Last quarter I read a graphic novel called Maus. It is a memoir where the author Art Spiegelman listens to his father retell his Holocaust survival story. It goes back and forth between past and present, so readers are able to experience the actual situation while also experiencing the father's current feelings. It is an awesome read, and it is even the only comic book to have won the Pulitzer Prize. Immediately as I began to read Persepolis, I started to make numerous connections between the two books. Aside from the obvious connection of them both being graphic novels, I found similarities in the drawings, technique, quality, and historical aspects.
The first connection I made had to do with the simplicity of the drawings. Maus definitely had a bit more detail than Persepolis; however, both styles manage to draw your eyes towards the important aspects of the scenes. They are also both in black and white which makes it less distracting on the eyes.
The second connection that I made had to do with just overall quality of the books. Although I haven't completely finished Persepolis, the beginning has definitely caught my attention. This leads me to believe that, just like with Maus, Persepolis will be an excellent read.
The last connection that I made was that both books had some very important historical events. Both Art Spiegelman and Marjane Satrapi managed to capture this importance while also incorporating some humor into the novel. Both books first come off as if they aren't serious, but as you read further and further into the book, the seriousness of the events are surprising. This is perhaps why graphic novels are often challenged in school settings. People are often upset with the idea of having a funny work of art cover a serious, horrible event. What those people don't realize is that the books actually help a lot in understanding the event. By reading these books, you are reading a style that you are not used to which makes you pay attention more and more. Also, with graphic novels, you are exposed to pictures that reveal emotion and usually historical accuracy about the event. As you can probably tell, I think that graphic novels should be regarded as high as normal novels. Do you like this graphic novel? Should we even be reading it in school?
I was in your class for Maus, so I see how you made those connections. The style of the drawings, as you said, being more simple keeps our attention on the story rather than the artwork. Using color works for some things, but for these two books the black and white were the right choice.
ReplyDeleteThe humor definitely makes the books great. Without it, we would be reading a total downer and it wouldn't be as enjoyable to read. Adding humor with serious historical events (ex: Holocaust and Maus) helps the event seem more real. I know that both the revolution and the Holocaust happened, obviously, but if it's just the facts about violence and how people survived it is harder to connect with the characters.
I like this graphic novel and it should definitely be taught in schools. Just because a novel happens to be told in pictures rather than all words doesn't mean it's in any way inferior.
Wow, Maus sounds like a very interesting read. I definitely think graphic novels should be recognized in a school literatures' curriculums. I can also see how the black and white art direction leads to a darker aesthetic mood, which fuels the darker moods which are experienced in both cases; however, the humor (a necessity in any book i read) is a beautiful contrast to some of the deep, serious concepts.
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