幽灵世界 (1997)

Ghost World is a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes. It was serialized in issues #11–18 (June 1993 – March 1997) of Clowes's comic book series Eightball, and was published in book form in 1997 by Fantagraphics Books. It was a commercial and critical success and developed into a cult classic.

Ghost World follows the day-to-day lives of best friends Enid Coleslaw and Rebecca Doppelmeyer, two cynical, pseudo-intellectual, and intermittently witty teenage girls recently graduated from high school at the end of the 1990s. They spend their days wandering aimlessly around their unnamed American town, criticizing popular culture and the people they encounter while wondering how they will live out their lives.

A darkly written comic, with intermittently sombre explorations of friendship and modern life, Ghost World has become renowned for its frank treatment of adolescence. The comic's success led to a movie adaptation of the same name, released in 2001 to critical acclaim and numerous nominations, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, written by Clowes and Terry Zwigoff.

Overview

Ghost World takes place in an unnamed suburban town filled with shopping malls, fast food restaurants, and urban sprawl. The town plays a key part in the narrative, as it is constantly mocked and criticized by Enid and Rebecca. As the story progresses, the background changes dramatically. The phrase "Ghost World" is seen by the characters several times, painted or graffitied on garage doors, signs, and billboards for an undeclared reason. The term can also apply to the way in which both Enid and Becky, but especially Enid, are haunted by the past. In the special features of the film adaptation, it is said to refer to the fact that the town's individuality is being encroached upon by franchises that are seen everywhere.

Critical response to Ghost World was extensive: many critics praised it for its analysis of teenage life, relationships, and the decay of today's society, while others criticized it for being disconnected and morbid. Some reviews drew comparisons to J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (1951). The Village Voice stated that "Clowes spells out the realities of teen angst as powerfully and authentically as Salinger did in Catcher in the Rye for an earlier generation". The Guardian praised the strip's illustrations and visuals, saying "it is beautifully drawn, with subtle and convincing storylines. A classic portrait of teenage life" and Time magazine called it an "instant classic".

Synopsis

Enid Coleslaw (her father had their surname legally changed from "Cohn" before she was born) and Rebecca (Becky) Doppelmeyer are two cynical, intelligent teenage girls who are best friends in the 1990s. They have recently graduated from high school and spend their days wandering around their unnamed town criticizing pop culture and the people they encounter while wondering how they will live out their lives. They are attracted to boys, but also unhappily entertain the possibility that they might be lesbians. Their friendship is very close, but as the book goes on tensions between them build, especially over Enid's plans to move away to college. They also have a quiet friend named Josh; throughout the book the two girls enjoy teasing him, but they are also attracted to him and eventually a romantic triangle forms. The comic ends with Enid and Rebecca separating; while they speak half-heartedly of "getting together sometime", the easy intimacy they once knew is long gone. Rebecca is now in a relationship with Josh and seems on her way to settling into a normal life, while Enid, having failed to get into college, is as much of a misfit as ever and finally leaves town alone to start a new life.

Characters

Enid Coleslaw

Impulsive, cynical, foul-mouthed and bitter, the strip's lead character drifts through her life without care, criticizing almost everyone she meets. Enid Coleslaw is an 18-year-old, who has recently graduated from her high school, with best friend Rebecca Doppelmeyer. Enid takes an interest in playing pranks on other people, purely for her own benefit, especially a classmate named Josh who she attempts to seduce. Clowes said of Enid's character: "When I started out I thought of her as this id creature... Then I realized halfway through that she was just more vocal than I was, but she has the same kind of confusion, self-doubts and identity issues that I still have – even though she's 18 and I'm 39!"

Enid (as well as Rebecca) makes a cameo appearance as an old lady in Clowes's Pussey collection of comics. Pussey is a self-important, nerdy superhero comics artist, and the book ends in the future as Pussey dies alone and unloved, with Rebecca and Enid as two bitter crones in his rest home going through his possessions. When they discover his stash of "silly books" (comic books), they wonder, "What would a grown man want with such foolishness?" Enid Coleslaw is also an anagram of "Daniel Clowes".

Rebecca Doppelmeyer

Rebecca Doppelmeyer is Enid's best friend. Rebecca lives with her grandmother and acts as a caretaker to her. She has a bit more of a mainstream personality – while Enid enjoys more peculiar things in life, Rebecca enjoys things that most teenage girls of her age would take an interest in; for example, she reads a popular teen magazine, and is also more interested in men, and is described by Enid as "a skinny blonde WASP" and therefore embodies "what every guy wants." Rebecca and Enid spend much of the novel hanging out around the town together and making fun of others. In the end of the novel, Rebecca matures into a sensible young woman and pursues a relationship with Josh in place of her friendship with Enid as the two characters grow apart as they mature from teenagers into young adults.

Minor characters

Beyond Enid and Rebecca, there are many minor and recurring characters in the comic strip:

Josh, a soft-spoken employee at a self-service convenience store. Both Enid and Rebecca are infatuated with him at different points in the story.