10 September 2005
Abandoned: Attack of the Smart Pies
by Larry Gonick
185 pages
Carus Publishing 2005
Gonick, better known for his Cartoon History of the Universe books, adapts cartoon characters from Smithsonian's kid's magazine Muse into a full-length story. In the magazine this collection of muses -- archetypes of cultural figures from around the world -- live in a cartoon universe that is just a county over from Krazy Kat's Cononino and make for light entertainment.
Here, I'm sad to report, I didn't make it past the first chapter, barely to page 10. I suppose I was expecting some of Gonick's clever comic pacing to carry through to his prose but instead what I encountered was a herky-jerky wordiness that forced me to read sentences over and over. I tried reading through and found myself going back and starting over a total of three times just to make sure I wasn't having a bad day, week, month. It just didn't work for me, sometimes that happens.
I'm happy to see on the various author and magazine fan sites that kids really dug the book, found the characters both compelling and true to their natures, one even going so far as to compare it with the work of Terry Pratchett. I couldn't help thinking that it would have made for a much better graphic novel, with the details in the drawings instead of drawn out in text.
More proof that not everything for kids can be enjoyed by adults.
two cents worth:
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This review makes me want to see the book - just to understand what you're describing.
Is it around here somewhere?
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Is it around here somewhere?
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