Let me start by saying that this was one of the tougher readings for me due to the fact that I really haven't been too religious for most of my life. That being said, one thing that I did like about the graphic novel was the pictures. I thought that the layers drawn within each picture were the most interesting of any graphic novel that we've read so far. They really added to the story and were much more detailed compared to other books. I also liked how the pictures weren't all drawn in separate boxes. I feel that this made it a little more open to interpretation as to how the book should be read and in what order.
Another thing that I found interesting was the overall idea of putting the Bible into a graphic novel. I think that this probably turns a lot of people away from giving the book a chance. The overall idea of the graphic novel is not as accessible to the public as other graphic novels that we have read. For instance, I would have never given the book a chance if I didn't have to read it in this class. I would have probably seen that it dealt with religion and just walked the other way. Graphic novels such as Maus interest me more because I know more about the subject. I think the reason for this is because public schools bring us up with so much knowledge about the Holocaust, but really aren't allowed to talk about religion in any fashion.
So you enjoyed the pictures and art style, but what did you think about the story? How about the art with the story?
ReplyDeleteActually, since the Abingdon vs. Schemp Supreme Court decision in the 1960s, public schools [including our public university] have been permitted to teach ABOUT religion [i.e. the history or sociology of religions] as long as they are not teaching or promoting the practice of religion itself. However, you're quite right that outside of the Holocaust and perhaps Christmas/holiday plays, the study of religion is generally absent in the public K-12 world, in part because it's a fine line to walk and it's hard to do well; most school districts just avoid the history of religion, and most public teachers are not trained to teach it.
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