Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

What a Surprise!

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. A friend had given it to me well over a year ago and it's been sitting on my desk waiting for the right time. I guess yesterday was the right time, because I picked it up and finished it all in one sitting. I just couldn't put it down.

I never dreamed that seeing the artist's interpretation of actual events could be so beautiful and honest and authentic. It isn't by any means a happy story, but very relatable!

LOVED IT!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A thought provoking journey

A brilliant escapade into the life a young woman and an exploration of finding herself. Beautiful and far more reading intensive then other Graphic Novels/Memoirs, Fun home is beautiful in everyway. The parallels between Joyce, Fitzgerald, James, and many others is astounding. Not since Blankets have I fell in love with a Graphic Novel to this magnitude and not in a long while have I read something this eloquent, brilliant, and poigant.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

brilliant

In every way.

A good read, but not a great read

I was recommended Bechdel's Fun Home by a former English teacher of mine. As a fairly avid reader, I was excited to see what this book had to show me. They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I couldn't help but to be captivated by all of the praise and awards on the memoir's front and back cover as I initially looked it over. To my great dismay, the book ended up being kind of a disappointment. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Bechdel - her honest writing style and literary knowledge are both interesting and impressive, but the memoir simply did not resonate with me. I don't really know what to think of this memoir; there were aspects of the book that I really loved, and other aspects that were hard to sit through, but there was nothing about this memoir that I found to be particularly gripping. I will say that I am extremely impressed with the amount of hard work that went into this memoir. The graphic novel layout (drawn by Bechdel herself) is aesthetically pleasing to the eye and really shows how arduous it must have been to create. Bechdel's story is so well thought out that it is obvious that she has spent a lot of time preparing herself to write this memoir. My biggest disappointment with this memoir was that I found nothing enticing about Bechdel's story. I think Ms. Bechdel told her story of her troubled past with her father to have closure with her upbringing, as opposed to appealing to her readers. I didn't find this book to be extremely funny or extremely sad, it was a monotonous read, which is fine, but I was really looking for a gripping memoir similar to so many that I have read before. All in all, I would say that Fun Home is a story that is either hit or miss for readers. I think that many will enjoy Alison's story and appreciate her quirkiness, but others will simply just not see what all the hype is about.

A Marvellous Memoir

This book is highly recommended.
When it comes to biographies, Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home" really belongs in a class of its own. It is funny, sweet, brave, honest and memorable.
It combines a very personal journey with a fascinating family drama. If it had only been a prose novel, it would rank among my favourite memoirs. As a "graphic novel" it is a work of stark beauty and mastery of the artform.
Some people may be nervous about the subject matter. I understand this may not be for everone.
I think that you read this book and try to be as brave as the courageous woman who wrote this wonderful book.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Masterpiece

Expertly structured around a growing consciousness rather than a linear narrative, this book transcends both the genres of ``graphic novel'' and ``gay lit.'' If you can find the hardcover, it's worth a few extra bucks to get the subtly die-cut dust jacket over the orange illustrated cloth cover.

an acquired taste

I was introduced to this book by my former roomate who grew up not too far from where Bechdel grew up and where most of the book takes place. At first I was weary of a graphic novel but I was enthralled by her use of elevated language and literary comparision. Each time I read it I find something new, if not within the text then the pictures themselves. Her novel peeked my interest in her other works and have become a Bechdel fan. I had the pleasure of meeting her and I must say she is a woman of great intelligence and is suprisingly humble. I would agree that this book is not for everybody. But those with open minds able to appreciate a non-tradtional book with an equally different story then please by all means go forth and enjoy this book!

What is all the fuss about?

I don't understand why this book has gotten so many awards. Maybe, it's because the book is definately different then the many others I have read. I found it to be boring and inconsistent. I was very dissapointed with this book.

A reviewer

I read this book as part of my book club reading. We've read a number of memoirs and I was expecting something with the same depth as the previous memoirs that we've read. I was sorely disappointed. I don't know where the 'hilarity' or the tragedy that the publisher mentions comes in at. I didn't find it anywhere. I didn't dislike the book, but I found it very benign - neither funny nor tragic. There was nothing that gripped me to draw me into the story. I read it in 2 sittings, but that's because it's such an easy read and I wanted to finish it so I could get on with the book I'd been reading and thoroughly enjoying. Fun Home was merely the author's story - just like anyone else's story. Maybe we don't all have closet-gay fathers or fathers who die violent deaths, but we all have stories. Yes, her analogies to Ulysses & The Odyssey were insightful and I enjoyed that, but those were the highlights. I felt like she wrote the book more to help herself come to terms with her life than to be of any interest to her readers.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

This tragically hilarious tale completely enraptured me from the beginning. Previously, I had never read any of Ms. Bechdel's works, but I was intrigued by the premise. I read the entire book from start to finish in one go. It is so beautifully moving! The themes of estrangement, alienation and family can resinate with anyone, no matter what sexual orientation. I highly recommend it!

Breathtaking

I have been a fan of Ms. Bechdel for years, and I have collected all the books in her Dykes To Watch Out For series. I wasn't sure how she'd handle her autobiography, and I was pleasantly surprised to see she drew it in comic form, the same as her DTWOF series.

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