Blankets
Ratings235
Average rating4.1
So I thought I would just start this book before I went to bed and read the first section...nope! I was hooked instantly and read the whole book! I can not even begin to explain how much I loved the art work in this book, I especially love it when he takes an entire page just for a single illustration which is filled with feelings and really gorgeous work. There is effort and a ton of love and care put into this book. I especially love the blanket quilt type patterns and designs that are through this book and is great symbolism for what that time in his life has given him.
The story is my favorite type of tropes where it's really well illustrated, coming of age stories with a road trip, during summer time...only this time it was WINTER! Wow, that's a first! Living in a similar area I know how magical, clean, and silently beautiful a blanket of snow can be. I really enjoyed the story and illustrations and if you liked this story you may enjoy This One Summer ~Ashley
I've never heard of Craig Thompson or any of his work before. When a copy of the very thick and very heavy “Blankets” landed on my desk by way of two friends, I thought it was a trade paperback of some obscure novel... until I cracked it open.
“Blankets” is Thompson's second graphic novel - an ambitious venture, judging by the length of the tome. It is also the winner of three 2004 Harvey Awards for Best Artist, Best Graphic Album of Original Work and Best Cartoonist; and winner of two 2004 Eisner Awards for Best Graphic Album and Best Writer/Artist.
The graphic novel follows the life of Craig, starting from key moments in his young life into his teens and later, his early adulthood. His early years are shared with his younger brother Phil, as two young boys who had creative ways of irritating and playing with each other while surviving school, parents and life in Wisconsin.
As a child, Craig has always been alienated by his peers.
“Something about being rejected at church camp feels so much more awful than being rejected at school.” he mused in a scene where he gets carted off to what he called a week of pretense of sharing “Christ-centered” recreational activities with other Christian youths.
Craig meets Raina at one of these church camps after he's hit the teens and his relationship with Phil takes a complete backseat in the narrative. The attraction is immediate and mutual, growing deeper after they return to their respective homes. Letters are followed by packages containing “sweet high school nothings”.
He decides to go and spend two weeks at with Raina and her family in Michigan, without mentioning to his own fundamentalist mother that Raina's good Christian parents are getting a divorce. His timing is a little awkward for her parents but was a balm for Raina, who has to struggle to care for her adopted siblings and unwanted niece.
Raina gives Craig a hand-made quilt, patched together from patterns that reminded her of him. This blanket became an underlaying theme, fusing together patterns that appeared through out the book.
The third and most consistant of Craig's relationship is the one with God. One of the things that drew him and Raina together is that they shared the same delimma with this whole God thing - they've been raised Christians but found causes to doubt. This also made a few funny pages featuring Craig when Raina said to him, “Come to bed with me.”
“Blankets” is semi-autobiographical tale where nothing terribly dramatic or superhero-like happens, but it doesn't take away the fact that it's still a very interesting read. It's almost like watching a movie.
The beauty of the comic medium is that things that will require a few paragraphs of description can be relayed in two panels. Thompson puts this to full use. A picture paints a thousand words.
Where words are required, he doesn't fall short. There are lines that are so beautiful and so true that it'll bring tears to your eyes. As both the writer and the artist of “Blankets”, Thompson had the advantage of writing or drawing exactly what he wants.
If you enjoyed the movie “Saved!”, you might want to keep an eye out for this book. While “Blankets” has a more subtle approach and is less satirical than that movie, it tells the same story about people who only want to be human.
(Note: This graphic novel is for mature readers. Small children and big babies need not apply.)
(2006)
This book was just as beautiful and pure as it was when I first read it twenty years ago.
Contains spoilers
This memoir was a really poignant story about growing up in the 80s/90s in a fundamentalist Christian context and trying to find out who you are and how you fit in to the world around you in the face of being ostracized, abuse, and that awful feeling of just not quite fitting in anywhere. The art was beautiful, and the story itself a very touching coming of age story.
I'd actually give this a 4.5. It was a deep exploration of the battle between Christianity, love, sexuality and the shame that encompasses it all. While I could certainly relate to some of it, it left me wanting more.
What a beautiful book!
Blankets is a coming of age story of the author, told through most gorgeous art.
The book is about self-discovery, love and growing into an adult with all the memories and experiences of one's childhood.
Would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick light read !
Although a light and fluffy read, the book does contain some profound ideas, about religion, self care and kindness.
The thing I liked most about his work is how effortlessly two frames merge into one another, making you smile like an idiot. Not quite sure, whether at the story or the artwork.
Prettiest book I've ever read, hands down.
What a book. It communicates emotion, lonlieness, belonging... Perhaps better than any other book I've ever read. I also loved the art and the author's thick irony throughout. Probably not for EVERY reader, due to some of the subject matter, but I give it an emphatic recommendation to any mature graphic novel fan.
It's pretty good; fantastic black & white illustrations complement the winter season setting of the story. Thankfully the romance is beautiful, it was lovely to see the relationship unfold. Excessive religious talk bored me a lot & ruined the experience. I'd say this is a better version of [b:Eleanor & Park 15745753 Eleanor & Park Rainbow Rowell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1341952742l/15745753.SX50.jpg 17225055] so definitely check this one out if you liked that book, lot of similarities. Probably would have been better to read this at a slower pace & during Christmas.
A very beautiful piece of work. Loved everything about it, especially that Thompson sprinkled his childhood memories in every chapter.
It's the semi-autobiographical story that starts with Craig from his childhood, sharing a bed with his brother huddled against the cold of Wisconsin winters. It's a bed that is both a battleground and a life raft.
It mirrors his relationship growing up in the Christian faith, the child of devout parents. Christianity is a refuge against the small-town bullies but becomes something he has to wrestle with in the throes of young love when he meets Raina.
It's such a particular Western story. While nowhere nearly as devout I recognize both the strength and the torment growing up in the faith can have. I know that Jesus painting, I recognize the narrow confines of the church and it's almost desperate proselytization. How the raptures of faith can come up hard against the awareness of first love and how both can be utterly transporting and wildly confusing.
Thompson's brush work is perfect and clear and somehow manages to evoke the nervous awe of first love, the creative impulse, Christian guilt and the raw imagination of youth.
I loved the illustrations. It's a quick read (even at nearly 600 pages) but the illustrations will slow you way down, definitely to be savored. There was some beautiful writing and it made me feel quiet, dreamy, and a little melancholy. But for all the closeness and detail we got about the two week trip, my problem with the book is what the author chose to glaze over. Being abused by his babysitter, how his relationship with his brother disintegrates, how he loses his faith, and why he burns Raina out of his life so suddenly and completely. It was frustrating to get to the end and realize that all those threads would just be left unfinished.
Only a few months into my exploration of graphic novels and I have now found a second graphic novelist I have high regards for (the first being Adrian Tomine). Craig Thompson has created a beautiful work here that truly shows how graphics can transform a story. You see, a quick glance at a summary of this book reveals how shallow the plot is. Likewise, a quick flip-through of the novel shows how juvenile the art is. And yet, delve into Blankets and you'll find there are many more layers than those that lie a the surface.
Blankets is artistically simple, yet it's full of life and detail. It's not evident at first, but close attention to the way the panels fit together and interact with one another really shows how this medium can be used effectively. In a similar fashion, the story is pretty much your run-of-the-mill coming-of-age love story. Go a little deeper and there's more. Peel away that layer and you'll find another. No, Blankets isn't so multi-faceted that it's brilliant and unlike another other story, but it does contain a layer that is quite beautiful. It has the potential to connect with the reader in a way many books struggle with.
At 592 pages, Blankets is quite lengthy by graphic novel standards, but that doesn't mean it'll take long to read. In fact, I felt the end came too quick. The epilogue was sudden and only provided answers to the questions the reader wasn't actually asking. I would've gladly accepted one more chapter; though I dislike stories with neatly tied-together endings, I would've taken slightly more resolution with this one. But that desire for more just leaves me hungry for the next Thompson novel I can get my hands on.
Very nicely done story of first love. Touching, although very Midwestern American.
Woah. This book hit so many of my personal buttons that I don't quite know what I thnk at this point. On a superficial level it is a simple “first love” story, which is sweetly and realistically told. Around this tale is woven a tapestry of experiences from childhood to early adulthood, all framed by a struggle over the difference between personal faith and organized religion. The fact that the story is semi-autobiographical adds greater power.
This is going to be a book that stays with me for a long time.
“I wanted a heaven. And I grew up striving for that world– an eternal world- that would wash away my temporary misery.”
This is an interesting graphic novel in the sense that it is autobiographical. It is the coming-of-age story of Craig Thompson. The novel depicts Craig's home life with his religious parents, brother, and first love Raina. The story focuses on the desolate conditions of Craig's life. Between his parents and school, Craig's life leaves much to be desired. Craig finds solace in Raina though and the two become extremely close. This story is not a happily ever after, instead it is the story of Craig's life and how he distances himself from his faith and his family.
I really liked how this novel unfolded. It began with Craig's childhood and sharing a bed with his brother. Then we when to summer camp and meeting Raina. The story was told with Craig as a teen with “flashbacks” to his childhood and other events in his life. I loved how Craig's childhood was woven into his teenage years and spending time with Raina.
For a graphic novel this novel has won a lot of awards, and it was also the first graphic novel I have read. And I'm not going to lie, the main reason I read this novel was because it is the Booksplosion Book of the Month for December. However, I'm glad I read it. From what I have gathered, this novel is very unique in the realm of graphic novels, it also happens to be quite long at over 600 pages.
The illustrations in this novel were completely black and white, but I think that fit the tone of the novel well. This novel is also definitely for more mature audiences between the content and the illustrations. However, I still really got a sense of the difficulty of Craig's life and what he had to overcome. This was a really fast read for me. I definitely will be picking up more graphic novels in the future.
I currently wanted to try and get into comics. Not really the superhero stuff, but ones with great and interesting stories. I chose “Blankets” as my first try because it's been getting high praise.
Aaaand..I just read this twice in a row. It's beautiful. The fact that it's autobiographical makes it so real. It's a really touching coming of age story that deals with finding faith and first love, and loosing them again.
It illustrates with lovely pictures that it's necessary to experience the highest highs, the lowest lows and the extremes of life to gain context and form your own opinions and help you find your place.
“How satisfying it is to leave a mark on a blank surface. To make a map of my movement...no matter how temporary.”
I will definitely read this again on some snowy day. And I'm definitely on the lookout for my next graphic novel.
Oh God. I really enjoyed this book. I love how Thompson could visually portray his internal conflicts from his childhood and young adult life... From his abundance and then eventual lack of faith, ending things with his first love, patching things up with his brother after years of no communication... I could go on. Visual autobiographies should be a huge thing as physically seeing how Thompson experienced these events through his illustrations drew me in more than Bossypants by Tina Fey - which is saying a lot!
Utterly captivating, powerful, and honest. There's something so real about it, that makes every poignant moment that much more so. The art is detailed and expressive, and it really helps set this book apart from others like it. This isn't a new story at all (not much in the coming-of-age sub-genre is), but it feels fresh.
And I think it says a lot that I read this 600-page graphic novel all at once, refusing to stop.
Wow, Blankets charmed the socks off me! :) This is perfect for anyone looking for an adorable, easy read. Light and breezy, with just the ideal dash of angst to balance it.
Guess what, Champaign Public Library owns this now because of my practicum project!! If nothing else, I have accomplished this!