Classics or Comics?

For some reason many people leave out books: “I learned to read when I was a small child,” they say. “What more is there to learn?”

“I can’t bear long descriptions,” somebody remarks. “That’s why I don’t like historical novels.” It’s true that many boys and girls are put off by historical novels because of their long-winded descriptions. This form of literature was invented by Sir Walter Scott in an age when people, having no radio, television, cinema or car, liked their novels to last through as many long evenings as possible. Scott started a fashion, and even today some historical writers seem to feel that they should be heavier and grander in style than other authors.

PARENTS’ ATTITUDE

Some parents and teachers laugh at the ‘comics.’ Some disapprove them and ban them. Others do not interfere, but are worried and disappointed. What’s the right attitude?

The first thing to remember is that we all have different moods, and in those moods, according to whether we feel tired, unwell, depressed, or full of life and mental energy, we turn to the kind of literature which meets our need. A professor of English may not feel like reading poetry at breakfast: he reaches for the newspaper. At bedtime, after a day’s lecturing and other intellectual employment, he may enjoy a well-written detective story by Dorothy Sayers. So it is with us. There are times when you, for instance, like to try non-fiction, and  no doubt there are other occasions when you prefer a classic, or a thriller or just the stuff to be found in a ‘digest’ or a magazine. It is not reading comics which matters, but it is reading only comics and nothing else. A boy of eight whose favourite reading is comics should not seriously worry anybody.

A lad of 18 who still prefers them to anything else is different. His education has been a partial failure. If we are to grow into civilized, cultural persons, books are something we need. During the years at school, we must develop a taste from the comic to the classic, taking all stages in between.

This doesn’t mean that we end up on a lonely pedestal as highbrows, looking down on everything but literature with a capital ‘L’.—Let’s admit that we will lose some pleasures as we go, but we shall gain on balance. As our taste develops we may find it hard to enjoy the tripe we once devoured. Superman heroes and sinister villains whose fights used to thrill us to the marrow may now make us hoot with critical laughter. Bad English we did not notice earlier may now strike us as painful.

One of the most popular themes in  comics is the journey to the planets. If we look at this theme, treated at various literary levels, we can very soon see the difference between the top writer and the bottom, and some of the grades in between.

CENTURIES AGO

Reading a book was a much more difficult process 23 centuries ago. Alexander’s favourite book ‘Iliad’ took up a dozen 30-foot rolls of papyrus, each ruled into one hundred and twenty narrow ‘pages’ with margins at the top, bottom and the sides. Each end of the roll was attached to a stick. Alexander took the first stick in his left hand and began to unrol the first few eight inches with his right hand, until the first ‘page’ was uncovered. Then as he so read on from left to right, he had to roll up the part he had with his left hand. If he got very excited by the story, or was merely skimming through to find some particular line, he might forget to roll up the book as he went along, and it would fall across his knees and curl round his ankles like a snake.

Today, the whole of the ‘Iliad’ or one of its English translations can be printed in a single book. This is a reminder that a book is something more than the words of an author. The fullest possible enjoyment of books can come only if we learn to appreciate them as examples of craftsmanship.