ghost world

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes has been the only comic book so far from the library that I haven’t enjoyed completely. It was a pretty strong reaction as well, as while reading the book I felt an almost physical urge to put it down. I had to think about why this was so for quite a while before realizing that far from the book being bad, it was instead too good.

I’ll explain. The book follows the lives of two teenaged girls in smalltown America somewhere. Its anonymity is key to the atmosphere as the girls don’t feel they are anywhere nor are they going anywhere quickly. They spend their summer holidays mocking the people around them as freaks, while trying to figure out their own place in the world, sex, college and all.

The book conveys their despondent, cynical take on life all too well, and I think that it just didn’t gel with my mood right now. Perhaps if I’d read it in the depths of a grey wet autumn day I might have identified better with it and consequently ‘enjoyed’ it more. And despite my misgivings about the storyline, I really thought the line drawings were excellent and beautiful in their own way.

I do have to say towards the end of the book the girls did start to show more of their true selves, and after all the smart talkback and wisecracks it was all the more touching. Maybe I did enjoy it after all. Let me know if you find and read it?

send us a snap

Those of you who fancy yourselves as photographers can send your shots in to a weekly competition that the Guardian holds called ‘Send us a snap‘. The rest of us can enjoy a fun, often out of the ordinary picture once a week. The photos are accompanied by a good critique by the judges, very enlightening as to what makes a good shot and why. Inspiration for my own holiday snaps!

This was the winning entry a few weeks back, of jellybean children chasing jellybean butterflies in a sculpure by Sandy Skogland at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia. I was slightly disturbed to read the artist’s intention, namely that the piece should ‘remind us that we’re all the same inside regardless of the color of our skin.’ I don’t think I’m made of a sugary mass but oh, wait, I’m not a jellybean person! Phew.