The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell

I was very interested to read this graphic novel; it seemed like a great idea because it could bring visual drama/excitement to the US Constitution. Sadly, I was disappointed with the end result.

Every page was busy. It seemed that something was out of balance on every page. There was either too much text, too many colors, the drawings were too busy, or D) a combination of all of the above. Pages 84 & 85 are a good example of too much text. I turned the page and immediately felt overwhelmed. Instead of following each caption and image I focused on the two pages from a distance. My first reaction was to simply close the book or skip these pages, but I soldiered through the text. It wasn’t until page 138 that I felt at ease with the layout. This page (and half of page 139) used a fair amount of white space as a backdrop rather than small gutters or white space within frames.

On many pages there were no borders, the frames extended all the way to the edge and into the center binding. This effect added to the overwhelming effect of the visual and textual imagery. On page 90 the text box is not only cut off at the page edge, but so is the text. This may have been a printer error, or it may have been designed purposefully, but it was distracting. Maybe the purpose of creating such busy pages, so full of text, color and imagery was simply to show the immensity of the US constitution and amendments?

Text was often difficult to read. On some pages the text was very small, it would be a pastel on a dark background, the text would even be directly laid over imagery, or the text would be in cursive. At first I squinted to read some text, but after a while I simply skipped over text that was difficult to read–it was too much work and it irritated me. After a while I began to just wish the book was finished, not because I didn’t like the material, but because I didn’t like the way the book was put together.

That being said, there were a few things I also liked about the graphic novel. I enjoyed the historical introduction to the inception of the constitution. I especially enjoyed pages 4-5 (We People) and the fact that the author took the time to create a diverse body of ethnicities (which I didn’t see much of during the rest of the book). There were a few images that I thought were nice adaptions of modern society into the ideas of the constitution: one was on page 22 with the “do it yourself kit” to build America. Additionally I thought that the depiction of the evolution of law using the fish–>ape–>human comical. Later, on page 55 I enjoyed the design of the election process pictured as the cogs of a wheel. Each of these exemplify a good command of symbols to portray ideas.

My takeaway thought: be gently on the eye. Too much complexity, IMO, takes away from the power of the image and textual juxtaposition.

Kafka: A Graphic Novel by Robert Crumb and David Zane Mairowitz

Before opening this graphic novel I had only read Kafka’s short story, The Hunger Artist, and learned a bit about Kafka’s life. This novel, by Robert Crumb and David Zane Mairowitz delves into Kafka’s major life experiences (or issues if you will) and some of his major works. The graphic novel covers the arch of his life, from childhood to his death, primarily using quotes from Kafka as captions for the imagery. Unlike many graphic novels I’ve read previously, Crumb and Mairowitz also include textual comments throughout the novel interspersed with the images and their captions. The drawings are in black and white, which I think is excellent and powerful. Had the imagery been colorful, or even three toned colors it would have detracted from the spooky form of the novel. Even with a smattering of experience with Kafka’s work and background, I felt a more complete understanding of the fear and inability to engage emotionally through the visual interpretations of his written work. If visual art can be Kafkaesque, Crumb and Mairowitz have accomplished it.

I found the depictions of eyes, throughout the graphic novel, to be particularly spooky. On page 30 Kafka’s father is portrayed with blank eyes and the caption reads “He’s still a giant, my father”. The next panel then shows Kafka himself with the same blank eyes. It’s a powerful way of showing that he and his father don’t see eye to eye. A friend of mine once said that the eyes are the window to the soul. I feel, in this case, Kafka and his father have both closed their souls off from each other. It’s a striking image that visually explores the depth (or lack of) of their father son relationship issues. Giving both characters also shows that they’ve cut themselves off emotionally from the rest of the world; they are devoid of normal human emotional interaction. This certainly seems to be Kafka’s feelings towards his father, and is exhibited by his lifelong inability to commit to a serious interpersonal relationship with anyone other than his pen, ink, and paper. Later, on page 72, Kafka’s eyes are drawn with circular lines and no pupil. Crumb uses text to explain that writing was a form of self-hypnosis for Kafka–hence the concentric circles representing his eyes. This symbol of hypnosis is exceptionally haunting. Kafka almost appears as though he were inhuman, just as he often imagines himself to be in his written work.

Crumb has used the eye as a symbol to convey many personal emotions of the characters, but also of the relationships that exist between them and the world that surrounds them. I’ve read some of Kafka’s work, and some criticism of his work, but these images have conveyed more deeply the fear and absurd ideas that Kafka exhibited in his personal life and writings. The combination of textual narrative, direct quotes, literary work, and graphic images come together to portray a complete and eerie depiction of Kafka’s life. In one word–intense.

The Piercing Bible by Elayne Angel

The name of this book says it all. Not only does Angel offer sound advice for all types of piercings, but she gives cultural history, pre and post care instructions, information about body type and compatible piercings, health risks and management, sex and piercings, and information about traveling through airports or visiting the doctor with piercings that cannot easily be removed. She even offers advice to the frustrated parent. These are only a few of the many topics Angel covers in this 300 page Piercing Bible–there’s even an index for keyword searches.

I purchased this book on a whim, even though I rarely ever do more than flip through a non fiction book, but I sat down to read a couple of chapters and discovered that four hours had passed and I had read most of the book cover to cover. Angel’s writing is thorough and informative, and it has broadened my opinions and clarified the misconceptions that I had of many body piercings. If you have been toying with the idea of getting a piercing, or have had many, or if you are a piercer yourself–this book will provide you with two decades of expertise.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is my hero.

This novel was first published (as a shorter version in Galaxy Magazine) in 1950, before we had the Internet, video games, and satellite television. Some people might even say that this novel was prophetic. We may be in the age of information, but this would more aptly be described as the age of information overload. And too much information results in lots of data but very little contemplation and careful consideration of that data. We fill our days with media of many different sources, and now many people even carry phones that operate as miniature computers, so that they never have to be too far from their beloved information. We have forgotten how to sit on the front porch and chat with our neighbors. We have forgotten how to spend family time other than sitting next to each other watching the TV and eating microwaved dinners. Maybe it’s not quite that bad, but I do know many people whose lives are very similar to what I’ve just described.

Most importantly, we’ve forgotten about the importance for reading. It takes too much time, the classics are hard to understand, reading shouldn’t be work it should be fun, why read when we can just watch a movie?

Bradbury’s vision of people burning books, of not being allowed to read is terrifying because it really does happen. Why does it happen? Because books create lasting impressions, books teach us to think, books teach us diversity, humanity, compassion, and respect. Books are influential. That is why they are burned. But there are always rebels who will risk their lives to preserve artwork, and I’m not talking about books alone. I watched a documentary earlier this year that showed a group of men who strategically walled off a room in a building that housed a voluminous collection of Afghan films. They protected the artwork from being destroyed by the Taliban. Several years ago I was in Cambodia and made a comment about all of the ancient statues whose heads were missing or faces destroyed, my motorbike driver told me that the Thai army had done that damage during the war, but according to my lonely planet that damage was actually done by the Khmer Rouge. I’m more likely to believe that latter after reading Luong Ung’s memoir First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. Ung explained her first hand accounts of the people’s need to throw away items like prescription eye glasses and jewelry as they were marched from their homes to the labor camps. The soldiers killed anyone who appeared educated before even getting to the labor camps.

The point from my rambling is that Bradbury’s novel may be 59 years old, but it is still just as fresh and contemporary today as it was the day he wrote it. Teaching our children to read is how we teach them to be human. And I absolutely LOVE the fact that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 while sitting in a public library.

Ray Bradbury’s Website