The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot

Reason for Reading: Dewey Reading Challenge, Graphic Novel Challenge

Helen Potter lived a happy life until she got lost in a nightmare of sexual abuse. Now she's on a journey that takes her through urban and rural England along the same path that another Potter, Beatrix Potter, once took. Across the decades, two lives touch, and Helen discovers that the strength of two is far greater than one. She becomes the armored knight before her own personal demons in this story of heroism and courage.

Dear Dewey,

I actually remember when you reviewed this book. Beatrix Potter was a big part of my childhood, so any mention of her always garners my attention! It was just unfortunate that this book turned out to be out-of-print in Canada. With my new interest in the library this year, though, I was finally able to give the book a read! I am very glad that I did. Bryan Talbot is an amazing graphic novelist. I have enjoyed both of the books I have read by him recently! You mention in your review how this was the second time that you had read this book. I find I have to do that with all graphic novels, because I am so used to reading that I do not always pay as much attention to the pictures as I should. This is why I don't really think graphic novels are my thing, but I keep reading them anyway!

I agree with your review in so many ways. This was a very powerful book that it can be read many times and you still discover new things about it. There is the obvious story, but then there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. The book should be read a couple times to appreciate all the layers. Eventually I am going to track this book down and buy it. It does stay with you, though. I read it probably over a month ago now and it is still with me. The words and images are such that you will not soon forget.

I think the reason that I picked this book up was for the Beatrix Potter connection. The parallels between Helen Potter and Beatrix Potter caught my attention. The fact that to distract herself from the horrors of her life, Helen copied the watercolours from these childhood stories was a wonderful addititon to the story. Finding a safe place where Beatrix Potter settled for the last part of her life was also a wonderful idea. Talbot wrote a story where he took a very serious subject and added some childhood magic. You said in your review that you thought the one year dealing with things, and then confronting your father was a bit rushed, but it was still handled well. I agree.

I am very glad that you reviewed this book and brought it to my attention. It is a very worthwhile graphic novel. I look forward to visiting it again in the coming years and picking up more of the insight into both Helen's life, the art, and the connections with Beatrix Potter (when I get around to reading the huge biography of her residing on my TBR pile!). Another great book to talk about with you, Dewey!

Until next time...

To read Dewey's review of this book, click here.

Alice in Sunderland: An Entertainment by Bryan Talbot

Books Completed: 69
Completion Date: March, 2009
Pages: 328
Publication Date: April, 2007

Reason for Reading: New Author Challenge, Graphic Novel Challenge

Sunderland! Thirteen hundred years ago it was the greatest center of learning in the whole of Christendom and the very cradle of English consciousness. In the time of Lewis Carroll it was the greatest shipbuilding port in the world. To this city that gave the world the electric light bulb, the stars and stripes, the millennium, the Liberty Ships and the greatest British dragon legend came Carroll in the years preceding his most famous book, Alice in Wonderland, and here are buried the roots of his surreal masterpiece. Enter the famous Edwardian palace of varieties, The Sunderland Empire, for a unique experience: an entertaining and epic meditation on myth, history and storytelling and decide for yourself - does Sunderland really exist?

I found this book very over-whelming! There was so much going on in it that I know I could read it five or six more times and find things that I missed the first time around! It was a mistake to take it out of the library. I strongly recommend buying this one if you plan to read it because it is a book you are going to want to keep flipping back through. I think it is also a book that needs to be explored a couple times just to be appreciated to its full extent because between the writing and the pictures there is a lot of stuff happening on each page! It was an over-whelming experience, but one that I really enjoyed!

I have to say... I did not really enjoy Lewis Carroll's novels. I know, I am off in the minority here, but I was never a huge fan. I am talking his two famous ones: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. They sound like books I would love, but while I did like them, I am just not a huge fan. That being said, I find Lewis Carroll fascinating. I have read a lot about him as a person and I like hearing all the different theories on just who he was and what inspired him to write these books. It seems to me, no one really knows him. He is as big an enigma as some of the characters in his books. I wouldn't be surprised if Carroll wanted to be a mystery. It's unfortunate that he has gathered such a terrible reputation. In our society, he is a pedophile, but leading up to his society it was common-place for older men to marry way younger women. Really, who are we to judge? Anyway, Talbot takes a stab at his own theories on who Carroll was.

He also tackles history. He tackles a LOT of history! I found it really fascinating all the connections he made. He included famous figures and famous locations. It was a very visual armchair travel, but you also learned about the history at the same time. He ties this in with Carroll and how he was a visitor to the area and could have easily been influenced by it when he wrote his famous books. Talbot also talks about Alice. The real Alice. I have often wondered about her when Carroll or his books are mentioned. Carroll spent a lot of time with Alice when she was a child, sent her copies of all the different versions of the book, but hardly had an contact with her in her adulthood. That always struck me as odd; especially since she held on to all of the books he sent her throughout the years. It makes me wonder why they stopped talking, but all people can really do is hypothesize. The two people that know the truth are deceased.

Alice in Sunderland was a very worthwhile read. It might have just a bit too much going on to really get a grasp of everything, but I found it fun and interesting. I enjoyed the method that Talbot employed to tell his story and it is such a beautiful book! I can easily see me acquiring a copy of it somewhere down the road.

Highly recommended!