Alice in Sunderland...random thoughts

My first ever graphic novel. And wow...talk about an eye-opening experience! Not reading a graphic novel before this was not a judgmental choice. I wouldn't even call it a choice, as it was never a conscious decision to not read one. They just never really entered my field of view, if you know what I mean.

But that said, I will admit that I had some seriously off-base preconceived notions about the world of graphic novels. Manga and superheroes...that was as far as it went in my mind. And I have nothing against either manga or superheroes, by the way, but I never felt the need to delve into them. (Though Annie, of course, loves manga. I'm fairly certain Annie has never met a genre she didn't like.)

Anyway, it was Nymeth's wonderful review of Alice in Sunderland
that got me intrigued. So intrigued that I immediately got on our library's website and requested it through inter-library loan. And I must say I enjoyed every minute I spent with this book. And frankly, that was a lot of minutes!

Alice in Sunderland is a piece of non-fiction. Bryan Talbot must have spent an unbelievable amount of time researching this work. It is just jam-packed with so much information! In general, it is about Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell and their links to Sunderland in the northeast of the country. But it is so much more...

The history of Sunderland and the surrounding area is explored in wonderful detail. From prehistory to modern day. So much information that I can't claim to have retained more than a fraction of it. Talbot did an incredible job of weaving the stories of a large number of people and events all together into one fascinating book. The familiar names that popped up in this book were numerous, from musicians like The Beatles, Grace Slick, and Marilyn Manson to authors like Neil Gaiman and James Herriot and from artists like Dave McKean and Ralph Steadman to serial murderers like Jack the Ripper and Mary Ann Cotton. Talbot expounded on many of the area's myths (my personal favorite being the Lambton Worm). He even included a brief history of comics.

Talbot explored some of the sights one can see in the area today, both from older times and modern. In fact, if Rich and I ever get to take the England/Scotland trip we dream of taking someday, I will do everything in my power to make sure we can visit the St. Peter's Riverside Sculpture Trail.

And as if my TBR list wasn't long enough already, I wrote down three more titles from the pages of this book that sounded quite interesting.

This truly was a great introduction to the world of graphic novels for me. Thank you Nymeth...I never would have read this if it hadn't been for your review. And I must say, I'm more excited than ever to dive into Dewey's Graphic Novels Challenge.


And hooray...I get to fill in my first slot of Joy's A-Z Challenge now!