Alejandro's Reviews > Ghost World

Two hours of my life that I will never get back!


This is the graphic novel edition of “Ghost World” by Fantagraphics Books, originally published as chapters, in the comic book series “Eightball” #11-18.


Creative Team:

Writer & Illustrator: Daniel Clowes


MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

People who read my reviews know that I’m not usually negative (for not saying of giving 1-star ratings) when I am commenting about my readings, and being that negative, doesn’t cause me any joy, sadly when I do feel that it’s necessary, well I don’t hesitate about it, even if it’s against a generally popular and praised work.

No book is a $100 bill to be liked by anybody.

I didn’t have a clue about what was about Ghost World, and after reading it…

…I still don’t have a clue about what was about it!!!

The main characters of Ghost World are Enid Coleslaw (her dad legally changed his last name from Cohn) and Rebecca (Becky) Doppelmeyer, both 18-years old girls, both just graduated from high school, best friends and still looking out for what to do with the rest of their lives.

The graphic novel doesn’t show any north, no real storyline, just a bunch of unrelated episodes without any clear purpose, where Enid and Becky basically interact with old acquaintances or new people, always commenting something negative about them.


MUCH NEGATIVE ABOUT EVERYTHING

Both, Enid and Becky, are very mean to everybody, they are constantly pointing out their faults, calling them with offensive names and generally criticizing them, behind their backs and/or in their faces. Enid and Becky also have negative opinions about almost anything around them. Even, Enid and Becky comment in negative light about themselves!

In a few cases, some of the support characters deserve the negative critique, but in most cases, Enid and Becky are just mean without any provocation or justification.

So, I guess that since Enid and Becky are sooooooo negative about everybody and everything, I don’t feel so bad myself for being that negative in my review about the graphic novel.

I have read (and watch) a lot of black comedy products and I have laughed plenty with them, but while Ghost World tries to be humorous, honestly I didn’t feel the impulse to laugh with it, not in the least.


MUCH LOST ABOUT POTENTIAL

It’s a shame (at least in my very personal opinion) that Ghost World didn’t exploit its own storytelling potential, since the characters and ambiance were ideal to build a plot in the style of other products like the live-action film Amélie or the animated TV series Daria.

Curiously enough, Ghost World “born” in 1993 and lasted until 1997; Daria began in 1997 and Amélie is from 2001, so one could think that maybe, just maybe, Ghost World could serve as an inspiration and/or to open the road for those projects, but I don’t know for sure about that, and after all, Ghost World is a very pale image in comparison with those mentioned wonderful masterpieces.


MUCH MOVIE ABOUT GRAPHIC NOVEL

I knew that there is a film adaptation of Ghost World, but I haven’t been able to watch it (yet). After reading this graphic novel, I wanted to check (reading it at IMDB) the premise in the movie, since I wasn’t able to understand how somebody would be able to pull a movie out of this.

I wasn’t surprised when I noticed that the movie had key changes in its core plot, since the graphic novel doesn’t have any plot at all!

So, it’s understandable that the film is different in its basics to be able to present a proper storyline to follow.

And I heard that the movie is far, FAR, FAAAR better product than the original graphic novel.