Book Review: 1984 Pocket Classics Books Series

 

Not even sure how I got into these books, although I did so years and years ago. And I am glad that happened, to boot.

Having come from a French background and gotten the opportunity to see that comic books -by which I mean literal books done in comic cartoon style - were not nearly so rare or looked down upon there, as it often felt they are here in the United States. That was a shame, and I never liked it. Comic books are artwork, and as such, they can sometimes capture elements of stories better and quicker. They are solid tools to use in storytelling, although it never seemed to catch on her ein the United States during my own childhood.

In time, that seemed to change. It began to be increasingly acceptable over time, and they now are more accepted than ever before. If memory serves correctly, it was Maus I and Maus II, the account of Auschwitz by cartoonist Art Spiegelman, that began to really put comic books with a more serious theme on the map here, which allowed them to be taken more seriously, thankfully. Those books are very well done, and these days, they are considered a masterpiece by some. I also enjoyed - and would strongly recommend - In the Shadow of No Towers by him, as well. 

Anyway, I digress...

These Pocket Classics from 1984 are very good as well. They are obviously generally much shorter versions of literary classics. And they are not there to replace the classics, any more than, say, the old Cliff Notes were there so that people no longer have to review the books. But they can help you to understand the work, and can serve as a very good introduction to them. I have gotten back into reading them recently, and enjoy them. And while they tend to be short - and too numerous for me to review each of them individually - it seemed like a good idea to review these books here.

They are good enough that I urged my son to take a look and read some, which he seems to be in the process of doing. Sometimes, it takes a bit of encouragement to get past the fact that these are comic books. But try, because they really are good, and can serve either as good introductions to the works, or as reminders of what you read all of those years ago.

Highly recommended!