|
Over
the past six months, I have attended two international conventions
devoted to books (as a buyer, these are important to me), and
I have been amazed by the resurgence of the comics medium. At
the Frankfurt convention, for instance, I couldn't go anywhere
near the stall of Tokyopop, a company that publishes manga (Japanese
comics) and anime (manga in moving pictures, essentially) in the
us. The firm was launching a few titles at the convention and
its stall was literally mobbed by young people.
In India, sales from our own stores, and
those we distribute to, indicate a growing preference for graphic
novels (especially in Bangalore, where fantasy and science fiction
also seem to be popular). And in the US, sales of graphic novels
have touched around $205 million (Rs 902 crore) in 2004, up from
around $170 million (Rs 799 crore at the then exchange rate) the
previous year. One reason for this popularity could be the recent
explosion in the number of graphic novels being made into movies
at Hollywood. Apart from Spiderman, Blade, The Incredible Hulk
and X-Men, there is Constantine and cult-classics Sin City, Watchmen
and V for Vendetta to come. And let us not forget the fact that
Road to Perdition is based on a little-known graphic novel masterpiece.
As the term indicates, the graphic novel
is a format, not a genre (you'd be surprised at how many literary
types make that mistake). It straddles different genres: literary
fiction, drama, romance, science fiction, fantasy, action, even
biography. However, most graphic novels can be broadly categorised
under three heads: superhero stuff, manga and literary works.
At the conventions I have attended, there have been entire sessions
devoted to graphic novels. Manga is by far the most popular (and
the most international of the genres). Most manga stories are
whimsical yet highly sophisticated; the visuals are entertaining
and the format is strictly sequential art and text balloons; and
the layout and pacing are as cinematic as print can get (probably
one reason why anime is such a big hit).
So, who reads graphic novels? I'd like to
think that everyone does and that anyone who is yet to read a
graphic novel simply hasn't because the opportunity has not presented
itself. The format may be associated with teens and sub-teens
but that is far from reality. Alan Moore's Watchmen, for instance,
is the only graphic novel to win both the Hugo and the Nebula,
awards that are as big as the Oscar for science fiction and fantasy
writers, and a definite signal of the sheer literary merit of
the book. I have also observed an intersection of interests such
as movies, music and video games (all at the vanguard of popular
culture) among those who read graphic novels.
I am also of the opinion that the format
allows writers to express themselves more freely than prose, parlaying
the sometimes horrifying reality of everyday situations into a
kind of black humour that makes the point with nary a touch of
melodrama or pathos. Joe Sacco's Palestine and Marjane Satrapi's
Persepolis are both good examples of this. If I can draw one conclusion
from the kind of books that are popular now, it would be that
popular sensibility (at least among the educated classes who have
a thing about books, reading and ideas in general) is moving towards
this philosophy-lite version. The popularity of graphic novels
is just a symptom of this change.
-Hemu Ramaiah
runs the Landmark chain of bookstores as well as Westland Books,
one of India's biggest book distributors
TREADMILL
Ticker Talk
You
may have heard trainers and gymmers talk about target heart rates
that one needs to achieve for fat loss or for the body's cardiovascular
conditioning. What exactly is heart rate? How can you measure
it and what do you have to watch for while exercising?
Most good quality treadmills, stationary
bicycles and elliptical cross-trainers have screen read-outs that
give heart rates. But when trainers say that you have to exercise
to achieve a heart rate in, say, the fat-burning zone of 60-70
per cent of your maximum heart rate (hr), what does that mean?
Heart rate is the number of beats produced
by the heart in a minute (BPM). First, find out what your max.
HR is. For this, you can either get clinically tested, usually
through a treadmill stress test, or you could use a simple rule-of-thumb
measure called the age-adjusted formula. For women, this is: your
age subtracted from 226; for men, your age subtracted from 220.
Thus, if you are 35 and a man, your age-adjusted max. HR is 185.
Usually, for weight loss and fat burning,
exercise should result in a heart rate that is 60-70 per cent
of the max. HR. For aerobic conditioning and increasing endurance
and stamina, it should be 70-80 per cent. Top athletes who maintain
excellent fitness should target 80-100 per cent of their max.
HR.
While on the subject of target heart rates,
here's a common query that readers send me. What is cardiovascular
exercise (cardio in short) and what does it achieve? Cardio fitness
is about how easily the body can transport oxygen and blood to
muscle cells. As you may have guessed, it can be improved through
regular exercise.
How much cardio exercise do you need? It
depends on what you want to achieve. For weight loss and fat burning,
you need to do more cardio than if you are trying to gain muscle
mass and weight. For fat loss, 20-40 minutes of moderate to heavy
cardio exercise four to five days a week is ideal. For gaining
muscle mass but losing fat, combine a relatively light cardio
session of 20 minutes three days a week with weight training.
But remember, the intensity of exercise will depend on your level
of fitness when you begin, as well as your physician's advice.
It's prudent to start with light exercises and then move on to
a more intense regime.
-Muscles
Mani
write to musclesmani@intoday.com
MANAGING
ANGER
If you've been
throwing fits of rage too often for comfort, it may be more than
just a matter of releasing pent-up feelings. Says Prof. Nimesh
G. Desai, Head of Psychiatry and Medical Superintendent at Delhi's
Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences: "Anger
becomes a problem when it changes our personality, or when it
causes aggressive and destructive behaviour." Here's the
low-down on anger management:
Causes: There are four main causes: 1. Severe
stress or conflict 2. Personality traits such as anti-social,
obsessive and explosive behaviour 3. Mental illnesses like schizophrenia
and depression, and 4. Medical causes such as low blood sugar
levels that make people irritable and anger prone.
Cure: For stress/conflict, stress- and anger-management
therapies are in order; for personality disorders, counselling
and psychological treatment; mental illness requires psychiatric
treatment; and medical causes require prescribed treatment. Most
important, anger being such an everyday emotion, you need to recognise
first that you have a problem. Then, seek help from counsellors,
psychologists or psychiatrists.
-Payal Sethi
|
