"Bad Houses" = Good Read!

My daily/weekly/monthly comic/graphic novel intake is higher than the norm, so when I find something that interests me, it REALLY interests me. Over the years, it's easy to start identifying patterns. My biggest issue has been making mental categories that I automatically place works into as I'm reading. Today, I read a FANTASTIC graphic novel that may have caused the birth of a new category. Before I go much farther, though, let me give you a run down of "Bad Houses" by Sara Ryan and Carla Speed McNeil.

The novel opens with the introduction to the concept of "estate sales". I've always seen signage for these types of things, but I never really cared to grasp what EXACTLY an estate sale is. In this introduction, we meet Lewis Gilbert, the son of an estate sale guru: his mother and boss. During one such estate sale, enter Anne Cole. Think "Scott Pilgrim"'s Ramona and you've got her general feel down. Anne, new to the estate sale scene, is overwhelmed by the fact that personal objects...specific to the lives of the family of the deceased...are viewed only as price tags. It's when Lewis find Anne crying over an album of family photos that the contrast of two mindsets is most striking.

As a psychology minor, I'm fascinated by "Bad Houses" because in a way, it examines how humans form attachment or apathy and how society encourages or discourages the attitude. Whether it's relationships with the objects of others, the relationship that people form with their own items, or the relationship taken to extremes, the graphic novel touches on all of them.


...And what would a graphic novel about THINGS be without at least one hoarding situation?

Anne's mother is an extreme case of this. She lives in fear that someday, someone might need SOMETHING and it won't be there. The home is taken over by objects and there's barely room to open the doors. For Anne's mother, every object has a memory, no matter how obsolete the object may be. Anne's emotional distress and loathing is apparent in her sarcastic quips to her mother. Her own space is a sharp contrast to the home she lives in. Clean and barren with few objects scattered about, the room is quite the opposite of her mother's home.

Compare then Anne's life to Lewis' life. Lewis' mother is IN CONTROL. Her work revolves around organizing, tagging, and categorizing items. It only makes  sense that her career would carry over into her home life. Much like Anne's frustration at being forced into a hoarding situation, Lewis is forced into a situation where toast crumbs on the floor cause a new-meltdown.

This, to me, is the major beauty of the story. Anne and Lewis, of course, are attracted to each other and find themselves in a (if I may add) most adorable relationship. Obviously, Anne has a lot to hide from the boyfriend who's grown up in near hospital-like conditions. In fact, it isn't until the end of the novel that (I won't ruin it!!) a major event happens that truly shows the mindset of those who put abnormal value on things and the truth is revealed.

I will tell you this....no...no I won't. I'm not going to spoil anything.

But does the truth scare Lewis away?

Overall, I love this graphic novel for the fact that it examines and contrasts multiple mindsets about the human relationship with things. It's the kind of novel that makes you really THINK about yourself and others. As for me? I feel like I need to go home and clean my house now. ><

Overall rating: 4 discarded candy wrappers out of 5