Wilson Knut

I’ll write about literature, graphic novels, music, film, and culture. Sometimes I like to rant about the general stupidity of the masses. Sometimes I’m stupid. I continue to delve into the depths of geekdom. I formerly taught English in a public high school. I’m now a multimedia and training specialist in a industrial company. I split my time at work between writing, filming, and editing training videos and writing technical documents. I played guitar and wrote songs in a “touring” band in the ’90s. I still make music on occasion. I’m a parent. I’m a husband.

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Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross

Graphic Novel, Literature 2 Responses »

Jan 282010

My goal was to read 50 books in 2009. I was about twelve books short in December, so I started to scarf down graphic novels. I can knock those out in a day or two usually. I don’t care what anyone says; they count towards my total. My final for the year was 44 books (about 6 graphic novels). I’ll do better this year. I promise.

In that last desperate sprint of reading, I read Marvels written by Kurt Busiek and painted by Alex Ross. I was too cool to be seen reading comics in 1994. My loss. This is a phenomenal series, and one of the most original concepts in comics I’ve seen.

The series covers some of Marvels classic stories, but the events are told from the street-level perspective of a common man- photojournalist Phil Sheldon. It examines how real people might act and feel in a world full of superheroes. Busiek’s writing captures some pretty interesting themes. The philosophical and theological implications the series brings up are interesting. When the masses need saving, they love the marvels like idols. When the masses are bored, they fall into celebrity worship and consumerism. When the masses feel small in comparison to the marvels, the masses want them dead. What’s also interesting is that the marvels continue to “save” the masses, even though they know how fickle the masses’ devotion is.

Alex Ross’s artwork is exceptional. The series covers the 1940s to the 1970s, and Ross captures each time period perfectly. His street-level views are cinematic and completely original. The story combined with the art puts this one near the top of my graphic novels list.

Willingly by Tess Gallagher

Literature No Responses »

Dec 122009

In Willingly Tess Gallagher takes mundane and painful events and turns them into beautiful poems. That’s what good poets do.

Memory is a theme throughout this collection. She begins with “Maybe I’m seven in the open field-” as she goes on to describe running through the field as the rain begins, her head back and mouth open to catch the drops. In many of these poems she eulogizes her father’s death, weaving together memories of fishing trips, farms, and hospitals. She writes at the end of “Boat Ride,” “Good memory,/ if you are such a boat, tell me/ we did not falter in the vastness /when we walked ashore.” In fact, several poems are about caring for others who are either sick or mourning, but she is never heavy-handed. There is always a sense of light in these poems.

And there is room for humor too. She meditates on the strangeness of long distance phone calls, and on a trip to Asia where she ate sparrow. In “Linoleum” she contemplates spirituality and materialism as she documents a journey to the grocery store.

She ends with “Woodcutting on Lost Mountain,” which captures a conversation and trip with her brother and niece to cut wood. Her brother has taken on traits of their father, and Gallagher sees herself in her niece. The refrain is “It’s a wonder we ever grew up.”

Hunger by Knut Hamsun

Literature No Responses »

Dec 122009

Charles Bukowski said that this was one of his favorite books, and old Charles didn’t give praise lightly. The book was certainly ahead of its time, reading like something from the height of modernism, rather than the 1890s. I understand why Bukowski liked it. He always held to the ideal of the poor, mad artist, and this book is a psychological study of a poor, insane writer. In fact, the protagonist is so irrational and insane at times it’s just irritating. Was he insane because he was poor and hungry, or was he poor and hungry because he was insane? I don’t know. He definitely did not get a lot of writing done. Bukowski, on the other hand, was poor and crazy and wrote all through the night on a regular basis from what I understand. I respect the book, but it’s not a favorite of mine.