Gentleman Jim

It's rare that you'd have felt (even) better about a book if it had been less open-ended. I suspect that I wasn't supposed to find this poignant story as sad as I did, but I can't find a hook to hang the suspicion on, so all the beautiful soft illustrations and moving tribulations of goodhearted dunce Jim Bloggs as he gropes falteringly at a life that's different from the quiet, empty one he knows left me with this sense of existential lack that rattles my teeth from the inside out. I'm glad he has his boring wife. I hope he takes up a hobby. I'm even a little hopeful at finding out the Bloggses feature in Briggs' When the Wind Blows, confronted with nuclear war, because I want him to feel vigorous and alive when confronted with the show more sweeping dramas and terror of our times. And surely they won't suffer needlessly? show less

I picked this up after reading/enjoying When the Wind Blows. This book is an earlier story with the same characters, although nothing is lost by reading them out of order.

Jim is basically a British Walter Mitty, but he even tries to implement his grand dreams of becoming a cowboy, highwayman, etc. With his wife's support, no less, although it was never entirely clear to me whether she was humoring him or equally dense. (Probably the latter.)

Jim is very sweet but not at all bright. He also seems to have left school quite early, which is a significant plot device and source of humor. The British caste system also factors in quite a bit.

The art is more complex than in When the Wind Blows. I particularly liked Briggs' portrayal of various show more authority figures, although the Prohias-esque magistrate is a distractingly dramatic change from the others.

It's really remarkable how much the cover (of the 2008 edition) tells you about the character. show less

I grabbed this graphic novel to read because I remembered the author from my days as an elementary school teacher, when I shared his book, The Snowman, with classes each winter. Based on that, I thought this might be a children's story, but was wrong! It took my brain a few frames to get beyond "Raymond Briggs-Cartoonist" and into this story.

The main character, Jim Bloggs, finally acts on his dream to stretch beyond his current job as an expert toilet cleaner. Along the way, he keeps commenting on his lack of education, and is discouraged a bit by the prohibitive costs (both in money and in warnings and citations) of outfitting his dream job. Eventually, he lands in jail, but continues to be optimistic and supported by his wife. This show more wasn't where I saw this story going, but I still enjoyed it. show less

Heartbreaking and funny. A sad little story that's nevertheless always entertaining and uplifting due to the sheer naked humanity of its protagonist.

Absolutely lovely book with so much to say about the world, in such a beautiful way.

This is a re-issue of an independent comic published in 1980. Gentleman Jim is a janitor by day, dreamer by night, his dreams fueled by the the boy's adventure stories he favors. Reaching for those dreams, however, land him in a fair amount of trouble.

Sweet and a little sad, like the rest of Briggs' work that I've read. But still nice to look at and a pleasant read.