Fun Home

                                           

A family tragicomic called “Fun Home” is an interesting and a very different literary novel. This book has series of flashbacks. I think the book turned out to be different than I thought. Because of the name of the book “Fun Home”, I thought it’s probably about the house where there’s always fun living in, the fun things that happens in the house, or the house is very lucky for the family, which is always a charm for them to get happiness. “Fun Home” is actually referred to a Funeral Home, which I never expected to be. I really didn’t found myself connected to the title, but I am hoping to get connected later in the book.

 This is the first time, I am reading a comic novel with all the imagery in it. I think it’s a great idea that Alison chose to write this book in this way, but I think it’s confusing sometimes. At some points, I kind of find hard to follow the commentary and pictures together. I actually found commentary little harder to follow. Author goes back and forth telling the story, which confused me a lot. The story is about the author, who lived with her mom, dad, and two younger siblings. The story is related to author childhood, teenage years, and especially to her father. Her father, who I would say is very hard working and multi – talented person. “My father could spin garbage…..  ……into gold” (p. 6). Her father considered the furniture similar to his children, which I think is not really a positive sign of perfect father. Even if the things are displaced from where he put them, he would hit the kids. I think Alison don’t think that her father is a perfect man. “Most people, I imagine, learn to accept that they’re not perfect” (p. 18). I think her father was little disconnected from the family, because he wanted to keep the dark secret away from the family, so he kept himself busy in work.  I think her father tried very hard to make everything look perfect, which was not. I think Alison’s father was not very close to the children. And because of that even when he dies, no one was very upset for long time. Alison knew that her father’s death was not a suicide, but even then no one cared. No one bothered to find out. I think Alison’s childhood or teenage years were not that great and because of that she felt that what we think is perfect, is actually not. I think it’s a good tragicomic, but little difficult to understand. I am really looking forward to find out about the connections with the topic of this book. So far the only fun thing I found in the Fun Home is that children used to play in it and heard stories from grandma about their father. I am also looking forward to know about Alison’s life after her father’s death. I think it’s an interesting and very unique comic novel.