Comments on: Guest review: Blankets, Craig Thompson

By: Blankets by Craig Thompson « Page247

Blankets by Craig Thompson « Page247 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:39:00 +0000

[…] Jenny’s Books (Guest review- Jenny’s Mom) […]

By: Blankets « Care's Online Book Club

Blankets « Care's Online Book Club — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:09:38 +0000

[…] Jenny’s Mumsy at Jenny’s Books, Nymeth’s things mean a lot, Chris @ Stuff As Dreams Are Made On, Bart’s Bookshelf, Lu at Regular Ruminations, Melody’s Reading Corner, The Zen Leaf, Aarti from BookLust, and Kim that Sophisticated Dork. […]

By: erisian23

erisian23 — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:28:33 +0000

i had no idea this was also a standard novel.

i picked up the graphic novel years back and was a bit overwhelmed by how excellent it was. had trouble telling people what i liked about it as it was very impacting in that format.

will have to pick this up and read them back to back!

By: Care

Care — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:11:53 +0000

Wow – terrific review. One sentence really stood out for me: “he has not forgotten one beat of his heart from that year” – I am SO looking forward to reading this. I was actually loaned this book from a mom in my bookclub who had seen that I listed Blankets on my goodreads tbr but then she had to take it back before I could get to it! Now I’m so sad I didn’t devour it immediately. The reason she had to take it back was because her son was writing a huge project on it for English class and had to take it in to his teacher to *prove* it was a book (GRRrrrrrr – so frustrating; the talk at club was not favorable on this mean teacher.) I’m still waiting to find out how that all went. I’ll be forwarding this post to them, too. I know my friend will love it.

YEA MUMSY! more, please.

By: Mrs.B.

Mrs.B. — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 05:01:43 +0000

Great review! I’ve been wanting to read this but its so darn expensive where I live…worth about 4 other books.

By: Nymeth

Nymeth — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:04:16 +0000

What a lovely review! This is probably the most moving account of first love I have ever read too. (What am I saying, “probably”? It is, period.) And I agree, the art conveys this passion and tenderness for Raina so powerfully. I now want to go hug my copy of the book 😛

By: Mumsy

Mumsy — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:36:35 +0000

Aww, y’all are so nice. And I KNEW you would be – that was the real reason I wrote the review (although the puppy-voice is truly maddening). Of course you can call me Mumsy…in fact, I’m considering a legal name change.

Lu, that is fascinating about the reactions of the family…I did wonder about his parents, because what I have observed in very religious families is that loss of faith in the child often seems to be more painful to the parents than loss of love, trust or intimacy. Strange.

Booksnob, the subject of adult faith vs. childhood faith is SO fascinating to me. Thompson was brilliant at portraying young Craig’s bewilderment and confusion at the contrast between “church talk” of a loving God and the casual coldness and cruelties of the true believers. With the graphic novel format, we can see as the child Craig sees, and also as the adult observers who know he will never be able to take this “faith” – this concrete and magical way of thinking – into adulthood.

And Clover, yes, of course you are right. I cleverly gave birth to people who are willing to buy graphic novels. Bwaaahahaha.

By: Clover

Clover — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:36:05 +0000

Awww! Your mom wrote a review, I love that!

And I really, really want to read this book. I’ve heard so many good things about it – I think *I* need to deliberately make friends with people who are willing to buy graphic novels.

By: litlove

litlove — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:44:49 +0000

How great was that? I love the line about writers being assassins in their families. I’m going to tell that one to my menfolk when they get in from school/work. They will agree.

By: Lu

Lu — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:58:46 +0000

Aw! I love that your mom did a guest review. That’s awesome. I also loved Blankets and, after reading it, I really wanted to find out how Thompson’s family and Reina reacted after reading it. Unfortunately Thompson has had no contact with Reina, but the drawings of her were based more on his current girlfriend (who is now his fiance/wife, I believe) than on what Reina actually looked like. He doesn’t even know if she read it! His parents, however, reacted really strongly against the book at first. They were shocked that he would be willing to share all that information with the world and were still upset that he was no longer religious. They have since come around somewhat.

I wish I knew where the interview was that I learned all of this from, but I’m not sure!