So although I have posted something very similar to the below on the dot ca board (http://www.saraandtegan.com/), I wanted to expand on what I wrote on that board because I have fairly strong feelings on this topic. I love reading! I have been reading since I was 3 years old ... I'm not kidding. I have read a variety of different genres during my life and believe that I have a fairly well-rounded reading past (although I am always looking for new authors, so please send through your recommendations).
I decided to get up in the middle of the night to watch this debate live because I liked the idea of well-educated people debating the relevance of novels. I must admit that I was quite optimistic because I assumed that it would actually be a debate because of the connection to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC - you can view the debate here: http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/). I was very disappointed in the panellists that attacked a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I am an avid reader however I must admit that I never thought much of reading graphic novels before this year. I read a few of the Phantom Menace comics when I was about 5-7 years old before I moved onto what I considered "books". I know very elitist of me, but I have become more open-minded over the years (not closed-minded like the panellists on Canada Reads - with the exception of Sara Quin).
It was all the wonderful things that Sara had to say about the book prior to the actual debate on the 7th February 2011, that made me go out and buy it and I am so glad I did. This book made me cry when I read it ... and only well written books get inside my head/feelings like that. At first I skimmed through the reading process like most avid readers, but eventually I realised just how much was being conveyed by the illustrations that I slowed down and really took in all that the novel had to give and was thoroughly entertained. This is the type of book that my nephew, who hates to read, would really enjoy.
It has a touching storyline that most people could relate to, the characters in all three stories are interconnected, the author manages to weave all three stories into a comprehensive story that captures you from the start and more importantly it is not predictable. His illustrations allow the reader to become immersed into the story and really connect to his characters. I personally did not have anything in common with any of the characters, but a good writer will still make you engrossed in a story regardless of whether or not you can relate to the characters. Jeff Lemire should be applauded for such an amazingly, moving story about human beings.
Some of the panellists attacked the book because of its graphic content and what they believed was insufficient word count. Words are words is what I say to them. To someone that does not read, their literacy would improve even if they read 100 words. I think the elitism of the other panellists just shows how out of touch they are with the world. There is a reason that kids do not read today. It is because the books that get shoved down their throats are so inappropriate for them. If you want them to read, then you need to find a medium that will get them reading, before introducing them to Pulitzer Prize winning novels!
Who here had difficulty relating to novels they were forced to read in school??? To this day I am sure that Thomas Hardy was a wonderful writer, but I will be damned if I will ever appreciate Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which is considered his best work, because I was forced to read it in high school and skimmed through it so fast that I can hardly recall what it was about. And I certainly could not relate to the characters or the style of writing regardless of how "educational". The same goes for a novel called Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. He wrote with amazingly detailed descriptions of the countryside, characters and a remarkable story about life in South Africa during the 1930/40s. I am sure that if I was to read that book today my appreciation would be enormous. But I will always associated that novel with a time in my life when trying to connect to a pastor (one of the main characters of the book) and a time in history that was virtually incomprehensible was totally beyond me.
It is a shame that a novel (and it is a novel) like Essex County was eliminated so early from this debate. It truly could be a novel that a generation picks up and begins the fascinating journey towards reading just for the pure joy of reading! People who are clearly out of touch with the "new" generation that Twitters and Blogs should realise that if you want to appeal to us, you have to speak to who we are ... Jeff Lemire speaks to us!
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