The Hive (Pantheon Graphic Novels)

by Charles Burns

Hardcover, 2012

Status

Available

Publication

Pantheon, (2012)

Description

Confessing his past to an unidentified woman, Doug struggles to recall the mysterious incident that left his life shattered, an incident that may have involved his disturbed and now-absent girlfriend, Sarah, and her menacing ex-boyfriend.

User reviews

LibraryThing member jasonlf
This is the second volume of what I believe is intended to be a trilogy of short graphic novels. What I wrote about the first installment remains true of this one as well:

"A short graphic novel, the first installment of a trilogy. One cannot fully judge the merits of this volume when the other two
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come out. In many places, it is an elliptical, dreamlike tease. If the future volumes do more to tie all of this together, then this might be the beginning of a brilliant graphic novel. If not, then I would be somewhat disappointed."

This novel brings somewhat more depth to the characters relationships, somewhat more perspective on the alien world he ends up in, and another cliffhanger ending--that is just enough to keep me waiting another two years, which was the length of time between installments 1 and 2 in this novel.
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LibraryThing member clstaff
'The hive' is part 2 of the 'X'ed out' series by Charles Burns and if you wanted the same level of WEIRD! as the first installment, then you've got it. Burns is a genius. Reading his books is like having a dream... none of the parts seem to fit together, yet a story is definitely being told. And
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once you are finished reading, it is really hard to remember what actually happened.
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LibraryThing member nosajeel
This is the second volume of what I believe is intended to be a trilogy of short graphic novels. What I wrote about the first installment remains true of this one as well:

"A short graphic novel, the first installment of a trilogy. One cannot fully judge the merits of this volume when the other two
Show More
come out. In many places, it is an elliptical, dreamlike tease. If the future volumes do more to tie all of this together, then this might be the beginning of a brilliant graphic novel. If not, then I would be somewhat disappointed."

This novel brings somewhat more depth to the characters relationships, somewhat more perspective on the alien world he ends up in, and another cliffhanger ending--that is just enough to keep me waiting another two years, which was the length of time between installments 1 and 2 in this novel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
This 2012 second volume of Charles Burns' Last Look graphic novel trilogy does little to unravel the enigmas set up in the first, but adds some layers of detail. The TinTin references from X-ed Out are supplemented with another mise-en-abyme using old girl's romance comics. These become the center
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of a quest for Doug, as he tries to procure them for (reminiscence) Sarah and (hive world) Suzy. Doug's drug issues seem to have been a perverse inheritance, as his recollections show him and Sarah experimenting with his dad's stash of pharmaceutical opiates. In the hive world, Doug has been placed in a servile job by his cranky dwarfish psychopomp.

Between reading X-ed Out and The Hive, I caught an opening weekend showing of Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron. Strangely, the film features many motifs and themes present in the Last Look, including the viewpoint character with a visible head injury, aggressively disorienting portal fantasy, and explorations of the archetypal feminine. It would be surprising if Miyazaki were influenced by Burns, but it's not impossible, I suppose.
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Language

Original language

English

Barcode

10480
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