I learned about Lola thanks to Lila (pun intended) and, naturally, took this book home as soon as I saw it in the library. I read it in a couple of hours. What can I say? It’s funny, it’s bold, its black-white-red drawings are gorgeous, and... with a protagonist like Lola, you can’t go wrong really. It even does have its own soundtrack (see below). I’d love to recommend it without reservations; as it happens, I do have some.
There’s a Russian idiom «начать за здравие, а кончить за упокой» which, I think, is appropriate here. (I’m still looking for a decent English equivalent. In a meantime, I can offer the German “Als Tiger starten und als Bettvorleger landen”.) You see, Lola Vendetta is a comic heroine and as such is imaginary. Her deeds are exaggerated, as comic deeds tend to be. No matter how satisfying it is to see Lola dispatching the members of a “manada” with her trusty katana — look, I am against violence, and I’m telling you, it is satisfying — we all understand that this is not real. Yet this is how things are done in Lola’s world. On the contrary, when Lola finally hangs up her sword (after finding, um, a cuddly boy she would like to keep), it feels utterly false. Worse still, the book ends with a pathetic “Letter to men” where Lola declares that she does not want to fight anymore. So who, if I can ask, is gonna fight? Didn’t our brother Bob Marley command otherwise?
But there is always a hope for lovers of swift comic justice. I spy your sword in a “break glass in case of emergency” cabinet. It’s only a matter a time, Lola, only a matter a time.
Ah, yes: the soundtrack. When I opened the book, I saw Amparo Sánchez, Chambao, Jorge Drexler — wow, this lady knows what to listen to. (There is no QR code like in Mala mujer, just the names of the songs and artists on the pages. I prefer it this way.) I don’t care much about the likes of Michael Jackson or Meghan Trainor, however there are many other artists whom I am only starting to discover now thanks to Lola.
- Los Salvajes: Las Chicas Son Guerreras
- Abril e Irene: El Senyor Ramón
- Roy Orbison: Oh, Pretty Woman
- Jorge Drexler: Silencio
- Pic-Nic: Cállate niña
- Stromae: Te Quiero
- Ella Baila Sola: Mujer Florero
- Amaral: Te necesito
- Ben Harper: Widow of a Living Man
- La Oreja de Van Gogh: Pesadilla
- Rosa Zaragoza: Rumbita del Sano Amor
- Meghan Trainor: I Love Me
- Concha Piquer: Lola Puñales
- Silvana Estrada: Sabré Olvidar
- Gorillaz: Feel Good Inc.
- Hotei: Battle Without Honor or Humanity
- Imogen Heap: Hide and Seek
- Regina Spektor: Laughing With
- Moral Distraída: Los Hombres No Lloran
- Mercedes Sosa: Sólo le pido a Dios
- Mecano: Perdido en mi habitación
- Marta Gómez: Todavía
- Regina Spektor: Hero
- Petrona Martínez: Un niño que llora en los Montes de María
- Ismael Serrano: Papá cuéntame otra vez
- Jesusa Rodríguez & Liliana Felipe: El Clítoris
- Marvin Gaye: Sexual Healing
- Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody
- Bomba Estéreo: Money Money Money...
- Juanes ft. Lalo Ebratt: La Plata
- Conchita: Tralará
- Hot Chocolate: You Sexy Thing
- Els Pets: Cançó d’amor
- Rubén Blades: Decisiones
- Sílvia Pérez Cruz & Jorge Drexler: Sin puntos ni comas
- The Temptations: My Girl
- Pedro Guerra & Jorge Drexler: Cuidame
- Mishima: Qui més estima
- Elvis Presley: A Little Less Conversation (JXL Radio Edit Remix)
- Mario Díaz & Chambao: Comeme
- Los Panchos: Alma, corazón y vida
- Klaus & Kinski: Ojo por diente
- Michael Franti & Spearhead: Say Hey I Love You
- Marta Gómez feat. Raquel Riba Rossy: Lo innombrable
- Amparo Sánchez: Alma de Cantaora
- Michael Jackson: Heal The World
- Rozalén: Girasoles
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