Slate posts slideshow essay on Charles Schulz

5 thoughts on “Slate posts slideshow essay on Charles Schulz”

1. “But anyone looking unsentimentally at this first Peanuts strip would know they were gazing upon a heart of darkness no number of dancing beagles could obscure.”

   Is it just me, or does that seem ridiculously hyperbolic?

2. I must just have been hopelessly naive my entire life of reading peanuts. It they were realy all from this dark and twisted place, then the strip must have just been depressing from start to finish and I missed it entirely. I just thought they were funny. I never took any time to stick their creator on a Freudian couch. I guess by thinking they were funny, it means I am some kind of sadist who enjoys laughing at other peoples’ suffering and misery. If that’s true, then we must all be some kind of sadistic society to have made this the most popular comic strip of all time! I mean please – can’t we just let it be a comic? And can’t Schulz just be a guy who made a comic?

3. “For all the influence that “Peanuts” had on me, I was content to admire Schulz from afar, and like most of his millions of readers I never met him. Mr. Michaelis has done an extraordinary amount of digging and has written a perceptive and compelling account of Schulz’s life. This book finally introduces Charles Schulz to us all.”
   Not my words. Some guy named Watterson. I guess it doesn’t bother everyone.

4. I’m quite happy to read anything that reveals Schulz as human. I think Schulz is a great cartoonist and truly one of the great artists.
   If a butchered cow suspended in formaldehyde counts as art, Schulz’s work demands to be mounted alongside a Cezanne or a Rembrandt. I sincerely doubt that there is anything in the book (I haven’t read it yet) that would diminish the man’s reputation in my eyes.

   I do not need him to be flawless.

5. PLEASE don’t believe everything you read!! I’ve read several articles about how Mr. Schulz’s family are not particularly satisfied with this biography. In fact, if you’ll look at the following blog you can read excerpts of a letter sent to the author from the family’s lawyer:

   http://sewingmyshadowon.wordpress.com – “More on Charles Sculz” Nov 16

   It disturbs me greatly to think that this man’s interpretation of Charles Schulz could blemish a great artists work. Shculz worked very hard for 50 years to bring joy and sometimes even life lessons to millions of people! PLEASE consider that this book is from one man’s perspective – not everything can possibly known by ONE person.

   **Thanks you Mr. Malc McGookin – I couldn’t possibly agree more!!

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