reviews
C. Tyler
Rating: 5.8 | 0 User Reviews | Send to Friend
A kind of stream of consciousness portrayal of a journey into a father’s past as told by the author, the story starts off in a kind of nostalgic montage of images from her father’s life beginning from his days in the army to the present. This graphic novel is not your blood and guts portrayal of a ruthless soldier but rather an investigation into the emotional costs that war has on the combatant and the family that they sire, presenting a familiar story of the “greatest generation” in an unfamiliar way. Tyler switches from her present broken marriage into the past in hopes to find the root of her current discomfort with her less than perfect life. Unfortunately, what starts off as an intriguing idea quickly dissolves into muddled confusion as the tension between her own personal dilemma and her father's story slackens. Despite her efforts to the contrary, these are really separate stories, combining them has the unwanted effect of diluting them both. The diversion from one subject to the next is distracting at times, preventing either tale from truly succeeding at digging into much depth. Tyler does well to create a more dimensional depiction of her grumpy and out-of-touch father, juxtaposing perspective on her father’s history that range from nostalgia to pity. She effectively draws the reader into her own confused family life and her desire to better understand what makes her father the man he is. The book ends without resolution or even clear direction, begging the question whether we can truly ever understand another person's life.
0 User Reviews
Add A Review
