Books - The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore

Jan 19, 2019 18:59

Well this was unexpected... yeah, I've had a fairly lazy, cosy Saturday in today... *vbg*


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books - 2019, books, books read, bookbingo 2019

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Comments 18

jat_sapphire January 19 2019, 19:32:22 UTC
I'm not much for graphic novels either, but here are some I like:

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, young adult

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, graphic memoir, and companion book Are You My Mother?

Any of the volumes of Saga by Bryan K Vaughn and Fiona Staples. I'm behind a volume on that one, so I'll probably pick it up for the comic square or fantasy/sf, which it also is.

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byslantedlight January 19 2019, 19:59:54 UTC
Ah cool, thanks. Recs always welcome! And I'm guessing that's the Bechdel...? *g*

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jat_sapphire January 19 2019, 20:03:12 UTC
Dykes to Watch Out For Bechdel, yes. The first memoir became a Broadway musical, too.

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byslantedlight January 19 2019, 21:18:45 UTC
It's the Bechdel test I was thinking of - just such a perfect way of thinking about things that we see and read, and something that should be obvious, but often wasn't... Complete respect to her!

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ariss_tenoh January 20 2019, 03:49:37 UTC
How did it end? I checked and the majority of readers said the ending was abrupt and didn't explain anything.

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byslantedlight January 20 2019, 10:53:10 UTC
What?! The ending was not at all abrupt, and everything was explained! Not in a here-I'll-talk-you-through-it-like-Poirot-does kind of way, but there was totally resolution!

...just went to see what the reviewers said, and if you ask me most of them missed the point of the story altogether! Obviously it depends what you want from a ghost story, and I suppose seeing Hammer as the publisher might lead you to expect overt horror (I didn't even notice the publisher until I got to the end), but...

To me, the horror was in the psychology - the position that Isabel was in, isolated for various reasons, her reaction to the landlady, what it turned out was actually happening (the ghost story itself - and there was a ghost!) and then what happened at the end, in fact (from both sides) (I don't want to spoiler the story by saying more, though if you'll never read it then I will!) And to me, again, everything was explained too - I knew what had gone on and why, and that brought in a bit more psychological horror too, because that's how ( ... )

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ariss_tenoh January 20 2019, 14:11:12 UTC
LOL! Seems like everyone viewed it differently.

But if it's not too much trouble, could you send me a message with the ending? I'm curious why the opinions are so split on this novella.

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byslantedlight January 27 2019, 00:00:15 UTC
Done! (As you know... *g*)

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milomaus January 20 2019, 06:54:41 UTC
How wonderful to have a lazy day for reading and posting!

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byslantedlight January 20 2019, 10:53:43 UTC
I did think I might make other kinds of posts and catch up on other things - but that didn't happen... too busy being lazy! *g*

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miwahni January 20 2019, 12:10:10 UTC
Another interesting rec. And if my TBR pile wasn't too high to jump over... *shrugs*. I need to start keeping a list of titles to replenish the pile once it's down a bit and this sounds like it deserves a place there.

Speaking of the TBR pile - I have a copy of A Study In Pink in manga style so that should nicely fit my bingo square for comic/ graphic novel, once I read it.

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byslantedlight January 26 2019, 23:56:45 UTC
I'm behind in replies again...

I'd say this deserved adding to a list (though some people have complained it wasn't scary enough for them)

Heee for Sherlock manga fitting the graphic novel square - I guess it would! *g*

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gilda_elise January 20 2019, 14:14:16 UTC
This sounds really interesting. I may have to give it a go.

And, yeah, I was a bit put off by them combining the three genres. They really aren't the same.

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byslantedlight January 26 2019, 23:57:29 UTC
I guess they combined them so they could include more genres elsewhere, but I really wish they hadn't!

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