With 2012 the National Year of Reading, Daniel Tran finds out what makes our favourite books so special.
FOR Joseph Italiano, comic books are just as literary as a thousand-page novel. Italiano has been an avid comics collector since the late seventies. These days he gets his fix a little easier: he owns his own store.
‘‘Despite all the weird horror stories you hear about how comics rot your brain, it’s exactly the opposite. Comics and even card games are an amazing aid tool for learning,’’ he said.
‘‘Comic books nowadays cover just about anything and everything, and it’s all illustrated so you get an extra dimension to it.’’
Before he picked up his first comic book, Italiano had not been a lover of the written word.
‘‘I didn’t read much at all and, in fact, I think if I hadn’t discovered comics I probably still wouldn’t. But from comics I did expand into novels and other fields.’’
Italiano says the days of him having favourite comics are long past — there are too many to choose.
‘‘I’ve had favourite characters and favourite stories but what it tends to be now ... it’s not so much the characters, it’s the writers and artists that make a difference.’’
He lists Brian Michael Bendis, writer of Ultimate Spiderman and The Avengers, as one of his favourites. Despite following Bendis’ work closely though, Italiano never re-reads a comic book.
With a new issue released in most series every month, he’s flat out just keeping up.
Italiano’s love for the written word is not shared by all. A study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found about 46 per cent of people have reading levels that are insufficient to deal with the demands of everyday life. That’s why a group of Australian libraries, government and communities have joined together to mark 2012 as the National Year of Reading.
When you struggle through your mail, can’t read a newspaper or have trouble following a recipe, reading can feel like a chore. Year of Reading chairwoman Margaret Allen says they are determined to remind people that reading is one of life’s pleasures.
‘‘The most important thing is that people read,’’ she says. ‘‘We don’t mind if it’s even a comic book.’’
The rise of the internet and its use to connect people brings a new importance to reading, Ms Allen says. Checking in with your friends on Facebook may not be held in as high esteem as settling in with a cup of tea and a copy of War and Peace, but it’s a valid source of reading.
‘‘Reading can just be about the practical things you need to do. So if you’re interested in sport, reading the newspaper and the sports pages is just as valid.’’
Heathmont’s Rebekah Bennetts has always been reading.
‘‘When I was a kid, if there was something there, I couldn’t not read it. If I wasn’t doing something active, I was reading,’’ she said.
‘‘I like being able to get completely lost in the book’s world. I often find when I’ve finished a book that I will still be concerned about the characters or events for some time afterwards.’’
Bennetts’ love of reading came from her family.
‘‘I remember Grandma would always be reading to me. My dad always did, and still does, read incessantly, so it seemed pretty natural.’’
She has read her favourite book, The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood, about 10 times.
The book follows the lives of Roz, Charis and Tony, three women whose different lives have spiralled downwards because of a woman they used to know from university.
Bennetts says the book is fascinating.
‘‘It interweaves historical events and the personal consequences that follow through our lives and impact others, and really makes you question the importance of motives in actions. It also really challenges the concept of history as truth,’’ she said.
‘‘I’m a big fan of Atwood’s writing. We had to read one of her books, The Handmaid’s Tale, in school, and it really resonated with me.’’
Clayton’s Christine Ethell was in her early 50s when she started reading her favourite books, the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling.
‘‘I just love her books. I love the way they’re written and they’re interesting,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s good clean reading.’’
‘‘You really can’t put them down. They’re books that keep you interested from start to finish.’’
Ethell, 63, estimates she has read all seven books up to seven times each. Each time a new book as about to come out, she’d re-read from the start.
‘‘Especially between book six and book seven, there was such a gap. You would know it’s coming out on June or July, so in March I’d start re-reading the series just to make sure that my brain was all up with everything that had happened previously.’’
She also finds herself re-reading the books after discussions with the Melbourne Muggles, a group of Harry Potter enthusiasts who share her love.
Ethell’s love for the series even had her standing in line outside a bookstore when the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released in 2007.
She remembers rushing home, book in hand, to lock the doors and turn off her phone. ‘‘I wasn’t going to have anyone ring me and tell me what happened.’’
She read continuously for about 15 hours.
‘‘And then I went back and read it properly,’’ she said, laughing.
Ethell says she ‘‘desperately’’ wants to see Rowling put out another book.
‘‘I don’t think it’s finished. I think she’s left it open in such a way that the kids can then take on the role.’’
‘‘If she ever wanted to, I’d say she could make another complete series.’’
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