Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel

Alison Bechdel's Fun Home might be my favourite book ever, so I was very excited to pick up her newest memoir in comic strip format, Are You My Mother?, when I was in Chicago last month for the Comics Philosophy and Practice conference.


Bechdel at conference in Chicago.
Background image from Fun Home.
Are You My Mother? is just as fabulous as Fun Home. With the same self-deprecating humour and poignancy that she used to examine her relationship with her father, Bechdel dissects her interactions with her mother. It is more complicated, partly because her mother is still alive. It is even more personally revealing than her previous work. Bechdel has spent her life wanting more from her mother than her mother is equipped to give. Her struggle is to come to terms with that fact, and to accept the gifts of strength and independence that she received from her mother.

Bechdel has a large fan base of lesbians who, like me, have followed her since her early Dykes to Watch Out For comic strips. With the release of her two memoirs, her readership has broadened and now people of all stripes are finding relevance in her work.

When I'm talking to folks who are new to graphic novels, I always say to go slow. It takes time to absorb visual information and to synthesize it with printed text. This advice especially holds true with Are You My Mother? The pages are dense and the narrative is layered. It makes for a rich experience that rewards re-reading. (My sweetie has read it twice already.)

Bechdel's artwork is highly controlled, yet expressive. In Chicago, she talked about her need for accuracy. This is reflected in her careful imagery. While she chooses her words skillfully as well -- and there is plenty of written text in Are You My Mother? -- Bechdel knows when pictures say it best. I love the way she depicts her response to her therapist's question about her religious beliefs:

from Are You My Mother, p 103
Very highly recommended. Readalike: Stitches by David Small.
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8 comments:

  1. avisannschildJuly 5, 2012 at 10:19 PM

    I read the first section of this book in a bookstore and loved it. I'm not sure why I didn't buy it on the spot. Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much!

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  2. LindyJuly 6, 2012 at 5:47 AM

    Avis, I hope you take it home next time! This is a book that I'm pleased to own, rather than borrow from the library, since it's one that I plan to re-read. I do buy a lot of books, but mostly for gifts, not for keeping.

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  3. avisannschildJuly 6, 2012 at 4:42 PM

    I definitely want to own it (along with Fun Home). Some of the things she says about her mum in the first part of the book (specifically about their phone conversations and how her mum never asks her how she's doing) sounded really familiar to me!

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  4. LindyJuly 6, 2012 at 9:16 PM

    Yes, but do you transcribe your mother's words as she speaks to you over the phone? Bechdel carries things to such extremes that other mother-daughter relationships look idyllic in comparison.

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  5. avisannschildJuly 6, 2012 at 9:20 PM

    Nope, I've never done that, but I confessed I kinda thought it was a brilliant idea! (Who knows, I might want to write about my mother one of these days!)

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  6. LindyJuly 6, 2012 at 10:12 PM

    Hmmm. Good point. I wonder what your mother would think... Which is the question that always gets asked of Bechdel.

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  7. avisannschildJuly 9, 2012 at 6:12 PM

    Yeah, I can't imagine writing about my mother the way she did while my mother is still alive!

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  8. LindyJuly 9, 2012 at 6:33 PM

    Bechdel's mother seems pretty okay with it all, surprisingly. I guess she has had decades of experience with Alison being her daughter.

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