Real book? I see more in common regarding layout between comics and kids books. Though kids books have far more narration as opposed to the dialogue in comics, but it's words and pictures. Not to say that comics are just for kids. Anyway, I honestly wouldn't consider Green Eggs and Ham a "real book".
So, how do you define a real book? (Note: (since the interweb doesn't modulate/demodulate inflections) this is a sincere question--I'm not trying to be sarcastic.)By the way--love the NY/LA t-shirt on your page, and the comment.)
I would say a "real book" is a chapter book, like a novel, or a series of short stories, one with only a few pictures or none at all. Though, if I were given other examples, I might change my mind. This is just my opinion, but thank you for asking, Brad.
Chicks with bricks died today. Or maybe chicks with blocks died yesterday, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: Chicks with bricks and blocks and clocks come. That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.
Meh, "real" books. Comics are literature as well. Not that I know if this guy looks down on comics and consider books better, or just meant "books with only words", not "books are better than comics", but I really dislike when people make that distinction.
I couldn't agree more. For me, what makes a book real is that I respond to it, that it gets my imagination going. Children's book, comic book, graphic novel, classic novel, all have the power either to excite me or bore me. And yes, movies are plays. I was a theater major--(don't tell anyone, yes, it's embarrassing) and as far as I'm concerned, quality is what matters. A movie can be better than a play, and vice versa. (Okay--before this starts a brouhaha, yes, quality is subjective. I won't run you down just because you like something I don't). Take it from me, I've seen and been in some really bad plays.
I have nothing against comics. I don't read them regularly now, but they were certainly my gateway drug to reading when I was a girl. I would even agree that some comics approach literature (and I won't provide examples because I don't want to start a flame war... over this, anyway). However, Sturgeon's Law is in full force in the comics industry. Even in that top 10%, I haven't seen anything approach John Steinbeck or Mark Twain. Very few even approach Theodore Sturgeon. Yes, one can respond to comic books, and I speak from experience that they can get the imagination going. There is nothing on Earth wrong with liking comics. But I don't consider them "real books" in what is to me the full meaning of the term.
@Anynymous Apr 27, 2012 02:18 PM Books are books, comics books are comic books, plays are plays, movies are movies. All I'm saying is,no medium is better than the other. As in "real".
@Brad the Dad I agree. There are good books, there are bad books, good plays, bad plays, etc etc.
@Diane Of course you're not a bad person, definitly not. But I wonder, if the comic book medium was more respected, wouldn't it be much easier to find great comics, since great writers and artists would decide to write and draw them? Maybe Mark Twains comic books would have been far better than his books?
Also, not everyone appreciate every medium the same way. Some people just can't connect with comics, which doesnät necassatily have to do with quality. Because of lack of training in reading comics and personal preference, not everyone "gets" comics. Kind of like how some people have a easier time connecting with music over movies, plays over books.
Unless you simply disagree with my definition of literature. To me, that's anything fictional that uses words and/or still pictures to tell a story. That includes Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, Twilight, X-men, Fables, etc etc.
A wonderful example of comics being 'real books' is P. Craig Russell's graphic novel of "The Ring of the Nibelung." As some people know, its a grand, epic opera. As far as I know, its never been released as a novel and if it were, something would be lost. Novels have their place, but a picture is wroth a thousand words and some works benefit from the graphic form that can prevent a story in ways that a novel cannot.
Is everyone forgetting that a graphic novel, which really is just a big comic book, won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1992? Yes, I am talking about Maus! Great literature has nothing to do with format. It has to do with subject, and execution of that subject. When I owned a comic book shop, I enjoyed bringing Maus to the attention of all those tag-alongs who would sniff, "I don't read comic books" when I inquired as to their reading habits. I would say, well, do you read Pulitzer Prize winners? And then show them a nice hardcover copy of Maus!
For me, at least, that's because people sometimes use "graphic novel" to denigrate comics as a medium, referring to stuff they feel is artistically valid as "graphic novels" while everything else is "just comics." The implicit message there is "comic books cannot be artistically valid, and if one happens to be, then it can't really be a comic."
Using "graphic novel" to mean "a big comic book," however, is fine with me, as long as it's a length/binding distinction rather than a value judgement.
My daughter is a high school honors student. Art Spiegelman's Maus I and Maus II were required reading for her Honors English class. Yes, it's in a comic book format but the message is deeply profound and worthy of being studied.
He will not read books on the john He will not read them on his lawn He will not read them in his bed Trying to read books hurts his head He says that books are just a bore Leave him alone, O.G. Readmore!
Sounds like another Seuss book needs a Hollywood adaptation.
GREEN EGGS & HAM Starring Arnold Schwartzenegger and Danny Devito "No I don't wanna eat the damn things on a bus! I don't wanna eat the damn things at all! Get it through your thick skull, you leaky fartin' piss-bag! Leave me alone!" "Kaaahm aaahn! Sahm Ah ahmmm!"
It shows. Man oh man, does it show.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, 'real books' likely haven't missed being read by him either.
ReplyDeleteOddly, this just makes me wish my mother didn't sell all my old Dr. Suess at a garage sale.
ReplyDeleteReal book? I see more in common regarding layout between comics and kids books. Though kids books have far more narration as opposed to the dialogue in comics, but it's words and pictures. Not to say that comics are just for kids. Anyway, I honestly wouldn't consider Green Eggs and Ham a "real book".
ReplyDeleteSo, how do you define a real book? (Note: (since the interweb doesn't modulate/demodulate inflections) this is a sincere question--I'm not trying to be sarcastic.)By the way--love the NY/LA t-shirt on your page, and the comment.)
DeleteA real book is that kind of book that doesn't turn you into a pathetic loser, like those that visit Mr. Tim's shop.
DeleteI would say a "real book" is a chapter book, like a novel, or a series of short stories, one with only a few pictures or none at all. Though, if I were given other examples, I might change my mind. This is just my opinion, but thank you for asking, Brad.
DeleteChicks with bricks died today.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe chicks with blocks died yesterday, I don't know.
I got a telegram from the home: Chicks with bricks and blocks and clocks come.
That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.
That was beautiful.
DeleteAt least he realizes that Green Eggs and Ham is a real book. I got more out of Dr. Suess than I did out of Jonathan Franzen.
ReplyDeleteWell, leave that seedy LCS and visit your local library! Libraries are full of real books!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNobody gives a shit about your "comics". Go away.
DeleteTwilight Zone...classic.
DeleteMeh, "real" books. Comics are literature as well. Not that I know if this guy looks down on comics and consider books better, or just meant "books with only words", not "books are better than comics", but I really dislike when people make that distinction.
ReplyDelete/Skytteflickan88
If comics are literature, movies are theatre plays?
DeleteI couldn't agree more. For me, what makes a book real is that I respond to it, that it gets my imagination going. Children's book, comic book, graphic novel, classic novel, all have the power either to excite me or bore me. And yes, movies are plays. I was a theater major--(don't tell anyone, yes, it's embarrassing) and as far as I'm concerned, quality is what matters. A movie can be better than a play, and vice versa. (Okay--before this starts a brouhaha, yes, quality is subjective. I won't run you down just because you like something I don't). Take it from me, I've seen and been in some really bad plays.
DeleteOne more thing and I'll shut up. Great example--the film, The Sweet Smell of Success, with screenplay by the great playwright Clifford Odets.
DeleteI have nothing against comics. I don't read them regularly now, but they were certainly my gateway drug to reading when I was a girl. I would even agree that some comics approach literature (and I won't provide examples because I don't want to start a flame war... over this, anyway). However, Sturgeon's Law is in full force in the comics industry. Even in that top 10%, I haven't seen anything approach John Steinbeck or Mark Twain. Very few even approach Theodore Sturgeon. Yes, one can respond to comic books, and I speak from experience that they can get the imagination going. There is nothing on Earth wrong with liking comics. But I don't consider them "real books" in what is to me the full meaning of the term.
DeleteI don't think I'm a bad person because of that.
I dunno, Diane. Some of those "Classics Illustrated"s were darn near Mark Twain level. I even read one that was nearly Herman Melville.
Delete@Anynymous Apr 27, 2012 02:18 PM
DeleteBooks are books, comics books are comic books, plays are plays, movies are movies. All I'm saying is,no medium is better than the other. As in "real".
@Brad the Dad
I agree. There are good books, there are bad books, good plays, bad plays, etc etc.
@Diane
Of course you're not a bad person, definitly not. But I wonder, if the comic book medium was more respected, wouldn't it be much easier to find great comics, since great writers and artists would decide to write and draw them? Maybe Mark Twains comic books would have been far better than his books?
Also, not everyone appreciate every medium the same way. Some people just can't connect with comics, which doesnät necassatily have to do with quality. Because of lack of training in reading comics and personal preference, not everyone "gets" comics. Kind of like how some people have a easier time connecting with music over movies, plays over books.
Unless you simply disagree with my definition of literature. To me, that's anything fictional that uses words and/or still pictures to tell a story. That includes Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, Twilight, X-men, Fables, etc etc.
/Skytteflickan88
A wonderful example of comics being 'real books' is P. Craig Russell's graphic novel of "The Ring of the Nibelung." As some people know, its a grand, epic opera. As far as I know, its never been released as a novel and if it were, something would be lost. Novels have their place, but a picture is wroth a thousand words and some works benefit from the graphic form that can prevent a story in ways that a novel cannot.
ReplyDelete*present, not prevent
DeleteSAM, he is not!
ReplyDeleteIs everyone forgetting that a graphic novel, which really is just a big comic book, won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1992? Yes, I am talking about Maus! Great literature has nothing to do with format. It has to do with subject, and execution of that subject. When I owned a comic book shop, I enjoyed bringing Maus to the attention of all those tag-alongs who would sniff, "I don't read comic books" when I inquired as to their reading habits. I would say, well, do you read Pulitzer Prize winners? And then show them a nice hardcover copy of Maus!
ReplyDeleteAnd yet many comic book fans cringe/moan/rage/etc, when somebody calls comics "graphic novels".
DeleteFor me, at least, that's because people sometimes use "graphic novel" to denigrate comics as a medium, referring to stuff they feel is artistically valid as "graphic novels" while everything else is "just comics." The implicit message there is "comic books cannot be artistically valid, and if one happens to be, then it can't really be a comic."
DeleteUsing "graphic novel" to mean "a big comic book," however, is fine with me, as long as it's a length/binding distinction rather than a value judgement.
My daughter is a high school honors student. Art Spiegelman's Maus I and Maus II were required reading for her Honors English class. Yes, it's in a comic book format but the message is deeply profound and worthy of being studied.
DeleteMaus won a Special Award from the Pulitzer committee - A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley won the Fiction award. You're welcome.
DeleteHe actually has a step up on a lot of people I know.
ReplyDeleteHe should hang out with the vegetable-hating guy who only eats the little celery that comes with chicken wings.
ReplyDeleteHe will not read books on the john
ReplyDeleteHe will not read them on his lawn
He will not read them in his bed
Trying to read books hurts his head
He says that books are just a bore
Leave him alone, O.G. Readmore!
I love you.
DeleteSounds like another Seuss book needs a Hollywood adaptation.
ReplyDeleteGREEN EGGS & HAM
Starring Arnold Schwartzenegger and Danny Devito
"No I don't wanna eat the damn things on a bus! I don't wanna eat the damn things at all! Get it through your thick skull, you leaky fartin' piss-bag! Leave me alone!"
"Kaaahm aaahn! Sahm Ah ahmmm!"