Watchmen
Watchmen is a cultural touchstone. One could say that it was the seminal work of the 80s similar to the way Wall Street (1987) and The Bonfire of the Vanities reveal the darkness of that time period. Or, one could say that Watchmen delves into the nuclear arms race and shows the absolute insanity of mutually assured destruction. Another voice is that it's the marker where comics went from soap operas to actually being literature, Time puts it on it's list of the ALL TIME 100 Novels. Then I could dive into the philosophy of Watchmen and write a PhD dissertation about it, if I was so inclined. Watchmen is a Rorschach Test in and of itself. At it's core, the work is about growth and compromise. Every single character in this comic grows though compromise, save one, and he ends up paying the ultimate price for it.
I once had a creative writing professor tell me that all revolutionary works are told in the exact way that they need to be. She went on to say that William Carlos Williams's poem The Red Wheelbarrow:
is the best example of that. There is no other way to generate that mental image, and no other way to create that emotional response. Watchmen has a chapter like that. The story of Jon/ Dr. Manhattan is told in a way only a comic can produce. It's emotional, it makes me cry, and it's beautiful. It also takes the comic from a dark and brooding political statement to something quite different. It rockets the book past being an ordinary and into a unique space. There's a reason this book is now taught in some mainstream literature classes. It can hold it's own next to the likes of Hemingway and Thoreau.
I couldn't have picked a better comic to end graphic novel month. Throughout the last few weeks I think I've brought to light that comics are not just for super heroes. In 26 days I've read 15 books (that averages out to .57 a day) so you'll pardon me if I'm a tad on the crispy side. Next up, I plan on reading the Hugo nominees for 2011. In July, I plan on not only book blogging, but adding in some commentary. I feel like that has been a missing piece to all of this.
Next book is Feed by Mira Grant.
OH! I almost forgot.... watch this.... :)
Watchmen is a cultural touchstone. One could say that it was the seminal work of the 80s similar to the way Wall Street (1987) and The Bonfire of the Vanities reveal the darkness of that time period. Or, one could say that Watchmen delves into the nuclear arms race and shows the absolute insanity of mutually assured destruction. Another voice is that it's the marker where comics went from soap operas to actually being literature, Time puts it on it's list of the ALL TIME 100 Novels. Then I could dive into the philosophy of Watchmen and write a PhD dissertation about it, if I was so inclined. Watchmen is a Rorschach Test in and of itself. At it's core, the work is about growth and compromise. Every single character in this comic grows though compromise, save one, and he ends up paying the ultimate price for it.
I once had a creative writing professor tell me that all revolutionary works are told in the exact way that they need to be. She went on to say that William Carlos Williams's poem The Red Wheelbarrow:
so much dependsupona red wheelbarrow
glazed with rainwater
beside the whitechickens.
is the best example of that. There is no other way to generate that mental image, and no other way to create that emotional response. Watchmen has a chapter like that. The story of Jon/ Dr. Manhattan is told in a way only a comic can produce. It's emotional, it makes me cry, and it's beautiful. It also takes the comic from a dark and brooding political statement to something quite different. It rockets the book past being an ordinary and into a unique space. There's a reason this book is now taught in some mainstream literature classes. It can hold it's own next to the likes of Hemingway and Thoreau.
I couldn't have picked a better comic to end graphic novel month. Throughout the last few weeks I think I've brought to light that comics are not just for super heroes. In 26 days I've read 15 books (that averages out to .57 a day) so you'll pardon me if I'm a tad on the crispy side. Next up, I plan on reading the Hugo nominees for 2011. In July, I plan on not only book blogging, but adding in some commentary. I feel like that has been a missing piece to all of this.
Next book is Feed by Mira Grant.
OH! I almost forgot.... watch this.... :)
(Image brought to you by: sabeth718)
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