what I am reading currently: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Back in my youth I rarely read comics. Perhaps some issues of "The Phantom", but that was about all. At the other extreme, novels these days rarely have illustrations; some of my favourite books as a child did; for example, "The Jungle Book", but these were supposed to be illustrated; they were for children. More recently though I have been reading an illustrated adult book; "Stardust"; with not just the occasional illustration, but imaginative drawings on most pages, many of them quite elaborate. This led me to investigate if there were other adult novels with similar illustrations, and I discovered what everyone else probably already knew about; the graphic novel. Much more than comic books; they are full length stories told mainly with drawings, with some dialogue like comics, and occasionally, no dialogue at all for a while. Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. The pictures in "Extraordinary Gentlemen" reward detailed examination; on some pages my eyes tracked over the intricate drawings three or four times and drew out new information each time. Sometimes quite funny detail. However I haven't decided yet if I really like this format very much. As high quality as the drawings are, my imagination is more active, I think, when just words are presented and I can generate my own pictures of what the words are saying. And I have developed a speed reading style which does not work well with the graphic novel. I am not sure there is enough substance to these stories, either, to justify slowing myself down in order to take them in.
Some people relate better to pictures. But I suspect I am a word person when it comes to thinking and assimilating and learning.
Some people relate better to pictures. But I suspect I am a word person when it comes to thinking and assimilating and learning.
