Summer's review
Shortcomings
by Adrian Tomine
Summer's review
Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine
Summer's review
rating:
bookshelves:
2008,
graphic-narrative
Adrian Tomine is a good artist who writes a genuine narrative. Unfortunately, as is the case with a lot of "indie" cartoonists, the narrative is boring and irritating. Whiny, irresponsible hipsters go about their horrible and overwrought lives in an authentic way, but who really cares? Reading this is like being cornered in a coffee shop by a vague acquaintance who has an unpleasantly high opinion of himself that he unsuccessfully masks with phony self-deprecation, and all the time you're trying to think of excuses to leave.
Daniel Clowes often writes this sort of thing, but the difference is that Clowes is not afraid to push boundaries and is actually quite funny. Tomine still hasn't grasped what makes a story engaging, and his stabs at subtext are enraging - you'll want to stab yourself the four hundredth time his characters hamfistedly refer to Ben's white woman fetish.
That said, I still enjoy his artwork; it's Jaime Hernandez by way of Clowes by way of a c...more
Daniel Clowes often writes this sort of thing, but the difference is that Clowes is not afraid to push boundaries and is actually quite funny. Tomine still hasn't grasped what makes a story engaging, and his stabs at subtext are enraging - you'll want to stab yourself the four hundredth time his characters hamfistedly refer to Ben's white woman fetish.
That said, I still enjoy his artwork; it's Jaime Hernandez by way of Clowes by way of a c...more
