For this week’s readings, I started with Leise Hook’s graphic novel/ short comic The Vine and the Fish. Now to out myself as a bit of a nerd, I love comics and graphic novels. Seeing the bridge being built between narrative and art warms my heart every time. Hook’s work did its job in that regard. I do have to say that weirdly enough, I preferred reading Hook’s comic in its standard format, (the downloadable version) compared to the motion comic that is available on her website. I felt that that animations throughout the work got in the way of the word on the “page”. (I feel like an old man yelling at the cloud in writing this). I do have to say that the animation, and the art especially was amazing and fit into the story she wanted to tell. The use of different shades green to fit into the motif of nature and foliage was a fantastic touch. The overall narrative was compelling. It was a bit less personal that I had initially thought it would be. Despite this, when the author made the connection to the Kudzu plant and herself, the moment stood out very well. When the author wrote, “Because I’ve internalized the language of invasion biology”, my ear perked up a bit. I felt that this was a very powerful line after a lot of exposition about the dynamics of invasive species and the language and actions that surrounds them. Another thing to note about this work is the fact that it did not work correctly on my computer. I had to read the work as a static page (like a traditional comic or graphic novel). I then went on to watch a video of the work to see it in an “E-lit” context. I just thought that it was interesting how comics and seemingly straddle the line between E-lit and more conventual literature. In my personal opinion, nothing hits better than turning the page of a comic but reading them online can add levels of animation and other artistic qualities that can enhance the experience. I will stand on my soapbox all day and argue that comics deserve to be read in their paper format, but this work gave me a bit of a new perspective.
The second work that I read through for the class was Ask For the Moon, by John David Zuern. I again, want to revel something about myself in this blog (I know it’s crazy). I need to admit that I am poetries biggest hater. A lot of my hard feelings come from the idea that I “don’t get it” a lot of time. As I’ve gotten older, I have started to have more of an open mind about poetry and its many works. I even found a handful of poems that I actually like (Much Madness is Devine Sense by Emily Dickenson comes to mind). I can say this work does not make that list. To give some credit, one line that caught my attention was, “In Frigid kitchens, in fluorescent corridors, all work is night work”. Beautiful stuff, no notes. Moving one, some things I did like about the work was how it was presented to the user. The words come in quick and fade away, maybe pointing to the forgotten and overlooked people who make the tourism industry possible within Hawaii. The imagery was small but was impactful. Also, the detours to more academic writing from other authors was a great artistic touch. One last note I want to make is about the navigational aspect of it. Since the words are fading it black and even overlapping the new words on the page, some of the poetry was hard to read and follow. Overall, this was not one of my favorites, which sucks because I can feel that this author had a really nice story to tell. Also, quick note, this work reminded me of the first season of the first season of the HBO hit show, White Lotus. They talk about similar ideas.
