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Laughter and pain, love and loss "Stories told in comic strips aren't generally intended to be book-length narratives, but, on occasion, a story rises above the rest of the work and marks itself as something special. [Roses in December] is one of those stories." - from the Preface Since its debut in 1987, Crankshaft has engendered reader loyalty and affection with its wry wit, engaging storylines, and identifiable characters. Created by Tom Batiuk and drawn by Chuck Ayers, the strip offers plenty of humor but also tackles serious issues like adult literacy, school violence, and the challenges of aging. Roses in December is a touching collection of two Crankshaft storylines of characters who find themselves dealing with the incurable condition of Alzheimer's disease. First, Ed Crankshaft's best friend Ralph is confronted with the trauma of his wife Helen's worsening Alzheimer's. He never knows if the love of his life will recognize him on those days that he visits her at Sunny Days Nursing Home. Ralph and Helen's love story unfolds with humor and heartbreak. In the second story arc, Crankshaft's neighbor Lucy McKenzie also exhibits symptoms of Alzheimer's and eventually is moved to Sunny Days Nursing Home by her sister Lillian. The fourteen-year struggles of Lucy, Helen, and their loved ones are elegantly told, preserving their dignity and reminding us that sometimes a sense of humor can be our greatest possession during life's trials. Through the deceptively simple medium of the daily comic strip, Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers address the profound effects of Alzheimer's disease in a thoughtful and occasionally humorous way. Roses in December includes a resource guide for caregivers, patients, and practitioners.… (más)
I've never followed the Crankshaft comic strip because the few times I did try it I found the grumpy old man at its center, Ed Crankshaft, to be more annoying than humorous. Fortunately, he's more of a supporting character in this collection that focuses on the two elderly sisters who live next to him and a married couple he has known for years. One person in each of the two pairs is suffering from Alzheimer's.
Lillian and Lucy McKenzie get the most screen time, and their story begins with Lucy's usual absentmindedness becoming more frequent and extreme. Lucy bonds with Crankshaft's granddaughter, Mindy Murdoch, and spends much of their time together telling about a lost love from the 1930s. Those flashbacks become more frequent as Lucy starts getting lost in the past, and hidden details and secrets are revealed. Meanwhile, in the present day, Lillian becomes more and more distraught as the weight of caregiving for a sister who frequently wanders away from home becomes increasingly overwhelming.
A parallel, secondary story has Ralph Meckler reminiscing with Crankshaft's grandson, Max, an aspiring musician, about how he met his wife Helen in New York City when he was starting his own career as a musician. Helen has been in assisted living for a long while, but Ralph is able to give her one last hurrah that celebrates the beginning of their love.
Both stories have a sweet melancholy, serving up romance leavened by the toll of dementia à la The Notebook.
The storytelling is a bit awkward due to the comic strip origins with every third panel needing to be a punchline and Crankshaft having to show up regularly and drop some of his signature malapropisms since he's the title character. Also, these strips were not consecutive in the comic strip's run, so the story skips around a bit randomly at times and the kid characters become teens without warning, but it still manages to stick together pretty well despite the necessary cobbling. If readers are unaware that Crankshaft is part of the Funky Winkerbean universe, they might be a little confused or lost when he and the gang from Montoni's Pizza gets involved in a minor little subplot.
I'm certainly not going to become a Crankshaft regular, but this does remind me that I should get back to reading the Complete Funky Winkerbean books that came out a while back. ( )
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
. . . God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December. - J. M. Barrie
Dedicatoria
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
For those who live with a shadow across their minds
Primeras palabras
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
Ed Crankshaft takes his friend Ralph and his neighbor Lillian to visit Ralph's wife, Helen, and Lillian's sister, Lucy, at the nursing home.
Citas
Últimas palabras
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
But before I leave, what I need to know from you is . . . will you marry me? If your answer is "yes" . . . meet me on this coming Friday night inside the brass rail at the Wisteria Ballroom. If you don't come . . . I'll know your answer and won't bother you about it again. Love, Eugene
Laughter and pain, love and loss "Stories told in comic strips aren't generally intended to be book-length narratives, but, on occasion, a story rises above the rest of the work and marks itself as something special. [Roses in December] is one of those stories." - from the Preface Since its debut in 1987, Crankshaft has engendered reader loyalty and affection with its wry wit, engaging storylines, and identifiable characters. Created by Tom Batiuk and drawn by Chuck Ayers, the strip offers plenty of humor but also tackles serious issues like adult literacy, school violence, and the challenges of aging. Roses in December is a touching collection of two Crankshaft storylines of characters who find themselves dealing with the incurable condition of Alzheimer's disease. First, Ed Crankshaft's best friend Ralph is confronted with the trauma of his wife Helen's worsening Alzheimer's. He never knows if the love of his life will recognize him on those days that he visits her at Sunny Days Nursing Home. Ralph and Helen's love story unfolds with humor and heartbreak. In the second story arc, Crankshaft's neighbor Lucy McKenzie also exhibits symptoms of Alzheimer's and eventually is moved to Sunny Days Nursing Home by her sister Lillian. The fourteen-year struggles of Lucy, Helen, and their loved ones are elegantly told, preserving their dignity and reminding us that sometimes a sense of humor can be our greatest possession during life's trials. Through the deceptively simple medium of the daily comic strip, Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers address the profound effects of Alzheimer's disease in a thoughtful and occasionally humorous way. Roses in December includes a resource guide for caregivers, patients, and practitioners.
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Lillian and Lucy McKenzie get the most screen time, and their story begins with Lucy's usual absentmindedness becoming more frequent and extreme. Lucy bonds with Crankshaft's granddaughter, Mindy Murdoch, and spends much of their time together telling about a lost love from the 1930s. Those flashbacks become more frequent as Lucy starts getting lost in the past, and hidden details and secrets are revealed. Meanwhile, in the present day, Lillian becomes more and more distraught as the weight of caregiving for a sister who frequently wanders away from home becomes increasingly overwhelming.
A parallel, secondary story has Ralph Meckler reminiscing with Crankshaft's grandson, Max, an aspiring musician, about how he met his wife Helen in New York City when he was starting his own career as a musician. Helen has been in assisted living for a long while, but Ralph is able to give her one last hurrah that celebrates the beginning of their love.
Both stories have a sweet melancholy, serving up romance leavened by the toll of dementia à la The Notebook.
The storytelling is a bit awkward due to the comic strip origins with every third panel needing to be a punchline and Crankshaft having to show up regularly and drop some of his signature malapropisms since he's the title character. Also, these strips were not consecutive in the comic strip's run, so the story skips around a bit randomly at times and the kid characters become teens without warning, but it still manages to stick together pretty well despite the necessary cobbling. If readers are unaware that Crankshaft is part of the Funky Winkerbean universe, they might be a little confused or lost when he and the gang from Montoni's Pizza gets involved in a minor little subplot.
I'm certainly not going to become a Crankshaft regular, but this does remind me that I should get back to reading the Complete Funky Winkerbean books that came out a while back. (