BerlinBook One: City of Stones
By Jason Lutes
2000
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
BerlinBook Two: City of Smoke
By Jason Lutes
2008
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
If Charles Dickens wrote a comic book - it would read a lot like Jason Lutes' Berlin. A sprawling, multi-faceted, multi-layered dissection of Berlin in the twilight years of Germany's Weimar Republic with a cast that encompasses every possible side of the many social divisions that make up a city - this is a comic book that comes a lot closer than most to capturing the feel of a novel: with each character humming with their own individual issues and conflicts and stumbling messily around - rather than marching lockstep side-by-side and calmly waltzing from plot point to plot point. But just because it feels like real life - it doesn't skimp on the drama or intrigue and just because it feels literary in it's style and movements - it doesn't cut corners with the artwork: there's loads of graceful comic book moments where the pictures and layout communicate ideas and emotions beyond the reach of words alone. It does take a while to warm up - and it took me to the read of Book One before I was convinced - but for those of you willing to commit - this is a sensuous book with plenty on it's mind that left me in awe at it's careful construction and meticulous research that made me feel at points that it wasn't fiction but rather re-enactments of actual historical events. Please be aware before you start - that this book is part of a trilogy - and Book 3 has yet to be released (and judging from the interviews it may be a while before it does) but that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy (and fall in love with) the books already written.
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Links: Quarterly Conversation Review of Berlin: City of Smoke, Slant Magazine Article: Comics Column #1: Windows on the Other Art, Comic Book Resources Interview, The Daily Cross Hatch Interview Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3.
Further reading: Jar of Fools, From Hell, Logicomix, Kiki de Montparnasse.
All comments welcome.
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