1324 ( )

I'd really rate it a 3.5 if I could. I've never read this storn nor seen the movie based on it, but knew the basic premise. I thought the graphic novel format was a interesting device used to tell the story of a man who is born old and ages backwards. I'm not in agreement with Fitzgerald, who thought it was one of his funniest stories; I found it to be rather sad. ( )

When I first heard of what this tale was about I couldn't stop thinking about it. There it was something that I have always questioned myself, why don't we grow backwards? So that we can work, study when we are old and enjoy the pleasures of life in our youth later on. Being a fan of comics myself I thought this book a great adaptation, the art is great and the text moving. By the time I finished, I came to the conclusion that maybe the movie went a bit further on the matter and what a lovely suprise I had when I read in this book that the original idea that hit Fitzgerald came from something Mark Twain (one of my favourite person ever)said about how life should start the otherway around. Pure genius... ( )

Mark Twain once said "If I had been helping the Almighty when he created man, I would have had him begin at the other end, and start human beings with old age. How much better it would have been to start old and have all the bitterness and blindness of age in the beginning? One would not mind then if he were looking forward to a joyful youth. Think of the joyous prospect of growing younger instead of old! Think of looking forward to eighteen instead of eighty!"

Fitzgerald recognized a good storyline when he heard one.

This is not an exact facsimile of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', but rather an adaptation by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir to enable the story to work within the environment of a graphic novel. It does however follow very closely the original text. So, you could be fooled into thinking it is.

Kevin Cornell's illustrations are all done very well, in sepia tones. The only thing which unfortunately lets the book down is that every word is typed. The text just 'floats' over the illustrations or in speech bubbles, rather than feeling like part of the artwork - the way it would have done if someone had taken the time to hand render them.
In fact, the more I read, the more it rubbed me up the wrong way; which is why I knocked off one star from my rating.

Overall, it's a nice little book. The title 'box' on the cover itself has a raised texture which feels pleasing to the touch. The paper is of a high quality, and the afterword by Donald G. Sheehy was of added interest and made a welcome additional piece of further reading.

This is a funny little story. Many of the situations did make me laugh due to their shear absurdity. It does have sadness because life is generally sad. But, we all still find ways of finding happiness within the tragedy of it all.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and I also enjoyed this comic version too.

I have seen the motion picture. It does not follow the same story, but I liked it too as a great bit if science fiction. ( )

Wonderful illustrations for the curious story, which reminded me how much I love Fitzgerald's short fiction. ( )