40in40 – Different Dances « in the key of wonq

40in40 – Different Dances

31Jul09

Voice of Reason 1

You’ll have to excuse my crude excerpt from this refined masterpiece. Remember Shel Silverstein? Of course you do. We all loved him from our childhood. Who knew there was more to love of him in our adult lives? But trust me, Different Dances is just as delightful as Light in the Attic or Where the Sidewalk Ends. Silverstein actually published this one in between those two classics, and he doesn’t skip a beat in his poignant rhetoric. The conclusion to “The Voice of Reason” is provided below.

There’s more to life than this.

I don’t know exactly what else is out there, but people have been telling stories for all of history! By reading forty graphic novels, I hope to learn a few of those things that have been jotted down over time. I hope that the images and words that I digest over the next forty weeks will not only provide me insight, but also inspiration to share what else I might know about life. That will be the running theme that I keep through all my upcoming posts: here is one more thing about life that I have discovered.

The first “novel” on my list is actually a picture book from Shel Silverstein. Although untraditional in his methods, the author is able to address life’s timeless issues in the simplest form of communication. From family to vocation to love to sex, these “short stories” made me think (and laugh) about how simply sorted everything is. They made me think, there may be more to life, but there’s hope yet because they can all be explained (and satirized) in just a few pen strokes.