V for Vendetta

by Alan Moore

Other authorsDavid Lloyd (Illustrator)
Paperback, 2008

Call number

GRAPH N VEN

Collection

Genres

Publication

Vertigo (2008), Edition: New, 296 pages

Description

Comic and Graphic Books. Fiction. HTML: A powerful story about loss of freedom and individuality, V FOR VENDETTA takes place in atotalitarian England following a devastating war that changed the face of the planet. In a world without political freedom, personal freedom and precious little faith in anything, comes a mysterious man in a white porcelain mask who fights political oppressors through terrorism and seemingly absurd acts in this gripping tale of the blurred lines between ideological good and evil..

User reviews

LibraryThing member kwohlrob
Admittedly, I am a latecomer to the cult of Alan Moore. I was barely aware of him back in the late 80s/early 90s, and other than Killing Joke, my introduction to him was actually in the superb D.R. and Quinch series for 2000 A.D. I missed out on the original releases of his Swamp Thing run, V for
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Vendetta, and The Watchmen.

Later, I rediscovered Moore with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I was already a fan of Kevin O'Neill from his work on Marshal Law (which is still one of my all-time favorite comics and fantastic satire), so I immediately jumped on the new series. Over the years, I've slowly been winding my way back through Moore's definitive work, viewing it for the first time with a somewhat different perspective than most who read the comics upon initial release.

While not the best of Alan Moore's work (The Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Killing Joke are far better tales), V for Vendetta still stands up as an amazing piece of comic book art after all these years. Many of the political and social themes (as well as David Lloyd's artwork) may not seem that revolutionary now (or for literature in general), but one has to view the series like a Black Flag album or a painting from Joan Miró. Compared to other releases of that time (and in many cases of the ensuing decades), it stands well above the competition.

I do tend to agree with Moore that the series works much better in its original colorless incarnation, was serialized in Warrior magazine in the UK during the 1980s. The concept of the stark, black and white artwork used to tell a tale of endless moral gray areas works so perfectly. And in many ways, it sub-references the original pulp mystery origins of the series when Moore and Lloyd thought it would be set in the 1930s gangster era. The lackluster coloring by DC Comics, who published the series here in the U.S. under their Vertigo imprint, almost detracts from the story.

But up until this time, there had never been a comic series like V for Vendetta. This was the comic book equivalent of Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” offering up a satirical and dystopian viewpoint that masks a very serious political argument. Moore and Lloyd were reacting to Thatcherite Britain, parodying its more grotesque sins including xenophobia and ruling by conformity.

In addition, the countless literary allusions, the use of iambic pentameter for V’s dialogue, and the unflinching portrayal of a society that is falling apart at its very core is still head and shoulders above most comic storytelling.

One fact hit me reading all these years later: there isn’t a single hero in V for Vendetta. No one is heroic, not even V. While his anarchist quest could be regarded as noble, it still results in murder and ultimately the complete destruction of British society (holding to the idea that the old society must be destroyed so a new one can be built in its place). Other than Judge Dredd or the Punisher, there was nothing this grim and cynical in comic storytelling of the 1980s and early 90s. It took guts for Moore to craft such a storyline and to do it with such a creative and artistic flourish. Even if you disagree with Moore’s viewpoint, you are dragged into his political arguments, forced to take sides, much like the characters trapped in the storyline, are left to question your own pre-determined moral judgments. That is the mark of a great storyteller.
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LibraryThing member grizzly.anderson
I'd seen the movie and liked it. I'd read other Alan Moore graphic novels and liked them. I'd seen Moore's commentaries on how much he hates every movie ever made from one of his books, especially this one. And I thought I should check it out for myself.

I can see why he's upset. The plot is
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similar, and the point is similar, but the book and the movie go about it VERY differently and the actual endings are quite different. In fact, the movie chose to end with what is pretty much the beginning of the book.

Like most, if not all, of Moore's books, V is about how and why the central characters are they way they are. And they aren't necessarily good people. V is a tortured anarchist who kidnaps and tortures a relative innocent to turn them into a copy of himself. Along the way he fights against a corrupt autocracy. But not because it is a good thing, or a noble thing, but for personal revenge and because V is an anarchist. A violent anarchist.

I like that aspect. This is the perfect example of "comics aren't just happy stories for kids", just in case anyone still believes that old trope. The story, themes, dialog are all something you can find in contemporary social commentary fiction. Except better than at least 80% of what you're likely to find. The images are incredibly well done by David Lloyd. The art is nothing of the flashy lurid colors you might associate with a "comic book". The pallet is very restrained, monochromatic even. Most of the book is illustrated in sepia, washed-out blues, or faded amber/rose with occasional splashes of green intruding into a section. It is dark, much like the material. Shadows predominate.

Ultimately it is a powerful story, powerfully told and powerfully illustrated and it has little to do with the movie. I disagree with Moore about the movie. I think that was pretty good too, but he's right that it wasn't a movie of his book.
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LibraryThing member mclesh
I'm a little ashamed to admit that this was my first graphic novel. Sure, I grew up reading comic books, but the Archies were so much different than this. I can't imagine the work that went into this, first of all. Writing a novel is one thing, but illustrating it all? Wow.

Not even sure what to
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write about this one. I give it five stars not just for the writing, which I thought was brilliant at times, but for its impact on popular culture and political activism, i.e., the Occupy Movement's adopting of the Guy Fawkes masks and many references to the character V.

The movie V for Vendetta was very good. I'd seen it beforehand, and it was interesting to see all of the differences between the film and the graphic novel--there were quite a few.

V for Vendetta is set in a dystopian future London with a totalitarian government. The main character V is an anarchist whose main goal is to finish off what Guy Fawkes had originally planned, and that is to blow up Parliament--not so much to cause destruction of the place, but because the place represents an idea of government. Blowing it up will, in essence, cause a re-set, which in V's mind is the only way society has a chance if it wants to live freely and openly.

Alan Moore was unhappy with the status quo when he wrote V for Vendetta. He saw the government in England at the time as overstepping its authority and intruding on the lives of its citizens. His novel creates an extreme world where the government is all-seeing, intrusive, and really up to no good, responsible for genocide of "undesirables," using citizens as experimental guinea pigs, and other horrible things.

The faceless character V lives by his own strict ethical and moral code. By wearing the mask, he is everyman/woman. His underlying message is that the people have the power to bring about the change they seek, especially when their government is behaving badly.

This graphic novel brings up many philosophical questions, and after reading it, I can understand why it became so popular. My only criticism has to do with the drawings being muddy (dark colors) and sometimes it was hard for me to distinguish between the characters. Moore doesn't spell everything out for the reader. When I mentioned that I was a little confused to my teen son, he said, "You have to pay close attention while reading." Good advice. (I should listen to my son more often.)

I don't know if "enjoyed" is the right term to describe how I felt about this with the subject matter being so dark, but I definitely found it to be a page turner. The end was so much different than the movie's which ties things up neatly (but that's Hollywood for you).

Great first experience with a graphic novel. Next for me is Moore's Watchmen.
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LibraryThing member booksandwine
I should probably confess right now that I saw the film V For Vendetta way before I read the graphic novel. I saw the film multiple times in theaters, then bought it the night it came out on DVD. I loved the movie. LOVED it. Now, you are probably thinking, okay psycho, just talk about the book, or
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thinking I must have loved the movie way more than the book. Well, I did like the movie better, at least the story. However, I think it's detrimental to use the same standards of judgement to both, as they are completely different mediums.

The movie is way different from the graphic novel. While reading the comic, I was thinking did the Wachowski brothers even read the source material the movie is supposed to be based on. However, I'm no purist, so I can't exactly fault the film, and I can't hate the graphic novel for not being the movie but with comics and words. Right-o. Might as well take my movie hat off and put on my comic-book hat, in order to further discuss.

The introduction of the book starts off talking about television shows and cheeky characters. The author states this book isn't about cheeky characters going along doing cheeky things, that V for Vendetta is for people who leave the news on, instead of changing the channel to a sitcom. I LOVED the introduction, and how serious it was.

The world of V For Vendetta is a dystopia. The government is controlled by this guy known as the Leader. Most aspects of life are controlled, the people are constantly monitored by cameras. Order is kept by this brute squad known as fingermen. All the gays, the people of color, and the leftists were basically murdered in some sort of genocide. The world is gritty and disturbing and scary. Some people are perfectly content in the lives they live, Evey Hammond, for one is pretty happy, except, well, she start hooking to pay the bills. Her path crosses with that of V, this guy in a mask, and her worldview eventually changes. V is a person who is not content with society.

Of course, I could not admire V very much. V isn't so much a character, as he was an idea. He represents complete freedom and no control at all. Essentially he is a madman who thinks the world would be better off with anarchy than government. I, on the other hand, think anarchy is rather stupid. Call me a cynic, but I don't exactly trust my fellow man, and think there is a great need for law and order. Now, on the opposite end of the spectrum from V is the Leader and those who drive England's government. I couldn't get completely behind them as well, as I think people should be free to make decisions and should not always be under surveillance even if that does represent safety. Really, both ends of the political spectrum are showcased here, and I didn't really see any sort of middle ground. No moderates in this book, I suppose. I think both sides do reprehensible things, but perhaps I find these things so reprehensible because of the society in which I exist.

However, just because I was not in love with the characters does not mean I don't recommend this book, because I absolutely do. V for Vendetta made me think about the role of big government. It made me question my political beliefs. It made me consider why anyone would want anarchy. I like a book that gets my mind spinning. I'd say, if you do read this one, don't expect it to follow the movie very closely and vice versa.
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LibraryThing member xicanti
Nuclear war has changed the world. Continents are gone. The UK has become a fascist state. Few are willing to speak out against the injustices the government perpetrates every day. Then one man--codename V--begins to do just that.

The more Alan Moore I read, the more I like his work. His stories are
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consistently thought-provoking, intricate, subtle and dark. He doesn't give answers; instead, he tosses out a bunch of ideas and lets the reader figure out how she feels about them. It's interactive. You can't just kick back and enjoy the story; you really need to concentrate on what's going on, because Moore sure as hell isn't gonna tell you in so many words.

V FOR VENDETTA is no exception. It's an early piece and so is not, perhaps, quite so subtle as some of Moore's later stuff, but it doesn't suffer by comparison. It's deep and penetrating and absolutely worth your time. As David Lloyd says in the introduction, this is a book for people who don't switch off the news. It's for readers who want to look deeper. There are no good guys here, and you could argue that there are no bad guys, either. There are people; people who've chosen, or been forced into, particular paths, and must now deal with the consequences. Moore and Lloyd rarely pass judgment on them as they chronicle their story (though they do invite us to do so). They show us what these people do and how they feel about what they do. They invite us to place ourselves in the same situations and consider how our views might change. What is right? What is wrong? Where should we draw the line?

So V FOR VENDETTA is a highly political work, but it's also a book about symbols. V, the (arguably) central character, dresses as Guy Fawkes. He wears an ever-smiling theatrical mask. He collects pieces of the contraband past. He throws snippets of plays and songs in his opponents' faces. Even his codename, V, is symbolic: of what he (wants his enemies to believe he) endured after the fascists came to power; of the old slogan, "V For Victory,"; of the V sign, which I understand is basically the finger to British folks. Moore also makes it clear that V is for a lot of things, not just Vendettas and Victory: victims, vermin, villains, voices, visions, violence, vengeance, and a whole host of other things positive, negative and in between.

And then there's the format itself, which was revolutionary for the times. There are no thought bubbles, no block quotes from an omniscient narrator. The story relies entirely on the art and the dialogue, and the two together do an admirable job of pushing everything along. Lloyd's paneling is dynamic and easy to follow. His use of line ties the work firmly to the 1980's, but after a while you won't even notice. His colours, in contrast, are pretty different from the stuff that was prevalent back in the 80's. At times, V FOR VENDETTA looks like nothing so much as a watercolour painting.

There's a ton to think about here, a ton to mull over and contemplate. I feel like I'm not saying enough; like I haven't even scratched the surface. There's a lot to this book. I highly recommend that you check it out for yourself.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina).
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LibraryThing member agis
The most interesting thing about “V for Vendetta” is that the main theme of the novel isn't actually one man standing up to Fascism, though that's an aspect of it. The more relevant political theme is Anarchism, though it's still only partly about that. The primary themes are about people;
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about people taking their freedom and the responsibility that goes along with it. The creeping Fascism of the book came not from the scheming of an elite, but from the failure of the countrymen to take control of their own lives, and instead taking the simple way out and following the group that promised to take away their fear.

The freedom of “The Land of Do As You Please” isn't the answer, but rather than the opposite of authoritarian ideas of responsibility they're one and the same, both accepting the easy answer rather than standing up and actively choosing. Moore and Lloyd's Anarchism is a freedom of self-rule, where you take real responsibility for governing your own actions among your peers and hold your ideals in a way that can't be threatened. On a personal level, this a case made well; even Finch, who isn't pushed through this like Evey but goes through a (potentially absurd) revelation is better than Mrs. Heyer's ultimate dependency. The authors skimp, however, on the possible rise of this unruled order – the novel takes place under the old order. It's rather clear they would pin the blame on the people, and not the system, if it didn't work.

Moore is certainly verbose; there's a lot of talking here and most of the fights are abrupt matters. Lloyd's art isn't outstanding or beautiful (though the faded color may due to the printing), but it's never a problem and the lighting, shade, and color augments the action. The minimal use of internal monologue, and complete lack of sound effects or thought bubbles means it has to pull it's own weight and it does. V for Vendetta is a great graphic novel – as much or more for it's warnings of letting us fall prey to our fears and appetites in a subtle way as for the overt threat of Fascism.
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LibraryThing member Prop2gether
Curiousity was the reason I read this book, because I found myself enjoying the film version. I now find myself in the position of saying I'm glad the book was written because otherwise the film would not have been made. I found the written story far more disjointed, harder to focus on (partially
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because it was written for the 1980's, not the 2000's political climate), and generally unappealing. It is a classic of its genre, however, and worth at least one read if you are a fan.
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LibraryThing member starcat
A lot of the background to this novel doesn't really make any sense. How did V get enough money for all the supplies he needed? How did he get access to vital locations if everything is being watched? For that matter, how did he kill so many people without any one even thinking they had a serial
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killer on their hands? How did he plant explosives in all the major buildings, especially after Parliament went kablooie? How is there a computer that knows everything, given the collapse of the high-tech sector? How did V gain access to it years ago?
Magic, I suppose, like the hormone magic required for him to become the super hero that he is.

Politically, I suppose that chaos is better than fascism, and the feudalism you see beginning to crop up at the end is also better. But then, so what? What does this book have to say to us? The answer could be: question authority. Alright, but the novel asks its questions with explosions and murder. V tortures an innocent girl, and we are supposed to believe he is liberating her instead of causing PTSD. The brave new world of individuals thinking for themselves, to be ushered in at the end, doesn't offer much in the way of hope or reason.

The book is full of the easy part of anarchy: Smash! The hard part - building a society of equals, with no government, one that is prosperous and safe - this is no where in evidence in the book. At most, it can be found in the occasional aphorism or song lyric, or delivered sermon-like by V. (It almost reminds me of Ayn Rand, ha).

As for the art, at times it's really good. But as has been frequently noted, the background characters are usually rather difficult to tell apart, and it sometimes is really hard to tell what's actually happening, to whom. The fact that often I didn't care enough to really work it out speaks to how unimportant these background characters actually are. And the novel's treatment of women, well, I won't say it's misogynistic. Mostly because I'm tired. And the novel's treatment of sex, which is rather shabby, probably dovetails with the treatment of women. A lot could be written about this, but not here by me:)

So, why 3 stars? I did find it compelling. For all its flaws, there is some wonderful material here. The art did draw me in rather frequently, and I read it all in one sitting, taking my time over 4 hours to really soak it in. It far from sucks, that I can say. But it is also a world away from being great, and is only just barely on the side of good. It does its job of creating dialogue. And it's heavily iconic, my copy came with a Guy Fawkes mask.
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LibraryThing member aadyer
An excellent premise,which I was introduced to by watching the film first. I was keen to find out the basis of the film and although this has dated somewhat, it still has issues that are very resonant today. Totaliterianism and the very Englishness of this make it compulsive reading. Alan Moore
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takes us a bit more behind the motives of the characters that act around V and this is more rewarding as a consequence. V himself is more fleshed out and I found that some parts of the narrative get much deeper than the film. Alan Moore's philosophical musings are very interesting in their references to personal freedom, something which is not addressed as deeply in the film. Even with the dated nature of this work, it still is a great read, and a thought provoking novel. Recommended
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LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
In an alternate reality England of the 1990s (the near-future at the time this comic was created), the fascist group Norsefire has taken control of the government after a nuclear war that, while not directly involving the UK, negatively impacted the environment and created chaos in the kingdom. For
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a little security and order, people have given up their civil liberties and are subjected to constant voyeurism, listening-in-on, propaganda, and police brutality at the hands of this new government. In a move right out the Nazi playbook, “undesirables” such as blacks, homosexuals, and social radicals are shipped off to concentration camps where they ultimately are killed. Against this backdrop emerges V, a vigilante character dressed as Guy Fawkes who is seen as a terrorist by the government but views himself as a harbinger of a future anarchistic society where the people will rule themselves.

This book has received many accolades and is important for its place in comics history, but I have to admit that I wasn’t as thrilled by it as I had hoped to be. For starters, I wasn’t the hugest fan of the illustrations. There was nothing wrong with them technically, but they just weren’t my cup of tea. I found the basic storyline interesting and still timely in many respects. (I have a feeling that all the cameras looking over London’s streets in this comic were considered science fiction at the time of its publication, but today they are quite common in major cities. Also, considering the current political atmosphere under the PATRIOT Act, “the Eye” and “the Ear” operations of Norsefire no longer seem like science fiction concepts in the US. And let’s not getting into illegally detaining “undesirables”...) However, despite my interest in the storyline, I found much of the plot to be convoluted to the point of not being entirely enjoyable. I needed to go back often and remember who all the characters were and how they were connected. (This could have been a symptom of me reading it piecemeal, but I’m not sure if it would have helped if I read larger chunks at a time.) There were some very clever bits to the book that I enjoyed - that every chapter title was a word beginning with the letter 'v', that V takes a girl named Evey under his wing (say it aloud - E-V), and that V often quotes from literature, to name a few. V also has a number of excellent and moving speeches regarding his motivations and/or politics. The ending was mostly satisfactory but I still felt like there were so many unanswered questions. I wanted to know more about V - not only who he was, but how he founded the Shadow Gallery, how he collected cultural items that fell on the wayside, how he was able to be so slick and cunning and get away in situations where he seemed trapped, and what he used to kill people that was so silent yet instantly fatal. While I suppose part of the enduring appeal of this book is the mystery of V’s identity, I love character backstories and was disappointed not to have more of V’s journey.

This particular edition contains an introduction by author Alan Moore, as well as an essay by Moore about the process of developing the comic (complete with illustrations from David Lloyd). In addition, two brief "interludes" from V for Vendetta that didn't make the final cut are included. These are fun tidbits to have and give insight into the authorial view of V's character.

Ultimately, I’m glad I read this book because of its talked-about nature, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.
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LibraryThing member Poemyhero
If you liked the movie you HAVE to read the novel! Actually, whether you are a lover of graphic novels or not this book is a classic and I think it must be read by all.

I loved the movie and it's one of my favorite movies. It was powerful in so many ways, and it's all due to the book it is based on
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by Alan Moore. Wow! What a mind that man has. I commend him so, for this book is even better. It challenged my mind to its utter core. It filled in so many blanks that I didn't even realize the movie was missing. It also opened my eyes to what I did not see in the movie or didn't realize I did not see in the movie.

The planning in this book, the symbolism, the thought...all of it was so intricate, and yet so pristine.

Watching the movie I hadn't known that the mask was a tie in to Guy Fawkes. Actually, I didn't even know who Guy Fawkes is. After looking him up, I learned that he was a man confident in his religious beliefs and willing to do what it took to see them through and through. Now, I agree with fellow fans and analysts of the book. As one person says, "It's not Guy Fawkes himself that V wishes to be, but what Fawkes represents: rebellion. Strip away the context of Fawkes and his conspirators and what you have is rebellion at its most pure form: rebellion against government, against religion, against ideology. But V isn't just about rebellion. He may look like Fawkes, but he is far greater than him."

I also learned so much more in the end, and realized (like this fan did) that V was to be the destroyer of all that was evil. Evey was the teacher and the builder. *SPOILER* That is why V knew that Evey was supposed to take over after him. He knew he had to die because once you destroy something, you must then build a new something.

I loved the resemblance of V in everything. The titles of each chapter alone began with a V. Reading the book I really got to see further into that cell labeled with a roman numeral five and why they had the cells. I didn't understand that in the movie. The book provided so much clarity, so much so that it's greatly empowering.

I could probably talk on ends length about this book. It's one of those books that you can read more than once and learn something new each time around. It's one of those books that you can have discussions and debates about. I love those books! It's officially one of my favorite books.
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LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
I really didn't intend on reading this. However, seeing a clip from the movie (Valerie's letter) in my oral history class led me to watch the entire movie with my roommate, who had read the graphic novel. Since I enjoyed the movie so much, I decided that I'd better read the original as well.
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Obviously, some things are always changed when making a movie from a book, but I liked both renditions very much.

I'm a huge fan of dystopian fiction, so V for Vendetta fits right in with my tastes, especially with some of its emphasis on religious and sexual "deviants." Norsefire, an extreme fascist party, currently rules England. One focus of the novel is a young woman named Evey Hammond and her complicated relationship with a man who only goes by "V." An anarchist and a terrorist, he has become an noticeable threat to the current regime. While it is never revealed exactly who V is, his story is hinted at, and really, that's all that is necessary.

It took me a very long time to really appreciate the way the artwork was colored. Instead of the typical comic, with very distinct patches of color separated by distinct black lines, the coloring style used in V for Vendetta reminded me more of a water-color drawing.

In addition to the original ten issues that make up the series, the trade paperback collection also includes an article written by Alan Moore (published partway through the series it is about the creation and development of the series) and two related short comics that fall outside of the main story.

Initially intended as a commentary on the political situation in Britain in the 1980s, I find it extraordinarily applicable to the political situation in the United States in the 2000s. Perhaps even frighteningly so. Although it certainly has its issues, V for Vendetta is an important landmark for comics as a genre and I'm glad I took the time to read it.

Experiments in Reading
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LibraryThing member Intemerata
The first graphic novel I've read, so I can't really compare it with anything else. For what it's worth, though, I very much enjoyed the plot (i.e. Alan Moore's words), but found David Lloyd's illustrations rather confusing in places (I found it hard to distinguish between some of the characters).
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It's perhaps not quite as 'deep' as it thinks it is, but it raises some very interesting themes and points, and the story is skillfully told.

And, whatever Alan Moore might think, the film's very good, too.
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LibraryThing member books-n-pickles
I'd seen the movie and I've been curious about the book for a long time. This Fourth of July (how appropriate and ironic), I finally got Kate to trust me with her copy.

This is actually one case in which I'm glad I watched the movie first, because it allowed me to be swept up in a dark, complex
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world that I did not expect to find. The good characters--other than V himself--had very dark corners and complex motivations, and the bad characters weren't as powerful as they seemed (not that they were sympathetic, but they weren't simple). The story didn't end with the downfall of the tyrant, and the people weren't immediately free and happy. Perhaps it's just a result of having seen revolutions sweep the MENA region a few years ago, but I far preferred seeing the realistic riots break out and having V distinguish "chaos" from "anarchy" before the people began to settle down and figure out which way to go.

Best of all, Evey really grew, and we got to see her come into her own at the end of the story. She didn't have the passive role she did in the movie (Really, they cast Natalie Portman and then stripped down the character's growth? What's the point?) and I didn't get as much of a Phantom of the Opera tragic love story vibe, thank goodness. I also appreciated how young Evey was, and I wish that had stayed in the movie too. I think it's something often overlooked, that politics affects everyone, not just the pitiful little children or beaten-down old-for-their-age adults that "freer" countries so love to photograph. Here is someone who remembers the past, who lived through the change, who is growing and learning about this world, and who is going to share the responsibility of shaping the future.

The only thing that I did prefer in the movie (though I haven't seen it in years) was Stephen Fry's character. I kept waiting for the one person hiding in plain sight, the one person to represent those who'd been disappeared, the one person who tried to stand up with their own face, and I was disappointed. But thinking about that now, it fits. The lack breaks from conventional storytelling and hints at how far the government has infiltrated society (no one "different" managed to hide). And the fact that the little girl who graffitied did so without fear, without a mask, without a message, and without idolizing the single male figure who was going to "save" her and her whole world meant so much more in its directness. I'd love that page on my wall.

I'm afraid this review will have to be short, since it's now been almost a week since I finished and I haven't been able to read it twice, as I usually do with graphic novels. Thank you, Kate, for letting me read this! I've been wanting to for a long time, and it definitely didn't disappoint.
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LibraryThing member -Eva-
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I've re-read this at least once a year since its publication, not only because I enjoy the poetry of the language and the art of the drawings, but because I need a reminder now and again that one should never accept the unacceptable. I think this is
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Alan Moore's crown achievement (although many would argue for Watchmen) because it's not a tale told for entertainment, but grew out of Moore's own personal frustration and anger at a place and time in history - and the story manages to reflect that call to arms, albeit with Moore's usual dry tone and cynical airs. I love it, and will re-read it many, many times, if for no other reason than to remember that sometimes it's indeed better to choose to "die behind the chemical sheds."
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LibraryThing member comfypants
A mad anarchist takes down Nazi Britain.

1.5/4 (Meh).

It has all the lecture-disguised-as-fiction problems that you get in the most insufferable dystopian novels, but in this case it's also hard to read. The lettering is awful, the art often fails to convey what's going on, and the secondary
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characters are indistinguishable from each other.
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LibraryThing member booklove2
I loved Watchmen-- definitely a torch bearer for graphic novels. For some reason it took me forever to read that one, in little chunks, because I loved it so much. 'V For Vendetta' was a quick read. I liked it, but I didn't love it. The coloring was really drab. Sometimes everything in one panel
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would be the same color. I like that it was written in the eighties but it is a dystopia taking place in the late nineties, because the government has taken too much control after WWIII. Is it more fun to read it now after the fact or as the graphic novel was released? Keeping all the government people apart was also a challenge. I really had to study character traits to try to figure out who was who. So I can't even keep them apart, there isn't really a connection there, and I seem to care less as V is picking them off one by one. When the original Nite Owl is murdered by the gang in Watchmen, I was affected and he wasn't even a main character. (Spoiler?) But I think of Watchmen and not only was there a group of many superheroes, they also had a similar group from the past. That was at least fourteen people alone. I also didn't love 'V For Vendetta' because it seemed like every female had to be a victim or a villain... or both. Or a victim in order to become a hero (but isn't that how most graphic novel/comics work?) I did appreciate that in Moore's explanation for his influences he lists Vincent Price's Doctor Phibes. I have no idea how I didn't see that while reading, as I'm a fan! Both of their lairs and ways of killing people in government are identical. I haven't read many graphic novels, but I probably have read the best ones first. I think Watchmen's genius just spoiled me. I just love the team of superheroes who don't seem much like superheroes: very flawed people. Eventually I'd like to read 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'. Literary superheroes seem more like my style!
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LibraryThing member neverstopreading
Moore is a bit out there with his anarcholibertarianism, but it's impossible do deny the importance of a book like this in 2018. It's not just the eyes of governments upon us (thank you, Snowden), but large data companies who were once tech companies, like Google, Apple, and Facebook. Read this in
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conjunction with something by Kevin Mitnick.
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LibraryThing member mrgan
Moore is at his darkest, most cynical, most cruel here, but it sort of doesn't matter - he writes like an angel even when he doesn't treat his characters like one. Classic for all the right reasons.
LibraryThing member -Eva-
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I've re-read this at least once a year since its publication, not only because I enjoy the poetry of the language and the art of the drawings, but because I need a reminder now and again that I never want to fit into the norm and that one should never
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accept the unacceptable. I think this is Alan Moore's crown achievement (although many would argue for Watchmen) because it's not a tale told for entertainment, but grew out of Moore's own personal frustration and anger at a place and time in history - and the story manages to reflect that call to arms, albeit with Moore's usual dry tone and cynical airs. I love it, and will re-read it many, many times.
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LibraryThing member lmichet
Profoundly eh.

Okay. There's political writing, and then there's political comics (Watchmen, also by Moore). Pure political writing-- essays or editorials or what have you-- doesn't have to leave everyone satisfied. It can leave some angry or displeased or challenged, so long as it makes its point.
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Political comics have to be different.

A political comic must not only make a clear political point, but it must ALSO be interesting in a way that is peculiar to comics: it must have a gratifying narrative, it must be artistically sound, and it must have the same kind of emotional influence that a regular old novel or movie would have, because comics are, primarily, STORIES.

V for Vendetta is a glut of political writing stuffed into an attractive skin of art and garnished over with the platitudiest delivery I have ever had the misfortune to be exposed to outside a 50s superhero comic. It's got the same blind and senseless energy of delivery that any Superman-hurling-a-car comic would have. This stems, I think, primarily from the fact that it's an anarchist comic, and making anarchism into a coherent and attractive viewpoint is nearly impossible, given that anarchism is probably the illest-conceived of any extant ideology.

However, because it's anarchism, because the writing is coherent and cleverer than most graphic novels', because it's all draped over with mystery, because it's a well-designed book, tone and layout-wise, and because the art is fantastic, the essential failure of the book-- the fact that it lacks anything behind its shell of hyperenergetic blathering-- is usually forgiven by its readers.

Seriously. The book tries so hard to be political and symbolic it crushes itself. Premise-wise, the story doesn't make a lot of sense-- we hear that England was living in a government vacuum for several years, and that London was straight-across flooded, and that every other landmass on the planet has been nuked, AND that a nuclear winter has occurred, but for some reason they're still living in a fully-mechanized modern consumer society. All right. Sure. Also, it appears that the only remaining political ideologies in the universe are Fascism and Socialism/Communism, with Anarchism resting on its own crazy-ass axis out who the hell knows where. All right, again. Beginning to sound more and more like Revolutionary Spain/every third world country ever. Sure. Got that. 'First and freest Republic in the world loses all sense of its political heritage and persecutes the hell out of its inhabitants' is, historically, the ONLY trend in British apocalyptic fiction, but this is the worst I've ever seen it done.

I don't know. What is Moore posing here as the only options for political ideology? He paints a world in which one can only be either a ethnocentric homophobic racist fascist or an 'anarchist'. All right. What does he mean by 'anarchism'? Returning to a state of nature? Gradual and spontaneous shift to democracy? End of the modern mechanized world? Spontaneous national transformation a leaderless socialist state? Hmm. Moore handles his material childishly. For me, the political-apocalypse stories that WORK show the protagonists yearning after a leave-me-alone-let's-all-be-friends sort of political neutralism-- a state of 'let's have universal human rights and that's all please' joy. A utopia of 'being a normal person again'. Children of Men is like this. Even Watchmen is less heavy on the socialism and focuses more on the 'let's stop being persecutors and start being nice to everyone else again' mentality. Readers can therefore identify with the protagonists-- they aren't radicals. They're just normal people trying to be normal again. But in V for Vendetta, the only way peace can be achieved is if every individual person is a politically-radical crowd member willing to use mob violence.

Not inspirational.

I don't care what you think about the degree to which individuals must be political to preserve their rights. This book makes no coherent political point and the messages it DOES articulate are comprised solely of platitudes. It fails to represent any realistic view of any political spectrum whatsoever. Instead of focusing on human rights/the dignity of man/the right to be free, it sours the whole batch by presenting some shallowly-conceived idea of anarchism as the solution to all modern political crises. The fact is that this book reads like a poorly-contrived piece of anti-Thatcher propaganda.

Which is essentially what it is.

Some people apparently like this book becuase 'V is an amazing character.' V is, in fact, almost not a character. Moore specifically has him talk about how he considers his own identity unimportant. V is a big bundle of soggy political ideology stuffed up into a man-suit with a funny mask on the front. The whole backstory bit exists to give the situation-- the SITUATION, not the character-- plausibility. The fact that the backstory even exists sours Moore's ideological point, which is unfortunate, since the point was shallow enough to begin with. V is suppsoed to be an 'everyman', and is supposed to represent the potential in all of us to make a difference. But how did he get like this? First of all, he's insane, mildly or seriously, but slightly insane at some level. Secondly, he's got SUPER POWERS of combat/the mind that he was given in a crazy SCIENCE-FICTION HORMONE EXPERIMENT. All right. So the potential to make a difference is there in all of us, but we need a hero to tell us this is so, and that hero himself needs to be a super-human person in some way before he can take up the job? I don't think so.

There's some extreme cognitive dissonance in this story. Moore can't decide whether to espouse the power of the people as a body or the power of the individual-- an individual who, in some ways, is nearly as charismatic as a 20th-century dictator, yet who is, in other ways, utterly flat and irrelevant.

V is not a character. V is an idea, and a cloudy one at that.
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LibraryThing member booksandwine
I should probably confess right now that I saw the film V For Vendetta way before I read the graphic novel. I saw the film multiple times in theaters, then bought it the night it came out on DVD. I loved the movie. LOVED it. Now, you are probably thinking, okay psycho, just talk about the book, or
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thinking I must have loved the movie way more than the book. Well, I did like the movie better, at least the story. However, I think it's detrimental to use the same standards of judgement to both, as they are completely different mediums.The movie is way different from the graphic novel. While reading the comic, I was thinking did the Wachowski brothers even read the source material the movie is supposed to be based on. However, I'm no purist, so I can't exactly fault the film, and I can't hate the graphic novel for not being the movie but with comics and words. Right-o. Might as well take my movie hat off and put on my comic-book hat, in order to further discuss.The introduction of the book starts off talking about television shows and cheeky characters. The author states this book isn't about cheeky characters going along doing cheeky things, that V for Vendetta is for people who leave the news on, instead of changing the channel to a sitcom. I LOVED the introduction, and how serious it was.The world of V For Vendetta is a dystopia. The government is controlled by this guy known as the Leader. Most aspects of life are controlled, the people are constantly monitored by cameras. Order is kept by this brute squad known as fingermen. All the gays, the people of color, and the leftists were basically murdered in some sort of genocide. The world is gritty and disturbing and scary. Some people are perfectly content in the lives they live, Evey Hammond, for one is pretty happy, except, well, she start hooking to pay the bills. Her path crosses with that of V, this guy in a mask, and her worldview eventually changes. V is a person who is not content with society.Of course, I could not admire V very much. V isn't so much a character, as he was an idea. He represents complete freedom and no control at all. Essentially he is a madman who thinks the world would be better off with anarchy than government. I, on the other hand, think anarchy is rather stupid. Call me a cynic, but I don't exactly trust my fellow man, and think there is a great need for law and order. Now, on the opposite end of the spectrum from V is the Leader and those who drive England's government. I couldn't get completely behind them as well, as I think people should be free to make decisions and should not always be under surveillance even if that does represent safety. Really, both ends of the political spectrum are showcased here, and I didn't really see any sort of middle ground. No moderates in this book, I suppose. I think both sides do reprehensible things, but perhaps I find these things so reprehensible because of the society in which I exist.However, just because I was not in love with the characters does not mean I don't recommend this book, because I absolutely do. V for Vendetta made me think about the role of big government. It made me question my political beliefs. It made me consider why anyone would want anarchy. I like a book that gets my mind spinning. I'd say, if you do read this one, don't expect it to follow the movie very closely and vice versa.
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LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
There is a lot to say about this book. Par for the course with Mr. Moore, really, but, like, a lot even for him. More than LoEG, even. Or not more, but more important things.

How did you predict the future so hard? I mean, not the details - one of the peculiarities of future-racist dystopias is that
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they always have thinly veiled British Mosley Nazis like it's the '30s or something, which is obvs ridic. Nobody will go for that now, not in post-imperial Britain - leave it for the continentals or the wackos, the rest of the country will take their other-hatred in the name of "security" or fighting "terrorism," thank you very much. And the Christ-y stuff is so halfhearted that I can only assume it's an attempt to make godless Brits shudder than an actual stab at prognostication. But all the rest - "Fate" and the surveillance mechanisms are the missing link between 1984 and CCTV; the squawking prolegramming fills the gap between 1985 and Little Britain; that indelible, shocking scene with Evey and the fingermen at the beginning fits neatly in between "Hallowe'en Jack is a real cool cat" and ASBOs or hoodie bans. England has been blessed with a lot of Cassandras, but this is one dark future that seems a lot less averted than most. Maybe because it's comics?

(And yeah, it's breastier and more histrionic and LSD is more involved that it could be, and it's definitely the work of young men who think V is super badass, but they're not wrong, when you come right down to it.)
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LibraryThing member danconsiglio
Solid freaking graphic novel. Check out all of the visual easter eggs throughout!
LibraryThing member lunaverse
Beautiful art, great story line. This is a classic dystopian tale. Some aspects don't stand up to time very well, given that the story takes place in the late 1990s, in a post-nuclear world where Nazis have taken over Britain. However, if you hang up your disbelief hat, and pretend it's an
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alternate universe, you can relax and go along for the ride.

Did I say relax? The story is tense, the world is dark, and the characters are terribly flawed. The content is pretty hardcore, as one would expect when Nazis rule. This story contains no gallant heroes in white armor, and as a close look at history tells us, such heroes may never exist.

This book has inspired movements in the present day. The Guy Fawkes mask has come to represent several modern anarchist-leaning, anti-corporate, anti-government movements, especially the hacktivist group, Anonymous, and as an influential branch of that, the less geeky Occupy movement. While our present day is certainly not as suffocating as the England in V for Vendetta, there is still a lot of political oppression, and real people suffering and oppressed in real ways. There are those who believe things in the here and now really are that bad. At the very least, they wish to prevent it from getting worse.

The message of violence in this book is a little unsettling. A few years ago, I would have shaken my fist in the air and, with V, called for revolution. But now? I believe revolution should be a slow and democratic process. Even if it is painful. Because violence is much more painful, and often ends in worse tyranny. In that sense, I hope people take this book as metaphor. Let the outrage show in persuasive words, not bombs, or even in angry words. In the end, well-formed arguments have liberated more nations from oppression.
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Pages

296

ISBN

140120841X / 9781401208417

UPC

761941251059
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