In the first part of my post I talked about the overall plot of Scenes from an Impending Marriage and my main thoughts on it. I mentioned how I was surprised about how the memoir came to be, and how I enjoyed its ending. In this post I will be continuing from where I left off in part 1, and talk about what I think the purpose of "Scenes" is, and talk about the aspects I liked from the memoir.
Although "Scenes" is written as a graphic novel and has a lot of humor in it, it also contains a purpose. The first one that comes to mind, is the importance of compromise in a relationship, in any given situation. Tomine's memoir greatly emphasizes this aspect on multiple occasions. Many times Sarah Brennan and Adrian Tomine have disagreements with each other in "Scenes", and they both have a different stand point on resolving a problem.
This can be in the first seen "Guest List", for example. Adrian tries to get rid of a bunch of people from the guest list saying they would be doing them a favor, while Sarah wants to invite a lot of guests so she can reconnect with old friends (Tomine, 2011). They both decide that they should cool down their extremities, and try to resolve the problem by voting with "Yes", "No" or "Maybe" to invite the guest. In this they were able to make a compromise and found a way to deal with their problem (Tomine, 2011). I believe this is something all relationships need to be successful, and it is one purpose Tomine's memoir is trying to get at; both ends have to meet somewhere in the middle. Of course no couple is perfect and sometimes they just end up losing their temper; even Sarah and Adrian (see except above).
Another important aspect (purpose) I found to be conveyed in the memoir is when the couple begin to sink deeply into their world, and forget what really is important. This is seen in "Poor Us (part one)", when the couple get overwhelmed with all the tasks they have to do (Tomine, 2011). When Sarah first mentions to Tomine, the fact that a charity is being held, where they could help and volunteer to cook and serve food for those with HIV and AIDS, Tomine rules it out. He says they are to occupied with planning their wedding and Sarah then realizes that he is probably right. After, they realize how selfish they were, and they decide to help out, seeing how fortunate they are; they decide that they should help out every month (Tomine, 2011). This aspect is one I found to be important because it reminds us how much we can get caught up in our own world (me included). Instead it reminds how we should take a look and see how fortunate we are and how we can help the more unfortunate by giving them our time.
Moving onto the aspects I enjoyed in the memoir; there are a couple. As I have mentioned in my posts multiple times, the greatest aspect I enjoyed in the memoir is the fact it had a lot of humor. Even though sometimes the situation may have been serious for the couple at the time, Tomine makes the reader appreciate and laugh about it, as a bystander (see except above). He takes his memories with his wife, and the frustrations they were going through as they were getting ready for their wedding and tries to make the best of them. It helps the readers who are married to see that they are not alone, but also allow singles to see what they could be getting themselves into, in the future.
The other aspect that I enjoyed, is the way the memoir was presented; in a graphic novel form. Although the drawings are not detailed, they are able to convey a clear message. Readers like me, are able to follow the text easily by looking at the drawings but at the same time have clearer image of the scene being presented. Not to mention, the humor in the memoir could not have worked, without the drawings and vice versa; they worked in perfect unison. This aspect for me, as a person who enjoys seeing things visually and reading short passages, was a seamless combination.
Overall if I were asked to rate the book from 1 (being the lowest) to 10 (being the greatest), I would give Tomine "Scenes" a 9/10, only because I am not currently married and cannot relate to it as much. However as I have mentioned, even for someone like me, it was a pleasure to read. I would defiantly recommend the memoir for anyone who is getting or is married to get a crack out of it, and for anyone who enjoys comics and humorous memoirs. To get more out of "Scenes" and another perspective on the memoir, here is Rachel Cooke on her positive review of Tomine's Scenes from an Impending Marriage.
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| Excerpt from Scenes from an Impending Marriage; Sarah loses her temper |
This can be in the first seen "Guest List", for example. Adrian tries to get rid of a bunch of people from the guest list saying they would be doing them a favor, while Sarah wants to invite a lot of guests so she can reconnect with old friends (Tomine, 2011). They both decide that they should cool down their extremities, and try to resolve the problem by voting with "Yes", "No" or "Maybe" to invite the guest. In this they were able to make a compromise and found a way to deal with their problem (Tomine, 2011). I believe this is something all relationships need to be successful, and it is one purpose Tomine's memoir is trying to get at; both ends have to meet somewhere in the middle. Of course no couple is perfect and sometimes they just end up losing their temper; even Sarah and Adrian (see except above).
Another important aspect (purpose) I found to be conveyed in the memoir is when the couple begin to sink deeply into their world, and forget what really is important. This is seen in "Poor Us (part one)", when the couple get overwhelmed with all the tasks they have to do (Tomine, 2011). When Sarah first mentions to Tomine, the fact that a charity is being held, where they could help and volunteer to cook and serve food for those with HIV and AIDS, Tomine rules it out. He says they are to occupied with planning their wedding and Sarah then realizes that he is probably right. After, they realize how selfish they were, and they decide to help out, seeing how fortunate they are; they decide that they should help out every month (Tomine, 2011). This aspect is one I found to be important because it reminds us how much we can get caught up in our own world (me included). Instead it reminds how we should take a look and see how fortunate we are and how we can help the more unfortunate by giving them our time.
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| Excerpt from Scenes from an Impending Marriage; Sarah drags Adrian off the bus |
Moving onto the aspects I enjoyed in the memoir; there are a couple. As I have mentioned in my posts multiple times, the greatest aspect I enjoyed in the memoir is the fact it had a lot of humor. Even though sometimes the situation may have been serious for the couple at the time, Tomine makes the reader appreciate and laugh about it, as a bystander (see except above). He takes his memories with his wife, and the frustrations they were going through as they were getting ready for their wedding and tries to make the best of them. It helps the readers who are married to see that they are not alone, but also allow singles to see what they could be getting themselves into, in the future.
The other aspect that I enjoyed, is the way the memoir was presented; in a graphic novel form. Although the drawings are not detailed, they are able to convey a clear message. Readers like me, are able to follow the text easily by looking at the drawings but at the same time have clearer image of the scene being presented. Not to mention, the humor in the memoir could not have worked, without the drawings and vice versa; they worked in perfect unison. This aspect for me, as a person who enjoys seeing things visually and reading short passages, was a seamless combination.
Overall if I were asked to rate the book from 1 (being the lowest) to 10 (being the greatest), I would give Tomine "Scenes" a 9/10, only because I am not currently married and cannot relate to it as much. However as I have mentioned, even for someone like me, it was a pleasure to read. I would defiantly recommend the memoir for anyone who is getting or is married to get a crack out of it, and for anyone who enjoys comics and humorous memoirs. To get more out of "Scenes" and another perspective on the memoir, here is Rachel Cooke on her positive review of Tomine's Scenes from an Impending Marriage.
It's interesting how Adrian and Brennan (his wife's name, i think) found time to volunteer for a charity while they were busy planning their event. I can't find any stories or links for this, but I do remember a Christian quote, and I para-phrase:
ReplyDelete“I believe... ....unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives.” - Thomas S. Monson
https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/service-brings-joy?lang=eng
I think, in our busy lives, sometimes the best thing we can do is reach out and serve others, and forget about our own problems. I thought it was a nice thought that Adrian was able to share.