Scan barcode
jmanchester0's review against another edition
5.0
poetry is useless
the subtle genius
of anders nilsen…
i was going to write something funny and/or profound and/or non sequitur
but I gave up
there is no answer
iammandyellen's review against another edition
4.0
Anders Nilsen's humor is my humor. We share humors. The portraits in this book are extraordinary. Unguarded, open, unfussed. Also, sketchbooks. Documents of process. Dynamic, vibrant, alive.
levitybooks's review against another edition
3.0
These are photographs of Nilsen's sketchbook.
From that starting point it's hard for me to love this. It's filled with great ideas and funny quips, but it reads like a stand-up "comic" routine insofar as the ideas are punchy but undeveloped relative to what you might want from a narrative. His work tries to get at serious intellectual issues more so than other graphic artists I have read, albeit he has a penchant for modest nihilistic or nonsensical tangents that muddy the mood he'd cultivated in the earlier panels. Is he trying to suggest an idea, or show how rapidly one can lose faith in one? (Perhaps the idea here is the symbol for all of what poetry provides.)
I think that aligns with how I feel about Nilsen's work. If he could condense, order and balance the ideas that his content and art style already contain I would declare myself a fan. Till then, this is too messy to get earn any more than a few laughs from bewilderment or surprise.
From that starting point it's hard for me to love this. It's filled with great ideas and funny quips, but it reads like a stand-up "comic" routine insofar as the ideas are punchy but undeveloped relative to what you might want from a narrative. His work tries to get at serious intellectual issues more so than other graphic artists I have read, albeit he has a penchant for modest nihilistic or nonsensical tangents that muddy the mood he'd cultivated in the earlier panels. Is he trying to suggest an idea, or show how rapidly one can lose faith in one? (Perhaps the idea here is the symbol for all of what poetry provides.)
I think that aligns with how I feel about Nilsen's work. If he could condense, order and balance the ideas that his content and art style already contain I would declare myself a fan. Till then, this is too messy to get earn any more than a few laughs from bewilderment or surprise.
areaxbiologist's review against another edition
4.0
There's an index in the back of this despairing meditation. This book inspired me to make more time for sketching. I like the way he draws trees, mythical creatures, and the pipe-like maps or root systems. Sadness, travel, and politics abound. I'm more excited about the feel of the work than the content.
ursulamonarch's review
2.0
This one is not for me, although I'm glad I skipped past the first few pages and looked at some of the rest of the collection, which I liked a lot more than the initial part!
More...