Blankets

I just read a really fascinating book.  It's a graphic novel called Blankets by a guy named Craig Thompson, and it's kind of two stories in one.  It tells both of his first love in high school and his growing up in a very fundamentalist Christian family and eventually leaving the faith.  

Both stories are told beautifully and both stories are heartbreaking.

I've only read a few graphic novels, and while the more comics-y ones didn't do much more than entertain (Watchmen, Y: The Last Man) the more "real life" ones have had profound impacts on me.

I'm thinking specifically of Maus by Art Spiegelman, which also tells two stories - of his parents surviving Auschwitz and him trying to get the story out of his father so he can write the book.  I wrote the Normals song "The Survivor" after reading that book.  Unbelievably powerful.

I was not shocked, after finished Blankets and searching out more info on it, to find that Spiegelman had written Thompson a long letter praising his work.  Because it is really, really good.

It's amazing how much Thompson is able to communicate with the marriage of his drawing and his words.  It seems to me that he would make quite a competent author even without drawing.  While reading I would often read a line or a passage to Alison out loud, I just had to share how good it was.  But then you add in the depth of a look or a motion or even a blank page, and BAM, it just connects.  Deeply.

You really feel the initial rush of falling in love versus the giant weight of guilt and shame from the his upbringing.  It's this balancing act that's hard to watch and, for me at least, easy to identify with.  

Psychologically, the book is masterful.  Part of his story is also childhood abuse, both physical and sexual, and again, it's shared so honestly.  I was amazed at Thompson's insight into how that abuse kept showing back up and shaping his experiences later in life.  

There's definitely a sexual element to the book, which kind of makes it awkward, mainly because it's about himself and often not flattering.  Sometimes humiliating.  It's shockingly honest and really serves to communicate how deeply our sexuality drives and defines who we are and how we interact with others.

There's a panel where the naked woman he got caught drawing when he was a small boy morphs into his clothed girlfriend, drawing the connections of both his attraction and his shame.  My jaw dropped and my heart sank.

As a believer, it's tough to hear a story of someone choosing to not believe.  Blankets tells that story.  I understand it, though, as the Church picture he paints is one familiar to me, and not so familiar to the actual freedom and beauty of Christ.  It makes you hope that he's rejecting the legalistic baggage and that he may one day find the real Jesus who was chasing him through the muck of it.

Due to the sexual and abusive themes in this, I wouldn't recommend it to everybody.  But I was deeply moved and given a new perspective on my own story, which I'm grateful for.  I plan on reading more of his work and seeking out other highlights in the graphic novel genre.  If there's anything else out there at the level of Blankets and Maus.  I need to read it.

Man, I wish I could draw.

Comments

[Andrew Osenga]

Found this: On the author's website, pieces of the work as he was writing it. What a painstaking and amazing process!

http://www.dootdootgarden.com/category/blankets/

[Jason]

How blessed I am to have been raised in a home that really modeled (correctly) parental and marital love so that my view of my heavenly father is not irreparably damaged and so that I might be able to love my wife as I am called to do. Even with a great example, it is still such a tough journey some days.

[Jon]

I borrowed this book from Billy a few years back, it is amazing! Reading your reaction to it makes me want to read it again.

I just discovered your blog, you sure do have a way with words.

[rustypants]

I was also moved by Maus and have re-read it many times since the first. You might also check out Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, her story of growing up in Iran back in the '70's before, during, and after the Islamic Revolution. You can preview it on Google Books here: http://goo.gl/zUPP

[Ian McLaren]

This book was given to me several years back. I was living in a Bible College dorm at the time, and people kept asking me to borrow it. Everyone could relate to it in some way. It had a profound effect on me, and remains one of my favorite books.

Here's a few other graphic novels that I have enjoyed:

Bone by Jeff Smith
Blindspot by Kevin C. Pyle
Epileptic by David B.
Paul Has a Summer Job by Michel Rabagliati.

[Rob]

Sounds like I'm going to have to pick this one up--it sounds intriguing. On a similar note, I read Chris Ware's "Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth" a while back and was stunned by the combination of beauty and sadness. One of the main themes is the generational sin of abandonment as it's played out in the story of four generations of dejected, socially inept men. There are moments of hope sparingly sprinkled throughout, but mostly, it's a heartbreaking tale. Ware's artistry is amazing; I just love his awareness of visual space, as many times he allows incredibly detailed, wordless panels to tell the story. Anyway, your post just made me think about this book. Hope you like it if you decide to check it out. By the way, when can we expect the next pedal board post? It's awesome when you totally geek out on guitar gear. As a fledgling electric guitarist, I'm riveted every time you post about it. Diggin' the new album. Take care.

[Alan Eby]

I read this book shortly after graduating from high school. It had a deep and profound affect upon me as well. I am also a believer, my father was a preacher for the majority of my life. While the ending was sad, I understood and connected with it. I've seen the sad outcomes from young people raised under too strict rules and called the law of God. When those young people grow up, read the law of God for themselves and find they've been raised with lies as laws. This is what destroys most teenage and young adult faith in those raised in Christian homes.