Contract With God

published	September 1985 by Kitchen Sink Pr (Nrt)
binding	Paperback
isbn	0878160183 (isbn13: 9780878160181)
pages	196
description	Four powerful dramas recall tenement life in 1930s New York--an absolute must for fans of Bernard Malamud, Philip Roth,and Isaac Singer. The storytel...more [close] Four powerful dramas recall tenement life in 1930s New York--an absolute must for fans of Bernard Malamud, Philip Roth,and Isaac Singer. The storytelling is straightforward: sometimes heart warming, sometimes heart breaking. It's printed in a single sepia-colored ink, which adds to the nostalgic feel of the book and includes "A Contract with God," "The Street Singer," "The Supper," and "Cookalein." [close]
date added	05-12-07 edit book

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John rated it:

03/01/08

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: Comics readers, literary readers

The black and white print pulls some of the childishness out of the blocky art style that was very similar to simple cartoons of its time. It alternates between panels and storybook-style pages, and the first story in particular has a very storybookish narrative, even though its subject matter is intensely grave. The eponymous story, "A Contract with God," deals with the worst pain in religious life - not the loss of faith in God's existence, but coming to hate Him. It's written with e...more The black and white print pulls some of the childishness out of the blocky art style that was very similar to simple cartoons of its time. It alternates between panels and storybook-style pages, and the first story in particular has a very storybookish narrative, even though its subject matter is intensely grave. The eponymous story, "A Contract with God," deals with the worst pain in religious life - not the loss of faith in God's existence, but coming to hate Him. It's written with enough ambiguity that orthodox and secular readers will be able to interpret it in their own ways (indeed, it's written such that they can both form very strong opposing opinions), rather than demanding some point of view, and Hersch (the man with the contract) is so stark that you won't feel anything wrong with having a different point of view from him. The story is about trying to force our values on the universe and massive emotional strife, of the most painful disappointments and the weaknesses in human character that can let them change us into people we would oppose if we met them today. It's so deep, compelling and sympathetic that its bleakness is wholly forgivable.

After that, though, the collection falls into the literary trench of "life sucks, and then maybe you die" that makes so much literary prose unreadable, and that has been unfortunately emulated by many literary comics. The difference between many of the other stories in the collection and the first one is that the first earns its tragedy and turns; the other ones live on shock and feed on readers who enjoy bleakness. I've had enough crippling sickness, heartbreak and disappointment in my life that this kind of crap doesn't impress me. The last story is downright hammy, incredibly bold for its time with depictions of fetishes, rape and blunt social maneuvering, but it's still disappointingly misogynistic and shallow, especially for something following "A Contract with God." I'd recommend this book to all literary comic readers for the first story, and despite the accompanying ones.

As far as the tradition of the graphic novel... "Graphic novel" is a term used by self-loathing comic book writers. I understand the desire to divorce your attempt at serious art from somebody stereotype of muscle men in brightly-colored spandex, but you still write comic books. And as far as comics go, this is a great one, and highly important to literary comic history as it inspired and influenced so many writers that came later. The difference isn't in how a writer or artist labels himself, but in the content onto which he places the label....less

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Contract With God

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