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You'll Never Know #2
You'll Never Know, Vol. 2: Collateral Damage
The first volume of You’ll Never Know showed Carol’s initial,
sometimes difficult attempts at grappling with her father Chuck’s traumatic World War II experiences by bringing them to light. As Book 2 begins, she is startled to discover that Chuck’s decision to suddenly, after 60 years, open up to her on the subject has motivations that go far beyond his desire to reveal his past — putting even more pressure on an already explosive relationship. In any event, Carol finally begins to delve into, and re-tell, Chuck’s horrific wartime experiences in Italy (which are worse than even she had imagined).
But back in the present, the cycle of family dysfunction continues as Carol’s own daughter runs into her own trouble,
leading Carol into further exploration of her family’s buried traumas and sorrows — with an expanded reprinting of the out-of-print “The Hannah Story,” Tyler’s superb chronicle of the short life and accidental death of her older sister, a heart-rending story (named one of the “100 Best Comics of the 20th Century” in a Comics Journal survey) that in turn sheds light on her parents’ subsequent lives and patterns of behavior. Everything is connected, and the past is never just the past...
104 pages, Hardcover
First published October 20, 2010
3 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 28, 2010
NEW AND IMPROVED, USER FRIENDLY, GOODREADS APPROPRIATE REVIEW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hard mixed emotions about the first book, hard a hard time letting go of comparisons
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
But I'm glad I bumped into this one at the library and read it anyway. This one dealt a lot more with her relationship with her parents and her growing understanding of how their pasts affects their now (more about the mom this time around).
I hate that I'm at this cliche place in my life where I'm thinking about my relationship with my parents. But I am. What's new? another a day, another clice. ANYway, maybe that's why this book struck more of a chord?
If I were one of those people that used if of how much I cried during a book to measure it's worth, I'd have to give this 5 stars.
I hard mixed emotions about the first book, hard a hard time letting go of comparisons
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
But I'm glad I bumped into this one at the library and read it anyway. This one dealt a lot more with her relationship with her parents and her growing understanding of how their pasts affects their now (more about the mom this time around).
I hate that I'm at this cliche place in my life where I'm thinking about my relationship with my parents. But I am. What's new? another a day, another clice. ANYway, maybe that's why this book struck more of a chord?
If I were one of those people that used if of how much I cried during a book to measure it's worth, I'd have to give this 5 stars.
April 4, 2018
3.5 stars. Although it's framed as being about Carol Tyler getting her dad to open up about his experiences as a soldier during World War II, this book is mostly a memoir of Tyler's marriage, motherhood, and complicated relationship with her complicated parents. It's insightful and compelling, but sometimes a little slow. Tyler makes up for the slow parts with some extremely interesting graphic choices - little things, like depicting a chaotic, overlapping conversation with a stream of interwoven ribbons, each strand carrying snippets of dialogue through the mess. She's not the greatest illustrator, but it's effective art with some creative layouts. The script is similar, some great moments, some slow ones. It's worth a look, although it could've been a little more consistent.
February 6, 2020
An interesting book that is less about World War Two and more about her family life, which is a result (in large part) of her dad's experiences in the army. I'm looking forward to reading the third book in the trilogy.
August 22, 2018
It’s great. The generational impact of PTSD starting with a generation without the phrase.
February 10, 2022
Easy to get hooked on this personal tale mixing father's WWII events/life effects with C. Tyler's life crises; this time including tragedy of parents' first born child death. Book 3 awaits!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2012
This review contains spoilers.
You'll Never Know: Collateral Damage is the second volume in C. Tyler's graphic memoir trilogy. In it, she continues her exploration of parent/child relationships and the ways in which her father's experiences in World War II have influenced both his and her lives.
In terms of the central mystery of the trilogy--what happened to her father while in Italy--some light is shed. She continues the scrapbook of her father's wartime experiences, moving through the years of the war and bringing the history closer to his time in Italy.
In the present time, in the hospital for an unrelated medical condition, Tyler's father, Chuck, is told by his doctor that he appears to have had a surgery some time in the past, as his stomach displays a visible scar from a procedure. Tyler's father, however, has no memory of such a surgery, and cannot recall why he would have had one. This revelation gives the author even more incentive to discover what happened in Italy.
This focus on Chuck and his relationship with Tyler, while of course important, takes a secondary position in this volume. In place of that focus, Tyler foregrounds her mother, including--as in the first volume--issues both past and present. Her mom faces medical issues in the present day, and she is unable to maintain the household as she did in the past, which further destabilizes her parents' home life. As she recalls the past, Tyler shows her mother's wartime experiences at home, alone, as well as the great tragedy of her mother's life.
Tyler's own mothering also comes to the forefront in this second volume, as her daughter becomes increasingly dissatisfied with her parents' separation--particularly after her dad shows up, stays for a few weeks, and again leaves--as well as more and more distant. By the end of the volume, Tyler discovers her daughter has fallen in with the wrong crowd, has been taking drugs, and one morning, has arrived at school drunk.
It is at this point--as Tyler sits on a park bench considering the failing health of her parents, their difficult marriage, her precarious relationship with her father, her search for the truth of the war, her dissolving marriage, and her daughter's challenges--that Hitler appears as he did at the end of volume 1. This time, he appears as a raven, again proclaiming, "I am proud of the pain my war inflicts on your children." Tyler stands up, grabs the bird, and responds defiantly, telling Hitler his legacy will not be passed on to her daughter. There, volume two ends--just as the raven escapes and flies away.
You'll Never Know: Collateral Damage is the second volume in C. Tyler's graphic memoir trilogy. In it, she continues her exploration of parent/child relationships and the ways in which her father's experiences in World War II have influenced both his and her lives.
In terms of the central mystery of the trilogy--what happened to her father while in Italy--some light is shed. She continues the scrapbook of her father's wartime experiences, moving through the years of the war and bringing the history closer to his time in Italy.
In the present time, in the hospital for an unrelated medical condition, Tyler's father, Chuck, is told by his doctor that he appears to have had a surgery some time in the past, as his stomach displays a visible scar from a procedure. Tyler's father, however, has no memory of such a surgery, and cannot recall why he would have had one. This revelation gives the author even more incentive to discover what happened in Italy.
This focus on Chuck and his relationship with Tyler, while of course important, takes a secondary position in this volume. In place of that focus, Tyler foregrounds her mother, including--as in the first volume--issues both past and present. Her mom faces medical issues in the present day, and she is unable to maintain the household as she did in the past, which further destabilizes her parents' home life. As she recalls the past, Tyler shows her mother's wartime experiences at home, alone, as well as the great tragedy of her mother's life.
Tyler's own mothering also comes to the forefront in this second volume, as her daughter becomes increasingly dissatisfied with her parents' separation--particularly after her dad shows up, stays for a few weeks, and again leaves--as well as more and more distant. By the end of the volume, Tyler discovers her daughter has fallen in with the wrong crowd, has been taking drugs, and one morning, has arrived at school drunk.
It is at this point--as Tyler sits on a park bench considering the failing health of her parents, their difficult marriage, her precarious relationship with her father, her search for the truth of the war, her dissolving marriage, and her daughter's challenges--that Hitler appears as he did at the end of volume 1. This time, he appears as a raven, again proclaiming, "I am proud of the pain my war inflicts on your children." Tyler stands up, grabs the bird, and responds defiantly, telling Hitler his legacy will not be passed on to her daughter. There, volume two ends--just as the raven escapes and flies away.
April 4, 2013
Both the story Tyler's father is telling her and the story of her own issues that Tyler is telling us are short on details. The main features of her father's wartime service and the way his parenting affected her are presented, but almost in the way a child might tell them - just a string of information with only just enough reflection to hint as to why it's important to Tyler to tell her family's story. It does get interesting towards the end, with a story about her sister's death and serious problems with her daughter's health. She has a strange but somewhat compelling thesis that the damage in her family is a legacy from Hitler, from his madness and hatred, that society is still paying a steep price for victory in WWII through damage to families like her own. She imagines Hitler's spirit being proud of causing their struggles, as though it means he didn't really lose or that the Third Reich is therefore real, which gives her an interesting focus for her anger to help her cope. I would like to know what happens next with her daughter, in particular.
April 17, 2016
I am so glad that I kept reading this trilogy. After the first book, I was a little unsure of whether or not I wanted to keep reading, but I am so glad that I did. I think that the first book just needed more and this second book provided that. I really like how much more we learn about the people in Carol Tyler's life. The story of Ann was so painful and heartbreaking, but it provided so much insight into who Hannah is and how she approached her life and her other children. I like how real this book was. I think anyone who goes through a separation/divorce type situation has a range of emotions. I am thankful that Tyler shared how she felt and then again what happened with Julia as this was going on. As a child of divorced parents (before getting divorced was so normal), it was almost comforting to see how real Julia's response was. And although I don't wish that on her and I am very sorry that she had to go through that (especially to that extent), I could relate. I liked this book. I would definitely recommend it to people.
October 16, 2013
I love this book. I loved the intimacy, the sense of becoming part of the Tyler family and as a non-American having a new insight into the real Middle American blue collar life (as opposed to the liberal graduate coastal city twenty something stuff that dominated auto-bio comics. I also loved the penmanship, the exquisite colours, the way that the point of view moves between close ups, photos, landscapes, cut aways.
Tyler demonstrates how well comics can mediate between past and present and navigate memory. The style is so lovely that it looks deceptively easy and natural, but there is a deep struggle here to manage the structure and format and keep a lightness of the natural voice when working in such a labour intensive medium.
Tyler makes it look so effortless which is, as we Fred Astaire fans know, is a sure sign of very long hard grind.
Tyler demonstrates how well comics can mediate between past and present and navigate memory. The style is so lovely that it looks deceptively easy and natural, but there is a deep struggle here to manage the structure and format and keep a lightness of the natural voice when working in such a labour intensive medium.
Tyler makes it look so effortless which is, as we Fred Astaire fans know, is a sure sign of very long hard grind.
October 26, 2013
Heart-breaking and heart-swelling. Beautiful accounting of Tyler's family history, particularly re: her dad's life as a veteran. This series has a lot of meta elements, as Tyler struggles with the process of writing about her family. Definitely a winner.
Read this series with Tangles A Story About Alzheimer's My Mother and Me, Fun Home, and Special Exits.
Read this series with Tangles A Story About Alzheimer's My Mother and Me, Fun Home, and Special Exits.
June 11, 2016
This book deserves a high rating on merit: the story is solid (probably because it's all true), and the artwork and design are brilliant. But, I didn't really enjoy it. This volume is quite dark, recounting episodes not only in the author's life, but that of her father, mother and daughter... None of which constitute a happy memory. I'm also disappointed in the fact that this is not a WWII memoir, as it is marketed, but much more about the author finding peace through examining what made her life the way it was in terms of familial influence.
Certainly a well-written book, but not really my cup of tea.
Certainly a well-written book, but not really my cup of tea.
November 2, 2010
I remember not being overly impressed with the first book in Tyler's You'll Never Know series, but I obviously need to reread it because book two is fantastic. I can't wait to see what Tyler does next. I think there will be one more book in the series and it looks like the final product it will be pretty amazing. Tyler is setting a new standard for memoir comics.
December 27, 2010
As someone who adores delving into a character's psyche (esp. a real-life character), this story just gets more and more enthralling. I read it super-fast, despite slowing down occasionally to admire the beautiful, creative artwork, and now I'm dying for book three. When does book three come out? C'mon, Ms. Tyler, let's have it!
Read
October 26, 2012This is the second book of a planned trilogy. It's an illustrated memoir (can't say "graphic novel" for a non-fiction book) about her father's experiences in WWII and their effects down through years on the family. The two books are well done, and they've won all sorts of awards, but don't really grab me.
August 21, 2011
I enjoyed this as much as the first, maybe even more. I really like Tyler's illustrations, they telegraph her emotions in a way that matters more to me than the technical aspects of the craft. I like the way she weaves the current story into her dad's backstory, and the way she is able to make the exigencies of life both universal and personal. I'm looking forward to the next installment.
October 6, 2015
I love everything by Carol Tyler. Her graphic novel output is small but amazing. You'll Never Know is about her relationship with her father, a WWII veteran. It's a three volume collection, but we have only the first two.
A good choice for someone who liked The Complete Maus.
A good choice for someone who liked The Complete Maus.
October 12, 2010
This is an amazing book and Carol Tyler is a fantastic artist and heartfelt storyteller. The segment titled "The Hannah Story," which apparently appeared elsewhere several years ago, is a cartooning tour de force - a work of great beauty and power. Eagerly await the final volume in the trilogy.
October 17, 2010
What is wrong with her daughter? Will book 3 tell us? I am going to buy my Dad suspenders for Christmas. I'll work on my little book today. Carol Tyler, you're my hero.
March 24, 2011
Great, gets into the groove artistically,and I'm ready for the 3rd one. Families are fascinating and heartbreaking and that is that.
December 1, 2013
Beautiful, brilliant and devastating. Carol Tyler might be the best autobiographical cartoonist working today.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews