Customer Reviews

I Never Liked You

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

 

 

In this age of post-modern, ironic, dconstructionist storytelling, it's refreshing to see someone such as Canadian writer\artist Chester Brown honestly recount his early life. 'I Never Liked You', graphic novel, is an excellent and enticing introduction to both Brown and the comics medium. The story and art mesh together effortlesly and all the sentimental cliches are carefully avoided. It's a quick read, which may dissapoint you at first, but, as you find yourself needing to reread it, you'll realize that it's a virtue. 'I Never Liked You' is poetic- flowing and graceful, yet meaty enough for you to dissect any line or image and learn more about what has shaped Chester Brown to make him the great artist he is today. Highly Recommended.

I love reading graphic novels, especially from the publishing company of I Never Liked You (Drawn & Quarterly). I've read maybe a dozen or so that they've put out. But for some reason, this one surprised me.

It might be because many of the things that occur in the story I can relate to, or they resemble what I was like in high school. Though, as most cartoonists are outcasts and that is often shown in their work, this doesn't make a graphic novel that special. Other aspects of the book...his mother, how he dealt with other people, etc....were what really struck me as sad. Yes I've read lots of sad stories in comics, but this one just seem to ring a little truer or deeper. It may be his minimalist approach; this lets you interpret many actions for yourself in that there is not often any definite reason or meaning behind the things that happen. Nor do you really know what's always going on in the speaker's head. These things, for me, made the book much more personal, because I was interpreting the events from my point of view, not necessarily seeing exactly how the speaker was interpreting them.

Chester Brown depicts his adolescent years with a distinct sadness and criticism. In many ways, this is a young adult's depiction of adolescence, not capturing adolescence so much as that point where you grow up enough to first realize that everyone you've ever blamed for your problems is mostly innocent and that you're the jerk. (granted some people never get to this state. THey are called sociopaths) Later on, you gain some more perspective and feel some affection for your younger nasty self. This is not that book. Chester Brown wrote this book in a state of hatred for his teenage self. You can see it in every drawing of himself as a sallow skinny jerk. You see it in his way of treating Carrie and Sky. Even the things that might be admirable like his refusal to swear are explained away.

THe Chester Brown of the book is caught between two female friends - Carrie and Sky - with Connie providing a conscience that isn't really adhered to. Carrie loves him and she's depicted as a beautiful romantic creature whose only fault is bad taste. Sky is the friend that he eats with and its obvious early on that his interest in her is her breasts. He says he loves her but it comes so fast that you know that he's simply abusing the word. As an undercurrent, his mother is slowly losing her mind and as she deteriorates, the narrative keeps her off camera as she becomes less prominent in Chester's life.

The fact of the matter is that this is a fine book about depicting a teenager who keeps his messed up emotions in check. However, it's not easy to stay so close to a repressed individual who doesn't allow himself to feel anything but the most superficial emotions.

I Never Liked You is simply a recounting of various poignant moments in author Chester Brown's adolescence. I really enjoy this sort of visual narrative and found the book to be quite well done. I sat down and read the whole thing in about an hour.

this novel is excellent. i brought it after reading the similarly accomplished 'louis riel.' of course the number of books detailing youthful angst are incalcuable, but this novel posses a quality that is so special and differnt it simply isn't fair to lump it in such a category. brown's ability to capture a sort of quiet sadness and wordless continuum of youth and suburbia is second to none. highly recommended.

As stated by several previous reviewers, there are many graphic novels about teenagers coming of age, but none do it as well as Brown in this book and it's companion The Playboy . Coming off the insanity of "Ed the Happy Clown", Brown shows how subtle a cartoonist can be in his auto-bio work. The sparse drawing and dialogue give the reader just enough without hitting you over the head. The understated beauty of the drawings work perfectly with the story told... cartooning at it's finest. And, as with most of Brown's works, repeated reading brings out understated story points that might be skimmed over upon first reading.

When dealing with a medium such as comics, you are often confronted with loud, screaming, obnoxious drawing and storytelling. With this book, Brown successfully avoids all that and shows comics can be an artform. Several of the previous reviewers (who mistakenly call this work "overrated" or "bland") should take this to heart. Or, if not perceptive enough to pick up on the nuances of Brown's work, perhaps should just stick to "Batman"...

It's always nice when a writer can depict an unflinching look at all of the most profound moments of their lives, or at least the ones that are good examples of what shapes us. I love stories about awkward moments that end up showing us more about ourselves, but this book offers nothing more than that. The art leaves a lot to be desired, and there is absolutely no story nor much of a moral here. In fact, the main character is so positively stupid that it is near impossible to relate to his irrational stumblings through life.

DON'T BUY THIS BECAUSE SOME INDIE-LOVING BOOKWORM TOLD YOU THAT IT'S GREAT. It's not. Much like many other indie comic books, it's just celebrated because it's different, and not because it's of much quality at all.

Typical adolescent angst. Accurate but nothing unusual, just normal insecurities and confusions of adolescence. No great insights, but well-written and the drawings are very evocative. Details the pain and heartbreak of teen love and rebellion.

I love self autobio's done in comic book fashion.....But, this one tends to go nowhere from the beganing to the end. One is left scratching their head wondering why Chester Brown wrote this? The basic plot that goes nowhere is that Chester is bugged by a group of bullies who want him to say the F word and S word. Some skinny chick really digs him but, cause of that age he says he loves the girl with big boobs. As a side plot that over all had mabye 6 pages dedicated to it his mom dies......It's a very fast read cause theres nothing to look at or read....Just terrible. After reading some of his work in American Splender this was just a big disapointment. If you have to fill your comic auto bio look somewhere else this one will leave you really hungry....