63. CARL SAGAN: Books are awesome
Another gem from Carl Sagan (read my first Sagan post on why I love him so much). My initial idea was to set the story in the very near future in a classroom. A teacher would tell the class it was reading time and the students would all take out their iPad 6.0 and open up the iBooks3D app. Each student would select a different book in the app and a 3D hologram of the historic person would project from their screens and the money shot would feature the classroom filled with these 3D projections. I rejected the idea because I didn’t want it to be one big ad for Apple and I also wanted to create a tribute to the printed book. I don’t think the 3D projection idea is too far from actually happening, especially after that Tupac hologram we all gushed over at Coachella.
Thanks to tablets and e-readers, the printed book is fighting a uphill battle to stay alive. How can they hope to survive when I’ve got dozens of books on my iPad (not to mention hundreds of comics, magazines, music, games, photos and movies) that I can carry around with me anywhere I go? So yes, this is my love-letter to printed books – those chunky, faded, smelly and yellow parcels of knowledge and fun I used to check out from my school library that helped shaped the person I am today (those and cartoons, lots and lots of cartoons).
It was really hard picking five books from the history of the written word. What helped me choose was not only how well-known the authors and books were, but also how easily recognisable their costumes and appearance would be to readers. I had to have someone thousands of years old because that’s what Sagan mentioned, which is why I picked Lao Tzu. Also, I had to have Teddy Roosevelt because he’s my guy.
- Now it’s your turn – which five books and/or authors would you have chosen?
- Thanks to Janice and Renee for suggesting this quote. Here’s the clip from Cosmos.
- Coincidently, just yesterday Brain Pickings posted Carl Sagan’s reading list from 1954. Check out what this great man fed his brain with.
ABOUT THIS SITE:
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- 50. NEIL GAIMAN: Make good art
- 100. CARL SAGAN: Pale blue dot
- 98. ALAN WATTS: What if money was no object?
- 90: IRA GLASS: Advice for beginners
- 52. PHIL PLAIT: Welcome to science
- 104. MALALA YOUSAFZAI: I have the right
- 94. The Two Wolves
- 92. CHRIS GUILLEBEAU: 11 ways to be average
- 108. SOPHIE SCHOLL: The fire within
- 42. NEIL deGRASSE TYSON: The most astounding fact
- 60. ROBERT FROST: The road not taken
- 97. CHARLES BUKOWSKI: Air and light and time and space
- 17. FRANK HERBERT: Litany against fear
- 96. DR. SEUSS: Those who mind, don’t matter
- 89. STEPHEN FRY: Ultimate self-help book
Best of the rest
- 106. CHRIS HADFIELD: An astronaut's advice
- 12. CARL SAGAN: Make the most of this life
- 33. EDGAR MITCHELL: A global consciousness
- 36. BRUCE LEE: There are no limits
- 56. HENRY ROLLINS: Who's the crazier man?
- 65. MARIANNE WILLIAMSON: Our deepest fear
- 73. MARK TWAIN: An educational journey
- 8. THEODORE ROOSEVELT: The man in the arena
- 83. HOWARD THURMAN: Ask yourself
- 91. BILL HICKS: It's just a ride
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Dude, you’re gonna make me cry.
Dude, you and me both. Well done.
me too!
A hat-trick of tears! Yes!
I definitley teared up at the end. These quotes are so beautiful on their own but he brings out a new life with his illustrations. Turly living up to the context of the quote! Well done!
I had to think, what five people would I want to come to life.
1. Louisa Mae Alcott: she was radical for her time. Read her books closely and you’ll find a host of unexpected characters.
2. Mark Twain: He loathed Louisa. I’d want him there just to see the fireworks.
3. Joseph from the Bible: I’d kill for his survival skills.
4. Abigail Adams: More politically savvy than what most think. She wrote quite the romantic letters to…
5. Thomas Jefferson. If I’ve got Abby, I’ve got to have Thomas.
You wouldn’t pick anyone from more than 300 years ago for anything other than survival skills? No scientists, no important historical figures except Jefferson?
Well…let’s see.
Adams – the woman behind the man. I would consider her very important in influencing her husband in “remembering the women”.
Twain – To this day, his works inspire debate and make people stop and think. One of the most heated – and civilized – debates from my high school days centered on the relationship between Jim and Huck as symbolic of father and son. I’d also like to see him come up against Alcott whom he openly loathed for what he referred to as her “insipid romance” of literature. Yet, I do not believe they ever met face-to-face.
Alcott – I love her book, An Old Fashioned Girl, and am still boggled every time I read about the two women who’s love was “so pure that no man could ever come between them”. She also was the sole supporter of her family for many years at a time when women could do so little in society. I’d want to hear her thoughts on the challenges of women at the turn of the century and how she defied societal norm with her works. She influenced my teenage life and I consider her one of my idols.
And I’d argue that Joseph of Egypt was most certainly an important historical figure. Due to his presence in Egypt, his family moved there as the first Israelites in Egypt. The Israelites who built the pyramids were descendants of Joseph. I’d want to hear his view on slavery seeing as how he enjoyed a position of power. How would he respond to the idea that he, the right hand guy of Pharaoh, would plant the seed of slavery for generations to come?
I enjoy living in a country where I can define who I deem important to an evening of fascinating conversation. Don’t you?
I love it! Never thought of it that way.
In my opinion, best one in a couple weeks.
Oh, hey, if you could… I kinds miss the drop-down menu that allowed you to go to any comic from any page…
I miss the drop down too
Agreed. Also on the technical note, some pages don’t correctly load the next/previous links at the end of the comic…
…misc issues aside, your selection of quotes is inspiring. Promise me you’ll never die. I want updates to continue until it out-dates the internet.
Ha ha thanks – not sure why the tech problem is occurring, this site can be glitchy sometimes.
So, I have loved Zen Pencils for awhile now, but you outdid yourself. I’m blown away by your thoughts and the wonderful quotes you choose to illustrate. When I see you’ve updated I get genuinely excited. So, thank you!
Thanks Lysette!
Your welcome! But seriously, thank you.
Great Comic. I showed this to my AP Lit teacher and now she plans on buying some for her barren office
My five authors would have to be
1. Issac Asimov
2. Douglas Adams
3. Venturing out of Science Fiction….Plato
4. Ayn Rand
5. Ian Fleming
The paper aint the important thing.
The words and ideas are the important thing.
Can agree more. I rarely carry hard copies now, only e-books. But still, what Sagan said is true. And your drawings are amazing, Gav, like always. ^^
My late friend Ron was an antiquarian book collector and would have argued for the importance of the physical object itself. He used to tell a story about a book he owned that had been in the collection of the astronomer Edwin Hubble. When you opened the pages, you caught a strong whiff of cherry tobacco. Almost all photographs of the astronomer show him with a pipe in hand. This extra-textual detail gave a unit of information about the past- and gave one a sense of connection with it.
There’s a similar story told by Astronomer and Author Owen Gingerich, who wrote a book called “The Book Nobody Read” about De Revoltionibus, the groundbreaking work of Nicolaus Copernicus that boldly argued that the sun lay at the center of the solar system. It had long been held by a large group of academics that, while the book was at the forefront of a new way of looking at the universe, in its day it didn’t have all that great of an impact until Galileo came along more than a half century later and brought the concept to a head.
Gingerich actually tracked down virtually every extant copy of the first printing of the work, and studied the pages. In them he found bread crumbs, hairs, heavily thumbed pages, and, most importantly, margin notes left by the readers. Like some early, handwritten, BBS, the marginalia of De Revolutionibus allowed gingerich to determine that not only had the book been read, but that it had been thought about, discussed, and internalized by a great many people.
This sort of thing is lost with an ephemeral e-book.
A book is a living thing. An e-book is a piece of information.
1. Isaac Asimov – Fantastic Writer
2. Lao Tzu – Great Thinker
3. JRR Tolkein – The guy just invented a language with full grammar for his series. You can’t get more brilliant than that
4. Ved Vyas – Author of Mahabharata. One of the oldest, longest and most complex epics ever written
5. Last would be a toss up between Charles Dickens and Mark Twain
This one comic sums up my whole life!
Also, if we’re going to start bringing people back to life, I think we should pick people who weren’t recognized for their greatness in their own lifetimes. Someone like Emily Dickenson, for example, just so she could know how much her work is appreciated.
Great comic! I love reading and always will
I love your stuff, but I’ve refrained from commenting until today. Breathtaking work.
Sun Tzu- The Art of War
Albert Einstein- The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein
Chaucer- His Complete Works
Edgar Allan Poe- His Complete Works
Aristotle- On the Soul
I’d be tempted to throw in Austin, Shelley, or Bronte, just to cut back on some of the testosterone, or Dickens or Lovecraft, just because, but… those were my first choices.
I actually tried to pull out a list of five, and I just got overwhelmed. Give me 10 and I might have a shot at narrowing it down.
Also, the paper DOES matter. Interacting a physical book is a visceral experience as much as reading is an intellectual one. The weight of the paper, the cut of the paper, the type of ink, the type of binding… all of these things go into the experience. Sure, if you’re reading mass market paperbacks it might be pretty similar from Book A to Book B, but I can distinctly remember books by their feel and their smell.
I’m a software engineer who does almost everything possible electronically, but on this one, I will stand my ground until the day I die. For me, the physical aspect of a book matters.
In most cases, I would beg to differ, although I would say that a few books have a memorable… shall we say, body? However, I still think the experience would not have been significantly lessened if the book was electronic, especially if it still had a picture of the cover.
apologies for my bad english, it is not my mother lenguage.
thats all the truth about the reading and the books, how can a sinlge man learn from great people, giants, and meet then as friends every single moment of our lives.
I would have to agree. Computerized versions are very handy, but they can’t hold a candle to the smell, the feel, the sound of a page turning, the ability to easily flip back and forth…no viruses…..
I have yet to find a virus on my ebook reader.
Books are valuable than e-books. Books always make us feel like we own something, but e-book is like stuff in a vacuum.
Very well expressed! I was struggling to put the thought into words, but you made it for me.
I couldn’t have said it better. You can’t collect e-books. Nor can you display them or have a cosy library full of them. Nothing compares to the tangible physicality of a book.
The five authors I woudl have chosen would probably be:
JRR Tolkien
CS Lewis
Charlaine Harris (I loves me a trashy novel I does)
Douglas Adams
Brent Weeks
All for various reasons, but collectively they are write great story writers. We have hundreds of books at home, each one treasured, but Ebooks are just for convenience more than anything, I still enjoy holding a well thumbed page
Peace be unto all of you,
Dear Gav, like all others, this piece is simply awesome.
And I as a Muslim am particularly touched by this comic illustration when I reflect upon a book which existed since 1400 years ago, initially spoken by a man who was unlettered, but the book is by right the most read internationally and does not change from its original form even a single letter. The book is called Quran and the man is Muhammad, the prophet of Muslims (may peace be unto him).
Keep up the good work Gav!
My five:
1) Vyasa, or Ved Vyas, as another commenter named him, for the Mahabharatta, obviously: Sorry, Tolkien, but you’re an amateur when compared to this EPIC writer
2) Homer, for the Illiad (The Odissey is also good, but the Illiad is my favorite)
3) Shakespeare for… anything, but specially The Tempest.
4) Federico Garcia Lorca. I had to include one Spanish, and a poet, and he’s both. And absolutelly brilliant. “Poet in New York” is astonishing.
5) For the fifth, I may sound pedantic, but I’m divided between Dostoiesvki and Faulkner… “Crime and Punishment” vs “The Sound and the Fury”… Can I keep both?
And I have to keep out of the list many, many others that shaped my life, and I have to be forever thankful for turning me in who I am… Tolkien, Asimov, Durrell… And Sagan himself, of course.
Thanks Gav, as an avid reader, this one brought tears to my eyes.
That is one of the best quotes from Carl Sagan. When I read his books I can’t help but think that is actually speaking inside my head.
I’m going to print this and put it beside my little library at home.
Thank you so much!
Dora
I’ve bought a Kindle in January and I have to say I love it, but all the books on it were free (see Amazon, Project Gutenberg, etc.)
Whenever I buy a book, I buy the printed version. Yes, the e-readers are great and extremely convenient, but there is nothing like a real book in your hands.
I love your work. Everytime I see a new post of yours in my news feed I stop, put on some nice music and give myself a tiny break, while reading it.
Well, I suppose the pale blue dot has been done to death now.
This treatment put me strongly in mind of the second half of the promotion trailer for David Brin’s new novel ‘Existence’ (www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzr-DSDMkJM)
It features alien crystal artefacts containing the personalities of great alien philosophers (maybe). Here endeth the plug.
One of your best works. We really need more creators like you. You are nothing less than genius. keep doing the good work.
Hmm. Fascinating question, that.
-Marcus Tullius Cicero. Just for the heck of seeing a political writer from 2000 years ago confronted with the world of today.
-Aristotle. Same, except for a scientific writer.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Because I’m German, and I’d probably be stoned to death by my countrymen if I didn’t include him. Also, a lot of the stuff he wrote is kind of brilliant, even disregarding the hype.
-William Shakespeare. After re-reading Bill Bryson’s biography of the Bard, there are a lot of questions I’d like to ask of him.
-Michael Ende. No offense to the Tolkien fans out there (I’m one myself), but as far as writing skills go, the author of “Neverending Story” blows JRR out of the water.
What a great print!! :_)
Is there any chance you may translate this one into spanish? My grandma (in Chile) will *LOVE* this print, she is a complete bookworm and this would be a lovely present… gracias!!
Hopefully in the future, thanks Laura
Not sure about the five books I would have chosen, but I can name a couple…
1. J.D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
2. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
3. Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
Maybe not as earth shattering as some of the authors in the comic, but each book changed my life in a positive way when I read it.
My favorite one you’ve done so far – excellent!!
Just so you know: my understanding is that the “…Tupac hologram we all gushed over at Coachella…” wasn’t a hologram, nor was it 3D. It was a projection, an old theatrical illusion technique known as “Pepper’s ghost”. You can read about it here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper’s_ghost
I enjoy your work. -Ted
Thanks for the info Ted
I’m continually enjoying the way you put images to the quotes. Wonderfully done!
Hm… My five authors/people would likely be:
Douglas Adams
Sir Ian Fleming
Nikola Tesla
Carl Sagan
Anne McCaffery
As for my five people… I’m not just going to put authors here…
Tesla, as tygenco said. The man was a super-genius, and the coolest scientist ever, and the father of modern times.
Julius Ceaser. I realize that Ceaser and Napoleon are just Hitler minus the genocide, but still…
Plato, or perhaps Aristotle.
Thomas Jefferson, just to see whose side he’d be on (after being fully educated of modern times, of course)…
Oh, gosh, who as the fifth… Newton, da vinci, nebuchanezzer, sun tzu, charlemagne…
It’s so difficult to choose…
I suppose I choose Newton. To quote Neil degrasse Tyson, who you’ve quoted, “He couldn’t express his work in normal math, so he invented calculus
And then, he turned 26″
I just sat down feeling very anxious and subsequently not ready for the next intense week of preparation for my English Praxis II tests. Somehow, your comic happened. Thanks for the reminder, inspiration, and colors!
Hey Gav — I cannot believe you selected this quote: it is one of my all time favorites from arguably the most inspiring/insightful scene in “Cosmos”! Carl Sagan’s writings and programs are full of gem-quality observations, but this one is pure poetry, plain and simple. Your work here at Zen Pencils never fails to amaze me — your passion for your craft is really beautiful.
I am ordering this print RIGHT NOW! Thanks a lot, man!
Great, thanks Kyle!
Just found this website today and I HAD to write my thanks to you for all the emotions this website, your creation, has awakened in me. Thank you so much!
Thanks Nicolas, glad you found us
My 5 Books:
- Tolkien: Lord of the Rings
- Heller: Catch 22
- Churchill: A History of English-Speaking Peoples
- de St. Exupéry: The Little Prince
- Unknown: Beowulf
Great illustration! Keep it up Gav.
I had the eerie sensation if this happens in real life.. Laughs.
Keep up the good work!
Hey Gav
Regarding the book, I noticed you had a copy of DC Wednesday Comics next to your desk. Would be COOL to have a similar tabloid sized compilation of all your work too no?
I agree with your point that the analog book form is under pressure to compete with the digital form. I do think the onus is on designers to reimagine what the analog form is best suited for that the digital form can’t do. EG Wednesday Comics, the various Absolute editions, etc (and Zen Pencils the book!).
I love my iPad but until Cupertino releases a 17″ iPad Maxi (wish wish wish), the analog book form is still the best way to enjoy A3 sized splashes of the art form you (and Alex Ross, Bill Waterson, Mike Allred) do SO well.
Have a good weekend.
– micole
Dear Gav, i am a religious person, thus some of your comics are offensive to my believes.. But freedom of expression allows me to disagree with your freedom of expression whilst continuing to enjoy your talent thoroughly. So i applaud your awesome talent and i appreciate your interpretation of memorable quotes and poems.
I especially loved your interpretation of ‘Invictus’ and the continuation in ‘If’.
I thank you very much for your art…
Have a good weekend
Thanks Nadiya – I’m glad you could look past those comics which you found offensive.
I read your entire library in one day. Fantastic work!
Hit a chord
I’m trying to imagine coming face-to-face with all my favourite authors at the same time.. lovely comic.
Just to give you a heads-up, I found this today, thought you should know.
http://lolsnaps.com/news/29447/0/
Thanks for the link, I can’t keep up with all those sites.
great site really enjoyed
I read anything and everything I can get my hands on, and I’m glad oters see books the same way I do!
Awesomesauce, Gav. Thanks for sharing your marvelous talent with the world in this truly wonderful way.
First of all I have to say that ALL of your work is awesome. It makes my day when a Zen Pencils message appears on my Facebook page that announces a new work of art.
I am definitely going to buy a print of this to hang in my media center (school library). I am a K-6 Media Specialist. Although I may have to explain who some of the authors are to my kids, the idea expressed is wonderful.
Taking a slightly different angle…if I were choosing authors for an Elementary school audience, I would go with:
1.) Dr. Seuss — Cat in the Hat
2.) J.K. Rowling — Harry Potter (I can’t pick just one of the books)
3.) Lewis Carrol — Alice in Wonderland
4.) EB White — Charlotte’s Web
5.) Roald Dahl — Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Also, whoever posted “Reading is about the words, not the paper” that is a GREAT thought. I am going to use that whenever people try to discuss the death of the printed book with me. (which is often).
Nice idea going with the children’s book all-time list. Can I add ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ on it???
Maurice Sendak is an excellent addition. If I were adding from my favorite children’s authors, I would also include Neil Gaiman and Kate Dicamillo.
About the printed book “fighting a uphill battle to stay alive”, this is a quote from Stephen Fry :
“Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators.”
This is a great comic, and you chose the books and authors well, they were easy to recognise !
Just became a fan, a friend posted this latest comic to me on facebook. Spent the whole day reading through what you’ve made so far and i must say i already cant wait till you update again. Keep living your dream.
Thanks Shera, glad you found me
woah! What an artwork!!! I’m an assistant librarian and i hope my boss would buy a copy and put it in our library
You’re drawing it just right.
1984, Brave New World, Catch-22, Slaughterhouse 5.
You can imagine why I hate the world so much…
Love books, love anything by Sagan, so this is a win. Buuuut… why wasn’t one of the hologram authors Carl Sagan? Surely it’s the obvious tribute to make (and also helps make his point, having authors from ancient China to modern-day America). And you can’t tell me you don’t want to draw him in a turtleneck sweater…
Alright, you made me cry. I love Sagan. Comes back to life everytime I watch Cosmos, or read one of his books.
1. C.S Lewis
2. G.K Chesterton
3. Mark Twain
4. Victor Hugo
5. Oscar Wilde
Conversar con ellos en una pequeña reunión, sería de lo más interesante.
1. Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)
2. Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse)
3. Elizabeth Gaskell (North and South)
4. Shakespeare (As You Like It)
5. Can I put Jane Austen again?
I really, really, really love this comic. I’ve read thousands and thousands of books, so it’s hard to choose.
Five that come to mind:
John Steinbeck – East of Eden
Ayn Rand – Atlas Shrugged – That a Russian woman wrote all those beautiful words in English astounds me, even if I’m not 100% in agreement with her ideology.
Toni Morrison – The Bluest Eye (and so many others)
Rumi – Mystic Poet has a lovely, uplifting way with words
Gabriel García Márquez – One Hundred Years of Solitude; Love in the Time of Cholera
A author doesn’t speak in your head. The author is dead. Saussure and Barthes are spinning in their graves!
An*
Great comic, but sagan’s voice in unbeatable!
Wonderful comic! Glad I found your work.
Not sure who my five would be, but I think I’d have to include Charles Dickens for some of the best sentences in the English language. As I’ve been thinking about it, if I could stray from books, I think I’d want to include Aaron Sorkin, too. There is wonderful idealism in his work, and even when it falters, it has wonderful heart. Thanks for sharing your work.
Hi Gav,
I stumbled upon your site via a friend’s Facebook page, and I must say it is one of the most wonderful things to have happened to me today. You are a true genius and your comics have touched my heart. I shall keep coming back every Tuesday, why, on other days too, to peruse the wonderful archive you have put together already. Thanks a lot !
Abhishek from Mumbai, India
Thanks and welcome!
I agree that the ideas and words are important, but hard copies will always mean more. What’s more valuable, the first original text of Shakespeare’s Hamlet or the eBook version?
MFW Cthulu jumps out of my back-pack and destroys everyone and everything.
Now we know what inspired and motivated Carl Sagan’s incredible output as an author!
A friend passed me the link to your latest post a couple of hours back. I have been on your site ever since.
Especially love this one. My all time fav 5 (in no particular order) would include:
1. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
– Tolkien
2. The Harry Potter series – J K Rowling
3. The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings / other Middle Earth books
4. The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
5. A Thousand Splendid Suns / The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
I happen to be writing to make you be aware of of the brilliant experience my wife’s daughter went through going through your web site. She learned many issues
Great!
This is great, I love Carl Sagan. Could I share this in my site? Credited of course.
Sure.
I wish Sir Issac newton was in the group.