17 February 2016

A Review of Christopher Hart's Book, Doodletopia Cartoons




Christopher Hart's book, Doodletopia Cartoons is a quasi how-to book about drawing cartoons. It is divided into ten sections each featuring cartoons emphasizing different aspects of cartooning followed by drawing exercises to practice said concept.

What do I like about this book? The art. The cartoons have a really fun retro look, and they are well done. The humor. Mr. Hart is a funny man. He promises that  completion of the first chapter will enable you to run for public office and be elected president (p.11), makes unflattering personal remarks about his likely fictitious family (We're talking about you, Aunt Ethel, p.48) , and shares his personal opinion about the Hipster look (pp. 105-107). Pointers. Mr. Hart has helpful advice, e.g. "A small chest with slightly wider hips gives a humorous look to thin characters. (p.50)."

What don't I like about this book? In section 3, Draw the Other Half, Mr. Hart talks about symmetry. I disagree that this is what he's taking about. I think the real concept at issue here is proportion. His pictures are not symmetrical. Although I am giving him kudos for drawing his eyes the same size and shape. It's the other features that are asymmetrical. In his drawing exercises he gives a prompt, the completed picture, and a facing page with half of the picture for the artist to complete. Some of the prompts differ slightly from the half-cartoon, so it can be a minor adjustment if you're basing it off of the prompt. On a whim I completed one of the exercises completely symmetrically...it doesn't work out great. Not horrible. Just not great. I did think the exercises were really excellent practice for getting the proportions right - something I struggle with. My next issue is that I would have preferred maybe a little bit more instruction. Mr. Hart sometimes issues directives that aren't explained; the small chest/wide hips for thin characters is clearly illuminated, but "Draw the eyes on a tilted angle (p.38.)" and "Draw the hair flat on the sides but bumpy at the top (p.34)." work to good effect on the picture, but why and when?

I was going to flat out not recommend this book. Mr. Hart is witty, his art is great, and he has some helpful pointers. But his book, which is about two steps away from being a one-time use book, is retailing for about $17.00.  And although I like the book, for the most part, I think that price point is too high. When you stop and think about the time and expertise that were obviously put into this book, of course it seems completely reasonable. But what we're really looking at here is our budgets, not the artist's. For me to pay $17.00 for a paperback, it's going to be a special occasion or someone who's work I'm obsessed with (like Ben Hatke, but we'll talk about that later.). I give this one caveat: there are about 160 pages in this book. It is the length alone that makes me say, maybe you would be okay forking over the money. The other reason you might pay that is that a number of cartooning books ( many of them written by Christopher Hart) are similarly priced. But as I read and drew in this book, I kept itching to pull out another book. Which I finally did, and confirmed that, yes, I really do love that book. So here is my honest recommendation: Buy the book if you want, but seriously consider additionally or alternatively buying Action Cartooning by Ben Caldwell. It is an amazing resource for anyone truly interested in cartooning. Also take to heart Mr. Caldwell's recommendation that you purchase Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my review. This is my honest opinion about the book.

08 February 2016

A Review of Anne Tyler's book, Vinegar Girl




I'm afraid I'm going to wax long, though perhaps not eloquently, on the subject of this book.

I did a lot of prep work before reading this book. First you need to know that this book Vinegar Girl is part of Hogarth Shakespeare's relaunch of Shakespeare's plays in modern settings, by famous authors. Anne Tyler is a Pulitzer prizewinning author retelling Taming of the Shrew. In preparation for reading this book, I read one of Anne Tyler's other novels (I was previously unacquainted with her work.), Digging to America. I read Taming of the Shrew, its Wikipedia, its cliff notes, and I even looked up an alternate version of the play, Taming of a Shrew, to read its completed induction (the partial induction is the framework of Taming of the Shrew). In addition, I watched McLintock and 10 Things I hate About You, both modern adaptations. I tried to watch the play on film, but I didn't like the suggestive physical humor, so I had to pass on that one.

Vinegar Girl is the story of Kate Battista, a thoroughly independent preschool assistant who manages her father's affairs while he conducts his scientific research. It is also the story of Pyotr Cherbakov, a Russian genius who has come to the states to be a research assistant, and who can't forget the loneliness of growing up as an orphan. With Pyotr's visa expiring soon, he and Dr. Battista decide to ask Kate to help him to adjust his visa status to "married to an American."

Actually, this book reminds me a lot of the movie The Proposal.

I enjoyed the Anne Tyler novel. I didn't enjoy Taming of the Shrew. I remembered liking it as a teenager, but found myself wondering why as I reread it. I found that the only way the play was palatable or even sensical to me personally was if you borrowed the complete induction from Taming of a Shrew. I was curious about how Anne Tyler would deal with the induction.

Answer: She didn't. Anne Tyler jumps right into her story; and I'm calling it her story deliberately. I can picture Ms. Tyler and the Bard chatting on a park bench. He's telling her all about an idea he has for a story. "No, no!" She protests. "Your story has good bones, " (that's how she phrases it, in my head). "But you're adding so much clutter. Here, I'll show you how to do it." So she outlines her story. And Shakespeare likes it. "I do, really. But it isn't my story. My story is about deception and perception; it's about control and submission. Yours is about fitting in, and belonging. It's about learning to be assertive instead of merely aggressive." Well, that's how it happens in my head, anyway.

Ms. Tyler has direct quotes "Kiss me, Kate" and shout-outs, and nods, and little jokes "Aha! A shrew." "Where?", but her story is only loosely based on the play. And I think it has to be, if you're going to turn a short play with little back story into a novel. And I'm going to be honest; I liked this book much more than its predecessor. I enjoyed it, and I'll probably reread it, maybe even soon.

That isn't to say that there weren't things I didn't like about the book.

Ms. Tyler has used profanity as a way of demonstrating brashness, frankness, and toughness. I'm sure that compared to contemporary novels her language usage is pretty minimal (one reason I usually confine myself to middle grade fiction) but I object to any instances of foul language, so I almost stopped reading when right out of the gate she took the Savior's name in vain.

I didn't like Kate's interactions with the preschoolers; she's supposedly been working there for six years, but we're supposed to believe that in that time she has neither learned to set a good example for the children, nor been fired. However, Ms. Tyler does use the preschool to demonstrate moments of tenderness in our main character.

Speaking of characters, I like the characters. They are well developed and have plenty of personality. Even characters introduced only briefly have endearing personality quirks and uniqueness. With the characters that do stick around, you come to understand them, and their believable motivations. I enjoy Ms. Tyler's writing style.

I enjoyed the ways that she snuck in actual events from the play without making them foreign to her own story and characters, despite telling a vastly different tale. I enjoyed the famous monologue delivered by Kate, restructured to carry Ms. Tyler's message.

I greatly appreciated that Ms. Tyler told a love story without getting smoky, steamy, or racy.

The story is set in Baltimore, and naturally references Johns Hopkins, since Pyotr and Dr. Battista are both employed there. I lived in the Baltimore area for two years, while my husband worked at Johns Hopkins as a postdoc, so for me, it's a little bit like reading about home.

Did Ms. Tyler succeed in the aims of Hogarth Shakespeare? You'll have to ask them, but in my opinion, not so much. Entire elements of the play are dropped. The entire subplot is subverted. The message and tone are entirely different. Anne Tyler has used The Taming of the Shrew as a vehicle to tell her own story, for which I believe we should all be grateful. I believe a faithful retelling of Taming of the Shrew would have required a young woman deliberately putting herself into an abusive relationship, and I think we can all agree we don't need that.

Should you read the book? Yes. It's well-written. I think you'll be happy if you buy it, and happy if you check it out from the library. I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. Maybe 3.5, because I really didn't like the language.

Should you read Hogarth Shakespeare's other stories? I couldn't say. It was evident from Goodreads reviews that I would not enjoy Jeanette Winterson's The Gap of Time, and I quit reading  Howard Jacobson's Shylock is My Name as soon as I hit the F word (Before that point though it was pretty clear that Jacobson's writing style is a bit above me.). So if you like Vinegar Girl, do not automatically assume you'll enjoy the others.

More about the book: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/239448/vinegar-girl-by-anne-tyler/
Author Blurb: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/31626/anne-tyler/

I received an advance reader's edition from Blogging for Books in exchange for my review. This is my honest opinion about the book.