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389th out of 1,500 books
—
3,021 voters
Mother, Come Home
With his clean, distinctive art style and poignant storytelling, up-and-coming indie comics sensation Paul Hornschemeier has earned comparisons to and accolades from today's top graphic novelists. Mother, Come Home is Hornschemeier's graphic novel debut-the quietly stunning tale of a father and son struggling, by varying degrees of escapism and fantasy, to come to terms wi...more
Paperback, 128 pages
Published
February 3rd 2004
by Dark Horse Comics
(first published February 4th 2003)
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i cant even get close to reviewing this book. (well, who asked you to?, they sneer) i cant but i feel like i have to. i have been putting it off for a really long time now but i think i have to get it over with once and for all. this review done, i am going to wash my hands of all complicated human emotions because this week has been far too full of mourning and apprehension and second-guessing and worry. after this, i am pure cylon and you can all go to hell with your feelings.
after this revie...more
after this revie...more
so i read this book because 1)it was a graphic novel and as of late, being a new mommy and all, graphic novels complement my short attention span very well. 2)i was familiar with this guy because of the whole jeffrey brown/holy consumption affiliation and figured it was about time to read something from him, especially because the drawings were just the right type for me when it came to graphic novels and 3)because i saw it on karen's list of books that made her cry and being the nosy me, i just...more
Excellent. And completely depressing. After reading, I sat silently for fifteen minutes contemplating the impossibility of happiness. And then promptly watched “Animal Crackers,” as a rebuttal.
Intriguing graphic novel by Paul Hornschemeier. In short: on page one you'll learn to know "the son", whose mum dies, only a few pages later. And then the shit hits the fan, as they say, with his dad spiraling in, into a deep depression. Only the boy can really "save" him. Brave book about guilt and the genetics of guilt. The awe and respect one should really earn whilst aiding a loved one in need. Even when it might be his or her last journey. Such aid or journey should never be able to inflict...more
"Mother, Come Home" is Paul Hornschemeier's first graphic novel. I've read two of his previous books "Let Us.." and "Paradoxes" which were interesting and enjoyable with shades of Clowes and Ware. It follows the breakdown of the family once the mother dies leaving the father and son shattered. The father seems hardest hit - he is unable to function properly and the 7 year old boy soon assumes the day to day running of the household and acts as secretary to his father. Soon it's found out that th...more
It has to be a hard decision for an author to begin a book with something that moves in the direction of North-by-North-Impenetrable. Especially when the rest of the book is engaging and enjoyable. And moreso when the author hopes to secure readers.
(Those who don't write to be read are more than welcome to make not just their introduction but their entire book a roadblock to diligent readers.)
Personally, I'm working on a novel and the first chapter is a bit... high concept. And therefore, a bit...more
(Those who don't write to be read are more than welcome to make not just their introduction but their entire book a roadblock to diligent readers.)
Personally, I'm working on a novel and the first chapter is a bit... high concept. And therefore, a bit...more
Jul 02, 2011
Lisa
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone.
Recommended to Lisa by:
Readers' Advisory Group
Shelves:
graphic-novel,
fiction-young-adult
WOW!
I read a lot of comic books as a kid, but have not read many graphic novels as an adult because I generally find them unappealing. This book is so different from any book I have ever read. The pictures are an integral part of this story and bring meaning to the words.
In graphic novel form, this book tells the story of father and 7 year old son who have lost their wife/mom, mostly through the eyes of the son. Even though the pictures are kind of odd at times:
The pictures really captured my e...more
WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IN PUBLIC!
I think the word depressive comes short to describe this comic thingy… is there a word that express more depression than well, depression??? Maybe There is a term among my people used to describe depressive songs... it translates to something like “wrist slitters” or something like that. but if there is an actual word for it please let me know so I can update this review! When I asked a friend to pick a short comic for me the other day I was expecting som...more
I think the word depressive comes short to describe this comic thingy… is there a word that express more depression than well, depression??? Maybe There is a term among my people used to describe depressive songs... it translates to something like “wrist slitters” or something like that. but if there is an actual word for it please let me know so I can update this review! When I asked a friend to pick a short comic for me the other day I was expecting som...more
4 likes · like · see review
I read this a couple years ago and then saw it on the shelf at my library. I decided to read it again even though it was super sad. It's still super sad. It's a story of loss, grief, and people's various reactions to these things. But it's very artfully done. It's a pretty postmodern take. The whole book is set as an "introduction" to a nonexistent work (series). The narrative breaks the fourth wall / becomes a bit meta at times. But it's not too cutesy about it. Not any humor to lighten the sit...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I'm a big fan of the subgenre of "heartbreaking graphic novel". This one surely did it for me. Even me and my coal-black heart got choked up. The style of art took a little getting used to. The (in my opinion) overly long "introduction" to the story didn't quite work for me, though looking back, it was appropriate and necessary to completely understand the mood of the father and son. Still, I think it could have been done slightly differently with the same power. All that said, the strength of t...more
Read this whole book in about 1 1/2 hours. It was beautiful, tragic, and overall, perfect. I've never read another book like it, and recommend it to anyone and everyone, so long as they have not recently lost someone close to them. I think it would be too challenging if that were the case. What an incredibly heart-wrenching and moving piece...this is a literary endeavor, regardless of if it is a graphic novel or not. Best book of the year, so far, and what a surprise that this has not been laude...more
Paul Hornschemeier writes a heart-breaking book. There's no getting around that. Nor, after reading "Mother, Come Home" is there really any desire to.
Death is one of life's inescapable parts, and this books deals with it on many different levels. I'm pretty sure this is autobiographical, seeing as that Paul's uncle (referenced and drawn at several points throughout the book) draws the introduction. It grants its reader a squirmingly intimate look at grief and loss through the eyes of a small boy...more
Death is one of life's inescapable parts, and this books deals with it on many different levels. I'm pretty sure this is autobiographical, seeing as that Paul's uncle (referenced and drawn at several points throughout the book) draws the introduction. It grants its reader a squirmingly intimate look at grief and loss through the eyes of a small boy...more
Within a few pages of this book's beginning, that a woman has died, leaving a seven-year-old son and husband unmoored, emerges as a fact through a swirling (and suddenly understandable) gloom. To engage with Mother, Come Home is to experience a child's grief, for his lost mother and for the lost man his father has become.
Like Alex Chee (see here), who brought this to my attention with his review, I resist saying more about the plot and Hornschemeier's revelations. Just read this book, and give...more
Like Alex Chee (see here), who brought this to my attention with his review, I resist saying more about the plot and Hornschemeier's revelations. Just read this book, and give...more
This book will make you cry, and that's okay. This book, like the best in its genre, confronts those feelings of mortality, loss, loneliness, weakness, and overpowering human strength that we begin to feel even when we are small children. Through this strong narrative, woven between the lives of man, woman, and child, we see how beautiful, tragic, and important our lives are, not only to us but to all those we love and who love us back.
Approximate Interest Level: High School (GLE 7.1)
Awards: ABE Nominee 2006
Format: Graphic Novel
Heartbreaking, tragic, and powerful story about a father’s decent into depression told through the recollections of a 7 year old boy. The initial sequence takes on significance at the end. Warning without a spoiler: It’s not for the fragile reader! One hour read. Semi autobiographical/biographical.
Disability: Depression
Awards: ABE Nominee 2006
Format: Graphic Novel
Heartbreaking, tragic, and powerful story about a father’s decent into depression told through the recollections of a 7 year old boy. The initial sequence takes on significance at the end. Warning without a spoiler: It’s not for the fragile reader! One hour read. Semi autobiographical/biographical.
Disability: Depression
Maybe because I went into this read thinking, "Brace yourself, you're going to cry" that I never got to the point where I needed to. Yes, it's beautifully written book and a few times I choked up. There's the time where there's a shot of everyone sleeping in their separate beds at night. Another time when Thomas talks about the feel of his father's cordoroy jacket.
The kid was great, walking around in his lion mask. It reminded me of the kid in that movie A Perfect World. I loved that kid too.
The kid was great, walking around in his lion mask. It reminded me of the kid in that movie A Perfect World. I loved that kid too.
1 like · like · see review
Nice drawings, but not outstanding. However, the story is so intense and wrenching. Told from the perspective of an adult looking back at his seven-year old self, Mother Come Home is about the death of parents. Having lost a parent at the age of seven, I can say that this story has the ring of truth. I might have cried in reading it, but this novel transcends sentiment. A must read for anyone with any interest in the graphic novel.
this book is sad and dumb, it probably shouldnt be read by anyone but absentee parents, and only so they can see the bullshit that their selfish behavior puts their children through. the final actions of the father in this book are strictly self-important and vain. it makes me angry even to have read it. angry and sick.
A great book to spend an hour with--or excuse me, with which to spend an hour. Mr. H's muted, elegaic tone suits the tale of a father and son trying (and only partially succeeding) to get over the death of the mother. The flat colors and simple linework help convey the closeness of the child narrator to the events, and the fact that the whole book is set up as an introduction to a larger work is a nice, understated conceit (though it did make me wonder, at first, if the introduction had been rip...more
This was a really sad book. Took me awhile to shake that feeling after I read it. The doomed feeling. Not a good feeling to have. So I guess I still enjoyed it in a female kind of crying way. LOL Oh my goodness, did I just laugh. Yeah, I might be returning to a bit of a normal state of mind now.
I read someone's review that said not to read this book if you've lost someone or feel culpable in someone's death. To which I cry bullshit. As far as I'm concerned, this book belongs on that hallowed list of comics that are required reading for the entire human race.
This might be a foot ahead in a tie with Never Ending Summer by Allison Cole. There is a haunting vulnerability to Mother, Come Home that is the kind of painful that should be actively sought if not simply for the fact that it is a reminder that you are alive.
the little boy's story struck some false/manipulative notes for me, but his father's grief-stricken retreat into a fantasy world was horribly wrenching - perhaps more effective because up until the end of the story, we saw it only in brief & often confusing glimpses.
Wonderful drawings excellent use of color help tell one of the most depressing stories I've ever read. I found it clever, intimate, and well written. Subtle callbacks are found throughout the book. I can't say enough good things about this graphic novel.
This is my favorite graphic novel. It is the author's first graphic novel. It is heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time and has always stayed with me. I actually want a tattoo from the artwork. Definitely worth the read.
Jan 20, 2013
Eric
added it
This was good. There's an intro/dreamlike sequence that I didn't find very engaging and which almost put me off from reading this, but once you power through it, it gets to be quite good (and the intro sequence sort of fits in).
This graphic novel was heartwrenching. A young boy in a lion mask struggles with the death of his mother and the depression of his father, trying to keep it all together. The first read was tragic, but then when I read it again and noticed all the little symbols in the art, like the half-eaten sandwich, the grief of the book hit me even harder.
Pretty dark story of a father and son attempting to cope with dramatic loss. The dreamlike opening sequence is remarkable. Nice use of graphics throughout to evoke both real and psychological time and space.
Spare and beautiful. Hornschemeier has a kind of genius for the subtleties of human expression, and this book - a tale of complicated loss - is more wrenching for it. His drawings are clean and meticulously drawn; his dialogue, just as perfect. Absolutely recommended, although you may need some tissues after.
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Oct 08, 2012 07:48am
Oct 08, 2012 08:49am