If you're not familiar with Clowes, he's the artist/story teller who created "Ghost World" and received an Academy Award nomination for the script of the movie version of that wonderful story. If you're not familiar with King, I can only sit here with my mouth open staring at my computer screen at a loss of what to write in the little white space.
This blog is about two works that tell essentially the same story with significant parallels -- parallels that are unusual to find in works of this scope and from authors of this magnitude.
I can only assume that Daniel was unaware of the similarities between Patience and King's 11/22/63, since that book came out nearly eight years ago. I'd love to hear from Daniel about this. I'm certainly not condemning either book, since I consider them both to be masterpieces. It's just fun to point these things out and wonder what was going on.
Currently, Daniel is busy setting up a press tour, so, Daniel, take this as a cautionary blog. Someone else is bound to see the parallels and challenge you at one of your appearances. Here they are:
* Both protagonists travel back in time to attempt to save someone. In King's book, it's JFK. In Clowes' book it's CENSORED. I don't want to spoil it.
* Both books feature someone who has figured out how to work time travel, and thus helps the protagonist move back and forth through time.
* Each book features a kind of "how to" notebook compiled by the guy mentioned above and profusely used by the protagonists as a kind of road map to the past.
And here are the positive things they share:
* Both are masterpieces of imaginative story telling. I think of them as companion pieces illustrating the different ways two of the best storytellers of our time work out basically the same story.
* King's work was exhaustively researched, and at over 840 pages, he takes his sweet time immersing us into the early 60s. If you don't want to read the book, the story is accessible on hulu as a live-action series.
* Clowes tells the story in his own masterful way through the compelling, internal dialog of his protagonist.
* But wait, there's more. With Clowes' tightly controlled art, we are visually drawn into his world. Everyone is totally serious all the time (in typical Clowes style), and the backgrounds are stark and drawn with perfect perspective. I don't know about you, but sometimes I just "hunger" for a little Clowes.
So, where are we? Both books are vastly enjoyable, and I recommend purchasing them together and then talking about them any time you find yourself at a snotty dinner party where some obnoxious, over-educated person asks you the question, "Where do you get YOUR news?"
Labels: Daniel Clowes, Stephen King, time travel, Patience, JFK, graphic novels.
