Merit for Reading?



Merit for Reading?


Somebody once asked me “What kind of books do you read?”
Translated “ I want to know how smart you are.” Or  “I want to know if we have anything in common.”  


I was wondering, should I be delighted of this interest, or should I feel like I am being assessed?


If I say comics, they probably would secretly deemed me for being simple and unintelligent. Comics are for enjoyment and can be educational too.  Like the superhero ones, which can clearly illustrate the greed, selfish ambition and acts of the villain. And yes, the battle of good and evil!  Thankfully, most of the time, good always prevail.  Comics features science as well.   As a curious kid I found an old comics in our basement,  by Walt Disney, issued in 1958, called Man in Space Satellites. This comic introduces physics to the reader with complete details and drawings.   When I first started reading novels they were quite boring, as I would need to have a creative imagination to connect with the author.  Putting novels and comics side by side,  is like comparing tiramisu and jello for desert.  Is one highly sophisticated than the other?  Don’t they just give a different level of gratification in reading?  Old comics have been  priced and sold exorbitantly in auction,  while old books don’t get to see such glory. Why? Because comics are works of art and literature, they are an equilibrium beautifully drawn pictures and descriptive jargon. Show and Tell by Scott McCloud is an exquisite demonstration of how comics create such balance.  If you ever heard of the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” you can see why comics can be comparably valuable in conveying information with novels.










    VS







This doesn’t mean that I totally stayed away from novels. Novels give us different perspectives of  the stories told, which could be entertaining and instructive as well.  Reading them would require a little more, so the reader can follow the author’s intended journey. A background knowledge and experience in terms of ones age, understanding vocabulary, sentence structure etc. would definitely help when reading a novel.   Let’s say a novel was in a foreign language, it would be impossible for one to understand it. You will need a completely translated version in order to do so.  Nevertheless, if it’s a comic book one can still have an idea of what is being conveyed by merely looking at the pictures.  





It is imperative that one is exposed to different works of reading materials, whether it’s an old novel like For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway,  from the 1940’s or an old comic book found in some basement, garage sale or even a newer written and issued ones.  Relax,  let’s not judge.




Comments

  1. Kayla TompkinsSeptember 28, 2019 at 2:14 PM

    I really enjoyed reading your blog. I liked how you used a personal example/anecdote in the beginning. I can recall times people have said that to me or even times i've said it to others. I also really liked the advanced vocabulary you used. It was kind of ironic because people think only non intelligent people read comic books and then you, a comic book reader, uses advanced language.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LanceSeptember 28, 2019 at 4:01 PM

    I remember now, just like you, I did also ask somebody before "which comic books you read? Just to know how adventurous he is. And it's a good way to start a conversation too. I believe there will always be a child in everyone. Thanks Kayla.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alex XuSeptember 28, 2019 at 4:29 PM

    I like your analogy comparing novels vs comics to tiramisu vs jello - as weird as it is it captures the differences perfectly! Words and pictures are not substitutes where one replaces or outclasses another - they should be used together to achieve maximum effect. Also relatable how people seem to casually ask questions about your interests but are in reality judging you every bit of the way :/

    ReplyDelete
  4. LanceSeptember 29, 2019 at 9:45 AM

    It's true that sometimes emphasis is placed so much more on outclassing another. It's nonsense, isn't it? As everybody has their own strength and weakness and one should not be taken against the other but just live and laugh together. Thanks Alex.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Shreya RudagiOctober 2, 2019 at 4:34 PM

    I really enjoyed your blog Lance! I agree with you, one is more sophisticated than the other just because of a stereotypes that have been put in place, pictures and comics are more related and connected with lightly hearted and comedical things meanwhile books are considered more sophistical.

    ReplyDelete

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