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8th out of 1,189 books
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Blankets
Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, Blankets explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers. A tale of security and discovery, of playfulness and tragedy, of a fall from grace and the origins of faith.
Paperback, 582 pages
Published
August 6th 2003
by Top Shelf Productions
(first published July 23rd 2003)
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Craig Thompson, for all the lack of works in his bibliography, is one of the best creators working in comics today. Apart from Blankets, he has only released one other major work of fiction. (His third, Habibi, will be released this Fall.)
[The cutest of meet-cutes.]
There are any number of reasons that Thompson's work should be lauded. His art is gorgeous and his brushline expressive. He treats personal topics with a sense of both whimsy and honesty. He writes true ...more
[The cutest of meet-cutes.]
There are any number of reasons that Thompson's work should be lauded. His art is gorgeous and his brushline expressive. He treats personal topics with a sense of both whimsy and honesty. He writes true ...more
Having produced this illustrated autobiography of his formative years, Thompson certainly deserves credit for an ambitious undertaking. His illustrations are the shining accomplishment of this book; cartoony, yet humanly realistic, they exude a youthful enthusiasm. Definitely a memorable drawing style, it almost makes Blankets worth a read in-and-of-itself.
Though well intentioned, I felt that the "plot" of Blankets fell short of what it promised. The bulk of the story rev...more
Though well intentioned, I felt that the "plot" of Blankets fell short of what it promised. The bulk of the story rev...more
"Desire is sad."
--W. Somerset Maugham, "Rain"
When I was a kid one of my friends invited to go to some church event retreat thingy. My dad, a mildly avowed, atheist wouldn't let me go. I've often wondered what he thought would have happened and what would have actually happened had I gone. Would it have been the opposite of one of those memoirs that get published with alarming frequency, about the person who suffers under the pressure of a strict religious...more
--W. Somerset Maugham, "Rain"
When I was a kid one of my friends invited to go to some church event retreat thingy. My dad, a mildly avowed, atheist wouldn't let me go. I've often wondered what he thought would have happened and what would have actually happened had I gone. Would it have been the opposite of one of those memoirs that get published with alarming frequency, about the person who suffers under the pressure of a strict religious...more
“How satisfying it is to leave a mark on a blank surface. To make a map of my movement…no matter how temporary.”
and because I couldn’t decide between the two….
“At night, lying on your back and staring at the falling snow, it’s easy to imagine oneself soaring through the stars.”
Initial Final Page Thoughts.
Those last 3 pages, wow.
High Points.
Craig.Snow. Brothers. Church camp. Patchwork. Under the pool table. Cubby holes. Identity. Faith....more
and because I couldn’t decide between the two….
“At night, lying on your back and staring at the falling snow, it’s easy to imagine oneself soaring through the stars.”
Initial Final Page Thoughts.
Those last 3 pages, wow.
High Points.
Craig.Snow. Brothers. Church camp. Patchwork. Under the pool table. Cubby holes. Identity. Faith....more
A few years ago when part of this book was in the McSweeney's Graphic Novel issue I really liked it. I remember it being on of the stories that made me want to go out and by the book. I didn't go out and buy it though because it was just too damn expensive for me, sure the book looked nice but spending thirty bucks on a graphic novel that I'd read in an hour or so didn't seem worth it.
Now I have finally read it. If I had rated Blankets as soon as I finished it I would have given...more
Now I have finally read it. If I had rated Blankets as soon as I finished it I would have given...more
I can’t recall where I heard about this graphic novel, but I put it on my Amazon wishlist and dad got it for me for Christmas.
I took it with me to my prenatal checkup on Tuesday, and I’m glad I did, cause I sat in the waiting room for 40 minutes. During that time, I got so far along in the story that I decided to finish it in one day. I wish I hadn’t. If I hadn’t taken it to bed with me, I could have gone to sleep at least one day loving the story. Instead, I went to sleep saddened. ...more
I took it with me to my prenatal checkup on Tuesday, and I’m glad I did, cause I sat in the waiting room for 40 minutes. During that time, I got so far along in the story that I decided to finish it in one day. I wish I hadn’t. If I hadn’t taken it to bed with me, I could have gone to sleep at least one day loving the story. Instead, I went to sleep saddened. ...more
A few years ago I was lent a book called "Blankets" which I read on the 5 hour trip back from New York City on a Sunday. Now to say the 600 pages just few by would not be an exaggeration. I was done with the book before we hit the Massachusetts border. I knew very little about the book, save for the blurbs on the cover, nor had I heard of it's writer/artist, Craig Thompson, before. But my friend, a struggling journalist living in Queens, told me that 'Blankets' was a semi-autobiographi...more
Here are seven lines from Blankets that pretty much sums up the story:
1. I couldn't fathom that the soul trapped in my child body would be transplanted to its grotesque adolescent counterpart.
2. But in that little pathetic clump of blankets there was comfort.
3. We both knew that nothing existed for us outside of the moment.
4. Maybe I'm sad about wanting you. I'm not too comfortable with wanting someone.
5. Shame is always easier to handl...more
1. I couldn't fathom that the soul trapped in my child body would be transplanted to its grotesque adolescent counterpart.
2. But in that little pathetic clump of blankets there was comfort.
3. We both knew that nothing existed for us outside of the moment.
4. Maybe I'm sad about wanting you. I'm not too comfortable with wanting someone.
5. Shame is always easier to handl...more
book #12 for Jugs & Capes!
review #8 for CCLaP!
***
I joke about this a lot, but it’s true that in some ways, in the squishiest little corner of my mushy little heart, I am still a teenage girl. My favorite TV show, ever and still, is My So-Called Life. I have read Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye probably thirty times. I still listen to Fall Out Boy, for fuck’s sake. I listen to other music too, obviously, hipster fabulous bands you’ve never heard of (I live in Brooklyn, ...more
review #8 for CCLaP!
***
I joke about this a lot, but it’s true that in some ways, in the squishiest little corner of my mushy little heart, I am still a teenage girl. My favorite TV show, ever and still, is My So-Called Life. I have read Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye probably thirty times. I still listen to Fall Out Boy, for fuck’s sake. I listen to other music too, obviously, hipster fabulous bands you’ve never heard of (I live in Brooklyn, ...more
Leslie
rated it
Recommends it for:
contemplative types who had to go to church camp
Recommended to Leslie by:
Kateri
Shelves:
graphic-novels
This is a beautiful and true depiction of first love. One of the best of its kind, I think.
Thompson has said that he wrote and illustrated this - the longest graphic novel to date - in order to describe what it feels like to sleep next to someone for the first time ... a simple goal that he accomplishes with almost heart-breaking tenderness.
The novel's structure seems to me very important. After the first chapter establishes his isolated, rural, fundamentalist childhood...more
Thompson has said that he wrote and illustrated this - the longest graphic novel to date - in order to describe what it feels like to sleep next to someone for the first time ... a simple goal that he accomplishes with almost heart-breaking tenderness.
The novel's structure seems to me very important. After the first chapter establishes his isolated, rural, fundamentalist childhood...more
So I used to collect comics, the capes kind. Every week, every Wednesday afternoon, I’d find myself at some comics shop buying Iron Man, and The Fantastic Four, and Superman, and Batman, and other kinds of men, all wearing tights and capes, and it took me a few years, but eventually I realized superhero comics are generally boring. I once read an interview with Brian Bendis (current comics scribe wunderkind) and he said, “Comics are all second act.” Meaning there is no third act. No one ever ...more
I was set to give this 3 stars, but then the final chapter, especially the last few pages (which satisfied my writing heart) turned it into a 4 for me. Early on, while reading, I was reminded of Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, and I was craving some of that book's humor (even if it is dark), which there is really none of here, until the lightness near the end that had me smiling. The illustrations are well-done in advancing the story, but I wondered while reading if the book, though a very quic...more
JG (The Introverted Reader)
rated it
Recommended to JG (The Introverted Reader) by:
Aths / Athira (Reading on a Rainy Day)
In this autobiographical graphic novel, Craig Thompson describes his first love, his childhood relationship with his brother, and his loss of faith.
I think there's something in this graphic novel that everyone can relate to. Whether it's the rush of falling in love for the first time, the bullies at school, or the tangled relationship with a sibling, Craig's experiences, while unique, are also universal. I know that doesn't make sense, but there you go. It was a bit cathartic for ...more
I think there's something in this graphic novel that everyone can relate to. Whether it's the rush of falling in love for the first time, the bullies at school, or the tangled relationship with a sibling, Craig's experiences, while unique, are also universal. I know that doesn't make sense, but there you go. It was a bit cathartic for ...more
Theresa
rated it
Recommends it for:
anyone who loves art or anyone who wants to read a good love story.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I would like to run up to your face, screaming about how you must read Blankets, but would become embarrassed as I approached, and in the end merely whisper.
Blankets is not the most original of stories. No story about a romance between two teenagers can be. The said fact that art has tried to imitate this part of life so often that, no matter the specific horrors of Craig Thompson's own experience, it reads as art about life trying to imitate art. If it were a movie, it would bo...more
Blankets is not the most original of stories. No story about a romance between two teenagers can be. The said fact that art has tried to imitate this part of life so often that, no matter the specific horrors of Craig Thompson's own experience, it reads as art about life trying to imitate art. If it were a movie, it would bo...more
I started reading Blankets huddled up in bed while I was stuck at a friend's apartment, snowed in; it was really the perfect circumstance given that the story starts with Craig (the character) and his younger brother Phil in bed. And frankly, those were the best parts of the book in my opinion, Craig's recollections of his childhood.
Because once he grew to teenagerhood and met the love of his life, Raina, the book became all about their True Love Completely Unlike Love Anybody Else E...more
Because once he grew to teenagerhood and met the love of his life, Raina, the book became all about their True Love Completely Unlike Love Anybody Else E...more
Another day, another entry in the graphic-memoir genre. Craig Thompson relates growing up: his shared early childhood with his brother, being terrorized by their angry father and preachy mother, and his adolescence struggling with a Christian faith that made drawing and feeling a sin (while he fell in love for the first time). The first half* of the equation is really much more interesting than the second, which gets too drippy and repetitive for my liking, particularly in its limp critiques of ...more
Blankets is as much of a graphic novel as it is a diary or an autobiography. Reading it, you will feel as if you are talking with Craig and he is telling you stuff about him and his life story. Even if he sometimes seems to want to talk about something in the present, he will consistently go back to the past and tell you about his childhood, which helps understand his options, his thoughts and his beliefs.
Once I had read a third of the book, I felt like I should just read on and finish all...more
Once I had read a third of the book, I felt like I should just read on and finish all...more
Shannon
rated it
Recommends it for:
sentimental religious teenagers with stars in their eyes who burn things dramatically
Shelves:
graphic-novels
It started out so cutely and well drawn.. and I guess it remained both of those things. But the cuteness, at a certain point (the point of teenager-hood) was no longer cute to me. (All the stuff that took place in childhood, however, I thought was well done- especially the portrayal of adults). The lack of me finding it cute was largely because I couldn't relate (I WAS NEVER THAT CUTE OR INNOCENT). Also, I lack the ability to empathize with the main guy's struggle with his relationship with "...more
Blankets by Craig Thompson covered me with deep thoughts, this book took me away. I Wrapped myself in this story of his life, taking in every bit of warmth and understanding it could give me. I took every lesson that could be learned from this book and hid it under my pillow. Craig's illustrations are intense, with just ink you can feel the characters emotions. The pictures tell half of the story them selves. You can feel the temptation, the embarrassment, and anger just by studying a drawing. T...more
My co-worker, an expert in the realm of comics and graphic novels, lent Blankets to me along with Watchmen and I finally got around to reading it. It's a sweet story, well-suited to a lazy-Saturday read in bed, and certainly recommended to anyone for whom the experiences of religious youth expeditions (with their faux bonding, lame gestures at hipness--read: "Contemporary Worship"--and repressed doubt) are distant enough memories to be amusing now. The art was also impressive--varied a...more
Stephanie
rated it
Recommends it for:
People looking for a good 1st graphic novel
Recommended to Stephanie by:
Maria VanTol
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Jeremy
rated it
Unless it comes with a device that magically produces a boundless supply of delicious cookies when I verbally specify into a tiny speaker what kind I want, I seriously doubt that I will ever read a better graphic novel than "Blankets".
Does it help that I came of age during the '80s with a fundamentalist Christian family in a small town? It certainly enhanced my enjoyment, but judging from the reviews I've seen here and elsewhere, a scant, detestable few have failed to fin...more
Does it help that I came of age during the '80s with a fundamentalist Christian family in a small town? It certainly enhanced my enjoyment, but judging from the reviews I've seen here and elsewhere, a scant, detestable few have failed to fin...more
I read this book in one sitting, under a lot of blankets. It's a courageous story to tell and ends more hopefully than I expected it would. What strikes me about this graphic novel is Thompson's unique stylistic choices about what pieces of his stories could be represented through image, text, and both at once. There are so many fine details about each character, cherished items, and landscape (the snow descriptions are amazing), and these details come through not only because of the print la...more
No book has ever come so close to my own story... it really left me in tears because I knew *exactly* what the author was writing about... if I could draw worth a dime (and had the guts to talk about my past like he does), my graphic biography would look very much like this... That was [is:] my family - just replace the little brother with sisters and the landscape to New Mexico. That was me at fundy church camp. That was me fighting over the bed covers with my little sister but then crying wh...more
this book is so beautiful to me. i reread it because i was thinking about giving it as a gift to a friend, and had forgotten how much it had hit home the first time i read it (in early 2006). despite not having a younger brother, not having grown up in the northern midwest, not having ever had a long-distance girfriend in high school whom i got to visit for two weeks at her parents' house - i still feel like thompson's story has so many similarities in spirit to my own experience of growing up i...more
I think everyone who has ever been in a meaningful relationship has to read Craig Thompson's "Blankets." It is so masterfully written and beautiful. The art is amazing and stunning. I just can't put it down. I've already read it twice now. Love it!
I read this in one sitting. (Thickest graphic novel I've ever read.) I rate it only three stars because I wasn't sure what to do with all the religious parts---long Biblical quotes. The protagonist's religious upbringing is at odds with his sexual desires, and maybe it's just fine that the protagonist never felt that he had it all figured out. But the religious references were so long and specific that I somehow felt the need for the protagonist to either support them or scoff at them. He d...more
This is probably the most gorgeous, visually stunning graphic novel I've ever read. In addition, the story is rendered with tenderness and humor. Heart-wrenching, humane, thoughtful, touching on universal themes of loneliness, coming of age, first love, and creativity in the context of an overly sheltered boy in the Bible-thumping small town midwest coming to terms with the pain of being abused. This book really stayed with me, and again, I cannot emphasize enough how impressed I was with the...more
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Craig Ringwalt Thompson (b. September 21, 1975 in Traverse City, Michigan) is a graphic novelist best known for his 2003 work Blankets. Thompson has received four Harvey Awards, two Eisner Awards, and two Ignatz Awards. In 2007, his cover design for the Menomena album Friend and Foe received a Grammy nomination for Best Recording Package.
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“How satisfying it is to leave a mark on a blank surface. To make a map of my movement - no matter how temporary.”
—
37 people liked it
“Which is scarier-- lust or temptation? ”
—
15 people liked it
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Spot on.
Jul 28, 2009 10:21am