1984 - Hush

It’s funny how a few recommendations from close friends and family make reading a book that much more important. When the book is 1984, however, it makes you wonder why they want you to go through such torture. Now I will admit that at times it was quite enjoyable to read (the love story and the internal struggle to understand the WHY), there were just as many times I wondered why I should go on (the reading of THE BOOK, the drudging of day to day activity with no purpose, the torture through which the book began to end with at the Chestnut Tree). At the point when I thought I was halfway through the book, I knew there was no way that there was going to be a way to make it out of Oceania, to get away from the Party and any chance just to survive. It was dystopian in nature and I guess that was the plan the whole time. It just hurt. A lot.

On the other hand; before reading 1984, I read an amazing graphic novel collected from the monthly Batman series called Hush. A testament to what can still be done with a much storied history, this series (started sometime in 2002) combined that history with subtle change that matters. (I just almost made the mistake doing an outline of the story like I did for the Godfather trilogy; I need to stop doing that) The story does something most new stories can’t pull off which is bring in a new character into the universe smoothly while making it believable within the structure of the character web (the lines drawn between and within characters within the universe). Take the Batman/Bruce Wayne character for instance; a solitary character with little history or connections to the outside world, and for good reason. The story is not only able to bring a new character from Bruce’s past into the existing universe; it’s able to exploit it without seeming too obvious. The other part of Bruce’s character, his interdependence, is taken under question as well. Batman, no matter how much he doesn’t want to admit it, isn’t alone. And it isn’t the typical ‘He has Robin’ argument. In his time as Gotham City’s most important protector, he’s had a small group of heroes’ spring up around him. Nightwing, The Oracle, Robin, Catwoman (the hero part can always be in question), Black Canary, Huntress; the list goes on if you go outside of that boundary. He’s always had Alfred. And then there are certain members of the JLA. These are big parts of the story, not to mention the huge force working against Batman that he can’t pinpoint right off the bat (not a pun, I promise). A great read and I’m glad that my local library carries graphic novels now. XD