Imagination and Meaning in Calvin and Hobbes

It has taken me forever to muddle through this book. One definitely needs a solid grounding in philosophy to get the most out of this book. It was not the light-hearted read I had envisioned, but that does not mean it was bad. In fact, I thought it was quite good - just not what I was expecting.

I expected a lighthearted and humorous take on Calvin and Hobbes but what I got was a Ph.D dissertation. I don't fault the book but my own preconceived notions. The book is worth the read if you want a more erudite and technical look at Calvin and Hobbes but definitely not for the faint of heart. ( )

This is definitely not Calvin and Hobbes the comic strip. This is a very dense and very academic work of philosophical analysis of a comic strip. Definitely not for the feint of heart. Jamey Heit does a very interesting and freewheeling analys si of the meaning and structure of the humor behind Calvin and Hobbes, one of the more cerebral and delightful comic strips in recent years.

The analysis gets very complicated very quickly, Jacque Derrida gets mentioned in the second page of the first essay. So this is not for the casual fan, this is for the fan of the strip that also has a good grounding in modern philosophy.

It is very interesting and very very intellectually stimulating, but I can see where people who bought the book for some lighthearted reading about their favorite strip can get turned off. ( )

If you're thinking about reading this as a light hearted look at the comic strip, stop now. I've picked up and put down this book numerous times since I got it, but I just can't make myself finish it.

When I saw this book on the Early Reviewer list, I expected something that would integrate religion, philosophy, etc in relation to the strip, but I didn't expect something that would be more suitable to a high level college class. This reads more like a thesis or text book than something the average reader could read and enjoy. While I was able to "relate" to and understand a few of the points made in what I've actually read, much of it was beyond my comprehension. ( )

I very rarely start a book without finishing it, but I just haven't found the desire to ever pick this book back up. Perhaps the summary was at fault for oversimplifying the intended audience of the book, which is not really a fan of the Calvin and Hobbes strip, but written towards students of Intertextuality as this is so heavily referenced throughout with overuse of the jargon of the field that a casual reader is immediately struggling to identify with what is being said. The concepts can be understood, but are tediously applied. Having the strips referenced without access to the actual original was also detrimental to the text. I expected something lighter with wider appeal.