Customer Reviews

Mother Come Home

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hornschemeier is not the type of guy or author to go for the easy, in-your-face type of story-telling. He's in it for the more interesting subtleties that emerge from the space in between. He is masterful with the moments of intense, complicated, nameless emotions that arise from the interaction with sparse dialogue and stark illustration. He allows the reader to figure out what the reader feels, he does not condescend. I loved it.

I'm not sure what a lot of this complaining is about. Paul Hornschemeier doesn't draw like chris ware or tell stories like Chris Ware. For that I'm glad, because his is a more direct storytelling style than Chris', who has a more design first manner to his work. Hornshemeier is far more fluid and almost ambient. That said, it was not a surprise to me that part of the soundtrack to this book's creation was Sigur Ros. He is able to keep up a mood of melancholy and foreboding throughout this book that isn't something that you can enjoy in the same way as the maniacally glib Bendis, but is good and worth reading.

Phenomenonal book! The drawings are clean and crisp, but there is something about the way that the prose manages to be at once straight-forward and surreal that reminds me of Edward Gorey. Great, sad, compelling.

"Mother, Come Home" is exactly as advertised: A "quietly stunning tale of a father and son struggling to come to terms with the death of the family's mother". The dialogue is barebones, the artwork is minimalistic, and the plot straightforward yet heartfelt.

Paul Hornschemeier's artwork is clean and deceptively simple. It tells the story, and not much else...but that's okay by my standards. It doesn't get in the way of itself or make itself overly noticeable. The muted tones used for coloring are reproduced beautifully by Fantagraphics, who have put together an attractive hardcover package.

I was surprised to see that there are so many vocal detractors for "Mother, Come Home". A lot of comparisons to other artists (Ware, Tomine, et al). Comparisons to Brian Bendis's "Daredevil" run. Perhaps there's some truth to the detractors...I can't say, because I haven't read most of the works that reviewers are comparing "Mother, Come Home" to. Without those points of reference, this book stood on its own.

I read this graphic novel in one sitting, tears streaming down my face. Honest, innocent, tragic, hopeful, matter of fact. Loved it.

I'm a fan of Paul Hornschemeier's visual versatility. While it heavily references all of the demigods of the indie comics scene--Charles Burns, Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, and many of the other creators who are the defining voices of the genre--his style acts like a chameleon, never seeming to settle into any one of these aesthetics for too long. So, when Hornschemeier takes this entire visual lexicon that he has at his disposal and simplifies the heck out of it, you get some interesting results.

Mother, Come Home serves as an introductory volume to a collection of related stories that are presented in subsequent volumes that are listed in the beginning of this second edition but do not seem to actually exist. Whether or not the nonexistence of these books listed in the bibliography is part of the overarching narrative is something I'm not going to venture a guess at, but either way, this book works to construct a portrait of a severely traumatizing childhood that would undoubtedly create a very surreal, gray life if the story were actually pursued beyond this volume.

The parallels between the lonely, inwardly lived lives that Chris Ware writes about and the tale told here are very obvious, but they are not told with the same quiet subtlety. They both pick apart the tiny moments that make up tragedies, but Mother presents these in a much more obvious fashion, which may appeal to those who become impatient with deciphering little visual mysteries. This in itself is a very effective introduction to the significant depth the other comics in the genre present, which isn't always the easiest thing to dive right into. These similarities, both thematically and visually, don't go deep enough to be distracting from Hornschemeier's own narrative, and like it or not, Mother is a story that is very moving--if only because the subject matter is deeply emotional, making the relationship between the reader and its characters immediately relatable.

No one smiles. It's am emotional world presented in emotionless, static drawings and strange greens and beiges. Nothing is visually beautiful, and while all of this would seem to work against the impact of the story, it ultimately conveys a feeling of overwhelming nervousness, or waking up way too early in the morning and blearily staring into an unfamiliar world, and this is what infects you until it all makes sense. While I would not call Mother a masterpiece, as some have, it works on a level that takes some time to completely sink into, and ends on a weirdly satisfying note.

While there is no violence or profanity present, the theme of suicide and mental illness is prevalent--but treated very, very delicately, almost as if we're children who need to be protected from these aspects of life, much like the protagonist of the story itself. It is not a light read, but it feels much lighter than the works that it seeks to shadow, and should be a welcome addition to any collection.
-- Collin David

"Mother, Come Home" is Paul Hornschemeier's first graphic novel. I've read two of his previous books "Let Us.." and "Paradoxes" which were interesting and enjoyable with shades of Clowes and Ware. It follows the breakdown of the family once the mother dies leaving the father and son shattered. The father seems hardest hit - he is unable to function properly and the 7 year old boy soon assumes the day to day running of the household and acts as secretary to his father. Soon it's found out that the father has had a complete breakdown and he's taken away to be treated while the boy is taken in by his uncle and aunt.

The story is unremittingly tragic as we initially see the boy standing before his mother's grave wearing the last two gifts she gave him - a red cape and a lion's mask, two items he wears constantly. From then on we see the boy having to grow up and see too much for a child, made all the more difficult as he wears the lion's mask. He tries to keep what little there is left of his childhood only to have to put it aside to help his father. The ending contains a devastating revelation and an even sadder ending.

It's basically one very long and difficult cry of sadness throughout. It's hard to read but equally hard to put down. The vivid colours of everyday scenes and imaginative methods of storytelling contrast bleak, dulled colours of unbridled misery. It's straightforward and a very depressing read.

This is the most beautiful I have ever read, and I really mean that. This is the sad story of a young, seven-year-old boy whose mother has just died and whose father is slipping deeper and deeper into an incredible depression and how the both of them, father and son, escape wherever they can to find solace.

Buy this book twice because the first copy will be ruined with your tears.

Honestly, I sometimes feel myself close off to comics like this. The structure was so strange, it never allowed me to get involved in the story. I wanted to care about Thomas and his father's story, but I couldn't. Overall, I thought the art here suited the mood perfectly, but the story was sometimes confusing, perhaps intentionally to illustrate grief and depression. And the ending? The ending was just strange when you compared it to the rest of the book, to be honest.

Though I didn't want to talk about this because it's unfair to compare, it's really hard to ignore Chris Ware's influences on Mother, Come Home. I just like Ware's work much more. They are different beasts in terms of storytelling - Ware's most famous graphic novel, Jimmy Corrigan, Smartest Kid on Earth is huge and this is a slim book that covers a tenth of that space. All the same, if you are interested in the art, I'd recommend Chris Ware over this one.

In any case, if you are an avid reader of comics, Mother, Come Home should be on your list to read. But be prepared, it's a difficult one and one that doesn't ultimately live up to its promises.

"Mother, Come Home" breaks away any preconceived notion of what comic books are and takes you on an intense, emotion-filled journey. The art is subtly beautiful, the story is very powerful and you find yourself not only feeling for these characters but also wondering what your life could be if encountered with the same situation. Highly Recommended.