tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077773.post53620599548852645..comments2024-03-26T15:22:25.095-06:00Comments on The Earliad: 100 Books a Year: Final CountEarl J. Woodshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07963936256606285358noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077773.post-84535613203581567092012-01-07T21:07:23.588-07:002012-01-07T21:07:23.588-07:00I've been tracking my reading since finishing ...I've been tracking my reading since finishing university in 2003. 49 is the most I've managed to read in a year.<br /><br />If you're interested in the social aspect of tracking reading, you might want to check out goodreads.com.<br /><br />Congrats on a big pile of books.Liamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06516702580149529088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077773.post-37708660715103926362012-01-07T19:04:55.034-07:002012-01-07T19:04:55.034-07:00Jeff said it better than I ever could, perhaps bec...Jeff said it better than I ever could, perhaps because he's an artist. But I'd like to make the same point; I spent more time on each Peanuts collection than several of the other books on my list, including, for example, Flatland or Octopussy and The Living Daylights. Granted those are short books and deserving of attention for other reasons, but I think you're selling Schulz short, Maurice. <br /><br />Each collection is a work of art in itself, with gorgeous design, indices and introductions from a wide range of luminaries, from famous fans to other comic strip creators. <br /><br />To address the wider point, though, of which books should "count" for this kind of exercise, I simply chose to count any book over 100 pages long with a reasonably stiff cover. Granted, there are some pretty short books on my list, but there are also some behemoths, so I think it all balances out.Earl J. Woodshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07963936256606285358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077773.post-14336164961205156362012-01-07T16:37:39.987-07:002012-01-07T16:37:39.987-07:00Maurice, I stand up and applaud the courage it too...Maurice, I stand up and applaud the courage it took for you to make that statement. However, I cannot understand how you could draw such a conclusion.<br /><br />Charles Shultz was more than an artistic genius, he was also a visonary. He almost singlehandedly modernized newspaper cartoon strips. It is his template that has been followed by generations of artists. <br /><br />These books are not for casual reading. They are large and carefully bound on archival quality acid-free paper. Properly looked after, any one of them could be passed on to your great great great grandchildren. To put one in a tub to me is sacrilege. Maybe next you'd be showering with the Mona Lisa? <br /><br />Perhaps you are not taking the time to study and enjoy these strips. Schultz already had great designs for his characters to begin with. I find it a step-by-step primer on the work habits of a master artist to look at these strips in their intended order. How does Schultz come to gradually change the proportions of his children? Where does he decide that he has to change the line quality of his pen stroke, and why? There are videos of Schulz drawing, the man was a tour-de-force at a draughting table. <br /><br />Then there is the writing. The early Peanuts stips had a tremendous sharp wit that gradually mellows with age. We would be lucky if we had a strip artist with a tenth of the ability of Charles Shultz. How on earth do you get a bunch of school children to comment on the horror of the Viet Nam war? The failiure of the Nixon presidency? The interest rate hikes and the gas crisis? The declining state of the American dream? Shultz did all of that, and more. <br /><br />There is so much that we can learn from Peanuts. The modern comic strip syndication system denies the current crop of artists this kind of voice. <br /><br />Maybe you can go through a year of comic strips in an afternoon. I think I could get through maybe a page or two. Study the design, the penmanship, the line count, the negative spaces, the fluency and the fluidity of the text, the layout, the poses, the structure, compare and contrast the current strips with the ones that came before and the ones that will appear later. Consider the social subtext of the strip, the time that Charles Schulz actually took to draw and ink each panel. Trace or draw the images you see yourself, and feel the direction the pen takes you, the friction of the nib and ink on fresh white paper. <br /><br />You consume these books and then complain that you do not understand. I say they deserve close study, just like any other artistic masterwork. <br /><br />Good grief, Charlie Brown, it's time to go back to school."Jeff Of Honor"noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077773.post-34882770528068443452012-01-06T22:08:29.020-07:002012-01-06T22:08:29.020-07:00Sorry, Earl, but I don't consider a collection...Sorry, Earl, but I don't consider a collection of Peanuts cartoons to be a real book. And don't get me wrong... I love Peanuts, and I would love to have those year-by-year collections. But a book should be something that takes more than one long bath to finish.Mauricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01144997545621037246noreply@blogger.com