Right to Left

I mentioned Nausicaä before - she's from Miyazaki's manga and film of the same name. I've recently gotten all seven volumes of the manga and can't put them down. I have had to ration my reading so that I don't finish it too quickly.

When I showed some friends the manga, I hadn't realized how confusing it would be if you're not used to reading graphic novels. Firstly, it's quite different from reading a normal novel. You don't just read words - you look at the entire picture drawn for you in the panel. Secondly, the manga has been translated from Japanese so the entire setup reads from right to left. Very disconcerting if you're not used to it. Some people might ask why bother if it's so different? It's the story of course.

Nausicaä's adventure's and mishaps through the poisonous forests come alive in the manga. I was sucked into each and every page and couldn't believe the amazing world I was being drawn into. Graphic novels and manga tell stories in a completely different way than conventional books or even comics could. The scale of the story across volumes is different as well as the pace. More often than not much more time is spent on the smallest details and this is what makes the worlds created so real.

Sometimes reading something different opens up a whole new view to you. It also keeps Alzheimer's at bay since your brain is working extra hard to figure out what's happening on and between pages ;-).

I only have one more volume left and can't decided whether to read it right now or drag it out for a bit!