Bit of a bold attempt this was. To adapt one of the most ambitiously arch novels in American history into a standard comic sized edition you could have rolled up and stick in your back pocket. Try doing that with the original book and you wont be able to sit down. It s been a while since I read the original but chunks of it still play ouy in my brain. It really haunted me for a long time after I read it. Parts off it are surely memories, experiences that its writer recunted in the narrative. Its a great adventure yarn, when a young man sets out on a life defining series of incidents and experiences, edures hardships and makes the best of friends before narrowly avoiding being dragged down into the abyss. It has a power and a resonance that feels really authentic. Actually so much literature that survives from as far back as Moby Dick has that quality. One that is so hard to pin down inmodern litrature. Authenticity seems to scare modern publishers. I get the impression it embarrasses modern publishers, that is untastefully naive. Modern confessionals feel so meta these days. Too aware of their possible connections to social media?
Hmmm, this is what happens when I try to explain something that just feels right to me.
Why explain at all.
