I found it incredibly easy to relate to this memoir. Craig's first love is similar to my own in several aspects. Like Craig, I also became completely immersed in my first love. She became my entire world and the reason for my existence. All of my time was devoted to her, whether we were together or not. While Craig wrote letters and spoke to Raina on the phone, my ex-girlfriend and I used to talk on MSN Messenger for hours at a time. My relationship also ended abruptly as well. This lead to another parallel with Craig. Craig and I both chose to destroy our memories of the time we spent with our former loves. Craig chose to burn his memories in a fire, while I erased the logs of every chat that I had kept. I wanted to pretend that she did not exist, just like Craig did.
I also related to the bullying Craig experienced. In elementary school and high school, I was the victim of several types of bullying. In elementary school, I was mocked for my clothing, my "nerdy" interests, my glasses, and my intelligence. In high school, the bullying shifted from being about my appearance or my nerdy interests, to being about my long, unkempt hair. I did not adhere to any clique or participate in what was trendy and I was treated as an outcast.
Craig and Phil's relationship also paralleled the relationship I shared with my brother. When we were young, despite childish conflicts, we were very close. However, as time passed and we both became teenagers, we became distant and very different people.
Religion was also important to my family, however not to the same extremity as Craig's parents. My family was Catholic, and if I adhered to catholic principles and attended church regularly, I was rewarded, particularly with praise from my grandparents. However, like Craig I have also fallen away from my religious beliefs and do not identify as a catholic.
-Jason Byrne
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Blankets was, quite possibly, the most relatable book I have ever read. It captured what it’s like to fall in love for the first time in a very honest, very real way. There were certain moments throughout the book where I felt I was experiencing the story through Craig’s shoes, observing each scene within the pages of the book. At times it felt as if I was interacting with Raina, or Phil, seeing the story through Craig’s eyes.
Like Craig, my first love captivated me, she became the centre of all my attention. When we were together, everything else seemed to fade away. When we weren’t together we didn’t write letters, but we would text whenever we had something to say. It felt like our conversations never really ended.
This relationship, like Craig’s, ended abruptly. It fell apart in the span over a few hours, despite all the time we had been together. I got rid of anything that held a memory, pictures, messages, clothes, etc. I tried to wipe her out of my mind.
I noticed a bunch of similarities between Craig’s life growing up and my own. I attended a Christian Camp, I was bullied in school, and I was close with my brother when we were kids, but he and I grew apart as we got older. And, like Craig, I was the least religious of my family.
All in all, I was surprised at how engaging and relatable this book was. The only thing I wanted from this story that it didn’t provide, was more.
-Max Litzgus
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I find
it very hard to put into words the feelings that I have experienced throughout
the process of reading Blankets. The way that Craig Thompson illustrates his
thoughts (literately and metaphorically) is nothing short of masterful. He has
managed to convert me into a friend, and into someone who is sympathetic
towards his life. I understand him, and I relate to him on almost every level.
There is
a sort of theme that encompasses the whole story, and it has to do with the
concept of primal human nature. The way that Craig describes the smallest
details and the most seemingly arbitrary characteristics of his love for Raina
makes me feel almost exactly as I imagine he did. I have sadly never gotten to
immerse myself in the romantic ecstasy that is the love of and for another
human being, but at no point during the story did I feel like I wasn't able to
relate to Craig and his experience with Raina. The way he illustrated love was
very pure and primal. It wasn't about needs, it was about necessity.
I never
felt like I was a spectator in the story of another persons life, rather I felt
like I was experiencing it. I was detached from the spectator position, and
placed right in the thick of all the action and story. I was immersed in everything, and I feel that it was largely due to how much of myself I see in
Craig. I am the kind of person who feels a detachment from society, regardless
of my reliance on it. I never want to be alone, but sometimes alone is where I
need to be. I know for a fact that Craig feels the same way, as the way he
writes (and illustrates) takes a lot from the concept of being alone in a
crowded space. It's these feelings that connect me to Craig, and on that level
I feel like I really understand him.
I also
really get the thought process that Craig went through when thinking about the
disconnect he had from his younger brother. It was as if at some point, Phil
was no longer an integral part of the story. However when it all boiled down,
they shared the same childhood experience and could always relate on that
level. I've noticed a similar thing between my older brother and I. As kids,
him and I would always play video games together. Sure he was bossy and
controlling, but it was an experience we shared. Nowadays its something we still
do sometimes, and it's honestly the only connection I have to him. I think
that's very parallel to Craig and Phil's relationship, where there was never
any definitive reason they stopped talking frequently, it was just the nature
of growing up and expanding as people.
Blankets
is not a story about fixing yourself, but rather a story about coming to terms
with who you are, and accepting that our flaws are just qualities which make up
our projected selves. I hope to one day be able to reflect on my life in a
similar manor to how Craig Thompson has, and I hope that when that day comes, I
will have also obtained my perceived happiness.
-Spencer Seibert
