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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Plays Out Much Like a Small Movie,
By
This review is from: Refresh, Refresh (Paperback)
Danica Novgorodoff set a pretty high standard for herself with the gorgeous Slow Storm, last year's poignant work about crisscrossing lives that converge in the onslaught of a huge storm. Just as she showed there, she has an ability to capture the small nuances of human emotion in little movements and facial expressions, a talent she brings to her latest, Refresh, Refresh, an adaptation of Benjamin Percy's prose short story of the same name. (A movie based on the book is in the works, so the story has hit the trifecta of cultural touchstones.)
Refresh, Refresh takes place in rural Oregon. It marks the time three teenage friends spend together as they struggle with growing up without fathers and trying to define for themselves just what it means to be a man. They live in a town where most of the adult men have gone off to fight in Iraq, and they know, as they count down the minutes till graduation, that they will be expected to do the same. Or not. Life is full of possibilities. But when you change the plan, the one that seems to be carved in stone, you're not only defining yourself and your own views on life--you're also making a statement about the decisions of everyone else surrounding you. The title refers to one of the constants in the boys' lives: refreshing their email to check for news on their dads. As they await news of their fathers' fates, they come closer to their own. Refresh, Refresh, fittingly given its background, plays out much like a small movie, with Novgorodoff using the pages as her own personal cinema. It's beautifully done, and the story itself offers a perfect meshing with her talents. -- John Hogan
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sad but beautiful,
By
This review is from: Refresh, Refresh (Paperback)
I don't really know how to write a review of this book, which I guess is why it took me so long to do so. It's so sad, all around, and so hopeless in so many ways. The three boys that are at the center of the story aren't the only ones affected by the war, most of the town is, so there isn't really anywhere for them to go to get away from the worry and fear that they themselves feel. Each of them deals with it in their own ways, coming together for their fights. The prevailing feeling is pain. The fights just make that pain physical, shared, and visible.
Most of the story is told through the artwork. The dialog and text are pretty sparse. It works so well in this graphic novel that I can't imagine the short story it was based on. The lack of words make the faces and feelings take on so much more meaning and, in the end, the feelings are what this book is about. And it's beautifully drawn. The images pulled me into the story in a way that I don't know if the short story would have. Anyway, I really thought Refresh Refresh was very good, but I know that I'm not doing it any kind of justice here. Just trust me, it is well worth the read. Book source: Philly Free Library
3.0 out of 5 stars
I really wanted to love it,
By
This review is from: Refresh, Refresh (Paperback)
But everything about this seemed contrived by the end. To summarize everything with the kid repeating the same exact mistake his father had made is complete propaganda. Like war is the ultimate calling. Nicely illustrated, sometimes moving, ultimately a letdown for me.
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