Watchmen: "They" Require Supervision

The Watchmen by Alan Moore and David Gibbons, reviewed by Steve on 2/23/2009.

For those of you who do not know, The Watchmen is a graphic novel by Alan Moore, one of the most talented graphic novelists of the century. Indeed, TIME even picked it as one of the one hundred best English novels. The novel also won a Hugo in 1988, which is one of the coveted awards of excellence for works in sci-fi/fantasy. Other works by Alan Moore include: V For Vendetta, and From Hell, both of which were successfully adapted to film.

The story takes place in a parallel world set during the 80's in New York City. A man named Edward Blake has been murdered, but the police have no idea who might have committed the crime. Despite the Keene Act, which banned superheroes from taking action and threatened prosecution for transgressors, one superhero, Rorschach, begins investigating Blake's murder. He discovers that Blake was formerly known as The Comedian, one of the superheroes who used to work with Rorschach and four other superheroes. Immediately, Rorschach concludes that he has uncovered a conspiracy to kill off superheroes, and he warns the others: Silk Spectre II, Doctor Manhattan, Nite Owl II, and Ozymandias.

Initially, the other superheroes do not believe Rorschach, who continues his unorthodox investigation in the underground of New York. Meanwhile, Doctor Manhattan, who has become the symbol of American innovation and power, is accused on TV of causing cancer in his friends and co-workers. Doctor Manhattan is horrified, especially when the U.S. government suddenly turns on him, apparently taking the accusations to heart. He then flees--teleports would be the better word--to Mars, leaving behind humans and their politics. Suddenly, Rorschach's assertions that a conspiracy exists to discredit or kill off former superheroes seems to be true, especially when Adrian Veidt (a.k.a. Ozymandias) narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.

Rorscach continues his investigation and gets caught by the police, who arrest him and throw him in jail. With Doctor Manhattan in self-exile, and Ozymandias preoccupied with his business, Dan Dreiberg (a.k.a. Nite Owl II) and Laurie Juspeczyk (a.k.a. Silk Spectre II) decide to don their costumes once more to save Rorschach and find out who is behind the conspiracy, before it is too late.

The Watchmen was the first graphic novel I have ever read, and was recommended to me by my friend, Matt. I was initially reluctant and uncertain about the graphic novel genre: it seemed to me that half of the fun I get from reading is in imagining the setting and characters as I mentally watch the story unfold. I thought that with a graphic novel, that half is more or less done for you; you have an artist's rendition of everything, leaving the reader with nothing to imagine. In some senses I was right, but my prediction that I would not enjoy it could not have been more wrong. I loved it.

The artwork itself is somewhat "dated," at least that's what I have been told and what I have heard from graphic novel connoisseurs. Nevertheless, I do think that the "dated" feel to the artwork is fitting. The story is supposed to be set in the 80's, in the middle of the Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which feels like a long time ago even if it was not in actuality. Additionally, I would like to re-phrase things a bit, and say that the artwork is not so much "dated" as it is "classic." Sure, it's not as current and edgy as some of the new artwork out there, but the art still draws you in, just as an older film can. To be sure, if you have predispositions against "old" things, whether movies, art, or any other media, then you probably will not be able to move past this.

While the story itself is fantastic, and does not so much "progress" as it does unfold before you, I had a hard time keeping things straight in the beginning, especially because there seems to be no central character whose perspective directs the story. Initially, it seemed like the main character was Rorschach, because the beginning followed his investigation, but this changes and the story continues as though nothing had changed, which made me feel as though no one was the central character. This is not really a flaw, it's just something unexpected and different.

I am very pleased to say that I honestly loved this book, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. If you have not read a graphic novel yet, this is the one to try it out with. I give this 5 stars.

A Touching, Heartfelt Read for the Human Soul

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, reviewed by Steve on 7/30/2008

Khaled Hosseini's debut novel, published in 2003, received worldwide fanfare and remains one of the best-selling novels to date. It was voted the Reading Group Book of the year in 2006, and since then, it has also been included on many schools' summer reading lists.

The novel tells the story of a boy named Amir, who is born into a wealthy and prosperous family in Kabul, Afghanistan, and his friendship with Hassan, the son of Ali, who is the servant for Amir's family. The two boys spend most of their days playing outside, whether they are kite fighting, pelting neighbors with seeds fired from slingshots, or telling stories by the pomegranate tree on the hill behind Amir's house.

But their friendship is complicated by Amir's growing awareness of Hassan's ethnicity. As a Pushtun, Amir is from the upper echelon of Afghanistan society, while Hassan, a Hazara, is from the lower class. A local thug named Assef, whose role model is apparently Adolf Hitler, taunts Amir for being friends with a lowly Hazara; an ethnic group he says are socially inferior.

The words of Assef seem to haunt Amir, who cannot shake off their influence, culminating in a traumatic encounter, where Hassan bravely stands up for Amir and is brutalized while Amir watches as he hides in terror. The event plagues Amir, who begins to feel as though his father's sentiments about his "unmanliness" are well-deserved. Hassan's heroic and at the same time, saint-like behavior makes Amir feel inadequate. To rid himself of Hassan and his own feelings of disappointment, Amir frames Hassan and his father, Ali, with the theft of Amir's birthday presents. Baba, Amir's father, is loathed to see them go, but Ali and Hassan are determined to leave, and Amir is certain that they know he framed them.

After moving to America and finding success in marriage and his budding career as an author, Amir cannot seem to forget Hassan and his last interaction with him, even after fifteen years of separation. Amir receives word from Baba's friend, Rahim Khan, who asks Amir to come to Pakistan, offering Amir a way to redemption for his actions.

Khaled Hosseini's novel can be described as being superbly human, among other things. Amir's disappointments at being unable to be what his father desires can translate seamlessly into every person's life where they have felt a similar kind of frustration. Additionally, Amir's inability to act the part of the hero when his friend needed him to separates this novel from the conventional stories and myths, where the reluctant protagonist is able to act with courage, bravery, and dignity. And yet despite this, we find ourselves similarly unable to judge Amir harshly. His actions seem to earn our pity more than our scorn. Furthermore, throughout the novel, and especially in the last third, Khaled Hosseini brings to life the horrors of civil war and the Taliban ideology through the shocked and terrified eyes of Amir, who serves to bridge the American-Afghan gap, as he finds "home" in both locations.

As a novel, The Kite Runner earns a rating of 4 from me on the 1-5 scale. It is both beautifully and expertly written and superbly moving. While it was a fast read for me, and I did thoroughly enjoy it, this book is more somber in tone than uplifting. There is hope and happiness, but the novel is above all, tragic and human. As such, I highly recommend this book if you want to be moved, but it does not make for light reading.