I really enjoyed the graphic novel, La Perdida. I am a Spanish minor and lived in Mexico for a quarter so the combination of Spanish and English was not only fun but easy for me to understand. I have even been to some of the places that are described in the novel like Frida Kahlo's house.
I have never read a graphic novel before, at first I could not really get into the swing of it but as I continued it became easier. The design was a little busy for me. There were just so many pictures intermingled with text that I found it confusing to keep it all straight. Not all of the pages were like this but the ones with more text were less clear.
The author definitely did her research when it came to Mexico. After living in Mexico I really appreciated all of the little details included in the novel. Like the trucks selling propane, the Telmex tower and zocalo. The main character, Carla, was desiring her Mexican roots although she took a rather dangerous approach to finding them. It bothered me how she continued to get more and more involved with such a terrible crowd. I know she wanted to get to know the 'real Mexico' but there are plenty of Mexicans who are not sketchy like the group she chose to be a part of. It also bothered me how she let all of the men in her life push her around, except for her brother who truly cared about her well being. I think that once she got involved in her lifestyle everything just kept spinning out of control until the kidnapping in the end. I am very glad that my experience in Mexico, was not as crazy and dangerous as the one portrayed in this novel.
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I agree that the text and pictures were all very confusing at first and a little difficult to follow at times, but after a while it became more clear and interesting.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome that you studied abroad & knew some of the places that they were talking about. I wish I could speak some Spanish (besides numbers) in order to understand the text a little better.
Do you think that if it were to be in a different setting, other than Mexico, that you would have enjoyed it equally?
Probably not, since I had such a strong connection to Mexico it really interested me. If it took place in France on the other hand I'm sure i would have struggled to understand it and I doubt I would have enjoyed it as much as the Mexican version.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love Mexico, but I have only spent a couple of weeks there and barely know the language. I also have never been to Mexico City.
ReplyDeleteI think that I too would have enjoyed the novel more if I had a better connection with it.
I also struggled with the format. I found it much easier to read Skim. There was less going on on each page and it seemed to flow much more smoothly.
Do you think that La Perdida would have been easier to follow if the format was more like that format used in Skim?