cbr16bingo And also…: (Vintage, even though I haven’t (as of this posting) posted by review. It is a specific historical time and events)
If it wasn’t for Albert Einstein, generations of high school students would not have been tortured by a dude and a cockroach. Thanks a lot Al!
How do you ask? Well read How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came Up with the Universe by Ken Krimstein. Or at least that is what I got from the first part/the introduction of this (read online; due mid-August 2024) graphic novel. You see that introduction (told by a skeleton from a famous Prague clock as narrator), really said a lot of what was happening at the time this book started. Set in 1911 to 1912, two men who are considered some of the greatest men of history were nobodies when they found themselves in Prague in the mid-1900s. Then, after the events that befall them, we will get Einstein and Kafka SuperHeroes! And after all the introduction stuff, the setting up the main event, after all that we finally get Chapter One. It took approximately 20 pages of introduction for Krimstein to finally get to the actual book!
Having only read those 20 pages, I started my review. I had that feeling above. And not even haven finished it, I knew this is going to be a bumpy, screwy ride. After writing that above first paragraph, I went back to the slow trod of things. The first 70-80 or so pages are heavy on Einstein, with a small interlude with Kafka. Things were abstract (there is a whole section of the skeleton talking to Mileva Marić about her and Einstein’s first child, a daughter born out of wedlock, and given up), but mostly real. Yet, don’t get too comfortable, there is more abstract to come. Mostly we see how Einstein was Einstein, how his office overlooked the insane asylum, how he gave his first lecture and so so so much more. And have pen and paper handy. You will meet many famous people along the way.
But it is not all text, as I said this was a graphic novel. The artwork is an odd combination of abstract, realistic and dreamlike. It is not really art deco, but I had feelings of it, but it is not even close to the solidness of that. It feels controlled chaos that will jump off the page at any moment. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it sets the tone. Though things are crowded and the colors, being fairly monotone, are off, I feel this is a good addition. There is potential for the finale. There is humor in the narration, references to modern events or people to “set the mood/tone/or understanding” of things. And there is a nod to today with some of the presentation wording. It is an experience book. If you want a true biography of either or both men, this is not it, but if you want something that is a bit artistic as well, this feels like it is exactly what you want.
POSTSCRIPT: I wrote the above when I had barely touched the surface. I kept plodding on. There is more Science as you go along. And there is a lot more of how Alice in Wonderland/Lewis Caroll, or the Kafkaesque ideal is an influence. The Kafka element turns into how things are presented: we get surreal duels with Einstein and his rival. We meet Einstein’s God (2500 years after he died), Eeuclid. And a lot more Cockroach moments. While we meet The Man, The Myth, The Legend Kafka, we are really dealing with ol’ Albert. Seventy-five percent into the book and I had barely touched the surface. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is not for someone looking for a light read. This is a book you need to put some thought into, some time and I hope you can enjoy. I might not have understood half of what is being said, I have come to the conclusion that the universe cannot be understood by humans, we shouldn’t understand it, and it’s just mucking with us!
POSTSCRIPT 2: I finally finished the book and I think I liked it. I am giving this a four not because it is WOW but because there is a lot going on for the right reader. This has a lot of surreal moments, but all of it is showing us science. In a year’s time Einstein became the man we know today… or at least got his start with what would make him a real “Einstein.” It wouldn’t be until almost 1920 before a lot of what we know of Einstein would not be “set in stone.” Odd illustrations perfectly create an atmosphere of the bizarre, unique, special and magically scientific world of Prague and the mind of one man, but how another was also touched as well by mad greatness.