Here’s one about the mass appeal of comic books and how they may send novels into “decline” as novels did poetry.
“You can’t pinpoint it exactly, but there was a moment when people more or less stopped reading poetry and turned instead to novels….Someday the novel, too, will go into decline, and will become, like poetry….It might be comic books [which] are what novels used to be — an accessible, vernacular form with mass appeal…
Comics/graphic novels/manga popular
Comics, graphic novels, manga have been popular in Japan and Korea for a long time among both young people and adults. It is a mystery to me why it has not been as popular in the west. I think it is a wonderful form of literature that promotes reading, particular for young people.
Re:Comics/graphic novels/manga popular
Some of it has to do with marketing I think. One example is that manga tends to come in a book size format whereas American graphic novels come about the same size as a comic only thicker. Not very appealing to your average respectable citizen
It also has to do with culture. I can see a lot of similarities when I read Russian literature between myself and the charachters. There is something ‘different’ about asian group-think that I’ve always had trouble putting my finger on. I know that part of it comes from Japan being the only country to suffer from a nuclear attack but there is something older there as well.