For fans of literate pop as much as of Ishiguro’s body of work.
The Nobel Prize–winning novelist reveals his inner Elvis Costello.
“I’ve built a reputation over the years as a writer of stories,” says Ishiguro, “but I started out writing songs.” Never an underachiever, Ishiguro reveals that in fact he’d written more than 100 songs by the time his first novel, A Pale View of Hills, was underway. Though the songs, he allows, were “mostly ghastly,” their writing provided a useful apprenticeship in verbal economy: Along the way, he notes before revealing any of the lyrics themselves, he learned from the challenges a song imposes, such as conveying meaning in just a few words, telling a story, and drawing a reader’s emotions into the game without, one hopes, undue mawkishness. The present volume gathers a modest 16 songs, illustrated by Italian artist Bagnarelli, whose work is charmingly suggestive of the eerily whimsical productions of Japan’s Studio Ghibli; the lyrics are matched, via the magic of a QR code, with recorded versions sung by jazz chanteuse Kent. When she told Ishiguro that his songs were sad, he replied, “However sad, however bleak the song became, there had to remain an element of hope.” Sad some of the lyrics may be, but they’re also craftily wordy in a way that Cole Porter might envy: It ain’t “Begin the Beguine,” but “I want to be awakened by a faulty fire alarm / In an overpriced hotel devoid of charm” has its evocative qualities, while Leonard Cohen might not have been displeased had he penned the lines “Like a bird caught mid-flight by a barb-wire fence / I kept going for a time before falling.” Ishiguro isn’t going to force Joni Mitchell into retirement, but it’s a well-intended effort overall, and an interesting side note into a way of storytelling other than that for which the author is known.
For fans of literate pop as much as of Ishiguro’s body of work.Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593802519
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth.
Superman confronts racism and learns to accept himself with the help of new friends.
In this graphic-novel adaptation of the 1940s storyline entitled “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” from The Adventures of Superman radio show, readers are reintroduced to the hero who regularly saves the day but is unsure of himself and his origins. The story also focuses on Roberta Lee, a young Chinese girl. She and her family have just moved from Chinatown to Metropolis proper, and mixed feelings abound. Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane’s colleague from the Daily Planet, takes a larger role here, befriending his new neighbors, the Lees. An altercation following racial slurs directed at Roberta’s brother after he joins the local baseball team escalates into an act of terrorism by the Klan of the Fiery Kross. What starts off as a run-of-the-mill superhero story then becomes a nuanced and personal exploration of the immigrant experience and blatant and internalized racism. Other main characters are White, but Black police inspector William Henderson fights his own battles against prejudice. Clean lines, less-saturated coloring, and character designs reminiscent of vintage comics help set the tone of this period piece while the varied panel cuts and action scenes give it a more modern sensibility. Cantonese dialogue is indicated through red speech bubbles; alien speech is in green.
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth. (author’s note, bibliography) (Graphic fiction. 13-adult)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77950-421-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A striking celebration of cinema’s power and a chilling acknowledgment of its limitations.
The latest graphic novel from Burns follows a group of young white suburban friends, centering on the sputtering relationship between a warm, friendly redhead and the awkward artist making her the focus of his new story.
Brian would rather sit in the kitchen and draw tentacled aliens than join the party out in the front room. But when Jimmy, his longtime home-movie collaborator, casts Laurie, a new addition to their friend circle, in their next 8 mm film, Laurie’s warmth and beauty tempt Brian to step out of his mind and fully into the present. Brian’s art (ranging from the uncanny to the explicit) and the fleeting moments of connection between them keep Laurie in Brian’s orbit, and the story alternates between their perspectives, capturing both Laurie’s sense of isolation when Brian gets lost in his appreciation for and creation of movies and Brian’s bittersweet awareness of his drifting, ever-creating mind. As Brian attempts to translate the strange visions in his head (and sketchbook) into a science fiction film shot with friends at a secluded cabin, he sinks deeper into his cinematic escapism while Laurie engages with more immediate pleasures. An aura of horror infuses the pages, with bulbous aliens floating through blue skies and raining down mysterious capsules, dead-eyed stares and skipped medication setting nerves on edge, and time’s unyielding march robbing even pleasant moments of lasting significance. Burns’ clean lines, heavy shadows, and rich colors sumptuously convey the pebbled texture of alien flesh and the rolling waves of Laurie’s hair, while his dialogue and narration crisply capture everything from flirty, friendly banter to awkward and painful self-analysis. His paneling swiftly moves the story along, through both slice-of-life moments and fantastical worlds, occasionally juxtaposing character moments with shots from the films Brian loses himself in, evoking the massive gap between fixation and passion.
A striking celebration of cinema’s power and a chilling acknowledgment of its limitations.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9780593701706
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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