Read Sept 26, 2013.
I've
read this speech several times, and listened to it online at least
twice. This edition I feel doesn't quite do justice to the simultaneous
levity and solemnity of the subject and the speaker. Gaiman was being
quite serious about all that he said - making good art, not taking
yourself seriously, being open to the joys and experiences of the
present, doing work because it inspires you. However, at the same time,
he was presenting it in a conversation, casual, almost confessional
manner - nothing like a sturm-und-drang bombast or fire and brimstone
preacher. Just a nice conversation, with a wise friend.
This version makes the serious parts seem like
a business-conference pep-talk motivational-speaker powerpoint, and the
casual friendly conversational style seem trite and limited in scope.
The expanses of white space with various linear elements in blue or red
only makes the speech seem much less robust than it actually was - many
spreads make the language seem puny and unfinished, rather than
powerful and spare.
I will say that I liked the composition of several
individual pages: the "list of things I wanted to do" page spread, the
"universe kicks me hard" page, and the "This is really great. You
should enjoy it." page. Otherwise, I just felt the graphic elements and
design competed with the message, rather than complemented it. I was
also driven nearly furious by the "1irst of all" "2econdly" "3hirdly"
(yes, he really did, yes, all the way through the numbers, yes, I died a
little inside.)
However, it's art, it was published (way to go!) and
it's personal - other people may find it beautiful and breathtaking.
For me, I'll just continue to listen to the recording and read the
boring black-and-white text version. I just don't seem to need funky
typesetting or overtyped words or color-changing sentences to get the
idea.
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