Customer Reviews

It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In the 1990s, many non-superhero comics were autobiographical. Cartoonists told their own stories, revealing the details of their mundane habits, obsessions, love lives, and their work. Seth did it, too, in the second half of the decade, and his story is one of the most elegant and honest.

Taking his obsession with gag cartoons and newspaper strips as a jumping-off point, Seth tells his story about looking for meaning in a rapidly changing world. You get the sense that he's worried about being pretentious (or boring), so he spices things up with conversations with his friend Chester, dating a cute brunette, visiting his mother and brother, ice skating, and smoking lots of cigarettes. There's some travel and a little detective work, too.

The images are not always tied to Seth's thoughtful narration. At times, he gives you landscapes to look at while he writes about his life. This could be disorienting, but it works very well. The words and images create an emotional effect that wouldn't exist if he narrated what you were looking at. His style is a personal variation on gag cartoons from the middle of the century, which turns out to be the perfect style for Canadian cities and suburbs.

If you're looking for something special --- maybe you want to read non-superhero comics, or you want a short novel with a twist to it --- try this book. It's perfectly suited for adults who feel a little out of place in the world.

This "picture novella" tells the true story of Seth's sporadic investigations into the life of an obscure cartoonist of the 1940's. There's nothing big or important about this tale. It's just Seth, who became interested in a trivial detail and followed up.

Seth's story arouses my sympathy. It becomes important to me because it's important to him. He meanders through his life, completely aware that he's lost and his quest is stupid, but what else is there to do? The world is going to hell and everyone's crazy; the only sane reaction is to seek out fragments of the past and find a pathway that somehow leads us back to before things went wrong. Seth is a comic book philosopher and wistful time traveler. As Seth himself admits, you've got to be something of a "navel-gazer" to appreciate his tale. If you're not, then stay away. But if you empathize with this quixotic pursuit, you may be glad you found this book.

If you have read Joe Matt's incredible confession "Peep Show", you might remember his friend Seth's words "I'm working on an autobiographical comic book, but it's not finished yet...". Now here comes the comic, but in a very different style from Joe's (so Joe had no need to feel like part of some insidious TREND).

The story traces the life of an old cartoonist Kalo, and it wraps over Seth's own life. The drawing touch of the cartoons in good old era also wrap over Seth's style. We can see the trace of Kalo and old cartoonists not only in the story, but on Seth's joyful drawing touch on rain, trains, trees, hairs, wires, a kite, a bog roll, and even the smoke of cigarette. This comic is about how our thoughts move when we draw lines. Don't stick at a single frame or single sentiment in the depressed monologue. Feel how the sequence of frames and lines are traveling with the sentiment traveling, and you can notice here is a new way of travelogue.

this is definitely one of the finest graphic novels i've read. as the world is in a frenzy over the hype that is the new millennium, there is at least one man who dreads this passing of the old millennium. this man is no other than the author, seth (whose real name is gregory gallant).

this book (collected from his comic series palookaville) is about a world that is moving too fast, changing too fast and losing it's sanity too fast. it's about the author's meditation on the past, and his disdain and hopelessness in a world that has become too 'modern'. whatever happens to the charm of the old: old buildings with authentic architecture details, hand-painted restaurant signages, etc.

all this is told subtley through the author's search for a forgotten and obsure cartoonist who used to draw for the old new yorker magazine.

the book could make a grown man cry, and it will make you think twice before you decide to buy the next latest hi-tech gadget which you might not need.

Seth is one of my favorite comic artists today. He manages to combine a distinctly personal drawing style with an involving and timely storyline, in this series about a man (based on himself, presumably) who loathes the post-modern and seeks out the past through a 1950s New Yorker cartoon artist, whose work is an inspiration and source of joy. That's the basic plotline, but the story also involves the reader in the main character's personal thoughts and his relationships, how they sometimes lead to a life lived by his convictions, but often alone.

To those who feel Seth's narratives are 'mundane': I feel sorry for you. You're missing a lot, including the entire point. The essence is in the details, and the prevalent theme that these details are so easily lost in the increasingly sped-up passage of time is certainly a significant and admirable lamentation. This book is packed with insight and genuine affection towards the idea of remembrance, which is quite different from mere nostalgia. Far from a 'rant' against modernity, it is a deftly understated meditation on what makes things worth being remembered, and appreciating what makes life, and lives, worthwhile. Also check out 'Clyde Fans', which is an even more poignant and subtle variation on these themes.

I'm glad I got to read this graphic novella by Seth as the third work and not the first which I believe many have done. This graphic work does much to explain the later oeuvre of Seth's body of work. I realize that every fiction novelist writes into their novels their own life experiences. Seth goes beyond these normal limitations; he actually creates a fictionalized autobiography with himself as the main character of the story. The complete story is set on Seth's obsession with the recent past that being in the time frame from the 1930's to the 1960's. He grudgedly puts himself in the present time set. I must believe that Seth is fixated with this historical time frame and insists on frequently visiting it. Also we find out about Seth's fanaticism of all cartoonists and his absolute adoration of the New Yorker magazine.
In reality this novella would serve as a manual for a psychiatrist to search the mind of one's desires, ambitions and the meaning of life. Well the meaning of life according to Seth. Just remember Seth intersperses real people such as Peter Arno and Charles Schulz along the likes of his fictional character of constant search in this story named Kalo. Seth bares all in this book which explains his later writings of "Clyde's Fans" and "George Sprott".
This is indeed a new way of utilizing the graphic novel format. Although I enjoyed his later works more than this work, it does serve as a basis of just who Seth really is. Five Stars!! No Problem!!!

One thing that all readers should know about me is that though I love graphic novels, I am extremely picky. However, this graphic novel was perfection! It tells the story of Seth who is depressed and feels lost in the world until he discovers an obscure cartoonist named Kalo. Though there is little information on this man, Seth decides to devote years of his life to discovering the man's true identity. He even goes as far as to find Kalo's house in a small town and visits the man's family. As he does so, he also returns home to his mother and brother and find himself traveling to his childhood house. Though this is far from being a "coming of age tale" (I hate that phrase), Seth certainly does develop throughout the story. His search does not change his identity, but it does help him understand himself better.

Though the book is set in Canada, I felt that the scenes were familiar and could be found in any country. The pictures are drawn in shade of blue and black that help illustrate the dark and depressed mood of Seth. There are also numerous drawings of houses, landscapes, and cityscapes. I found these to be incredibly interesting. In many graphic novels, I feel as if the artist uses landscapes as filler pictures for when the action is stopped. However, in this book, I felt as if drawings of these scenes were photographs of the setting. Many were bleak or lonely which, of course, reitterated Seth's view of the world.

In many graphic novels, the art will override the text. However, this book was superb in the exquisite blending of the two. Seth's observations were philosophical and I felt that they pertained to all people at any point in life. His conversations with his friend Chet, were also enlightening to his character as well to how people interact in a friendship. Though Seth was not a completely likeable character, I did find myself enjoying his company, philosophies, and observations.

If you do decide to read this book, it is extremely important that you read the ENTIRE book. At the end of the book, there are cartoons that Kalo supposedly created as well as a picture of him. Lastly, there is an "about the author" with a photograph of Seth. In order to get the entire flavor of the book, you must read until you hit the back cover!

The reason for this is because Seth makes the reader believe that there really is a cartoonist named Kalo who drew these cartoons and is shown in the photograph at the end. However, this is not true! There is no cartoonist named Kalo. Though the story of him as a man, is probably true for other cartoonists, he is a completely fictional character. Still, Seth's mother and brother are true to life. In this way, the graphic novel is semi-autobiographical and the reader must discover what is true about the author and what is not.

Clearly, you can understand why I had trouble putting this book down and would read it into the early morning hours. The story is exquiste, the pictures are divine, and the relationship between truth and lies is always an interesting debate to struggle with in a tale. I recommend that everyone go out and request this book from your library. For those of you unsure of graphic novels, this is an easy read that will not confuse you. In fact, it reads a lot more like a novella than a graphic novel. For those of you who love graphic novels (like myself), you will be blown away by the text as well as the pictures. It really is the complete package!

In the 1990s, many non-superhero comics were autobiographical. its a good whiz bang grphic novel i love it i read the digital edion

I checked out this book from my local library, after hearing it mentioned as a very well written graphic novel. I was hoping for something along the lines of 'Blankets' or 'BOPoison', but was very disappointed with a story that was never about much and never really went anywhere. It's a fictional story about a man [the author] who can't handle life, obsesses about minutia in the past, and nearly spends all of his time constantly moping about his depressing childhood and depressing life, over and over. Though he had some nice little observations, the author's character was so limp and self-obsessed about nothing that it was a frustrating read. I don't know how anyone could spend money on this, or give it a glowing review, but don't read it if you'd prefer characters who can face and struggle against life's challenges and disappointments. (ps. Go read Blankets or Pedro And Me again.)