Changing My Reading Plans for Akira Volume 2
So I finished reading volume 2 of Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo. My original plan was, since each of these volumes is 250 to 300 pages or more, I was going to read a volume and then read a different book in between as a kind of a palette cleanser.
Upon completing volume two, that plan has changed. The second volume was so much more of a page-turner. I’ve mentioned this before the last time I talked about it, but I just was flipping page after page and could not stop. Now that I’ve reached the conclusion of volume two, I have to dive directly into volume three.
Working Prose into the Schedule
I’m thinking that I want to work some more prose books into my reading schedule. I’m continuing to listen to the audiobook African Samurai, which is a nonfiction book, but I wanted to find a prose fiction novel to kind of work in there. I think that that may have to wait until after I complete all of Akira.
We’ll see if I feel like working in a prose book, not just an audiobook, because I do really enjoy listening to audiobooks, particularly while I’m working. But I want to also work in more prose that I’m either reading e-books or physical books of, so I can see how words and sentence structure and character development works on the page. I feel like it will help me in developing and improving my writing.
Looking Ahead to the Queue
That said, right now, I think I just have to plow through the rest of Akira. When I do get to the end of Akira, there are a lot of digital books and graphic novels that I wish to check out from my library.
But I also have a print copy of Eddie Campbell and Alan Moore’s From Hell, which I’ve had for a couple of years now and have not read yet—and I’ve never read it before. I’ve read and loved Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and several other Alan Moore comics. This is one of the big ones that I’ve never read before. So I think probably the next big comic read that I do after Akira will be From Hell.
I’m not sure what else I will read in terms of prose fiction. There’s a lot in my queue from the library, and I also have to look around the house and see if there’s some prose books that I have never cracked open. Sometimes I just buy books because I know that I’m interested in the subject matter, or I’m interested in that author, and then they sit around until I have a chance to get to them.
Have you ever had a book or manga series completely hijack your reading schedule like Akira is doing to mine?
For the writers and creators: Do you find that reading standard prose novels fundamentally helps how you structure your comic scripts?
Alan Moore’s From Hell is a legendary piece of work. If you’ve read it, what are your thoughts on it compared to his other classic comics?