One Hundred Demons

Thanks to a book exchange on the book club board on the Nest, I received a brand spanking new copy of One Hundred Demons in the mail (thanks, Amy!). I had been eyeing this book for quite some time, and thankfully, I was not disappointed. It was an enriching experience to read this book. And this isn't just any ordinary book: it's a graphic novel. You know, it's one of those that can be found in the section that almost entirely consists of teenage pimply guys who can only dream of losing their virginity. I happen to love graphic novels (so much that I'm writing my thesis on a series of them - but that's a subject for another time).

Here's a excerpt from a review from MadInkBeard:

Autobiographical comics (and their partially fictional brethren) are nothing new, and perhaps are even rather played out these days, the refuge of an artist with little to say. That doesn’t take away from the power of a well-done and original spin on the genre. Barry brings a unique voice to the material filled with humor, joy, regret, and acceptance. She tells her stories with the partial wisdom of experience and age looking back at the hazily remembered days of pre- adulthood. She plays on the friction between those days (as best as we remember them) and the altered view we hold looking back. These are not stories of a woman growing up. They are stories of a woman looking back on growing up, putting some of those demons to rest, and realizing how some still haunt the present.

The rest of the review can be found here.

I felt this review was a really good one and gave attention to all aspects of the book. One of the things that I love about graphic novels is the added visual component. The juxtaposition of cartoon-like drawings and serious subject matter is not always easy to grapple with, but I prefer to have a challenging reading experience over an easy one. This book really took me back to my own childhood and my own demons - and did so with surprising poetic ability.