Armchair BEA 2014, Day Two: More Than Just Words

Day One of Armchair BEA was fantastic! There were so many bloggers participating with introduction posts and discussions about literature and reading. 

It was a pleasure to "cheerlead" and visit many of the blogs to contribute to the many excellent conversations underway. Found many new book quotes and TBR pile additions...and learned a lot about how the notions of what "literature" means to differs to people.

Today, the collective focus turns to the more acute concept of words--that is, the use of words in concert with other forms of expression...

More Than Just Words

There are so many mediums that feature more than just words and enhance a story in a multitude of ways. Examples may include graphic novels and comics, audiobooks, or even multimedia novels. On this day, we will be talking about those books and formats that move beyond just the words and use other ways to experience a story. Which books stand out to you in these different formats? 

In purely personal terms, this particular topic seems to come at a perfect time. I've recently rekindled an old love for comics, thanks to a couple of super astute family members who gifted me with a couple volumes of the series Saga. (They may not have known it, but growing up I was a total Image comics fangirl, so their gift couldn't have been better chosen.)

Yum.

Certainly, the purely written word holds so much potential for the individual imagination, for better or for worse. There seems to be so much power inherent in the fact that its up to the reader to invest energy into drawing those final images and directing the inner film from the "script" that an author provides. That said, graphic novels/comics can go one step further in developing the author's visual intent; it helps set up a scene in such a way that words are no longer needed as much to convey feelings and emotions. Sure, the reader still needs to contribute their imagination to produce that final moving image, but some of that is helped with the layout of frames, the depiction of movement, the use of color or black & white, water color or digital ink. If pictures are worth a thousand words, comics can be just as potent--if not more so--in the imagination they foster. The sky is still very much the limit.

Now, the leap from books to film (live action in particular) or from comic to film can be immensely enjoyable and impactful, but I think that there are more limitations imposed by reality. That particular actor can only play a vampire for so long before he ages, making for a visual paradox. And there's only so much that a young actor can do or say before things like age appropriateness come into play (one reason why a film like Ender's Game could never be adapted in more literal form). That's perhaps why for my part, I am often wary of film adaptations even as I'd be curious about a graphic novel adaptation of a book (or live action movie/show! Ex. Buffy the Vampire Slayer; woot!).

I know, I know. Doesn't make a terrible lot of sense, but there ya go. :-)