Fun home

So I started reading Fun Home and I couldn't put it down. I think it has to do with the fact that I am intrigued by autobiographies and memoirs. And when it's in Comic form, its all the more interesting to read.

Alison's family does bear a striking resemblance to the Addams Family, not so much in appearance as in their actions. So far, although the book largely focuses on Allison and her place in the family (she narrates, so...) I was most taken with her dad. His story is the most tragic. Well, so far anyway. I haven't finished reading the book yet. But the amount of pain and turmoil he must have gone through as a gay man staying in the closet, hiding his true feelings, and trying his utmost hardest to raise a "normal" family, seems incredible. He was manic-depressive, homosexual, and incredibly afraid of not appearing perfectly normal. So sad. And the fact that Allison becomes a lesbian, even though her father hid his homosexuality well, makes me wonder: could it be genetic? I think the psychological traits that eventually brought on full-blown homosexuality in Bruce Bechdel were also embedded in Allison. So, homosexuality isn't genetic, but manic-depression is, and perhaps that plus a negative environment brought it out in Allison.

To be continued...