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A review by pistachios42
Last Look by Charles Burns
5.0
It's difficult to know where to start writing about this trilogy, as my thoughts are almost as jumbled as the narrative. That's not to say it's badly written - but I did need to read it twice. Last Look or the X'ed Out
The most impressive thing about the book, in my opinion, is the incredible use of symbolism throughout. It's more profound upon second reading, and who knows, even more, and Burns has a talent in taking mundane objects like a purple dressing gown, an apartment buzzer, or a glass of water, and soaking them with meaning and emotional weight. These are the main things that link Doug and Nitnit, other than their vague resemblance.
The dream sequences as well - if that's what they are - are great. I've seen many reviews comparing the trilogy to the work of David Lynch, which is indeed high praise. Yet Lynch's influence does remain firmly in the real world, and I was impressed by how uniquely Burns' dreams were depicted. They're set apart from works such as Mulholland Drive or Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. They're not too obscure and are possible to decipher - a sort of inversion of the real world story. This is of course helped by the narrative which smartly weaves between Nitnit, and then Doug of both the past and present. I can't imagine how much of a headache structuring that would have been.
I would warn however of the dark themes in this. Despite the artistic inspiration from Hergé's Tintin series, it is much much heavier, and it can be a depressing read pretty much throughout. Generally there is a sense of dread when reading it which I experienced, so well done to Charles Burns for using foreshadowing and flashbacks so effectively.
Aside from that there are flecks of humour, notably the weird characters in the dream world, and Doug's avant-garde musical performances. It's small, but it certainly helps for a respite. I do think it would be a much more difficult read if the narrative wasn't so expertly divided, with these colourful dream sequences coming at just the right moments.
Overall it's one of the most intriguing and original depictions of dreams I've experienced. And even just in its use of narrative and symbolism, it's a masterclass.
The most impressive thing about the book, in my opinion, is the incredible use of symbolism throughout. It's more profound upon second reading, and who knows, even more, and Burns has a talent in taking mundane objects like a purple dressing gown, an apartment buzzer, or a glass of water, and soaking them with meaning and emotional weight. These are the main things that link Doug and Nitnit, other than their vague resemblance.
The dream sequences as well - if that's what they are - are great. I've seen many reviews comparing the trilogy to the work of David Lynch, which is indeed high praise. Yet Lynch's influence does remain firmly in the real world, and I was impressed by how uniquely Burns' dreams were depicted. They're set apart from works such as Mulholland Drive or Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. They're not too obscure and are possible to decipher - a sort of inversion of the real world story. This is of course helped by the narrative which smartly weaves between Nitnit, and then Doug of both the past and present. I can't imagine how much of a headache structuring that would have been.
I would warn however of the dark themes in this. Despite the artistic inspiration from Hergé's Tintin series, it is much much heavier, and it can be a depressing read pretty much throughout. Generally there is a sense of dread when reading it which I experienced, so well done to Charles Burns for using foreshadowing and flashbacks so effectively.
Aside from that there are flecks of humour, notably the weird characters in the dream world, and Doug's avant-garde musical performances. It's small, but it certainly helps for a respite. I do think it would be a much more difficult read if the narrative wasn't so expertly divided, with these colourful dream sequences coming at just the right moments.
Overall it's one of the most intriguing and original depictions of dreams I've experienced. And even just in its use of narrative and symbolism, it's a masterclass.