22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great artwork. Story requires reflection., September 2, 2008
This review is from: The Alcoholic (Hardcover)
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Alcoholic is the story of Jonathan A.'s introduction to drinking and the life he leads thereafter. While he starts with alcohol, he eventually ends up with a drug addiction as well. Aside from this, he is also emotionally dependent; he finds himself particularly obsessed with certain relationships that he cannot seem to escape. Perhaps this emotional disturbance, coupled with what seems to be poor self-confidence as a teen, create the void he desperately tries to fill with his addictions.
Throughout the story, he deals with many things that other people deal with i.e., same-sex experimentation, failed relationships, death, disease, 9/11. However, Jonathan chooses to deal with stress and emotions by drowning them in alcohol or drugs. He seeks help from time to time, but it seems inevitable that he will fall back into his old ways at the first sign of stress. The saddest part of the story, to me, is that Jonathan A. manages to be successful in many aspects of his life despite his emotional and chemical dependencies. I can only imagine what he could have accomplished if not for the addictions.
Given the name of the main character and the resemblance in the artwork, I have entertained the idea this may be a semi-autobiographical work. At the very least, it would seem to be intended to make a reader consider the possibility. Such a work would fit somewhat with some of the 12 Steps - making a moral inventory, admitting the nature of wrong deeds, making amends, and carrying the message to other addicts. In the story Jonathan A. (a nod to anonymity in meetings?) says that he goes to a couple of AA Meetings at the urging of his rehab therapist, but does not find it to be something he thinks will help him. Maybe these steps are something he took away with him that he thought could help.
By far, the most wonderful part of the experience for me was the artwork. I feel the visuals and storyline are woven together well, each making the most out of using the other. I think the choice to keep it in black and white was a great one because it adds a certain seriousness and gravity that can sometimes be destroyed by the addition of color. It may also speak to the fact that the narrator sees his life as occurring in two parts - sober and not - which have great contrast. The faces of the characters convey a great deal of emotion; much more than would be present in a simply textual description. In some instances, such as Jonathan waking up inside a trashcan with his own vomit, having the visual depiction makes it both more comical and more sad at the same time.
When I read a book, I always try to wait a couple of days before I decide how I feel about it. Sometimes you cannot adequately judge the experience right away. My initial reaction to this book was that I did not find the story to be that compelling. However, once I took the time to really think about it and look at it from some different angles, I found that there was much more to the story than I originally believed. There were layers that I did not see at first, and once I realized the depth, I found that I had a better understanding of what the book had brought to me. In a sense, I feel like I have an increased understanding of what it is to be an addict and a better appreciation of the hopelessness and pain involved. I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to understand the addiction of a friend or loved one.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brutally honest, frequently funny., September 6, 2008
This review is from: The Alcoholic (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I just sat down and read The Alcoholic from cover to cover. I think I put it down once to check on the kids. Other than that, I immersed myself in it. Ames takes you right inside his world, the highs, the lows, the humiliating moments, and those rare moments of insight that each of us get in small doses from time to time. Best of all, he avoids the temptation to slap a happily-ever-after ending on it, leaving things open and ambiguous, but hopeful. A great read, and the drawings by Haspiel add a lot. The book reminded me of
Legal Tilt, which I also recommend.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Generally engaging graphic novel, August 28, 2008
This review is from: The Alcoholic (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
In this (memoir? autobiographical novella?) in the form of a graphic novel, author Jonathan Ames has chosen to tell us about his struggles through life as an alcoholic (and addictions to other drugs). While the story is engaging enough for an entertaining read, I felt there was nothing new here that hasn't been told a hundred times before by other alcoholics in other memoirs and bios (one is never a "recovering" alcoholic). More interesting are the milieu in which our hero ("Jonathan A.") resides. We have some 9/11 scenes, we have some sex scenes, we have some author-reading-in-public scenes, and some "lost weekend" scenes. All in all, a fair graphic novel--not bad at all, but not great either.
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