenderness and some frankness, and a sibling's fraught relationship with faith. For readers who want an intimate, unhurried coming-of-age story, drawn with real craft and a wintry, achingly personal atmosphere.
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