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Monologues For Calculating The Density Of Black Holes (2009)

by Anders Nilsen(Favorite Author)

3.52 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1560979801 (ISBN13: 9781560979807)

languge

English

genre

Graphic Novels & Comics

publisher

Fantagraphics

review 1: This is a collection of mostly existential gags, which were often (to me, anyway) very funny, and also thoughtful, but he's light here, trying to have fun, largely, maybe kind of in a Beckett Waiting for Godot sort of way. . . But he's never arty-pretentious, to me, though many of my graphic novels students kind of seem to shrug at the "monologues" work... Or rather, students who just take the class for fun, expecting typical comic work, THEY seem to shrug at this work, mystified, wondering what it adds up to. . . to which Nilsen would probably say, "Exactly!" with a wink. My more serious gn/comics devotees think they get what he is doing and appreciate his Buster Keaton-like asides... and maybe they do, who knows. Do I know? Probably not, because he performs sort of sligh... moret of hand when it comes to what he may really be about. He's playful, and that's good.At the moment, I'm thinking of Chicago's rag, The Journal of Ordinary Thought, where folks on Chicago's south and west sides produce poetry in local libraries... and (RIP) Hal Adams thought the work they were doing was easily as important and interesting as stuff in stuffy academic "Journals," so he found the money to publish them in lovely perfect bound volumes. Working class art, regular people ruminations. This work by Nilsen does not seek or attain that kind of social activism, that's not what he's about, but in the title and various pieces he pokes fun at academic philosophizing in a way Adams (and I, an academic, too) would surely appreciate. His art and monologues with himself, inner dialogues, may be him saying: I'm just a regular guy contemplating existence, in unpretentious ways, and trying to laugh; is Shakespeare a great writer and thinker, with his showy and sometimes bombastic poetic language? Sure, of course, but regular folks, simple, with few words, EVERYONE matters, Nilsen tells me... Beckett was said to be inspired by Laurel and Hardy for Waiting for Godot, and he loved Keaton, Chaplin, and all those who faced the Great Depression and terrible wars with a smile. Maybe these comedians are Nilsen's muse, too, in our own dark times... PS: Inside, I found a slip of paper; was it Nilsen that put it there? Is one slipped into every copy? "DUE TO PRODUCT DESIGN OR MATERIALS, WE WERE UNABLE TO ATTACH ALL VALUE ADDED COMPONENTS REQUESTED. THEY HAVE BEEN PROVIDED UNATTACHED." Okay, so this was somebody's bookmark, sure, but it is the kind of deadpan, obscure joke that would make him smile... It made ME smile, anyway.
review 2: Recently I have had several discussions regarding the poignancy of a certain television theme song, and thanks to Anders Nilsen, I feel completely validated that the opening sequence for Cheers makes everything better, indeed. Beyond that, I found Density of Black Holes to be an interesting and whimsical look at the esoteric. The drawing style is much more quick and loose than in some of Nilsen's other work, but it has its own charm and retains his strong originality. Nilsen balances his absurdity with lots of wry wit. I read this in about a half an hour, but I could probably discuss the ideas presented therein for days, as seriously or as irreverently as I'd like. Nilsen is a master at striking that balance. This work cements him as one of my favorites. less

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