SaraT reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
Unpopular opinion here xD
library binding, 296 pages
Published Oct. 24, 2008 by Turtleback Books.
V For Vendetta
by Alan Moore,
Alan Moore
4 stars
(251 reviews)
"Good evening, London." It's nine o'clock and this is The Voice of Fate... It is the Fifth of the Eleventh, Nineteen-Ninety-Seven...
"The people of London are advised that the Brixton and Streatham areas are quarantine zones as of today. It is suggested that these areas be avoided for reasons of health and safety...
Police raided seventeen homes in the Birmingham area early this morning, uncovering what is believed to be a major terrorist ring. Twenty people, either of them women, are currently in detention awaiting trial...
The weather will be fine until 12:07 A.M. when a shower will commence, lasting until 1:30 A.M...
Have a pleasant evening."
A frightening and powerful tale of the loss of freedom and identity in a chillingly believable totalitarian world, V for Vendetta stands as one of the highest achievements of the comics medium and a defining work for creators Alan Moore and David Lloyd. …
"Good evening, London." It's nine o'clock and this is The Voice of Fate... It is the Fifth of the Eleventh, Nineteen-Ninety-Seven...
"The people of London are advised that the Brixton and Streatham areas are quarantine zones as of today. It is suggested that these areas be avoided for reasons of health and safety...
Police raided seventeen homes in the Birmingham area early this morning, uncovering what is believed to be a major terrorist ring. Twenty people, either of them women, are currently in detention awaiting trial...
The weather will be fine until 12:07 A.M. when a shower will commence, lasting until 1:30 A.M...
Have a pleasant evening."
A frightening and powerful tale of the loss of freedom and identity in a chillingly believable totalitarian world, V for Vendetta stands as one of the highest achievements of the comics medium and a defining work for creators Alan Moore and David Lloyd.
Set in an imagined future England that has given itself over to fascism, this groundbreaking story captures both the suffocating nature of life in an authoritarian police state and the redemptive power of the human spirit which rebels against it. Crafted with sterling clarity and intelligence, V for Vendetta brings an unequaled depth of characterization and verisimilitude to its unflinching account of oppression and resistance.
"Remember, remember the fifth of November..."
popcar2 reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I've been pushing this down my reading list for a while because of how divisive it is, many people either absolutely loving it or thinking it's really pretentious. It's actually a mix of both, but it's still definitely a good read.
The main problem with this book is that everything is just a little too convenient. V is presented as this unstoppable force of nature that's always two steps ahead and somehow has infinite resources at his disposal. The second half of the book has a plot twist that just adds to this.
The other problem is the art. It's not bad, but the limited color scheme makes it so hard to tell characters apart sometimes. Many of them look and dress the same, I sometimes have to double check who's in the panel and which of them is talking.
I almost gave it a 4 star because there are …
I've been pushing this down my reading list for a while because of how divisive it is, many people either absolutely loving it or thinking it's really pretentious. It's actually a mix of both, but it's still definitely a good read.
The main problem with this book is that everything is just a little too convenient. V is presented as this unstoppable force of nature that's always two steps ahead and somehow has infinite resources at his disposal. The second half of the book has a plot twist that just adds to this.
The other problem is the art. It's not bad, but the limited color scheme makes it so hard to tell characters apart sometimes. Many of them look and dress the same, I sometimes have to double check who's in the panel and which of them is talking.
I almost gave it a 4 star because there are a lot of brilliant scenes in it, Alan Moore definitely knows his stuff, but as a whole the story lost me near the middle. V's monologues about how anarchy is good got derivative, and for a story so centered on the people there's surprisingly little perspective on what they're doing or thinking up until the end. Just wish the story was less focused on government officials and more focused on the actual movement.
J.A. Pipes reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I saw the movie when it came out in 2005, but I had never read the book. I found it interesting and compelling. The notion that people must be set free from their own minds and culture before they can truly appreciate freedom resonated with me.
Trygve Kalland reviewed V for vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A remarkably topical book for our dark times.
It's main flaw is that the backstory posits nuclear war as the apocalyptic trigger for the rise of fascism in Britain. As should be abundantly clear by now, the apocalypse is no prerequisite for dystopia. Nor should resistance wait for totalitarianism to succeed before it begins.
Alan Moore, in his foreword from 1988.", recognizes as much, and also gives his view of the state of the UK in words that could equally well describe the self-destructive authoritarian instincts of our day: "The tabloid press are circulating the idea of concentration camps for persons with AIDS. The new riot police wear black visors, and so do their horses... the government has expressed a desire to eradicate homosexuality, even as an abstract concept, and one can only speculate which minority will be the next legislated against. I'm thinking of taking my family and getting …
A remarkably topical book for our dark times.
It's main flaw is that the backstory posits nuclear war as the apocalyptic trigger for the rise of fascism in Britain. As should be abundantly clear by now, the apocalypse is no prerequisite for dystopia. Nor should resistance wait for totalitarianism to succeed before it begins.
Alan Moore, in his foreword from 1988.", recognizes as much, and also gives his view of the state of the UK in words that could equally well describe the self-destructive authoritarian instincts of our day: "The tabloid press are circulating the idea of concentration camps for persons with AIDS. The new riot police wear black visors, and so do their horses... the government has expressed a desire to eradicate homosexuality, even as an abstract concept, and one can only speculate which minority will be the next legislated against. I'm thinking of taking my family and getting out of this country soon... It's cold and it's mean-spirited and I don't like it here anymore. Goodnight England. Goodnight Home Service and V for Victory. Hello the voice of Fate and V for Vendetta."
Steen Christiansen reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
One of Alan Moore's pitch-perfect stories.
Sharyl reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This is a riveting, thought-provoking work. I'm very much taken with both story and artwork; the way Alan Moore and David Lloyd were able to collaborate is beautiful. The idea of using Guy Fawkes as the face for V was pure genius, and Valerie's story, told very effectively as a contraband scribbling on toilet paper, was beyond touching and gave the story impetus.
This is only the second graphic novel I've ever read (besides Fun Home), and I realize only lately that it's a shame to have overlooked an entire population of books, based solely on format!
Ben P reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'GoodReads'
4 stars
I'd seen the film first, and only because it was on Netflix (if I remember correctly) and I was home sick. Though parts of it were hokey, I generally had a good time watching it.
That said, I understand some people's love of V much more having read the comic series. While the Wachowskis updates to the comic make a certain kind of sense, given the audience for a big budget movie, the original setting of late 80s/early 90s London seems intrinsic to the overall mood of the story, not to mention certain plot developments. Technology is advanced, but there are still loopholes that the average person, given enough time to educate themselves and train, could exploit (enter V).
Most importantly, the film wasn't committed to V's anarchist tendencies, choosing to present him as a progressive, if somewhat radical liberal fighting back an uber-conservative government in an attempt to mobilize …
I'd seen the film first, and only because it was on Netflix (if I remember correctly) and I was home sick. Though parts of it were hokey, I generally had a good time watching it.
That said, I understand some people's love of V much more having read the comic series. While the Wachowskis updates to the comic make a certain kind of sense, given the audience for a big budget movie, the original setting of late 80s/early 90s London seems intrinsic to the overall mood of the story, not to mention certain plot developments. Technology is advanced, but there are still loopholes that the average person, given enough time to educate themselves and train, could exploit (enter V).
Most importantly, the film wasn't committed to V's anarchist tendencies, choosing to present him as a progressive, if somewhat radical liberal fighting back an uber-conservative government in an attempt to mobilize the populace (V for Vanguard, perhaps?). In the comic, V's identity and personage are self-acknowledged as more or less unimportant when compared with the ideals his work represents. The baddies have feelings and internal conflicts, V is brutal in the name of complete liberation, and madness seeps into the psyche of nearly every character at one point or another.
To focus on the book itself, as a whole, I was impressed by the high-contrast, dramatic graphics and very impressed with the writing. This is a "smart" comic that doesn't seem pedantic or reek of pseudo-intellectualism. This may be partially a result of Moore and Lloyd abandoning thought bubbles, which often result in exposition that can take a reader out of the story, and sound effects, whose garish exclamations render otherwise dramatic action cartoonish. I'd caution potential readers to attempt to dissociate the collection they are about to read with the movie, or the political factions that have taken up the Guy Fawkes mask in the years since the comic was published and movie was released. It'd be hard, in this decade, not to make such associations, but the story stands on its own.
marksutherland reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I'd forgotten that I had already read this and completely forgot that it is post-apocalyptic, that it centralises persecuted groups and allows our antihero to come from any combination of them and that V actually does some hacking on top of everything else. His abuse of Evey still doesn't seem particularly justified and while he casts himself as a villain the implication is that his ultimate intent is noble. His strand of anarchy seems distinctly individualistic, and there's no evidence that Evey's constructive anarchy would be any less so. So sure, smash the fascist state, but it's not particularly clear how this revolution is supposed to effect any permanent change, and what crumbs moore gives us suggests that life isn't going to get any better any time soon.
That aside, it really is very intricately when together and the voluminous verses of vivacious V-words are quite a feat that I …
I'd forgotten that I had already read this and completely forgot that it is post-apocalyptic, that it centralises persecuted groups and allows our antihero to come from any combination of them and that V actually does some hacking on top of everything else. His abuse of Evey still doesn't seem particularly justified and while he casts himself as a villain the implication is that his ultimate intent is noble. His strand of anarchy seems distinctly individualistic, and there's no evidence that Evey's constructive anarchy would be any less so. So sure, smash the fascist state, but it's not particularly clear how this revolution is supposed to effect any permanent change, and what crumbs moore gives us suggests that life isn't going to get any better any time soon.
That aside, it really is very intricately when together and the voluminous verses of vivacious V-words are quite a feat that I clearly can't match. Lloyd's lines are clear and his scenes are great, but the hatching gets pretty murky in places to no useful effect. V is completely iconic and this is definitely worthy of its place in the cannon.
Gerard Braad reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
sometimes difficult to follow (typeface used is hard to read in certain parts. this applies to both TPB and ecomic)... and a part felt dreary. I do feel the end of the comic is SO much better than the movie and novelization.
Skyler Hawthorne reviewed V for vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Amazing.
ghostchaser reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A well done adaption of the movie script.
It is always good to feed the anarchist in your soul.
Thomas Gaffney reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
What to say... Alan Moore fans are going to hate me for this, but the movie was better. I'm sorry, but that's the way I see it.
Much like The Watchmen, maybe I'm not getting the full effect of [b:V for Vendetta|5805|V for Vendetta|Alan Moore|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165548128s/5805.jpg|392838] because I'm reading it now, and not in the 80's when it came out. Either way, it was good, but not great. [b:Watchmen|472331|Watchmen|Alan Moore|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175041710s/472331.jpg|4358649] was better, but also not great.
At this point, besides The Killing Joke, I don't see the reason for all the Alan Moore love. He's no Neil Gaiman when it comes to graphic novels...
A. Rivera reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This was definitely one of the best graphic novels I have read. A good example of what can be done with the graphic novel format to tell a story. Also a good example of the dystopian genre. I wish I would have had it available when I was teaching high school as an alternative or addition to reading Orwell's 1984. I think the students would have appreciated it, and it probably could have sparked some more discussions.
Leaving that aside, I can definitely see how this story is still very relevant. It should be a warning sign. It's not just the tyrants; it's the idiots and neglectful people who put them in power. In a way, it's those ignorant and clueless people who would rather sacrifice freedom for an illusion of peace or order who are really dangerous. Freedom does have a price, and it is vigilance. However, it …
This was definitely one of the best graphic novels I have read. A good example of what can be done with the graphic novel format to tell a story. Also a good example of the dystopian genre. I wish I would have had it available when I was teaching high school as an alternative or addition to reading Orwell's 1984. I think the students would have appreciated it, and it probably could have sparked some more discussions.
Leaving that aside, I can definitely see how this story is still very relevant. It should be a warning sign. It's not just the tyrants; it's the idiots and neglectful people who put them in power. In a way, it's those ignorant and clueless people who would rather sacrifice freedom for an illusion of peace or order who are really dangerous. Freedom does have a price, and it is vigilance. However, it is not as simple as politicians and hawks make it sound. Anyways, I highly recommend this one. This particular edition includes two additional short stories that did not make it to the original run of the series and an essay by Moore discussing the development of the work. Both elements add to the story, but you can certainly enjoy it if you just read the series.
Wolfie reviewed V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Review of 'V for Vendetta' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
The brilliant source material of the excellent movie
