The Evolution of the Graphic Novel

Charles Cavalla

The definition of the graphic novel has often been a contentious issue: does it have to be fiction? how does it differ from a comic book? and should we really consider a graphic novel as worth studying?

 

If you had asked me that last question two years ago, I would have said probably not - but my answer now, having read much more of the genre, would be the contrary. Graphic novels have evolved over the last forty years and have come from being simple cartoon strips to fully fleshed out, interesting narratives

Book of the Week

Pig Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman
Ben Chuah
I read this book about two years ago, and I really enjoyed the balance of suspense, emotion and hope that makes the story riveting.

The novel presents itself as children’s/young adult fiction, with the use of simple language and a child’s point of view, but contains powerful underlying messages that symbolize the world’s prejudice against and ostracism of people who are perceived to be ‘different’ and the difference in treatment they experience when they are looked down upon or not seen as ‘human’ or ‘the same’ as the majority.

Bowie's Books

Alex Aslett
Following the death of David Bowie, it has come to light how much time the singer - who once described himself as 'a born librarian with a sex drive' - spent reading.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Bowie said that 'when I'm relaxed what I do is read', and described a good week as one in which he pored over 'three or four books'. 

Book of the Week

Brave New World - and how we're not as close to it as you might think

Caleb Webster

Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World received critical acclaim for its alternative view of the future where humanity's greatest problems came from having everything they wanted as opposed to the harsh and war-torn world of Orwell's 1984, published in 1949.

Huxley’s vision of the future is not horrific on first glance. The people are sedated happily with drugs such as ‘Soma’, and spend their lives recreationally by visiting the ‘feelies’ and enjoying recreational sex. Everyone is happy but this only comes from the genetic engineering that sorts them into castes – specifically designing them to fulfil a purpose and enjoy doing it.

Fist of Five: Five short stories by H P Lovecraft

Ben Phillips

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was a supernatural horror writer and proponent of cosmicism in the 1920s and 1930s. In life he was relatively obscure beyond a small circle, writing primarily for the Pulp Fiction magazine Weird Tales and eventually dying in poverty. After his death, however, writers such as August Derleth went on to publish and publicise his work, as well as writing tales within his fictional universe (collectively known as the 'Cthulhu mythos'), bringing his short stories into the public eye where they directly inspired such authors as Stephen King.

Book of the Week

Fatherland by Robert Harris
Recommended by Chris Waring

Robert Harris's 1992 novel Fatherland provides a fascinating insight into how Germany might have looked in 1964, had Adolf Hitler led the nation to victory in the Second World War.

Contrary to expectations, the novel does not follow the infamous leader of the fascist state, who is soon to turn 75 - in fact, we learn that as his age has progressed, Hitler has shrunk away from the country's political limelight, and he walks around Berlin in civilian clothing.

Book of the Week

Purity by Jonathan Franzen
Recommended by Dr Hudson

While not quite reaching the stratospheric heights of this writer’s The Corrections from 2001, the set pieces in this doorstep of a novel still manage to combine absurdity and grim humour in just the right amounts for this reader – I will not soon forget such scenes as the tense but comic events one night in an East German dacha or the involved shenanigans with a nuclear warhead, for instance: I can say no more without spoilers.