Title: Ghost World
Volume(s): 1
Creator(s): Daniel Clowes
Format: Unflipped; Left-to-Right
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
MSRP: $9.95
Genre(s): Drama
Rated: Mature (17+)
| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Chances are parents might not want to let their kids read this book, as a good portion of the book is nothing but the two teenage girls cursing out each other and talking about who they are and aren't having sex with. The f word is used quite a bit in this book, and there is even a little bit of nudity (although not nearly as much as you see in the movie "Titanic"). As for who would love this book, read the full review to find out. But needless to say, I think people may find that this book has limited appeal to some people, and lots of appeal to others. |
"Ghost World" is a story that is a little bit about everything, and a little bit about nothing. Does that make sense? If it doesn't then don't worry; it will when you read this book. "Ghost World" is a simple story of teenage angust, rebellion, and acceptance. No more, no less. The story revolves around Enid and Rebecca, two teenage girls who have no plan for the present or future. They spend all their time hanging out with each other in odd restraunts, cracking jokes about all the odd people they see walking around, wondering who they should try to have sex with, and wondering if there is more to life then what they currently have. And that's all there really is to say about this book. It's no stretch of the imagine to say that a good 87% of this book is nothing but dialog, and about 74% of the dialog said doesn't advance the story or the characters much. So if not much really happens in this book then what IS good about it?! Well lets start with the fact that despite that fact that very little happens in this book, in a strange way this book is one of the more realitic comic books out there. The author doesn't tell you what to think about the characters he's created, he just portrays them as they are.
In this day and age it's not uncommen that many teenage girls walk around their home town, doing nothing but cracking jokes and finding interest in the stupidest of things, simply because they don't know what else to do. I can't relate to these characters much since I've personally always had goals to keep me moving forward, but I have met people who don't have a goal in life and the only care they have in the world is when their next date is going to be, and in that respect this book nails the Enid and Rebecca characters perfectly. There's one pathetic scene in this book where the two girls are talking about the local teenage boy Josh (who they abuse on a daily basis), and they decide that it was high time that one of them have sex with him, however they then have a long conversation of which one should do it as they are both convinced that he likes the other one better. This conversation alone shows just how desperate their lives have become. The fact that they can't decide who should be the one to actually get in bed with Josh shows just how little they really care for Josh, they just want to have sex with him because they can't think of anything else to do with their lives at the moment.
It moments like this where you look at life in a whole new light, and touchs like these do make the book that much more realistic, the problem is these scenes are few and far between. This book, at its heart, is nothing more then a downer. It starts out with two girls who care nothing for life and obviously have no future plans, and the book ends relatively unchanged. Throughout the book nothing much ever really happens, and I can't say that any of the characters (save for Josh) are ever really worth liking. These facts can be either the books biggest strengths or the books greatest weakness's. Whether you love this book or not may depend on how much you can actually relate to the characters. Like I already said before, the characters in this book are really not very likable people for a number of reasons, and they never really change or make an attempt to change. With this in mind you may like this book more if you can relate to the characters lives and they way they live them out, but if you've lived a life oppesite of the lives portrayed here (like me) then you may find yourself unable to relate to the characters, and since the dialog is what drives this book, you'll consequently also not be able to relate to the story as much.
I'm also going to make a quick note about the color sceme, which consists of various shades of blue. I find the use of one color used for a whole book to be a little distracting, and this is no exceptation. Granted it's not as bad as the use of nothing but green in "One Bad Day," but the color here is still pretty distracting. Otherwise though there is nothing wrong with the art, and while the artwork is not groundbreaking by any means it does get the job done nicely (save for the color). In the end I think this is a brave series, but I'm one of those people who can't relate to the characters, and I found myself not enjoying the book as much because of that. I also didn't think there was quite enough story development to really justify reading the book as a whole, as by the end of the book nothing really changes. But I do have a lot of admiration for this book, and I'm sure there are plently of other people who will enjoy this a lot more then I did, I just personally couldn't relate to anything in this book. So close, but no cirgar.
- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -