I actually first discovered Fun Home last Spring, when a Broadway-obsessed friend showed me a clip from the Tony Awards in which cast members of the musical version of the book sang the song Ring of Keys, in which a young Allison Bechdel has a moment of self-discovery upon seeing a butch woman for the first time, desiring the freedom to act… Read more →
Tag: Fun Home
Not So Fun Home
Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home was the most depressing book I have ever read. Now that I have your attention, let me explain what I mean. I admit that before this class, I had never heard of this book or its author. Through my own research and reading, I came to understand its significance, and I came to appreciate the excellent… Read more →
Ring of Keys
I actually read Fun Home several weeks ago, while working on UMW’s production of Noises Off. During one act, I needed to be seated behind a giant stair unit, and I wasn’t able to move until the act ended. So, for roughly 45 minutes, I had time to read. I chose to bring Fun Home with me, since it was one of the smaller books we… Read more →
Fun Home reflection: Sara Francis
Fun Home has been an interesting bit of material to read. Often with books and graphic novels, the stories we are discussing are works of fiction, and while they have a heavy influence from the authors life, fiction is still in the area of dismissal. We can look at it and go ‘wow, that’s awful, these people are terrible characters,’… Read more →
How Fun Home Makes Us Think About the Nature of Memory
I have talked about the nature of memory, particularly in memoirs in quite a few other classes, so I was not surprised, when we broke up into groups on Friday during class, that I once again found myself discussing how accurate memories are, in terms of memoir. Throughout her work Bechdel says “I think” frequently. While some may say that… Read more →
Banning Books and Banning Thought
This past week of class seemed to revolve around a common idea: why ban a book, and in particular, why this book? While Fun Home has the effect of making people uncomfortable, does it warrant the amount of resulting controversy? While students are warranted in expressing their discomfort with the novel, I believe it is an issue with what we… Read more →
Fun Home – Art/Text
After completing Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, I found it to be an incredibly insightful and intriguing read. The autobiography has won many awards, proving it to be accepted and read by many. However, it has also run into issues regarding underlying themes, such as pedophilia, gay and lesbian characters, and nudity. I don’t believe this book has great amounts… Read more →
Intimacy and Sentiment in the Graphic Memoir
A memoir is a written account of an author’s memories or personal experiences. Prior to taking the Graphic Novel course, I had only experienced traditional books, or even one or two film interpretations under this genre. I hadn’t considered a graphic novel to be a medium used to convey personal experiences, mostly because I hadn’t read many to begin with. It wasn’t until reading Alison Bechdel’s Fun… Read more →
Up with Rating, Down with Banning
In class this week we started to read Fun Home. We have also been discussing the various controversies that have surrounded the teaching of this work at other colleges and schools. As well as having a lengthy discussion about banning books. Personally I myself do not think that books are something that should be banned. Not all books are appropriate… Read more →
Reflections on the Beginning of Fun Home
Having left this assignment till the last minute and becoming thoroughly bored with class discussions on Akira, I will write this reflection on Fun Home. We have not started to talk about this novel yet in class, but I have started reading it and find that I like it much better than Akira. Akira was great, but it wasn’t anything… Read more →