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Andy's Reviews > Ghost World
Ghost World
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The worst thing that happened to “Ghost World” was that a movie was made of it, because it pawned the book effortlessly. Dan Clowes’ book was so cynical and condescending towards its subject matter that the film couldn’t help making the girls more likeable.
Case in point: when Enid and Rebecca are watching a lousy comic on television the Movie Enid says, “this guy rules, I want to totally do him”, it’s said with a dose of sarcasm and demented humor. The Book Enid says it with a jaded tone and a vacant facial expression. One Enid has soul and the other doesn’t. Guess which one you care about?
Ultimately the girls come off as numb and more than a little spoiled. That might be a middle-aged man’s take on teenage girls, but I’d prefer to read about two crazy girls that are Latina, gay and love punk rock. Kind of like Jaime Hernandez’ brilliant “Locas”, the original classic that influenced everyone, including “Ghost World”.
Case in point: when Enid and Rebecca are watching a lousy comic on television the Movie Enid says, “this guy rules, I want to totally do him”, it’s said with a dose of sarcasm and demented humor. The Book Enid says it with a jaded tone and a vacant facial expression. One Enid has soul and the other doesn’t. Guess which one you care about?
Ultimately the girls come off as numb and more than a little spoiled. That might be a middle-aged man’s take on teenage girls, but I’d prefer to read about two crazy girls that are Latina, gay and love punk rock. Kind of like Jaime Hernandez’ brilliant “Locas”, the original classic that influenced everyone, including “Ghost World”.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
July 4, 2004
–
Finished Reading
January 30, 2008
– Shelved
February 3, 2008
– Shelved as:
comix-novel
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Rebecca
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rated it 2 stars
Jan 31, 2008 07:51PM
I agree with this review 100%!
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Totally and completely agree. I watched it first, then read it, and then understood: I didn't like the movie because I should have read and loved the text first.
Yeah, that was pretty much how I felt about it. I didn't love the movie, but I really was ambivalent about the comic.
As far as gay/latina books go, you might try "Down to the Bone", by Mayra Lazara Dole.I haven't read the whole thing yet, but it's a lot of fun.
Thanks for the recommendation.
