Astounding Stories

I’ve just loaded a whole batch of Astounding Stories onto my Google Books to read when I’m bored. They’re these fun little sci-fi stories from the 1930s, issued in a monthly magazine. Check them out on Project Gutenberg!

THE END OF THE WORLD // Don Hertzfeldt

A full-color, hard-cover, coffee-table-worthy graphic novel about the world slowly and bizarrely falling apart ; from the creator of the Rejected cartoons and It’s Such A Beautiful Day.

Why I'm reading 
Feeling a bit restless. I think I need something a little less scholarly in between books of Tolkien. And I wasn't in the mood for humor.

Where I got the book
The coffee table! Alan bought it a while ago, but I've not been in the right mood to read it.

Expectations
I've seen a lot of the author's work, which ranges from gross/silly to existential and dark. This seems to be leaning towards the latter... but hopefully not as depressing as his movie about mental illness.

Meanwhile my wisdom teeth (or lack thereof) are doing better. Nobody tells you that you just have these, like.... deflated holes in your gums after they take out your teeth. I thought they'd sew it up more, but apparently the holes will go away on their own.

So how was it? 

Hmm. I don't know, I really don't. Where is the line between nonsense and trying too hard? Well, one way or another it had a very dystopian "Year Zero" feel to it. I'm glad I waited to read it until I was feeling a little bit tired, a little bit bored, not really all that up to thinking.

The story is... well, you can't really call it a story. It's more like a collection of random snapshots from a post-apocalyptic world. We're not talking Mad Max here; it's more like reality is coming apart at the seams.

In relation to Hertzfeldt's other works, this was random-all-over-the-place like Rejected, with a little bit of cartoon quirk, but had the darker feel of It's Such a Beautiful Day. According to the author's journal, "if the films were albums, i guess these would be the b-sides."

Recommendation

For when you're feeling just a little bit melancholy.

Feels
Somewhere in the middle of meaningful, dumb, and funny.

Favorites
I liked the art and the phrasing: very simple and bold, characteristic of Hertzfeldt. I like the little notes in the info page.

Least favorites
I wish it wasn't quite so "random". Certain parts felt like they were trying too hard, like a teenager taking about sporks and penguins.

Writing style
Esoteric, simple, unfinished.