Customer Reviews

Swallow Me Whole

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

 

 

Until this book, I hadn't read anything in comics (I only read alternative comics) that deals with such a dark and unusual subject as mental illness, let alone one illustrated in such fluid and dreamy images. Nate Powell has a very inventive and cinematic way of arranging his panels. The narration at times is short on text, which made me pause and think. Then I was taken aback by the instensity of the story once I realized what just happened. This book is pure literature and art - a well-deserved Eisner winner.

Powell does it again: a low-key but sensitive narration, characters to care about, and strong, expressive drawing. As in other of his stories, Powell addresses the hormone-lashed insanity of teen years. This time he adds a complex family situation, though not as complex as some you might have seen, and another element: incipient schizophrenia. We don't see enough of Ruth's story to know how it ends. Schizophrenia can be a tragic, debilitating disease or, with modern treatment, just another medical condition to manage. Even if we don't see how Ruth's life plays out, we care. Powell really makes it easy to care about this bright, principled young woman.

The art in this black and white comic spans a range of styles. Powell uses the whole range of light and dark to convey the sense of each moment. His linework handles each scene well, too, from schoolroom tedium to surreal renderings of the world Ruth sees. As with other of Powell's graphic novels, linear storytelling appears as only a minor component. Instead, this has a less literal sense, flowing easily between the many moods of a teenager and even into the moods arising from her illness. If you want a more literary experience than most graphic novels offer, this has my highest recommendation.

-- wiredweird

This is not an easy book to read. It is a very good book, and worthwhile reading, but it is not a pleasant book.

Nate Powell brings us into the world of Ruth and Perry, a teenaged brother and sister who live in a fairly normal family somewhere in the South. Their parents are loving, if a bit exasperated and distant at times; their house is small and not particularly nice; and as the story opens, their seriously ill grandmother is arriving to spend her dying days (which turn into years) lying on their couch.

On the surface, this family looks normal, but that's what makes the hallucinations so striking. Both Ruth and Perry see things that aren't there, and the things they see control their lives. Perry's vision is simple: A wizard who sits on the end of his pencil and commands him to draw. Ruth's is more complicated: She sees insects, a multiplicity of creatures who pile in through gratings and windows or simply buzz around her as she walks. She fills jars with specimens of different bugs and arranges and rearranges them as a way of exerting control over the world.

One of the things that makes this book so compelling is the way the hallucinations mix in with ordinary life. Ruth and Perry help with the dishes, go to class, sit with their ailing grandmother, but all the time they are accompanied by these odd manifestations. Sometimes they slip in public, talking back to the hallucinations within earshot of outsiders, but the bond between Ruth and Perry is built from the understanding that only they have, the shared family secret of things that aren't there. As the book goes on, their grandmother reveals that she, too, has had visions. Memaw may be old and sick, but she is sharp enough to see what is going on.

The great advantage of the graphic novel form is that Powell can use visuals not only to depict the hallucinations but also to show the inner states of his characters. Most of his pages are dark, the characters and settings hidden in heavily hatched shadows, but when Ruth begins taking antipsychotic medications, the shadows drop away and the drawings become bright and clear.

While Perry's hallucinations stay more or less under control, Ruth's grow stronger, and she submits to them more and more. It would be easy to be heavyhanded about this, but Powell continues to interweave Ruth's inner demons with the ennui of everyday life. Some of her actions, such as stealing a stuffed frog from a museum, seem clearly "crazy," but when she stands up to a teacher's clumsy racist joke, it's hard not to sympathize.
-- Brigid Alverson

Interesting graphic novel about struggles with OCD and mental illness. This is why graphic novels are such a great medium for adult subjects. A bit on the short side, but it will make you think and question your own reality. Top Shelf is always a good bet - they put out some of the best graphic novels in the business.

I honestly still don't know exactly what it is about, but it is interesting and has wonderful art.

An Eisner award winning book!

i was kinda afraid to buy this book because it was supposed to be about schizophrenia and i didnt want to read another preachy indie comics.
but it was a big surprise. it even reminded me of Hayao Miyazaki and those excellent anime movies.

i didnt like one thing though - the books suffers from small format. pictures are occasionally hard to understand, dialogues are sometimes so small you cant read them even with a magnifying glass. looks like the drawings were originally bigger and the author didnt realize it could be so small when printed. it is really frustrating because you lose some parts and you dont read the story... you decipher it and hurt your eyes. it totally ruined my reading experience.
question for Top Shelf: is 2 or 3 inches higher format really such a problem???