Blankets

This is an utterly gorgeous creation. I really liked the illustrations throughout. The storyline started out fine, but the whole thing wrapped up rather quickly and abruptly. I was disappointed in how the story just stopped. The sections are anecdotes from his childhood, but then there is a large chunk devoted to his visit to Raina, which lasts only two weeks, but takes up a massive amount of the book. Many of his childhood tales surface in flashback during his visit or during talks with Raina. All that is fine. The focus on chrisitianity is understandable because he comes from a very Christian home, and he and Raina met at some christian youth event. But, and this is not a spoiler because it is rather obvious from the beginning, he questions christianity, and contemplates its philosophy while being bullied as a younger child and while struggling with his adolescent love for Raina.

I can see how this is considered a story about coming of age. He juggles many questions about life.
This is not a drama or a thriller, but still it seems best to mark some bits with a spoiler tag. When he finally leaves home and moves to the big city, he tells us he leaves his bible behind. He discovers libraries and the fact that he can read all of the books at any time. Shortly after that, there are a few panels where he looks at women and realises he can have a relationship with none of the guilt christianity dumped on him. In these few panels, he is like a child waking up to the realisation there is a big world out there with no parents around. In other words, he can have a real relationship with someone else, unlike the almost unreal or almost fantasy relationship he had with Raina. He can finally have a life that was almost impossible to have when he was at home. He continues to live a lie in that he never (in this story, at least) tells his parents he has abandoned religion. The one thing I did appreciate was how he reconnected with his brother thanks to the talks he had with Raina. Maybe it was because he became good friends with his brother again that he didn't tell his parants he was no longer religious. His walk alone in the snow after Christmas dinner is fine, but I still think there could have been a bit more after he moves to the city. He indicates he can stand on his own two feet now and make his own mark. I would have liked just a bit more before the book ended on the quiet walk in the snow.

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Blankets è il secondo libro che leggo di Craig Thompson, quindi posso affermare con cognizione di causa che, al di là del suo talento, ha un modo di raffigurare le donne che mi mette tremendamente a disagio e mi impedisce di simpatizzare con le sue storie.

È un aspetto che ho trovato molto più marcato in Habibi – l’altra opera di Thompson che ho letto – ma anche Blankets non scherza: Raina, l’interesse amoroso adolescenziale dell’autore, viene spesso raffigurata in pose conturbanti oppure come una sorta di angelo pronta a mostrare una via verso la purezza alternativa a quella predicata in chiesa.

Sono abbastanza convinta che queste raffigurazioni siano proprio il frutto dell’educazione fortemente cristiana e sessuofobica ricevuta da Thompson (e che in parte ci viene raccontata proprio in Blankets), ma nessun ragionamento razionale riesce a scacciare via il senso di disagio causatomi dal vedere il corpo di Raina disegnato in quel modo.

So di essere in netta minoranza, visto quanto è piaciuto e piace questo libro, data anche la sua capacità di raccontare i turbamenti adolescenziali e la classica storia triste di chi cresce in un ambiente fondamentalista, ma Blankets non ha proprio colpito niente in me. Sono però contenta che alla fine Thompson si sia allontanato da quell’ambiente tossico e abbia trovato la sua strada. Anche se disegna i corpi femminili in maniera inquietante.