An anticlimax of sorts

I got this letter from a fan about a month ago

" I think you should reject this manuscript.....this article would not be useful to either experts or novices...

The article might be salvaged by a major rewrite, but very little from the current version is worth keeping. "

Of course, there was more.  Attached was a 3-page detailed point-by-point breakdown about what was wrong.   I discovered who this chap was, let's just say that I had my methods. To be fair, he did have some valid points.  So I spend the next few weeks writing, rewriting, addressing all his concerns and such until it becomes this gleaming thing of pure beauty, of which am very proud.  I send it off again, and nervously wait.  I daydream about how this chap is going to read it again, and acknowledge that yes indeed, this manuscript is seminal, wonderfully written and that Mr. Bird has addressed all of his concerns to the dot above i.

Today I discover that the manuscript got in.

Why the anti-climax? The editor of the journal was also one of my co-authors.  He didn't send it out to the reviewers again.  He just deemed my corrections were suffice.  Mr. Fan never got to see the great comeback.

Logicomix

It's been an off week, but the one thing that happened was  Logicomix!

ha!

This was an epic read.  In some ways, I should thank the fat bastard for forcing me to read Logic much beyond the  cursory knowledge. Anyway, Logicomix is on its surface a history of logic told from a biography of Bertand Russell's life, narrated by Russell himself in a speech.  I say 'biography' since even though Russell made it part of the speech, the speech itself is modified by the authors of this book. Also, the authors themselves are characters in the book! Throughout the book, the authors talk amongst themselves about the theme of the book. They tweak Russell's speech and as a consequence, his life and as a consequence, the history of logic, to fit their theme.

See how complicated that just read.

There's no way written text would capture all of these..layers.  But graphic novels - ah - these offer so much more freedom!

And this was my first graphic novel.  Watchmen is next on my list. I do need more recommendations, though.