I agree. Terrific piece. I thoroughly loved Bechdel's Fun Home. There is a fine line between sensationalism and confessional and Bechdel walks it with aplomb. In Fun Home too, traces of her discomfort with her mother came across in a scene where she pronounces Chopin as it is spelt until her mother corrects her : SHOW PAN. I remember clearly the big thought bubble that had those letters in Bold and how they echoed in the narrator's mind. As for Fun Home, she created a work for the generations. Mixing literary allusions of the highest order with shocking, subtle personal details, she crafted something that will live for long. It is subversive but very gently so. For a substantial part of the book, I kept waiting for some sort of revelation (there are revelations throughout -- but what I mean is closer to an epiphany) and finally I found it on page 225 "Heart and Soul". I do believe what she says on the last page for her dad is true: "He was there to catch me when I leapt".
Great piece on Bechdel. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Terrific piece. I thoroughly loved Bechdel's Fun Home. There is a fine line between sensationalism and confessional and Bechdel walks it with aplomb. In Fun Home too, traces of her discomfort with her mother came across in a scene where she pronounces Chopin as it is spelt until her mother corrects her : SHOW PAN. I remember clearly the big thought bubble that had those letters in Bold and how they echoed in the narrator's mind. As for Fun Home, she created a work for the generations. Mixing literary allusions of the highest order with shocking, subtle personal details, she crafted something that will live for long. It is subversive but very gently so. For a substantial part of the book, I kept waiting for some sort of revelation (there are revelations throughout -- but what I mean is closer to an epiphany) and finally I found it on page 225 "Heart and Soul". I do believe what she says on the last page for her dad is true: "He was there to catch me when I leapt".
ReplyDelete