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Bezimena
Un libro radical que explora y denuncia la psicología del agresor sexual.
Benny es un joven como los demás. De buena familia, con una buena educación, no le falta de nada. Y sin embargo... es diferente. Benny mira a las muchachas de una manera muy extraña. En su cabeza toman forma obsesiones innombrables. Tanto, que quizá le resulte difícil vivir en sociedad.
Nina Bunjevac es una de las autoras de cómic e ilustradoras más respetadas en la actualidad, cuya obra ha sido comparada con la de Marjane Satrapi, Robert Crumb o Joe Sacco. En este cuento negro para adultos nos conduce, sin concesiones ni tabúes, por el camino poco transitado de la psicología del agresor sexual.
Benny es un joven como los demás. De buena familia, con una buena educación, no le falta de nada. Y sin embargo... es diferente. Benny mira a las muchachas de una manera muy extraña. En su cabeza toman forma obsesiones innombrables. Tanto, que quizá le resulte difícil vivir en sociedad.
Nina Bunjevac es una de las autoras de cómic e ilustradoras más respetadas en la actualidad, cuya obra ha sido comparada con la de Marjane Satrapi, Robert Crumb o Joe Sacco. En este cuento negro para adultos nos conduce, sin concesiones ni tabúes, por el camino poco transitado de la psicología del agresor sexual.
200 pages, Paperback
First published August 24, 2018
5 people are currently reading
970 people want to read
About the author
Nina Bunjevac
19 books74 followersAlthough Canadian born, Nina Bunjevac spent her formative years in Yugoslavia, where she began her art education before returning to Canada at onset of the war of the 1990s. She continued her education in graphic design at the iconic Art Centre of Central Technical School in Toronto, subsequently graduating from the Drawing and Painting department at OCAD. After a decade of drawing and painting she discovered the passion for the narrative through sculpture installation work, eventually returning to her childhood passion for comics.
Nina’s comics have been published in a number of international periodicals and anthologies, including The National Post, Le Monde Diplomatique, ArtReview and Best American Comics. Her first book Heartless (2012, Conundrum Press, Nova Scotia) won a Doug Wright Award in Best Debut category. Her second book, Fatherland (2014, Jonathan Cape, London) has reached international acclaim, appearing on the New York Times best-seller list and receiving a Doug Wright Award in Best Book category; it was also shortlisted for PACA Regional Literary Award in France. Bezimena (2018, Ici Même, Nantes; 2019, Fantagraphics, Seattle), Nina’s third book, made the official selection at Angoulême International Comics Festival 2019, won Artemisia prize in the category of Best Drawing in France, and was awarded Best Book Jury Prize at 2019 Lucca Comics and Games in Lucca, Italy.
Her artwork has been included in a number of exhibitions, both in Canada and internationally. Notable exhibits include the 2014 installation Out of Fatherland, at Art Gallery of Ontario, commissioned mural pieces for The Idea of North, and Galerie Martel in Paris, France.
She lives in Toronto where she divides her time between comics, illustration, teaching and fine arts.
Nina’s comics have been published in a number of international periodicals and anthologies, including The National Post, Le Monde Diplomatique, ArtReview and Best American Comics. Her first book Heartless (2012, Conundrum Press, Nova Scotia) won a Doug Wright Award in Best Debut category. Her second book, Fatherland (2014, Jonathan Cape, London) has reached international acclaim, appearing on the New York Times best-seller list and receiving a Doug Wright Award in Best Book category; it was also shortlisted for PACA Regional Literary Award in France. Bezimena (2018, Ici Même, Nantes; 2019, Fantagraphics, Seattle), Nina’s third book, made the official selection at Angoulême International Comics Festival 2019, won Artemisia prize in the category of Best Drawing in France, and was awarded Best Book Jury Prize at 2019 Lucca Comics and Games in Lucca, Italy.
Her artwork has been included in a number of exhibitions, both in Canada and internationally. Notable exhibits include the 2014 installation Out of Fatherland, at Art Gallery of Ontario, commissioned mural pieces for The Idea of North, and Galerie Martel in Paris, France.
She lives in Toronto where she divides her time between comics, illustration, teaching and fine arts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
September 8, 2023
Powerfully introspective look at the internal process that separates fantasy from criminal act; very adult and graphic (sexual content) but it is used contextually with the narrative. Art and design are hauntingly evocative of a decent into insanity. Very original and very unique; will stay with you after you are finished reading it
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August 30, 2020
June 9, 2020
Das ist für mich in Bezug auf die Zeichenkunst ein absolutes Meisterwerk. Es als Comic oder Graphic Novel zu bezeichnen, würde der Qualität der Aufmachung des großformatigen Hardcovers nicht gerecht werden. Die Künstlerin arbeitet mit einer Kreuzschraffur- und Punktetechnik, die den Bildern eine faszinierende Licht-Schatten-Wirkung und vor allem Tiefenschärfe geben. Die meist einseitigen Bilder werden nicht durch Sprechblasen unterbrochen, da der Text immer auf der linken und das Bild auf der rechten Seite steht.
Das Geschichte dreht sich um gewaltsame sexuelle Phantasien, die sich zu einer Obsession bei einem jungen Mann ausweiten, die ihn die Realität nicht mehr richtig wahrnehmen lässt. Es gelingt der Autorin beeindruckend, den Niedergang des Täters aus dessen Augen darzustellen. Die Traumata der Opfer spielen dabei kaum eine Rolle. Für eine Frau wie Nina Bunjevac, die bereits als 15jährige sich sexuellen Übergriffen erwehren musste, ist diese Sichtweise bei der Aufarbeitung ihrer Vergangenheit erstaunlich. Das Buch enthält explizite Darstellungen von sexueller Gewalt. Dies muss als Hinweis für potenziell Interessierte am Buch dazugesagt werden.
Das Geschichte dreht sich um gewaltsame sexuelle Phantasien, die sich zu einer Obsession bei einem jungen Mann ausweiten, die ihn die Realität nicht mehr richtig wahrnehmen lässt. Es gelingt der Autorin beeindruckend, den Niedergang des Täters aus dessen Augen darzustellen. Die Traumata der Opfer spielen dabei kaum eine Rolle. Für eine Frau wie Nina Bunjevac, die bereits als 15jährige sich sexuellen Übergriffen erwehren musste, ist diese Sichtweise bei der Aufarbeitung ihrer Vergangenheit erstaunlich. Das Buch enthält explizite Darstellungen von sexueller Gewalt. Dies muss als Hinweis für potenziell Interessierte am Buch dazugesagt werden.
August 16, 2020
A story of sexual abuse told at least initially through the frame of the myth of Artemis and Siproites, in which a young man is turned into a woman as a punishment for the attempted rape of one of Artemis' virgin cohorts. Bunjevac's story is disturbingly Nabokian in that we see one man's obsessions though his eyes (and of course written/as seen by a woman). And these fantasies are illustrated, so we are lured into his mind as we are in Lolita (though if this seems potentially off-putting, the illustrations were not--to me--that graphic).
Nevertheless, to actually see the illustrations makes it somehow more disturbing, maybe, which may be one point Bunjvac makes about the ways that seeing comics/illustration takes us farther into Benny's perversity than (mere) words; and/or maybe it takes us as viewers/voyeurs into his mind, so we become implicated in his process as we agree to continue viewing.
Not that it matters much, but this is not really a graphic novel, as Michael and other revviewrs have pointed out. The illustrations are painstakingly and hauntingly rendered, in great detail, and with what many have observed are of great beauty (which is another Nabokian trap she lays for readers, to lure us into the story by the beauty of the fantas) in full page single images, alternating pages with Bunjevac's written story. Kind of like an illustrated children's book, which also might be purposeful, though it is clearly not going to be shelved in that section of the library. But I think it is a book that can be used to provoke discussions about sexual abuse and the psychology of sexual predation. The book was a finalist for a 2020 Eisner award.
Nevertheless, to actually see the illustrations makes it somehow more disturbing, maybe, which may be one point Bunjvac makes about the ways that seeing comics/illustration takes us farther into Benny's perversity than (mere) words; and/or maybe it takes us as viewers/voyeurs into his mind, so we become implicated in his process as we agree to continue viewing.
Not that it matters much, but this is not really a graphic novel, as Michael and other revviewrs have pointed out. The illustrations are painstakingly and hauntingly rendered, in great detail, and with what many have observed are of great beauty (which is another Nabokian trap she lays for readers, to lure us into the story by the beauty of the fantas) in full page single images, alternating pages with Bunjevac's written story. Kind of like an illustrated children's book, which also might be purposeful, though it is clearly not going to be shelved in that section of the library. But I think it is a book that can be used to provoke discussions about sexual abuse and the psychology of sexual predation. The book was a finalist for a 2020 Eisner award.
March 23, 2020
*Spoilers* (The following contains a complete summary of the story.)
I was not won over by Bezimena until the last few pages. The book is a quick read, the art is impressive, but I wasn't too sure about the choice to make it a picture book, and the content is exceptionally unsettling, sometimes violently pornographic. But then the imagery becomes increasingly surreal, the story is recontextualized from a stomach-turning rape fantasy into psychological horror, and, after all that, "Bezimena took the priestess's head out of the water and calmly asked... 'Who were you crying for? Who were you crying for?'" The story reminds us that pain is universal and self-pity is fruitless. In the end, it is all a drop of water in the lake.
You see, the priestess is a child of "needless suffering," and wise, old Bezimena, exhausted with her complaints, forces her head into the water, seemingly drowning her. Bezimena is reborn as a boy, Benny, who is sex-obsessed from a very early age and punished viciously as a result of youthful transgressions, and so he learns to live in the shadows in order to hide his shame from the world. As a young man, he happens upon Becky, a young woman who was an elementary school crush of his, drawing and talking to a friend at the zoo, and when she leaves behind a sketchbook, he takes it and follows her home where he sees her bathing (on the way, he passes by a statue of Artemis, an allusion to the tale in which a young man sees the goddess of the hunt bathing and is punished as a result). When he flees back to his home, he finds in the sketchbook drawings that detail everything that happened to him that day, and there are also drawings of acts that seem to foretell what he will do in the future.
This is where the story enters the most uncomfortable territory. The young man, following the cues in the sketchbook, at different times sexually assaults Becky's friend, her maid, and then, possibly, Becky herself, although, by this time, the narrative has broken down into such dreamlike territory, it is difficult to tell precisely what is real. Benny has been having strange dreams, and the final assault, which alludes to the myth of the man being turned into a stag and torn apart by Artemis's hounds, is nothing short of a nightmare.
Benny is awoken by the police, and we find out along with him that the sketchbook does not have the graphic depictions that he thought. It is a book of child's drawings, and Benny is accused of assaulting and murdering three children. In his own mind, this never happened, and even as he is convicted, he can't believe that he is guilty, even as he slips the noose around his neck, he can't understand how any of this could have happened. And after seeing this entire life through Benny's eyes, we are reminded that Benny was a reincarnation of the priestess, who, it turns out, did not drown, and her life as Benny was an illustration provided to her by Bezimena, who asks the priestess, who asks all of us witnesses, "Who were you crying for?" For herself? For Benny? For the girls he violated and murdered? She seems to be saying, If we cry over everything worth crying over, there will be no end of tears, because all pain comes from pain and produces more pain. So we must turn away from "needless suffering" and focus on the stillness we can find inside ourselves, inside of nature.
The essay at the end is an equally powerful personal narrative about the author's own history with abuse and betrayal, and the novel feels like it could be her own attempt at exorcising the demons of her past by living through the eyes of a predator, living his pain and his shame and his horror in order to overcome the fear and terror she felt at the hands of such men, to subdue her own suffering beneath empathy (not sympathy), to transform herself into the wise and patient Bezimena, knowing pain but beyond its grasp.
4.5
I was not won over by Bezimena until the last few pages. The book is a quick read, the art is impressive, but I wasn't too sure about the choice to make it a picture book, and the content is exceptionally unsettling, sometimes violently pornographic. But then the imagery becomes increasingly surreal, the story is recontextualized from a stomach-turning rape fantasy into psychological horror, and, after all that, "Bezimena took the priestess's head out of the water and calmly asked... 'Who were you crying for? Who were you crying for?'" The story reminds us that pain is universal and self-pity is fruitless. In the end, it is all a drop of water in the lake.
You see, the priestess is a child of "needless suffering," and wise, old Bezimena, exhausted with her complaints, forces her head into the water, seemingly drowning her. Bezimena is reborn as a boy, Benny, who is sex-obsessed from a very early age and punished viciously as a result of youthful transgressions, and so he learns to live in the shadows in order to hide his shame from the world. As a young man, he happens upon Becky, a young woman who was an elementary school crush of his, drawing and talking to a friend at the zoo, and when she leaves behind a sketchbook, he takes it and follows her home where he sees her bathing (on the way, he passes by a statue of Artemis, an allusion to the tale in which a young man sees the goddess of the hunt bathing and is punished as a result). When he flees back to his home, he finds in the sketchbook drawings that detail everything that happened to him that day, and there are also drawings of acts that seem to foretell what he will do in the future.
This is where the story enters the most uncomfortable territory. The young man, following the cues in the sketchbook, at different times sexually assaults Becky's friend, her maid, and then, possibly, Becky herself, although, by this time, the narrative has broken down into such dreamlike territory, it is difficult to tell precisely what is real. Benny has been having strange dreams, and the final assault, which alludes to the myth of the man being turned into a stag and torn apart by Artemis's hounds, is nothing short of a nightmare.
Benny is awoken by the police, and we find out along with him that the sketchbook does not have the graphic depictions that he thought. It is a book of child's drawings, and Benny is accused of assaulting and murdering three children. In his own mind, this never happened, and even as he is convicted, he can't believe that he is guilty, even as he slips the noose around his neck, he can't understand how any of this could have happened. And after seeing this entire life through Benny's eyes, we are reminded that Benny was a reincarnation of the priestess, who, it turns out, did not drown, and her life as Benny was an illustration provided to her by Bezimena, who asks the priestess, who asks all of us witnesses, "Who were you crying for?" For herself? For Benny? For the girls he violated and murdered? She seems to be saying, If we cry over everything worth crying over, there will be no end of tears, because all pain comes from pain and produces more pain. So we must turn away from "needless suffering" and focus on the stillness we can find inside ourselves, inside of nature.
The essay at the end is an equally powerful personal narrative about the author's own history with abuse and betrayal, and the novel feels like it could be her own attempt at exorcising the demons of her past by living through the eyes of a predator, living his pain and his shame and his horror in order to overcome the fear and terror she felt at the hands of such men, to subdue her own suffering beneath empathy (not sympathy), to transform herself into the wise and patient Bezimena, knowing pain but beyond its grasp.
4.5
June 10, 2020
Es fällt mir schwer, mich der Begeisterung von Kritik und Lesern für BEZIMENA vorbehaltlos anschließen.
Bunjevac hat, und das erfahren wir im Nachwort, aus eigener Betroffenheit mit BEZIMENA ein Buch über sexuelle Gewalt geschrieben. Ob es sich dabei im engeren Sinne um eine Graphic Novel handelt sei dahingestellt, Schubladen sind nur selten hilfreich, wenn man ein Buch verstehen will.
Festzuhalten ist, dass es keine Panels und keine Seitenaufteilung gibt. Rechts befindet sich jeweils ganzseitig ein Bild, links die "Sprechblasen" dazu, wobei es sich eigentlich klassischerweise um Captions handeln müsste, denn wir hören hier die Stimme des Erzählers, nicht die der Figuren.
Die Artwork ist aufwändig gestaltet, die Szenen wirken auf mich aber in der Darstellung starr, eingefroren; Momentaufnahmen, die beunruhigend wirken, surreal und aus der Zeit gefallen. Auch die Stimme des Erzählers finde ich befremdlich, sie klingt gelegentlich nach Märchenonkel und steht im Kontrast zum Inhalt.
Was den Inhalt angeht ist mein Eindruck, dass Bunjevac sich stark von ihrer Intuition leiten ließ. Sex wird explizit dargestellt, zugleich finden sich viele Symbole in den Bildern, deren Auslegung eine Herausforderung an den Leser sind. Beachtet man sie nicht, wird sich ein Verständnis der Geschichte nur schwer einstellen.
Wirklich irritierend ist allerdings die Rahmenhandlung, über deren Bedeutung man lange spekulieren kann.
Ich finde die Artwork beunruhigend, aber zu statisch und hätte mir eine persönlichere Erzählstimme gewünscht. Die Rahmenhandlung stellt die Verbindung zu einer mythischen Welt her, die ich nicht ganz nachvollziehen kann. Sie soll, vermute ich, auf die Erfahrung sexueller Gewalt verweisen, die Frauen schon immer und überall erfahren müssen. Warum sich die Autorin zunächst ausdrücklich auf die eher unbekannte Geschichte von Diana und Siproites bezieht, später aber auch das Schicksal von Aktaion als Matrix benutzt, erschließt sich mir nicht.
BEZIMENA ist eine engagierte Graphic Novel, die die Erfahrung sexueller Gewalt sehr kreativ in surreale intuitive Bilder setzt. Ob es Bunjevac gelungen ist, den Stoff künstlerisch überzeugend zu gestalten, darüber werden Leser kontrovers diskutieren.
Bunjevac hat, und das erfahren wir im Nachwort, aus eigener Betroffenheit mit BEZIMENA ein Buch über sexuelle Gewalt geschrieben. Ob es sich dabei im engeren Sinne um eine Graphic Novel handelt sei dahingestellt, Schubladen sind nur selten hilfreich, wenn man ein Buch verstehen will.
Festzuhalten ist, dass es keine Panels und keine Seitenaufteilung gibt. Rechts befindet sich jeweils ganzseitig ein Bild, links die "Sprechblasen" dazu, wobei es sich eigentlich klassischerweise um Captions handeln müsste, denn wir hören hier die Stimme des Erzählers, nicht die der Figuren.
Die Artwork ist aufwändig gestaltet, die Szenen wirken auf mich aber in der Darstellung starr, eingefroren; Momentaufnahmen, die beunruhigend wirken, surreal und aus der Zeit gefallen. Auch die Stimme des Erzählers finde ich befremdlich, sie klingt gelegentlich nach Märchenonkel und steht im Kontrast zum Inhalt.
Was den Inhalt angeht ist mein Eindruck, dass Bunjevac sich stark von ihrer Intuition leiten ließ. Sex wird explizit dargestellt, zugleich finden sich viele Symbole in den Bildern, deren Auslegung eine Herausforderung an den Leser sind. Beachtet man sie nicht, wird sich ein Verständnis der Geschichte nur schwer einstellen.
Wirklich irritierend ist allerdings die Rahmenhandlung, über deren Bedeutung man lange spekulieren kann.
Ich finde die Artwork beunruhigend, aber zu statisch und hätte mir eine persönlichere Erzählstimme gewünscht. Die Rahmenhandlung stellt die Verbindung zu einer mythischen Welt her, die ich nicht ganz nachvollziehen kann. Sie soll, vermute ich, auf die Erfahrung sexueller Gewalt verweisen, die Frauen schon immer und überall erfahren müssen. Warum sich die Autorin zunächst ausdrücklich auf die eher unbekannte Geschichte von Diana und Siproites bezieht, später aber auch das Schicksal von Aktaion als Matrix benutzt, erschließt sich mir nicht.
BEZIMENA ist eine engagierte Graphic Novel, die die Erfahrung sexueller Gewalt sehr kreativ in surreale intuitive Bilder setzt. Ob es Bunjevac gelungen ist, den Stoff künstlerisch überzeugend zu gestalten, darüber werden Leser kontrovers diskutieren.
June 9, 2020
Gerade nach der Lektüre von From Hell, das mir von der zeichnerischen Seite wenig gefiel, ist das ein wahrer Genuss. Ich mag das Werk kaum als Graphic Novel bezeichnen, sondern als Bildband.
Sehr erholsam finde ich auch, dass die Bilder für sich stehen und immer die gesamte rechte Seite einnehmen. Texte stehen, wenn überhaupt auf der linken Seite. Dialoge gibt es nicht und das unterstützt die düstere Stimmung.
In merkwürdigem Gegensatz zu den klaren, schönen Bildern steht der Inhalt der Geschichte. Wir sehen alles durch die Augen eines Sexualtäters, der schon als Junge lernte, seine dunklen Triebe für sich zu behalten – und im Geheimen umso grausamer auszuleben. Es erschüttert einen, dieser Geschichte zu folgen und ist gleichzeitig von den Zeichnungen beeindruckt.
Die Vergewaltigungen, die gezeigt werden, wirken teilweise gar nicht so gewaltsam, so als ob die Frauen sich das so wünschen. Das wäre eine fatale Aussage, doch erfährt man am Ende, wie sehr die Realität der Opfer vom Erleben des Täters abweicht. Nicht nur die Sicht eines psychisch Kranken also, sondern – auch vor dem Hintergrund von MeToo – der Hinweis, wie sehr die Wahrnehmungen über einvernehmlichen oder eben nicht einvernehmlichen Sex auseinander gehen können.
Es ist immer blöd, nach der Message zu fragen, aber hier denke ich am Ende wirklich: Was soll ich denn jetzt mitnehmen? Was hat das zu bedeuten? Wie lässt sich das im Einzelnen mit dem genannten Mythos von Artemis und Siproitis verbinden? Warum ist die Titelfigur so grausam zu der Priesterin? Dass ich keine Antworten erhalten, finde ich gerade positiv.
Erst das Nachwort verrät die zusätzliche Inspiration für die Geschichte, nämlich dass die Autorin selbst, bereits als junges Mädchen, wiederholt nur knapp einer Vergewaltigung entging.
Sehr erholsam finde ich auch, dass die Bilder für sich stehen und immer die gesamte rechte Seite einnehmen. Texte stehen, wenn überhaupt auf der linken Seite. Dialoge gibt es nicht und das unterstützt die düstere Stimmung.
In merkwürdigem Gegensatz zu den klaren, schönen Bildern steht der Inhalt der Geschichte. Wir sehen alles durch die Augen eines Sexualtäters, der schon als Junge lernte, seine dunklen Triebe für sich zu behalten – und im Geheimen umso grausamer auszuleben. Es erschüttert einen, dieser Geschichte zu folgen und ist gleichzeitig von den Zeichnungen beeindruckt.
Die Vergewaltigungen, die gezeigt werden, wirken teilweise gar nicht so gewaltsam, so als ob die Frauen sich das so wünschen. Das wäre eine fatale Aussage, doch erfährt man am Ende, wie sehr die Realität der Opfer vom Erleben des Täters abweicht. Nicht nur die Sicht eines psychisch Kranken also, sondern – auch vor dem Hintergrund von MeToo – der Hinweis, wie sehr die Wahrnehmungen über einvernehmlichen oder eben nicht einvernehmlichen Sex auseinander gehen können.
Es ist immer blöd, nach der Message zu fragen, aber hier denke ich am Ende wirklich: Was soll ich denn jetzt mitnehmen? Was hat das zu bedeuten? Wie lässt sich das im Einzelnen mit dem genannten Mythos von Artemis und Siproitis verbinden? Warum ist die Titelfigur so grausam zu der Priesterin? Dass ich keine Antworten erhalten, finde ich gerade positiv.
Erst das Nachwort verrät die zusätzliche Inspiration für die Geschichte, nämlich dass die Autorin selbst, bereits als junges Mädchen, wiederholt nur knapp einer Vergewaltigung entging.
July 6, 2019
again i have asked the library to buy pornographic comics and they obliged
September 4, 2023
This is a deeply disturbing book. It blends the reality of what is happening on the page with the fantasies of the protagonist, where you are unsure of your footing as a reader. It deals with highly sensitive, sexually disturbing subject matter. Despite the vividly depicted images and situations, the most chilling section of this book is not a graphic, but rather the author’s afterword – 4 pages at the very end that put the entire story into perspective.
February 5, 2020
Absolutely stunning. My new favorite graphic novel, and obsession.
::promptly gets 12 tattoos of this art all over body as quickly as possible::
::promptly gets 12 tattoos of this art all over body as quickly as possible::
November 5, 2020
OMG! Having not even read the back cover, I knew nothing about the contents of this book, and boy was I gobsmacked! This book is intended to shock, so I'm going to be using spoiler warnings for most of this review. I will say that this book made me very uncomfortable, and I'm having difficulty processing what the author is trying to say and why she chose to tell the story the way she has.
So, in an ancient time, a priestess comes wailing about her problems to a meditating Bezimena (a goddess? a sage?), who is just not in the mood for it today and decides, you want something to cry about? I'll give you something to cry about.
With a quick push from Bezimena, the priestess is instantly reincarnated in the early 20th century as a boy named Benny who compulsively masturbates. It's sort of hilarious . . . until
I'm torn between giving this book a one-star rating for being in poor taste and a five-star rating for pushing boundaries. I'll split the difference today, but I know I'll be thinking about this book for a while and may not settle on my true rating for a long time.
Trigger warnings:
So, in an ancient time, a priestess comes wailing about her problems to a meditating Bezimena (a goddess? a sage?), who is just not in the mood for it today and decides, you want something to cry about? I'll give you something to cry about.
With a quick push from Bezimena, the priestess is instantly reincarnated in the early 20th century as a boy named Benny who compulsively masturbates. It's sort of hilarious . . . until
I'm torn between giving this book a one-star rating for being in poor taste and a five-star rating for pushing boundaries. I'll split the difference today, but I know I'll be thinking about this book for a while and may not settle on my true rating for a long time.
Trigger warnings:
October 18, 2019
Esta novela gráfica sigue las andanzas de Benny, un chico que desde pequeño parece obesesionado por el sexo compulsivamente, tanto que cuando se hace adulto su obsesión le convierte en una especie de acosador sexual. Esto es a grandes rasgos de lo que va la historia, sin embargo, las imágenes en blanco y negro de Nina Bunjevac contienen más información, más pistas de un puzzle que las que en un principio parecen. Y la nota de la autora al final de esta novela. nos revela ya por fin de que va esta historia sin tapujos pero hay que llegar al final para entenderlo del todo. Bajo el punto de vista de las andazas de un acosador, Nina Bunjevac nos está hablando de todo un mundo onirico donde la fantasia sexual y los traumas reprimidos se van revelando.
La novela está repleta de simbolismo: el cabello de Betty la Blanca, un surrealismo al más puro estilo Cocteau, los bosques, la luna, el búho, los espejos y ese voyeurismo compulsivo que no sólo nos está hablando de Benny sino de una sociedad que parece hacer oidos sordos a todos esos atisbos de violencia sexual que la habita. Tengo que echarle el guante a Fatherland y Heartless.
July 29, 2020
Завораживающий эротический триллер с приветом греческим мифам. История об озабоченном парне, в чьи руки попадает блокнот с фетишистскими сексуальными фантазиями бывшей одноклассницы, которые начинают непостижимым образом сбываться. На редкость смелое произведение, финал которого обескураживает, а брутальное послесловие сербской художницы и вовсе переворачивает всё вверх дном в лучших традициях "Лолиты".
Но больше всего, конечно, поражает невероятный рисунок, превращающий комикс в альбом потрясающе детализированных гравюр, которые так и просятся на стену. "Безимену" прокатили на айснерах, но удивительно скорее то, что книга вообще попала в список номинантов (учитывая тематику). Вот, как обычно, небольшая галерея.
Но больше всего, конечно, поражает невероятный рисунок, превращающий комикс в альбом потрясающе детализированных гравюр, которые так и просятся на стену. "Безимену" прокатили на айснерах, но удивительно скорее то, что книга вообще попала в список номинантов (учитывая тематику). Вот, как обычно, небольшая галерея.
August 17, 2019
Hard to describe without spoling anything. Disturbing work about serious thema, certainly not easy reading. Probably takes few rereads to get the whole point
May 25, 2020
Wow! What a dark and seductive trip... (and then, in the afterword, you read about the real live event that inspired it and you go: 😧)
February 25, 2022
kakav grafički roman! duša mi se zagrcnula. obavezno štivo za sve, bez preterivanja
October 2, 2021
A stark and potent graphic novel about sexual abuse. Written in Italian and told mythicly, the story in this book takes the reader into the delusions of isolation.
October 11, 2019
“This book is dedicated to all forgotten and nameless victims of sexual violence. May you find peace, May you find light, and may you dispel the darkness that envelops you.” - Nina Bunjevac in her Afterword.
This was a rough read. Although Bunjevac dedicates this book to survivors of sexual violence, the story/fable graphically depicts acts from an abusers surreal viewpoint that is difficult to stomach. Her illustrations are beautiful/alluring/repulsive, fit the dark matters presented, and will leave me with nightmares.
Edit: The story has multiple levels and repeated reads allowed me to see certain aspects of the earlier drawings of the predator’s dreams and perceptions that shed light on the more shocking truths toward the end.
This was a rough read. Although Bunjevac dedicates this book to survivors of sexual violence, the story/fable graphically depicts acts from an abusers surreal viewpoint that is difficult to stomach. Her illustrations are beautiful/alluring/repulsive, fit the dark matters presented, and will leave me with nightmares.
Edit: The story has multiple levels and repeated reads allowed me to see certain aspects of the earlier drawings of the predator’s dreams and perceptions that shed light on the more shocking truths toward the end.
June 22, 2021
Wow.
The blurb had me at Artemis and Siproites but the illustrations took my heart.
The story revolves around Benny, a sexual obsessive who seemingly gets the opportunity to engage in fetishy, dubiously consensual encounters with different women. I’ll leave it at that because anything more would be a spoiler.
My head is spinning! Bezimena is a complex story to digest, both on the narrative and visual level and warrants many rereads. What a gift Bunjevac has given her readers! I still have goosebumps!
The blurb had me at Artemis and Siproites but the illustrations took my heart.
The story revolves around Benny, a sexual obsessive who seemingly gets the opportunity to engage in fetishy, dubiously consensual encounters with different women. I’ll leave it at that because anything more would be a spoiler.
My head is spinning! Bezimena is a complex story to digest, both on the narrative and visual level and warrants many rereads. What a gift Bunjevac has given her readers! I still have goosebumps!
July 18, 2021
Ako bismo zamislili da je svaka knjiga koju pročitamo poput biljke koju smo posadili u vrt svojeg unutarnjeg bića, koja tu pušta korijen, grana se i cvijeta, tada bih mogla reći da je ovo jedan od najzanimljivijih rariteta koje sam ikada usadila u sebe. Oduševila me od prve, još kao sadnica, a kasnije, nakon čitanja, kao da je narasla u svoju punu veličinu, otkrivajući sa svakim novim listanjem neki novi detalj vrijedan divljenja. Upravo po tom specifičnom životu kojim knjiga u nama pulsira nakon čitanja vjerujem da je riječ o remek-djelu.
„Bezimena“ prvenstveno fascinira svojom nadprosječnom likovnošću, savršenim crtačkim umijećem i savršeno raspoređenim vezom rastera - točki, linija i ploha. U toj likovnosti sjajno je odmjerena i količina prikazanih detalja koja nikada ne prelazi onu granicu nakon koje bi crtež mogao djelovati pretrpano ili zagušeno. Kombinacija filmskog, stripovskog i ilustratorskog potpuno je u funkciji naracije i iako je u pitanju raskošan crtež, on nimalo ne smeta ritmu priče. Strip sadrži po jedan kadar preko cijele stranice - ne razbija priču u sitne scene, već govori kroz jake i upečatljive prizore čija kompozicija, kadriranje, osvjetljenje, govor tijela i facijalne ekspresije pripovijedaju upečatljivo i precizno na svakoj od postaja priče. U tom je pogledu „Bezimena“ vrlo inovativan strip, ali je ujedno i sasvim dorečen u jeziku kojim se služi.
Iako je likovnost stripa vrlo noirovska, pa efektnim filmskim crno-bijelim kontrastom podcrtava thrillerovsku atmosferu stripa, ona u sebi nosi snažne elemente nadrealističnog slikarstva,. Mislim pritom na ostavštinu Rene Magrittea, koji je u tom duhu ispod naslikane lule napisao: „Ovo nije lula“. Tim postupkom on je osvjestio varku kojoj smo izloženi i razbio iluziju naše percepcije, jer zaista, kad pogledamo u prizor koji je stvorio, mi ne vidimo lulu nego samo njenu sliku.
Upravo osvještavanje varke i iluzije stoji u počelu scenarija „Bezimene“ – obmana glavnog lika, koja čini da vidi ono što ne postoji, dovodi do toga da triježnjenje i suočavanje s realnošću čitatelje od užasa ruši na koljena. Čitatelje, koji priču vide očima glavnog lika, navodi se da na kratko i sami vjeruju u realističnost obmane što ga je navela da počini strašne zločine, stoga se čitateljski voajerizam iz ugodnog erotskog sanjarenja naglo pretvara u noćnu moru. Obrat u priči razbuđuje nas na više razina i nameće pitanja o tome jesu li svi naši doživljaji ljubavi i seksa u stvarnosti bili realni ili smo bili opijeni vlastitim projekcijama, opsesijama, onime što smo željeli vidjeti ali nije postojalo u stvarnosti. „ Bezimena“ nam podmeće ogledalo pod nos šokirajući nas poput nespretno otvorene prednje kamere mobitela koja nas lovi iz nezgodne perspektive, otkrivajući nam neku ružniju sliku o nama samima, tražeći nas da se preispitamo iz svakog kuta.
Podcrtavajući psihoanalitičku notu nadrealizma kontekstom grčke mitologije čija božanstva trezveno i s distance govore o ljudskim vrlinama i manama, autorica nas odmiče od emocija koje bi u nama trebala izazvati ovako tragična priča i ne traži od nas suosjećanje za tuđu patnju ni osudu tuđe monstruoznosti, već mudrošću duhovnog učitelja rezonira kako svi mi u potencijalu svog ljudskog bića sadržimo niz suprotnih i nadopunjujućih principa – muškog i ženskog, nježnog i okrutnog, žrtve i krvnika. „Bezimena“ stoga nije konkretna osoba već može biti svatko od nas, i to je razlog zbog kojeg u čitateljevom unutarnjem biću pronalazi plodno tlo s kojim će srasti, tražeći da uronimo u sebe i preispitamo svoje slabosti i svoju snagu, svoje vrline i mane koje su tako univerzalne a tako naše.
„Bezimena“ prvenstveno fascinira svojom nadprosječnom likovnošću, savršenim crtačkim umijećem i savršeno raspoređenim vezom rastera - točki, linija i ploha. U toj likovnosti sjajno je odmjerena i količina prikazanih detalja koja nikada ne prelazi onu granicu nakon koje bi crtež mogao djelovati pretrpano ili zagušeno. Kombinacija filmskog, stripovskog i ilustratorskog potpuno je u funkciji naracije i iako je u pitanju raskošan crtež, on nimalo ne smeta ritmu priče. Strip sadrži po jedan kadar preko cijele stranice - ne razbija priču u sitne scene, već govori kroz jake i upečatljive prizore čija kompozicija, kadriranje, osvjetljenje, govor tijela i facijalne ekspresije pripovijedaju upečatljivo i precizno na svakoj od postaja priče. U tom je pogledu „Bezimena“ vrlo inovativan strip, ali je ujedno i sasvim dorečen u jeziku kojim se služi.
Iako je likovnost stripa vrlo noirovska, pa efektnim filmskim crno-bijelim kontrastom podcrtava thrillerovsku atmosferu stripa, ona u sebi nosi snažne elemente nadrealističnog slikarstva,. Mislim pritom na ostavštinu Rene Magrittea, koji je u tom duhu ispod naslikane lule napisao: „Ovo nije lula“. Tim postupkom on je osvjestio varku kojoj smo izloženi i razbio iluziju naše percepcije, jer zaista, kad pogledamo u prizor koji je stvorio, mi ne vidimo lulu nego samo njenu sliku.
Upravo osvještavanje varke i iluzije stoji u počelu scenarija „Bezimene“ – obmana glavnog lika, koja čini da vidi ono što ne postoji, dovodi do toga da triježnjenje i suočavanje s realnošću čitatelje od užasa ruši na koljena. Čitatelje, koji priču vide očima glavnog lika, navodi se da na kratko i sami vjeruju u realističnost obmane što ga je navela da počini strašne zločine, stoga se čitateljski voajerizam iz ugodnog erotskog sanjarenja naglo pretvara u noćnu moru. Obrat u priči razbuđuje nas na više razina i nameće pitanja o tome jesu li svi naši doživljaji ljubavi i seksa u stvarnosti bili realni ili smo bili opijeni vlastitim projekcijama, opsesijama, onime što smo željeli vidjeti ali nije postojalo u stvarnosti. „ Bezimena“ nam podmeće ogledalo pod nos šokirajući nas poput nespretno otvorene prednje kamere mobitela koja nas lovi iz nezgodne perspektive, otkrivajući nam neku ružniju sliku o nama samima, tražeći nas da se preispitamo iz svakog kuta.
Podcrtavajući psihoanalitičku notu nadrealizma kontekstom grčke mitologije čija božanstva trezveno i s distance govore o ljudskim vrlinama i manama, autorica nas odmiče od emocija koje bi u nama trebala izazvati ovako tragična priča i ne traži od nas suosjećanje za tuđu patnju ni osudu tuđe monstruoznosti, već mudrošću duhovnog učitelja rezonira kako svi mi u potencijalu svog ljudskog bića sadržimo niz suprotnih i nadopunjujućih principa – muškog i ženskog, nježnog i okrutnog, žrtve i krvnika. „Bezimena“ stoga nije konkretna osoba već može biti svatko od nas, i to je razlog zbog kojeg u čitateljevom unutarnjem biću pronalazi plodno tlo s kojim će srasti, tražeći da uronimo u sebe i preispitamo svoje slabosti i svoju snagu, svoje vrline i mane koje su tako univerzalne a tako naše.
April 4, 2024
Jedno od onih dela koje će zauvek nastaviti da žive u umu. Tamno, teško i hrabro. A crtež, naravno, maestralan.
February 16, 2019
Etrange et sublime livre sur les pulsions sexuelles d'un homme, à travers une relecture toute personnelle du mythe de Diane et Actéon.
On reste subjuqué par la beauté et la force du dessin hyper réalisté, contrebalancé par la forme du conte en spirale et les symboles.
On reste subjuqué par la beauté et la force du dessin hyper réalisté, contrebalancé par la forme du conte en spirale et les symboles.
October 8, 2019
BRUTAL. Tanto las ilustraciones como la historia o incluso el epílogo. Los pelos de punta.
July 10, 2022
Beautifully drawn yes, but not as introspective as some claim.
The main character started and ended as one of cardboard.
Rather disappointing after reading Fatherland.
The main character started and ended as one of cardboard.
Rather disappointing after reading Fatherland.
July 7, 2019
amazing!! I usually dont like comics with an image & words like picture books because their images just tend to simply illustrate words, but this book is so much more. devoting A WHOLE PAGE for an image was brilliant. it’s about voyerism of comics / films consuming
May 12, 2025
A really creepy tale of a predator, who doesn't realize he's a predator. In the afterword Bunjevac talks about her encounters with predators is harrowing stuff.
Bunjevac's artwork is incredible here and well worth checking out for that alone.
Bunjevac's artwork is incredible here and well worth checking out for that alone.
June 21, 2019
CW: rape, sexual assault
Beautiful illustrations for the most part. It’s very graphic though so please tread lightly. The plot was heartbreaking especially after reading the author’s note.
Beautiful illustrations for the most part. It’s very graphic though so please tread lightly. The plot was heartbreaking especially after reading the author’s note.
December 11, 2021
4/5
A deeply frightening and punishing work. Stark and bare and ominous. It exists somewhere between a prophecy and a religious myth. Tonally it reminds me of a Lars Von Trier movie, but in a good way (if thats possible). Like LVT wishes he could be this effortlessly cruel to himself and his audience. The drawings are huge, full page panels. They clearly were agonizing to draw. They're rendered in exquisite detail with extremely technical shading and perspective drawing. The way the characters are staged in the drawings--stiff, unmoving--is so unnerving to me. It makes me feel like all the characters are like actors in some horrifying play, being forced to perform against their will, and we're the one holding the gun, behind the page. The general form of one black text-only page with the opposite page being a drawing builds the feeling of unease well. When that form is subverted, it feels like a punch in the face. The complete 2-page black panels in between parts of the story made me feel shockingly upset. This is an incredibly difficult read and it's so haunting. It's haunt-ED, as an object. The ending is probably one of the cruelest things I've ever experienced in media. The whole work is genius but it's also very unkind to the reader, and clearly it was unkind to the artist who made it. I hope she's ok <3 I encourage everyone to read about her experiences as a child in Serbia that she details briefly in her afterward. A dizzying experience altogether that I can't recommend but do respect immensely.
A deeply frightening and punishing work. Stark and bare and ominous. It exists somewhere between a prophecy and a religious myth. Tonally it reminds me of a Lars Von Trier movie, but in a good way (if thats possible). Like LVT wishes he could be this effortlessly cruel to himself and his audience. The drawings are huge, full page panels. They clearly were agonizing to draw. They're rendered in exquisite detail with extremely technical shading and perspective drawing. The way the characters are staged in the drawings--stiff, unmoving--is so unnerving to me. It makes me feel like all the characters are like actors in some horrifying play, being forced to perform against their will, and we're the one holding the gun, behind the page. The general form of one black text-only page with the opposite page being a drawing builds the feeling of unease well. When that form is subverted, it feels like a punch in the face. The complete 2-page black panels in between parts of the story made me feel shockingly upset. This is an incredibly difficult read and it's so haunting. It's haunt-ED, as an object. The ending is probably one of the cruelest things I've ever experienced in media. The whole work is genius but it's also very unkind to the reader, and clearly it was unkind to the artist who made it. I hope she's ok <3 I encourage everyone to read about her experiences as a child in Serbia that she details briefly in her afterward. A dizzying experience altogether that I can't recommend but do respect immensely.
August 4, 2020
>>In einem namenlosen Ort, zu einer unbestimmten Zeit, wird Benny geboren. Er ist ein Kind, das sich schon in frühen Jahren zu einem Sonderling entwickelt, einem nachdenklichen Außenseiter, der lieber Kuriositäten sammelt, als mit seinen Mitschülern zu spielen. Als junger Mann arbeitet er im Zoo, wo er eines Tages Becky wiedersieht, das Objekt seiner Begierde aus Kindertagen. ...<<
„BEZIMENA“ von Nina Bunjevac ist eine Graphic Novel der besonderen Art. Zum einen sind die Bilder einfach toll und sehr ausdrucksstark gezeichnet. Die schwarz/weiß Zeichnungen schaffen eine ganz besondere Atmosphäre und konnten mich als Leser vollends in ihren Bann ziehen. Zum anderen verarbeitet die Autorin hier ihre ganz eigenen Erfahrungen mit sexueller Gewalt und konstruiert hier eine Geschichte, die bis zum Schluss Wirklichkeit und Phantasie im Strudel der Erzählung kreisen lässt und erst am Ende die erschütternde Wirklichkeit preisgibt.
Für mich war „Bezimena“ eine sehr intensive Geschichte, die mit wenigen Worten auskommt und umso mehr mit Bildern erzählt.
Thematisch erwartet einen hier natürlich kein seichtes Geplänkel, sondern eine tiefgründige, schockierende und obsessive Geschichte, die mich hat den Atem anhalten lassen.
Vielen Dank an den Avant-Verlag für die Möglichkeit das Buch zu lesen und dieses besondere Werk kennenzulernen.
„BEZIMENA“ von Nina Bunjevac ist eine Graphic Novel der besonderen Art. Zum einen sind die Bilder einfach toll und sehr ausdrucksstark gezeichnet. Die schwarz/weiß Zeichnungen schaffen eine ganz besondere Atmosphäre und konnten mich als Leser vollends in ihren Bann ziehen. Zum anderen verarbeitet die Autorin hier ihre ganz eigenen Erfahrungen mit sexueller Gewalt und konstruiert hier eine Geschichte, die bis zum Schluss Wirklichkeit und Phantasie im Strudel der Erzählung kreisen lässt und erst am Ende die erschütternde Wirklichkeit preisgibt.
Für mich war „Bezimena“ eine sehr intensive Geschichte, die mit wenigen Worten auskommt und umso mehr mit Bildern erzählt.
Thematisch erwartet einen hier natürlich kein seichtes Geplänkel, sondern eine tiefgründige, schockierende und obsessive Geschichte, die mich hat den Atem anhalten lassen.
Vielen Dank an den Avant-Verlag für die Möglichkeit das Buch zu lesen und dieses besondere Werk kennenzulernen.
December 28, 2023
I literally do not remember this but Laura and I read it together
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