Blankets

Blankets was just a beautiful book. I have no other way to describe it. I sat down to read some of it before I went to bed one night and I couldn't put it down. I was completely drawn in by his style of drawing right from the beginning. The stories of him and his little brother sharing a bed were both funny and intensely telling of his life. I found that the glimpses he gave us into his childhood were crucial for the entire book. The way the story unfolded seemed completely organic; there was nothing that seemed forced or unnecessary. I think that half the story was also told through the characters' body language. For instance, the conversation between Craig and Raina the first time he sleeps with her in her bed is filled with body language. You can see the way he pulls away from her that he doesn't want to at first and the way she leans forward tells us that she wants him to. I am always impressed when the pictures convey deeper meanings than the words above them. I think perhaps my favorite were the last few pages with the images all morphing into each other. The entire story really resonated with me as I struggle to discover my own beliefs and my own faith. I never had religion pushed on me like Craig did in the book, but I think that this is an almost universal battle that people go through. The way in which Thompson presented it was smooth, effortless and beautiful. I can see myself rereading this several times in the near future.