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REVIEW: My Alcoholic Escape from Reality




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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
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Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16935
PostPosted: Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:05 pm Reply with quote
I give respect to Nagata for being so open and turning her own life experiences into a story like this. Especially given the topic as it's one that affects a lot of people. I think the fact the manga showcases those little moments after the fact, such as the aforementioned discovering foods she can eat. Admittance is certainly a good first step, but everything after it as you change your life style is just as important. That's the part that I feel all too often gets forgotten about and not addressed. I've had family members with alcohol problems, as well as friends and partners in the past. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't had my own close run ins with it while dealing with emotional, mental, and even physical health issues. I love my romcoms, fantasy titles, and such. But it is nice to every so often get a more personal and hard hitting story like this that makes you think.
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KitKat1721



Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 953
PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 1:48 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I love the way Nagata writes and illustrates – she's inspired me to be more open about my own struggles with mental illness, abuse, and general mental health. But Alcoholic Escape is also the kind of volume that makes you want her to stop. Read on for complicated feelings? Read on for complicated feelings.
This really sums up my own vague, complicated feelings on reading this newest volume. I'm super engrossed, emotionally invested, and inspired while I'm reading - but its hard to separate at the end of the day that this is a real person who only just went through all this. She even mentions how she found out about her Harvey Award win while in the hospital! I remember when that was announced and it doesn't feel that long ago. I'm just not sure how to feel about that at the end of day given that my feelings of "oh god I really hope she gets the help she needs and things improve for her" is magnified here so much more than her previous works.

I will agree though that while I've never suffered from alcoholism or even had brushes with it (although I have family members who have), I still found this volume very relatable on a few levels. I think anyone with vices, newly-acquired health restrictions, etc... can. This volume also hit me on a personal level because my dad just suffered a heart attack a couple months ago. For me that just means extra time cooking healthy meals + snacks and doing things he can't (like cleaning, heavy lifting, etc...).

But I could see so many of the struggles (both mental and physical) he's going through reflected in the volume. Guilt that this was due to his own actions/inaction, having to accept that his life will forever be changed to a more restrictive diet + life-long medication, and depression at not being able to enjoy some of the things he used to do (including those things that helped contribute to his high blood pressure that caused said heart attack). I like to think I'm a pretty perceptive and compassionate person, but I think reading this gave me an even wider window into things my dad's been feeling.
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Gem-Bug



Joined: 10 Nov 2018
Posts: 1204
PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 6:09 pm Reply with quote
Thanks for the great review! Nagata's works are excellent, emotionally-charged pieces, and I still have to catch up on a bunch of them.
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