Author: Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Genre: Graphic Novel
Paperback: 840 pages
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly (April 14, 2009)
Description: Acclaimed for his visionary short-story collections The Push Man and Other Stories, Abandon the Old in Tokyo, and Good-Bye—originally created nearly forty years ago, but just as resonant now as ever—the legendary Japanese cartoonist Yoshihiro Tatsumi has come to be recognized in North America as a precursor of today’s graphic novel movement. A Drifting Life is his monumental memoir eleven years in the making, beginning with his experiences as a child in Osaka, growing up as part of a country burdened by the shadows of World War II.
Spanning fifteen years from August of 1945 to June of 1960, Tatsumi’s stand-in protagonist, Hiroshi, faces his father’s financial burdens and his parents’ failing marriage, his jealous brother’s deteriorating health, and the innumerable pitfalls that await him in the competitive manga market of mid-twentieth-century Japan. He dreams of following in the considerable footsteps of his idol, manga artist Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy, Apollo’s Song, Ode to Kirihito, Buddha)—with whom Tatsumi eventually became peers and, at times, stylistic rivals.
ClICK HERE to download a preview!My Review: When I saw this big lug of a book I snatched it up; I was in the mood for some heavy reading (ha ha...not pun-y?). I did not know I was in store for a history lesson...of epic proportions (just a little sarcasm here...and another attempt a some pun humor). I think I finished this in two sittings. So do not be daunted by this 800+ page of a graphic novel.
I did like that I felt as if I was getting a history lesson. The beginnings of manga, the godfathers of manga held some interest. However, I found it all HIGHLY repetitive. It was all about struggling to make it, repeatedly. Struggling to put out a certain amount of work, repeatedly. It was about struggling to come up with something creative, repeatedly. And after the twentieth time something happened, repeatedly, I just couldn't take it. I didn't quit, mind you, it was just that my interest was at a very low level. But I wanted to know what happened in the end. So I stuck with. The ending wasn't epic, but it did veer of the recurrent path. So that is good, right? Heh.
There was another thing that bugged me, the subtle hostility towards Americans. The Japanese can do subtle real well, they would never be outright in their hostility. It was just random smatterings of comments about Americans, about the USA. It was always a little sidebar about what was happening in the world...or rather what Americans were doing to annoy Japan. Wah wah. I got tired of that. Maybe I am blowing this out of proportion, but the slight digs were neither that interesting nor that vital, it seemed, to the integrity of the story. Didn't want to hear it.
I did enjoy the style of art. Compared to the manga of today the look is completely different. I haven't read a lot of older stuff, but the style does seem to be more cartoon-y. I get the feeling that early manga was influenced greatly by Westerners. Americans. Ah, the irony.
Since I like learning how other cultures lived during different periods of time I was intrigued by Hiroshi's home environment. But the book was very manga-centric, so I basically got a look at the isolation felt by the lesser known artists when it came to their audience, the people who were reading their stuff. I was waiting for Hiroshi, who seemed completely in the dark when it came to the publishing and distribution of his product, to get ripped off big time. The boy didn't even have a phone people!
Rating: 2/5
I did like that I felt as if I was getting a history lesson. The beginnings of manga, the godfathers of manga held some interest. However, I found it all HIGHLY repetitive. It was all about struggling to make it, repeatedly. Struggling to put out a certain amount of work, repeatedly. It was about struggling to come up with something creative, repeatedly. And after the twentieth time something happened, repeatedly, I just couldn't take it. I didn't quit, mind you, it was just that my interest was at a very low level. But I wanted to know what happened in the end. So I stuck with. The ending wasn't epic, but it did veer of the recurrent path. So that is good, right? Heh.
There was another thing that bugged me, the subtle hostility towards Americans. The Japanese can do subtle real well, they would never be outright in their hostility. It was just random smatterings of comments about Americans, about the USA. It was always a little sidebar about what was happening in the world...or rather what Americans were doing to annoy Japan. Wah wah. I got tired of that. Maybe I am blowing this out of proportion, but the slight digs were neither that interesting nor that vital, it seemed, to the integrity of the story. Didn't want to hear it.
I did enjoy the style of art. Compared to the manga of today the look is completely different. I haven't read a lot of older stuff, but the style does seem to be more cartoon-y. I get the feeling that early manga was influenced greatly by Westerners. Americans. Ah, the irony.
Since I like learning how other cultures lived during different periods of time I was intrigued by Hiroshi's home environment. But the book was very manga-centric, so I basically got a look at the isolation felt by the lesser known artists when it came to their audience, the people who were reading their stuff. I was waiting for Hiroshi, who seemed completely in the dark when it came to the publishing and distribution of his product, to get ripped off big time. The boy didn't even have a phone people!
Rating: 2/5
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