I Never Liked You: A Comic-Strip Narrrative

by Chester Brown

Book Overview

In one of the best graphic novels published in recent years, Chester Brown tells the story of his alienated youth in an almost detached, understated manner, giving I Never Liked You an eerie, dream-like quality. For the new 2002 definitive softcover edition Brown has designed new layouts for the entire book, using "white" panel backgrounds instead of the black pages of the first edition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1896597149
• ISBN13: 9781896597140
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Still thinking about it

This was my first Chester Brown I’ve ever read. Something about the title really intrigued me and when it finally came in the mail, I couldn’t put it down. Quick read, but wow, does it pack a punch! It’s subtle, but shocking. It was just..so...good! I will be recommending it to everyone.

highly recommended.

this novel is excellent. i brought it after reading the similarly accomplished 'louis riel.' of course the number of books detailing youthful angst are incalcuable, but this novel posses a quality that is so special and differnt it simply isn't fair to lump it in such a category. brown's ability to capture a sort of quiet sadness and wordless continuum of youth and suburbia is second to none. highly recommended.

If a Zen poem could be a comic book, this would be it

This is probably the best comic book I've ever read. In I Never Liked You, Chester Brown recounts his own adolescence. He doesn't rely on quirks, self-pity, overanalysis, or an edgy drawing style. His work is simple and understated, one incident flowing into another in an apparent anecdotal fashion which, by the end, reveals a large picture of Brown's seemingly hidden feelings. It is his relationship with his mentally unstable mother that fuels this book; Brown thoughtlessly antagonizes her (as teenagers do) and struggles with his inability to say "I love you"--at least to the right people at the right time. In his youth, Brown was best able to express himself through symbolic drawings which he infused with meanings he would later claim weren't there ("I never use symbolism.") This grown-up effort seems an extension of that, as a bittersweet memoir and perhaps explanation/closure for his emotional distance.

A very sparce but emotionally rich story of a young boy.

In this age of post-modern, ironic, dconstructionist storytelling, it's refreshing to see someone such as Canadian writer\artist Chester Brown honestly recount his early life. 'I Never Liked You', graphic novel, is an excellent and enticing introduction to both Brown and the comics medium. The story and art mesh together effortlesly and all the sentimental cliches are carefully avoided. It's a quick read, which may dissapoint you at first, but, as you find yourself needing to reread it, you'll realize that it's a virtue. 'I Never Liked You' is poetic- flowing and graceful, yet meaty enough for you to dissect any line or image and learn more about what has shaped Chester Brown to make him the great artist he is today. Highly Recommended.

Quiet, Touching, Sad, Wonderful.

Chester Brown's seemingly simple graphic novel is actually a brilliantly written and drawn tale about adolesence that touches deep into your heart. Brown's ability to go deep into his past and dig up the things that haunt him most is simply incredible - it all seems so subtle, yet it's so personal and powerful. Like the recurring biscuit-eating scenes which might not mean anything but provoke so much feelings, of melancholy, loneliness, simple joy, etc.Brown's art is as much a joy to look at as his writing. The freely (yet skillfully) drawn brush work, together with the loosely (yet cleverly) laid-out pages complement the story almost to perfection.I have read and re-read the book a number of times on different occasions and personally I feel it's best when you read it in a quiet afternoon when you're all alone.Together with 'It's A Good Life, If You Don't Weaken' by Seth, 'I Never Liked You' is one of those rare graphic novel that will let you feel as if you k! now the author personally after reading it.

brilliant, quiet, over too quick

Why is Chester Brown so good? I just don't understand... first Ed the Happy Clown, then the Playboy, and then I Never Liked You...all masterpieces. No other cartoonist has maintained such quality over this many long works. He's working on Underwater right now, an incomprehensible but fascinating (don't ask me) story from a baby's point of view. My guess is when it's complete we'll all be gaping with awe at it, like I am (and you should be) over the rest of his books now