From hell

Book Description

3 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

  

  If only I could give FIVE stars.

  I decided, not so long ago, not to include comics in my Anobii profile. Not because I don't deem them "good" enough compared to regular books. Most comics are better than regular books. I don't even need to use the politically correct "graphic novels" term. They are comics all right.

  But From ... (continue)

  I decided, not so long ago, not to include comics in my Anobii profile. Not because I don't deem them "good" enough compared to regular books. Most comics are better than regular books. I don't even need to use the politically correct "graphic novels" term. They are comics all right.

  But From Hell, which I now had the chance to read in English, makes most other comics pale by comparison. It is so rich, so detailed, with so many layers behind the simple "Jack the Ripper" story, that two readings are the MINIMUM.

  Basing his story on the Stephen Knight royal conspiracy theory, Alan Moore proceeds to narrate a disturbing story, in which the killings, purportedly performed to hide the scandal of an unexpected royal baby, are implemented as a grand Masonic ritual to ensure male dominance over the female aspect of society, well explained by Sir Gull during the tour of London's monumental landmarks, in which he explains Netley, the dumb carriage driver, his insane but ambitious agenda.

  Several famous characters do appearances in the background, from Oscar Wilde to William Blake, even Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man), not to mention the funny meeting with Aleister Crowley, already depicted as someone who shouldn't be treated lightly, despite being, at the time, just a plump kid sucking on a candy cane.

  Along with Alan Moore's script, Eddie Campbell's nervous drawings are the best possible choice for a story set amidst the grim poverty that afflicted London's East End at the end of the XIX Century.
  This is a such a powerful work that anyone who isn't disturbed by the human mind potential sickness should read it. Twice.

  Oh, and of course the movie is crap.

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  Luciferasi said on Sep 16, 2009 | Add your feedback

• *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

  

  A sally at entrenched power structures in society and their memetic propagation rendered as a Ripping procedural yarn. The occult and non-linear elements brought to the fore in the final chapter do nothing to detract from the visceral, grounded nature of the story although the direct parallel with W ... (continue)

  A sally at entrenched power structures in society and their memetic propagation rendered as a Ripping procedural yarn. The occult and non-linear elements brought to the fore in the final chapter do nothing to detract from the visceral, grounded nature of the story although the direct parallel with Watchmen's Dr. Manhattan is unfortunate.

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  calebuck said on Sep 1, 2009 | Add your feedback

• 

  "It would seem we have to suffer an apocalypse of cockatoos... Morose barbaric children playing joylessly with their unfathomable toys. Where comes this dullness in your eyes? How was you century numbed you so? Shall man be given marvels only when he is beyond all wonder? Your days were born in blo ... (continue)

  "It would seem we have to suffer an apocalypse of cockatoos... Morose barbaric children playing joylessly with their unfathomable toys. Where comes this dullness in your eyes? How was you century numbed you so? Shall man be given marvels only when he is beyond all wonder? Your days were born in blood and fires, whereof in you I may not see the meanest spark! Your past is pain and iron! Know yourselves! With all your shimmering numbers and your lights, think not be inured to history. Its black root succours you. It is INSIDE you. Are you asleep to it, that cannot feel its breath upon your neck, nor see what soaks its cuffs? See me! Wake up and look upon me! I am come amongst you. I am with you always! You are the sum of all preceding you, yet seem indifferent to yourselves. A culture grown disinterested, even in its own abysmal wounds..."

  Dato per scontato che Alan Moore è un genio, maniaco dei dettagli e della ricerca, sceneggiatore sopraffino, seguace di Robert Anton WIlson e blablabla (tutto vero eh!), quello che mi ha frenato per anni a leggere il tomo in questione è stato lo stile dei disegni, oltre che il salasso che costa. Superata la paura, ho ovviamente avuto la conferma di essere stato tremendamente superficiale (sui disegni, non tanto sul prezzo, che tra l'altro ora è leggermente più accessibile); lo stile di Eddie Campbell si adatta alla perfezione alle atmosfere londinesi attorno a cui ruota la narrazione di Moore e anzi è imprescindibile per come la caratterizza. Il resto è Alan Moore e tanto basta, senza doversi dilungare troppo.

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  anam said on May 26, 2008 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 576 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0861661419
• ISBN-13: 9780861661411
• Publisher: Knockabout Comics
• Pub date: Feb 10, 2007
• Dimensions: 1613 mm x 1226 mm x 194 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Hardcover and School & Library Binding
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani

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