Review #5: Preludes & Nocturnes

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”
— Edgar Allan Poe

This past summer, after having seen the Scott Pilgrim movie, I decided to pick up the graphic novels. Yes, I did things a little backwards, but that happens sometimes. While I was hanging around the graphic novel section at my local Chapters, there was a young man nearby as well – probably about 19, so a bit older than me. He decided to strike up a conversation with me about Scott Pilgrim, and I mentioned the fact that I’d always had the desire to get into the comic/ graphic novel world, but never had because I had no idea where to start. He suggested the Sandman books. While I didn’t buy it right then, I did keep it in mind when I went back to the store after Christmas, gift cards in hand. I only purchased the first one, though I do have plans to get the rest soon enough, and I’ll be sure to review those as well.

I’m very grateful for the recommendation, as I enjoyed this immensely. This volume deals with Dream getting trapped by the power-hungry Burgess, and he’s stuck there for decades, while the rest of the world suffers in their sleep for the lack of his rule. Meanwhile, his tools are stolen and scattered. When he finally escapes his prison, he must go and collect them.

While the art style took some time to get used to (for me, at any rate), I now feel that it works very well for the story.

I’m afraid I don’t have any deep thematic analysis for this. I’m sure there were plenty of thought-provoking themes, I just didn’t look for them. I read this strictly for fun.

I’ve decided to stop doing the number-out-of-ten thing, as it never quite captures how I really feel about the book.

The next book on my list is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.