Hi there! Ok, I haven’t posted for some time, and I probably won’t be able to post that often, what with exams and things coming up, but I just recently signed up for goodreads, and I reviewed a book today, so I’m just sharing that with you. If you can’t be bothered to read it on goodreads, I’ll also copy it here so you can read it here.
From now on, I will post my usual stuff here, but I’ll also post my reviews and stuff so you can see it. Enjoy 🙂
Here’s the link: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/563305445
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’ll admit it. I scoffed at the idea of Watchmen.
I ridiculed the notion that superheroes were essentially human, that superheroes made mistakes, that superheroes got scared.
But that was all a year ago, when I was (slightly) younger, when all I knew about superheroes was from the Dark Knight movies. But time did what it does best, and passed, and as it did, I got increasingly embroiled in Batman comics. I realized that one of the key themes of these comics was also that Batman was human, that he too had emotion, and that he was not infallible. This interested me, so I decided to give Watchmen another chance. And that, dear reader, was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Watchmen magnificently treads the line between being a graphic novel about superheroes and being a full fledged analysis of the human condition, while at the same time populating a dark and gritty alternate 1985, a time where superheroes (having emerged during the Vietnam War to help the US win) have been outlawed for nigh on 10 years. With the exception of a semi-madman and two government sponsored heroes (one of whose death at the start of the book catalyses the entire story), the heroes have resigned themselves to their mundane fate and lead a normal existence. The death of the aforementioned government hero turns this precociously stable world of the heroes into a maelstrom of self-doubt, self realisation and intense passion, all of which culminates in one of the most morally incongruous endings one could imagine.
But this isn’t a story about superheroes so much as it is a commentary on society as a whole. On how we too, are human and therefore fragile. On how we too, are terrified of anything that upsets the world order. At one point, having lost his last link to humanity, one of the heroes decides to retire to Mars (Mars!) and performs an internal monologue that rivals those of Shakespeare. This character perceives all permutations of reality simultaneously at one point in time and uses this power to convey the transience of our existence, the very fact that a living human is no different to a dead human. It’s one of the most poignant and symbolic things I’ve ever read, and I confess I read it 4 times before I could even come to terms with its brilliance.
Watchmen is many things. It’s a story unparalleled by anything other comics have to offer. It’s a desperate call for us to realise the insanity of our existence. But most of all, it raises a question. A question that’s been asked by countless people, but never really gets answered. Watchmen doesn’t answer it either, but it shows that whatever the answer is, it’s a damn important one.
Who watches the Watchmen?
Abzonnian Ramblings 