Raymond Briggs
Amazon Price: $9.86
List Price: $11.60
In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
By: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Amazon Marketplace: 15
new & used starting at $9.86
|
Buy at Amazon.com
|
Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Briggs, Raymond
Subjects -> Children's Books -> General AAS
Subjects -> Comics & Graphic Novels -> Comic Strips -> General
Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
Get the right version 1 out of 5 stars.
26 of 26 people found this review helpful.
This review is for ISBN 057311496X which I bought thinking that it was the illustrated version. This book is a play adapted from the original, although you would have no way of knowing from the online description. There are many different editions of this wonderful book so be careful that you order the right one.
Please buy this book! 4 out of 5 stars.
19 of 26 people found this review helpful.
Raymond Briggs here presents us with a disarmingly gentle, warm, humorous graphic novel, about a regular blue collar couple trying to understand, and to prepare for, the ultimate catastrophe.This touching little book came out in the early 80s, when there was a sharp spike in international public awareness of the dangers of nuclear warfare. Due largely to Ronald Reagan's hawkish presidency, people were much more fearful of this looming prospect -- and, of course, rightly so. Reading this reminds me of 1981, when I was in eighth grade, and tensions over Poland were so severe that I recall becoming a regular fixture at our local library, reading and reading, trying helplessly to understand all the forces which, it seemed, were conspiring to destroy us all.
The really touching thing, about the couple portrayed in this book, is that they are normal people. Almost completely uninformed about the world, their mental picture of the world is shaped by a haze of half-remembered patriotic propaganda that is decades out of date, and was heavily distorted to begin with. Their efforts to prepare for a nuclear attack are so pathetic that you would laugh, if you weren't already busy crying.
Those weapons are still out there. This book is important. Everyone should read it. If you half-suspect that you yourself might be slightly un-informed about nuclear war issues, I would like to recommend that you seek out "The New Nuclear Danger," by Dr. Helen Caldicott. It just came out in 2002, and includes a fantastic bibliography which could help you understand nuclear winter, medical effects of fallout, and current weapon stockpiles. There is also a great collection of relevant websites, which we should all be a lot more familiar with.... if you'd like to communicate you concern to your kids with another illustrated book, aimed at a younger audience, I would like to recommend "Hiroshima No Pika," by Toshi Maruki.
You may also like to seek out "Threads," a tremendous docudrama on nuclear war done in consultation with Carl Sagan, in 1984. "Threads" is out of print, except in the UK, but you can find it on the largest online auction houses if you put the terms "threads" and "nuclear" in the search field.
So, if you know anyone who actually went out and bought duct tape in February, 2003, I would like to recommend that you sit down with them, and spend an hour leafing through this horrifying book. Two miserable thumbs way, way, way up.
Editorial Review:
Raymond Briggs's comic cartoon book depicts the effects of a nuclear attack on an elderly couple, in his usual humorous, yet macabre way.
