Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Witty and erudite, October 26, 2007
At last, a graphic novel for those of who read something other than graphic novels. Perhaps the next evolution in this art form.
The authors know history well enough to tweak it with sly commentary on royalty, the military, the arts and sex. A smart, funny read from first page to last.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Chronicling a familiar past that never was, June 9, 2008
The graphic novel is secure in its status as one of the twentieth century's emergent art forms; nevertheless, it has not shaken its comic book origins. How, then, does one communicate the achievement of Jonathan Prince with "Ambrogio Beccarria?" Perhaps by suggesting that this is a graphic novel that has more to do with Giotto, Machiavelli, and Montaigne than with Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, and Frank Miller. If the graphic novel existed in Enea Vico's time we would have works like "Ambrogio" to ponder alongside the woodcuts, murals, and oil paintings of the Renaissance. It is Montaigne who writes, "Others shape the man; I portray him, and offer to the view one in particular, who is ill-shaped enough, and whom, could I refashion him, I should certainly make very different from what he is." Prince's tale of Ambrogio, an opportunistic hireling in the service of the fictional Count Federigo Fabriano, portrays an ill-shaped protagonist who thieves from the living and the dead, whoremongers, and squanders opportunity for the sensual moment, but who reveals insights into the ruthlessness and machinations of fourteenth-century Italy like no other fiction you will read. Certainly, we would have him no other way.
The story is split between two actions decades apart, both set in an imaginary version of Renaissance Italy and both narrated by Ambrogio. The first is the Battle of Maladetta, a decisive contest in the deadly rivalry between the would-be usurper Ippolito Abbaglia and Ambrogio's lord. Prince guts a Renaissance battle, turns it inside out, mounts it on the wall, and leaves the innards on the ground for all to see. The second action is Ambrogio's (more active) participation in the commemorative painting that is commissioned decades later. Both sequences are intricately plotted and written with, if not a lyrical prose, an evocative style that compliments the uncompromising realism of the story. At one point early in his narrative, Ambrogio tells us, "women came running to me like lizards when the sun shines"; later, a character is described as having a "face like a closed fist." The text is filled with similar prose alongside black and white ink drawings that depict a world that blends the mythical with the real, placing the historical Pope Gregory XI in an environment populated by satyrs and the omnipresent specter of the skeletal Death. Prince's style is sly and humorous--a vision of wrinkled lines, women's hips, and cow shanks--and is as sentimental as a hawk swooping to supper.
The novel is not without flaws. It appears to be self-published (Calicuchima Press) and this is evident in a few areas that have to do with publication. The art is immaculately produced, but the lettering is inconsistent, varying between fonts for no particular reason. Also, the graphic novel not only fails to provide the reader with a prologue that introduces Prince's imaginative world, but it does not even have a title page with the author's name! This is not wholly without merit, as it does immerse the reader into the imaginary environment instantly and without compromise. But, given that there are endnotes provided, it does not seem like the idea of acclimating the reader to his world is beyond the care of the author. Also, one cannot help but think that the absence of page numbers is deliberate, but that omission's purpose is one at which I can only guess.
The back cover, which renders last what most authors would place first, promises that this volume is the first in the "Beccarria Chronicles," covering 1349-1414. I do not know when the next volume will be available or what time period it will cover, but this is one reader who anticipates its arrival with enthusiasm.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
NOW YOU HAVE YOUR SAY, April 18, 2008
Volume I of Jonathan Prince's graphic novel series BECCARRIA CHRONICLES is compelling as well as historically enlightening. The humble, sensitive character and honest perceptions of 'everyman' Ambrogio, who finds fame and love where he finds them, is drawn with the rich precision found in the finest literature. AMBROGIO BECCARIA actually reads like a graphic poem. I'm excitedly awaiting volume II to discover what seeds of pleasure and appreciation have germinated in the comely La Mutilaria.
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