Joff WinterhartRezensionen

I love graphic novels but don't buy then because I can finish them in an hour. I do enjoy finding one I would like to read in the library, though.

This is a story about men, how they talk to each other, what they talk about and how being different is difficult, even if that difference is a rather stout tummy or very long thin legs, not both on the same person. Sam is 27, left a university course three times and returned home to live with his mother, all of his belongings in a jiffy envelope and very depressed. I really wanted to know what he had in that envelope. Keith is a short, rotund man with very hairy nostrils and full of stories on repeat that demand to be listened to, which is all Sam really wants to do. It means he doesn't have to think. Keith offers him a job although what the work is no one is ever quite sure.

Time passes, habitual - pasties for lunch every day - until Sam is allowed into the offices of the portakabins and starts to talk to the reception staff. And then circumstances dictate that Sam drives and things seem to go downhill but in reality, Sam is slowly, slowly starting to feel better. Through everything we have men talking at each other, laughing about each other behind their backs but no one ever having a proper conversation (or is that a woman's persepctive about what aproper conversation should look like?) especially at the bi-monthly carvery where they all meet up. In fact, when Sam spots Keith standing on his own, tipping his pint into the garden, it seems to be turning point where Sam asks more questions about Keith and his life which Keith does not like to answer.

Eventually, Sam is offered a job in the arts, something that he loves, and he leaves home once again to take on the challenge, well enough to do so. The book is a very melancholic look at men and how they communicate, heightened by the blue and white drawings that have a little brown as colour to accentuate elements. The King Charles Cavalier that Keith owns is beautifully depicted in brown and white with a cross face, just her normal expression, and an indifference to Sam. The page with the items commonly seen in reception areas was so true to life. I think the tyre place we go to has them all; box files, spider plant, charity sweets, painting of pebbles and more. Wonderful.

This is a quiet book, a slow, lovingly told rendition of living with and getting better from depression and the way in which each man has a story that he is not talking about. One of the sadnesses is that Keith's job no longer exists, that it is all done by computer now, but he continues to visit all of the businesses because otherwise what would he do? For a contemplation on men today and some of the challenges they face, this book is a wonderful, gentle reflection on so many missed opportunities.

Fun, poignant, slice-of-life British comics. I really enjoyed these. It gets a 5 for one moment of life-affirming joy in Driving Short Distances.

Blue &white throughout (occasional brown). Story of a 28 year old hapless university drop-out who moves back in penniless, with his mother who finds him work with an old overweight man who knows a lot of people, tells many stories, but doesn't seem to do any work; stuck in an everyday rut doing the same thing, driving around in his left hand drive car, and eating pastry. Some great inner thoughts emerge from the young man who eventually breaks free to join his old friend, an art graduate.

A touching, painful, and beautiful exploration of the relationships we form and need. The moments that pass between characters are so human and so relatable that it's impossible not to like them, even though they make the same mistakes we all do.

While the art isn't necessarily my favorite, the characters are so true-to-life and sympathetic that the style they're drawn in becomes incidental.

Days of the Bagnold Summer is about a mother and her young son, heavily into the emo/goth/heavy metal scene, spending summer together. They fight, they get along, they spend quiet moment together, and they move a little closer towards understanding each day. This one alone is 5 stars. We were all teenagers once, even if we weren't exactly like Daniel, and can all understand the frustration and directionless anger and apathy that we suffered from. And Daniel's mother, while she has flashes of moments where she almost understand her son are heartbreaking. She's the best mother she can be, and that's pretty good. Understanding is not always necessary for love.

The short vignettes were, at first, a little disappointing - I wanted more of a straight forward narrative. But, as time went on, I appreciated how they mimicked the true passing of summer: long stretches of nothing eventful, with small impactful moments.

Driving Short Distances was not quite as good - Sam comes home from the hospital (after an implied suicide attempt), ready for something to finally go right. His mother meets an old acquaintance, Keith Nutt, who offers Sam some kind of job, where he mostly waits around in the car for Keith to come out of various buildings. There's some kind of mystery around his job, with various characters alluding to how Sam doesn't seem cut out for it, and some similar allusions around Keith's sexuality, which muddied the overall clarity of the story. Was it about Sam coming to terms with himself and healing? Or was it about a strange job he had with a strange man?

But, of course, both Sam and Keith need the interaction, and both come out slightly changed from it. Keith, a little more bowed and lonely than before, and Sam more at ease with himself and being alone. They ended up needing each other, just a little bit.

There's some really good stuff in here. I'm not averse to reading a 60-page graphic novel that takes less than 45 minutes from cover to cover, but I do object to Jonathan Cape's pricing of these kinds of books. 9.99 is just too much. It doesn't provide value for money and it creates a bad user experience to borrow a term from business.

Good

The Bagnolds are Sue, a 50+ yr old divorcee and Daniel a 15 year old metal fan. When Daniel’s father, who lives in the USA, and his new wife have a baby Daniel is not able to spend the summer with them as planned. He spends the summer hanging out with his friend Ky, toying with joining a band and alternatively getting under his mother’s feet and spending a lot of his time in his room, like all teenagers I think. The book has a simple 6 panels per page format and black & white art which fits well. I have seen reviews that say that this is unremitting and that Sue has an awful life but there is a lot of wry humour in here.

Overall – Simple yet engaging episodic story

Beautiful. It made me cry. Sue even looks a bit like my mother looks now (even though I'm double Daniel's age), so I was reminded of all the little hurts I must have inflicted upon my parents during my teenage years, although I was a nice kid (as is Daniel).½