#fun home a family tragicomic

[chipcheesesandwich]

As a queer individual and someone who has a complicated relationship with their own father, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic gives me more comfort than anguish from Bechdel's journey. I write this as I finished the book for the first time in three years.

The book itself truly speaks for the medium of graphic novels. Bechdel's way of writing makes you want to grasp the book and sit in awkward ways for the comfort of your arms. The sentences just will not let you put down the book, rather then the graphics. The cartoons are merely substitutes. The words gives space to keep us wondering and waiting for the inevitable conclusion of her father's death, which is the main subject of this book. You just start to mentally prepare yourself as you flip the pages, because even the next square of drawings might lead to a completely different conversation. It is probably the best writing I've seen to describe one writer's "stream of consciousness". Maybe this "stream of consciousness" is why I relate to Bechdel so much.

As I grew in age and started to see the world in my "adult" eyes, I began to reflect on the past more often. I started to compare the relationship I had with my father during my youth to today, which has drastically changed within the last 5 years. Which coincidentally (or resulted by) starting from the year I left for college. "Your world view will change. Your peers will open your eyes." My father encouraged me, as I expressed my disdain towards going to college. I wonder if he had thought that the change in my world view through college would become the foundation of our now awkward, rather frozen relationship.

As I look at my current relationship with my father, and read Bechdel's somewhat unusual relationship with her deceased father, I wonder, will I regret what I have with my father today when he is gone? The ending to Fun Home feels like a conclusion in Bechdel's own words. A way to forgive herself and her father on what could've. An acceptance towards the awkward, unusual, but one of a kind bond that they had. In a sense, I may be yearning for this conclusion, because of how final and so care free it looks. But it also scares me, because Bechdel's conclusion comes from the fact that her father is dead. There is no use, no leeway, no bullshit left to give. Concluded and done, no "to be continued". While I, with my father still working with all limbs, am able to send a text to him with a guaranteed conversation. Something Bechdel will never have. A privilege I have. And it scares me, because what if I never send the text before it's too late. And yet, it scares me with what happens after I do. Will I reach my conclusion that I accept? Or will we just end with what we have, this awkward, frozen relationship?

As my alarm at 10pm goes off, I have to stop this thought for today. I have a work to go to, and responsibilities to meet. The thought I have now bears no urgency to me. But I wonder, will there be a time when 10pm means nothing to me, tomorrow is just a number, and I send that text?

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Author: Alison Bechdel

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2007

Genres: nonfiction, graphic novel, memoir, biography, LGBT+

Blurb: Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the Fun Home. It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.

[bi4bihankking]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Summary:

Wei Wuxian was once one of the most outstanding men of his generation, a talented and clever young cultivator who harnessed martial arts, knowledge, and spirituality into powerful abilities. But when the horrors of war led him to seek a new power through demonic cultivation, the world's respect for his skills turned to fear, and his eventual death was celebrated throughout the land.

Years later, he awakens in the body of an aggrieved young man who sacrifices his soul so that Wei Wuxian can exact revenge on his behalf. Though granted a second life, Wei Wuxian is not free from his first, nor the mysteries that appear before him now. Yet this time, he'll face it all with the righteous and esteemed Lan Wangji at his side, another powerful cultivator whose unwavering dedication and shared memories of their past will help shine a light on the dark truths that surround them.

Fun Home - A Family Tragicomic Summary:

Meet Alison's father, a historic preservation expert and obsessive restorer of the family's Victorian home, a third-generation funeral home director, a high-school English teacher, an icily distant parent, and a closeted homosexual who, as it turns out, is involved with his male students and the family babysitter. When Alison comes out as homosexual herself in late adolescence, the denouement is swift, graphic, and redemptive.

Interweaving between childhood memories, college life and present day, and through narrative that is equally heartbreaking and fiercely funny, Alison looks back on her complex relationship with her father and finds they had more in common than she ever knew.

[foxfren]

For the bookish ask

📕 What book has had the biggest impact on your life, and why?

📝What fictional world would you love to visit and explore if given the chance?

🧉 and two extra, what are the books that you need to/wish you could recommend to everybody and do you have a character you wish everybody knew about?

Which books had the biggest impact on your life?

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I read Hatchet in the eighth grade, and it taught me to learn things more intentionally. I had known before, but this book confronted me with the importance of adapting knowledge into a given situation. I was also more interested in learning practical skills afterwards (fire building, plant identification, etc). I read The Alchemist a year after in high school, when I was uncertain about my future. It gave me the motivation to finish projects and it got me out of a huge creative slump. I’m very grateful to both of these books.

Which fictional world would you love to visit and explore if given the chance?

HANDS DOWN THE DC UNIVERSE!! Guys I would be living it up in Gotham idc 🔥

What are the books that you need to/wish to recommend to everyone?

Depends on what genre they like:

Crime fiction/mystery -> The D.I. Callanach series by Helen Sarah Fields

Romance: anything by Emily Henry

Romance/fantasy: All Of Us Villains duology by Amanda Foody

Rlly sad lgbt romance: Lie With Me by Philippe Besson

Sports (hockey) lgbt romance: Icebreaker by A. L. Graziadei

Urban fantasy: The Stranger Times by C. K. McDonnell

Memoir: Fun Home a Family Tragicomic

Graphic novel: Mamo by Sas Milledge

Jason Todd comic: Red Hood Lost Days by Judd Winick

(Among others ofc. I have too many recs lmao)

Do you have a character you wish everyone knew about?

This is actually a very hard decision, there’s too many lmao. I’m picking Stephanie Brown from DC comics though bc she is too often ignored in the fandom 💥 she is cool and feral and silly!! And her story is so sad :(

[sharry-arry-odd]

Was Daedalus really stricken with grief when Icarus fell into the sea? Or just disappointed by the design failure?

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel

[a-better-beginning]

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

By Alison Bechdel

Date Finished: June 29, 2021

4.5/5

[duckprintspress]

Let’s Go Lesbians! 32 Books for Lesbian Visibility Day

TODAY! is Lesbian Visibility Day, the first day of Lesbian Visibility Week – April 26, 2024. We are, I’m sure you’re shocked to discover, celebrating with LOTS of lesbian books! 15 people contributed to making this list, all of us sharing our absolute faves, from graphic novels to epic novels, from memoirs to horror fiction, with explicit rep and implied. With this many awesome books to share, we’re prepared to guarantee that everyone who loves wlw lit can find something new to them on this amazing list!

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin

The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable & Ellen T. Crenshaw

She Wears the Midnight Crown Anthology

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

The Scapegracers & The Scratch Daughters by H.A. Clarke

Spinning by Tillie Walden

The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag

The Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Those Who Wait by Haley Cass

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Into the Bloodred Woods by Martha Brockenbrough

From Here by Luma Mufleh

Alice Isn’t Dead by Joseph Fink

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel

A Memory Called Empire & A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

Female General, Eldest Princess by Please Don’t Laugh

Clear And Muddy Loss of Love by Please Don’t Laugh

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone & Amal El-Mohtar

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin

Can’t get enough books with lesbians? Yeah, us neither – this new list for 2024 is on top of THREE rec lists of titles featuring lesbians that we posted last year.

Lesbian Visibility Week Recs Part 1

Lesbian Visibility Week Recs Part 2

Duck Prints Press Short Stories with Lesbian Characters

You can also view this list (along with all our other wlw faves!) as a shelf on Goodreads!

See a book you want to buy? You can grab it through the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate shop!

What are YOUR favorite reads with lesbian characters?

[makingqueerhistory]

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Alison Bechdel

Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the "Fun Home." It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve. In her hands, personal history becomes a work of amazing subtlety and power, written with controlled force and enlivened with humor, rich literary allusion, and heartbreaking detail.

(Affiliate link above)

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

SET FIFTEEN - ROUND ONE - MATCH TWO

"minus #37" (2006 - Ryan Armand) / "Panel from Fun Home" (2006 - Alison Bechdel)

MINUS #37: minus was one of those webcomics that stuck in my brain. just an edge of whimsy and surrealism, and yet it's beautifully understandable to be a child's train of thought. and now it only exists on archive.org. (@kaerran)

PANEL FROM FUN HOME: This panel never fails to fuck me up! (@blackholefriends)

("minus" is a webcomic created by Ryan Armand. Each comic strip is painted in watercolor on a 15x20" illustration board. The archive is available here and on web archive.

"Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic" is a 2006 graphic memoir by the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The panels are illustrated in black line art with a blue-gray ink wash.)

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[blusandbirds]

you are someone i have loved but never known

nikita gill // smoke signals (phoebe bridgers) // may december (2023) (dir. todd haynes) // telephone wire (fun home) // take care: mothers, daughters, and inheriting self-hatred (ella wilson) // fun home: a family tragicomic (alison bechdel) // mother wound healing: why it's crucial for women (bethany webster) // the pain scale (eula biss) // spit of you (sam fender) // never love an anchor (the crane wives)

[haveyoureadthiscomic-poll]

[bi4bihankking]

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor Summary:

Local gay 12 year old gets possessed by the first emperor of China. He is actually canonically gay, he is very relatable for someone who has been a gay 12 year old boy. I just wanted to nominate a middle grade with a canonically gay protagonist because I NEVER thought we'd get anything like that ever.

Fun Home - A Family Tragicomic Summary:

Meet Alison's father, a historic preservation expert and obsessive restorer of the family's Victorian home, a third-generation funeral home director, a high-school English teacher, an icily distant parent, and a closeted homosexual who, as it turns out, is involved with his male students and the family babysitter. When Alison comes out as homosexual herself in late adolescence, the denouement is swift, graphic, and redemptive.

Interweaving between childhood memories, college life and present day, and through narrative that is equally heartbreaking and fiercely funny, Alison looks back on her complex relationship with her father and finds they had more in common than she ever knew.

[godzilla-reads]

The March choice for my library’s Graphic Novel Book Club is an Alison Bechdel classic- “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic”.

I can’t wait to reread this one!

[sharry-arry-odd]

But how could he admire Joyce's lengthy, libidinal "yes" so fervently and end up saying "no" to his own life? I suppose that a lifetime spent hiding one's erotic truth could have a cumulative renunciatory effect. Sexual shame is in itself a kind of death.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel

[killingsboys]

read in 2024!

it's that time again! i loved doing reading threads in 2022 and 2023 so i will definitely be carrying on the tradition this year. as always, you can find me on goodreads and storygraph, and you're always welcome to message me about books!

Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu* (★★★★★)

Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks and Stones by Ngozi Ukazu* (★★★★★)

Check, Please! Chirpbook by Ngozi Ukazu* (★★★★★)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (★★★★★)

The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert** (★★★★☆)

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (★★★★★)

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell (★★★☆☆)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (★★★☆☆)

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett (★★★★☆)

Dream Work by Mary Oliver (★★★★☆)

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson (★★★★☆)

Cain’s Jawbone by E. Powys Mathers

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (★★★★★)

You’ve Been Summoned by Lindsey Lamar** (★★☆☆☆)

The Seven Ages by Louise Glück (★★★★☆)

The Last Girl Left by A.M. Strong & Sonya Sargent** (★★★☆☆)

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang (★★★★★)

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Normal People by Sally Rooney (★★★★★)

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin** (★★★☆☆)

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (★★☆☆☆)

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (★★★☆☆)

The Drowning Faith by R.F. Kuang (★★★★★)

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (★★★★★)

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang (★★★★★)

King Lear by William Shakespeare (★★★★☆)

All These Sunken Souls by assorted authors, edited by Circe Moskowitz (★★★★☆)

The Big Four by Agatha Christie (★★★☆☆)

The Avant-Guards, Vol. 1 by Carly Usdin, Noah Hayes (★★★★☆)

That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton (★★☆☆☆)

The Avant-Guards, Vol. 2 by Carly Usdin, Noah Hayes (★★★★☆)

Jurassic Park by Michael (★★★☆☆)

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (★★★☆☆)

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (★★★★★)

Violeta by Isabel Allende (★★★☆☆)

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (★★★★☆)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (★★★★☆)

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (★★★★☆)

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (★★★★★)

The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes (★★★★★)

Third Girl by Agatha Christie (★★★☆☆)

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (★★★☆☆)

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (★★★★★)

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (★★★★★)

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (★★★☆☆)

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, translated by Ros Schwartz (★★★★★)

Persuasion by Jane Austen (★★★★★)

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore & David Lloyd (★★★★☆)

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall (★★★☆☆)

We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir by Raja Shehadeh

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie* (★★★★★)

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (★★★★☆)

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin* (★★★★★)

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (★★★★☆)

An asterisk (*) indicates a reread. A double asterisk (**) indicates an ARC.