Sunday, June 29, 2008

castle waiting (graphic novel challenge #1)

my first graphic novel! i was not sure how this was going to go. sure, i read the comics in the washington post but haven't read anything like this before. linda medly's castle waiting is a compliation of the stories of several characters who have all ended up at castle waiting.

the story begins with a mostly traditional sleeping beauty retelling...up until she's kissed by the prince. at that point, sleeping beauty takes off with prince hans and leaves the castle and it's recently awakened inhabitants in the lurch. the town surrounding the castle had long since been abandoned but the castle became a sort of refuge for people and animals and odd combinations of the two.

then jain comes along, a pregnant young woman fleeing her abusive husband who is not the father of her child. as jain adapts to life at castle waiting, she hears the stories of peace, the bearded lady/nun and her friend nessie who is also a bearded lady and clarice, a third bearded lady. their stories sort of ran together for me after a while. in fact, what i thought this book would sort of follow and explain jain's story but jain practically dissapears about halfway through the book and is used only as the person who the other character's stories are being told to.

i think castle waiting is a creative story but i felt a little let down in the end...i wanted more to be explained and concluded than actually was. i almost hope there is another volume written that ties up jain's story. but if not, it was a fun read anyway.

2 comments:

S. Krishna said...

I've never read a graphic novel either - maybe I should give it a try!

Corinne said...

So, my friend and avid reader Melissa just reviewed this also and it sounded exactly like yours. I read the comments to her post and turns out it IS the first in a series. That's why it feels so loose ended :)