Black Hole | Charles Burns | Amazing, Transformative

Black Hole | Charles Burns | Spellbinding

books:

Black Hole

	Black Hole Charles Burns Pantheon, 2008 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 48 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Winner of the Eisner, Harvey, and Ignatz Awards

The setting: suburban Seattle, the mid-1970s. We learn from the outset that a strange plague has descended upon the area?s teenagers, transmitted by sexual contact. The disease is manifested in any number of ways ? from the hideously grotesque to the subtle (and concealable) ? but once you?ve got it, that?s it. There?s no turning back.

As we inhabit the heads of several key characters ? some kids who have it, some who don?t, some who are about to get it ? what unfolds isn?t the expected battle to fight the plague, or bring heightened awareness to it , or even to treat it. What we become witness to instead is a fascinating and eerie portrait of the nature of high school alienation itself ? the savagery, the cruelty, the relentless anxiety and ennui, the longing for escape.

And then the murders start.

As hypnotically beautiful as it is horrifying, Black Hole transcends its genre by deftly exploring a specific American cultural moment in flux and the kids who are caught in it- back when it wasn?t exactly cool to be a hippie anymore, but Bowie was still just a little too weird.

To say nothing of sprouting horns and molting your skin?

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Amazing, Transformative

This is the first graphic novel I have read. Charles Burns uses this medium to it's utmost. The story is extremely compelling and as you go through the book you feel imersed in the atmosphere of the characters.

The art work is outstanding. At many times in the book I just stared at some of the panels just admiring the fluidity and craft of the illustration.

I think the greatest compliment for a book is when the reader feels transformed and different after having finished it. This is exactly how I feel. I look at life just a little bit different after having read this book.

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Spellbinding

This is a real triumph of story telling and art. It held me spellbound in the two days it took for me to read it while on vacation.

Caution: This work does contain nudity.

absolutely fantastic

I very much like reading graphic novels and I came by this one by accident. I had never heard of Charles Burns before. When I looked through it at first, I was immediately drawn to the great artwork and bought it straightaway. The story is just plain great, no other words to describe it. Dark, intense, scary and fascinating.
I would highly, highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes the genre. If you, for instance, enjoy the books by Daniel Clowes (like a velvet glove cast in iron), this will not disappoint you! In fact, it is even better! Great, great book!

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Cool Book

I read it from start to finish in one sitting. It's a great idea for a story with cool characters.

unrelentingly creepy and disturbing

I read this when it was released, but I'll never forget the feeling of dread that I had to finish reading it since I had a review copy. While this reaction is not generally taken to be complimentary, it is a testament to how effective Charles Burns' nightmare teenage world is. It's rare that you can be afraid of a drawing, but Burns reminds us that he's the master of graphic horror. Black Hole is a searing smack in the face of the fantasy that adolescence is easy or fun.

basic, basic plot: Mystery disease that attacks only teens causes mutations and deformities to varying degrees. Some start to act as monstrously as they look.

The disease is never explored and there's no cure. The mutations range from almost adorable to really disturbing. I interpret this story as a take on adolescence as a time of unpredictable, inevitable mutation that adults cannot understand and are ill-equipped to deal with. You can't stop looking at this - the art is really incredible. I heard a movie was being made, but it better be animated, as I doubt any live-action type special effects can capture the psychological unease that permeates Burns' work. These monsters aren't scary merely because of how they appear - they're frightening because they were once like you.

I understand it's quite long and seems intimidating, but you'll get through it with no trouble...provided you can put your imagination aside and not make it any more terrifying than it already is.

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