Sidenote: The first time Elena and I went out together (as friends) was to see the film version of this book that was released in theaters three and a half years ago.
I tried to space out reading this book as much as I could, because I don't think the comic strips are meant to be read consecutively. The comics, mostly autobiographical in nature, document Harvey Pekar's (or his alter-ego Herschel's) life as a government clerk and a hospital worker who has deeper, creative desires which are sometimes overwhelmed by the drudgery of his workaday life. I think anyone who has worked at a repetitive job (read: paralegal) would empathize with some of Harvey's problems, and, throughout the book American Splendor: The Life And Times of Harvey Pekar, the author makes it his mission to make the thoughts of his working-class character(s) relatable and sympathetic. Some of these thoughts were almost revelatory, especially Harvey's philosophical relationship to the great Russian authors who realized that the space of time occupied by a human life is infinitesimal in the grand scheme of the universe. However, over the course of several hundred pages, the themes that Harvey's thoughts return to grow overly familiar and repetitive over the course of the book. This is a book that is definitely not meant to be read in one sitting, or even ten sittings. Space it out as much as you can if you choose to read it.
I was taken in more by the ultra-realist style of the artwork, which does nothing to beautify or hide the flaws of the human characters in Pekar's stories. The artwork emphasizes how frail the human condition is, which connects to the central problem that haunts Harvey's character throughout these strips. The clever nature of the stories is how some of them are cut off after only a couple of pages, as soon as he has accomplished enough to get his point across. One of the stories that sticks with me is Harvey on the bus listening to one driver training another driver along a bus route. The pictures show different areas of Cleveland, where most of these stories take place, and the older bus driver has cutting things to say about each place. These statements gradually reveal the bus driver's prejudices, but there's a sense that all of us are capable of similar misconceptions about things we don't really understand but we think we do. At the end of the story, Harvey is let off at his stop and crosses the street absentmindedly, getting stuck in the median to avoid oncoming traffic. Harvey is caught in an error of his own, and, despite his strong ego, there is a constant motif in his best work of that ego being constantly derided by his insecurities and his mistakes. Above all else, Pekar's writing highlights the vulnerabilities in all of us.
American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar, by Harvey Pekar. Ballantine Books, New York.
:From Off the Streets of Cleveland… Comes Harvey Pekar's Official Blog
I tried to space out reading this book as much as I could, because I don't think the comic strips are meant to be read consecutively. The comics, mostly autobiographical in nature, document Harvey Pekar's (or his alter-ego Herschel's) life as a government clerk and a hospital worker who has deeper, creative desires which are sometimes overwhelmed by the drudgery of his workaday life. I think anyone who has worked at a repetitive job (read: paralegal) would empathize with some of Harvey's problems, and, throughout the book American Splendor: The Life And Times of Harvey Pekar, the author makes it his mission to make the thoughts of his working-class character(s) relatable and sympathetic. Some of these thoughts were almost revelatory, especially Harvey's philosophical relationship to the great Russian authors who realized that the space of time occupied by a human life is infinitesimal in the grand scheme of the universe. However, over the course of several hundred pages, the themes that Harvey's thoughts return to grow overly familiar and repetitive over the course of the book. This is a book that is definitely not meant to be read in one sitting, or even ten sittings. Space it out as much as you can if you choose to read it.
I was taken in more by the ultra-realist style of the artwork, which does nothing to beautify or hide the flaws of the human characters in Pekar's stories. The artwork emphasizes how frail the human condition is, which connects to the central problem that haunts Harvey's character throughout these strips. The clever nature of the stories is how some of them are cut off after only a couple of pages, as soon as he has accomplished enough to get his point across. One of the stories that sticks with me is Harvey on the bus listening to one driver training another driver along a bus route. The pictures show different areas of Cleveland, where most of these stories take place, and the older bus driver has cutting things to say about each place. These statements gradually reveal the bus driver's prejudices, but there's a sense that all of us are capable of similar misconceptions about things we don't really understand but we think we do. At the end of the story, Harvey is let off at his stop and crosses the street absentmindedly, getting stuck in the median to avoid oncoming traffic. Harvey is caught in an error of his own, and, despite his strong ego, there is a constant motif in his best work of that ego being constantly derided by his insecurities and his mistakes. Above all else, Pekar's writing highlights the vulnerabilities in all of us.
American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar, by Harvey Pekar. Ballantine Books, New York.
:From Off the Streets of Cleveland… Comes Harvey Pekar's Official Blog
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