Just, wow. I already loved the original novel, and this takes it to an entirely new level. Blown away.

Edit/Update: After discussing the book in book club, im more than willing to give it another chance after some time has passed.

I enjoyed it more than I expected, maybe because I'm biased against adaptations of any kind but probably because David Mazzuchelli is just a brilliant comic book artist.

The story is a post-modern take on the noir genre. The reader follows crime author Daniel Quinn as he tries to unravel the mystery behind a father and a son and the meaning of words. It gets metaphorical and abstract with every turn, something I feel like very few artists can represent as well as Mazzuchelli did here. Personally, the philosophical pondering behind the meaning of words and the lack of proper terms for altered or damaged objects was interesting but not anything I expect to loose any sleep over.

My only issue with the adaptation is with the ending. I feel like it was somewhat rushed and the events unfolded somewhat suddenly. Not having read Paul Auster’s novel, I can’t say whether or not this is a faithful representation of the original work but, regardless, I didn’t love it.

Still, even if the story was just ok (which I don’t think it was), Mazzuchelli’s exceptional artwork probably would have been enough to justify its existence for me. While far from the heights he reached in his magnum opus Asterios Polyp (which is, in my opinion, the most technically impressive comic ever produced), it was really good, especially towards the two thirds/three quarters mark, when it got all rough and blurry and reminded me of Blutch’s Peplum.

Overall, I’d recommend this to any Mazzuchelli fan as well as to people looking for something new and experimental in their noir. I’m not a crime reader and I really enjoyed it, so take this as you will.

I feel like I was at a disadvantage for not having yet read the New York Trilogy by Paul Auster, from which this is adapted. I enjoyed the work and have added the Auster works to my to-read list, as well as Maus since I like graphic novels. This is a quick read and opens doors to other places to read so it was an overall enjoyable experience.

This graphic novel adaptation of Paul Auster's book of the same title (which I have not read) is meta. It is a puzzle locked inside a mystery, and so on and so on. It goes back to the bible, connects to Humpty Dumpty, the 1986 New York Mets, Edgar Allen Poe, Don Quixote, and I'm sure more oblique references that I didn't get. It takes on language, loneliness, and loss. To what end, though? There's probably something deep here, but I didn't get it. Too much to read between the lines and not enough on the actual lines.

This story reminds me of a spiraling pop art piece that if you stare at it long enough you can see another picture rise out, but as long as I stared I could never find the picture that everyone said was there. The book was still interesting, The ending is what confused me, which I think was the point. This was a good read.

This graphic novel was based on a novella by the same author and Comic Journals voted this in the top 100 for the 20th century. It's about a writer who takes on the role of his detective character to investigate a mystery but this choice sends him down a path of obsessive madness.

It blurs the line between reality and fantasy and even identity as the author of this tale finds himself changing roles, stories and overall identities. The voices coming out of objects and gradual changes and pullbacks were intriguing. That said, it's so cleverly done that I feel there wasn't enough of an interesting story here so I'd say it's worth a look for its overall cleverness but it isn't Sterling Silver quality for the tale. Casual readers will find this graphic novel mind boggling.

STORY/PLOTTING: B minus; CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: B; SOMETHING NEW AND FRESH: B plus to A minus; ARTWORK: B; OVERALL GRADE: B; WHEN READ: January 2012.

What?

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY



Credo che fosse il 1991, l’anno in cui ho incontrato Paul Auster per la prima volta: La musica del caso.
E fu subito amore.
Amore grande: c’erano in Auster umori che in letteratura mi sembravano insoliti, fuori, e oltre, che all’epoca percepivo solo nel cinema (non per niente l’esperienza cinematografica di Auster è sostanziosa e fortunata).
Città di vetro era introvabile, così come la raccolta completa, la Trilogia di New York: fuori catalogo, e le biblioteche a Roma funzionavano ancora per modo di dire (nel senso che non funzionavano affatto). Ci volle del tempo per metterci le mani sopra, dovetti aspettare la ristampa.
L’amore è continuato per qualche anno, ho letto di suo tutto quello che veniva tradotto (un po’ troppo tosto in originale per me).
Poi, l’amore è finito: si sa, le storie iniziano e finiscono, solo poche durano per sempre, uno di noi due s’era stancato, forse entrambi, uno di noi due era cambiato, ma non lui: a me sembrava che si ripetesse oltre la mia sopportazione, che giocasse troppo a fare il Paul Auster, indugiasse nei suoi tic, ormai cliché - lui voleva che io gli fossi fedele oltre le mie consuetudini.
Così, alla fine ci siamo lasciati.
E non ci siamo mai più incrociati.
Adesso lui è famosissimo, una star della scrittura, molto occupato con party e mondanità varia nella Grande Mela, a sponsorizzare moglie e figlia.
Io, invece, leggo altro. E quando vado a New York non lo cerco, non gli faccio neppure sapere che sono in città.
Ci siamo proprio persi.



Qui, ottima disanima, ghiotta e densa, resta poco o nulla da segnalare:
http://www.minimaetmoralia.it/wp/tras...

Di mio posso solo aggiungere che mentre leggevo queste pagine le immagini che ho inserito qui mi si sono accese davanti agli occhi della mente come fari.



Io sono nuovo ogni giorno. Nasco quando mi sveglio al mattino, cresco durante il giorno, e muoio la sera.

2.5
Ok, no sé qué acabo de leer.

La Ciudad de Cristal es parte de la Trilogía de Nueva York (quizás la novela más conocida o "clásica" de Auster?), pero esta es una adaptación al formato novela gráfica.
Debo decir como SUPER FAN de Paul Auster, que esta adaptación me pareció EXCELENTE. Es más, ayuda a entender mejor toda la complejidad que ofrece la versión original. Se disfruta más, y el arte es muuuy bueno.

Recomiendo mucho si te gustan las novelas gráficas, y también el género policial.

Too meta.