The ROD manga volume four was delivered to my door this afternoon. I had to use the time I allocated for Pale Fire to read this final, and most intense, volume today. It is a break for my brain from the hard to digest novel. I finished the volume within the hour. Pardon my rough skills in scanning the few pages above. With the final words “I love books.”, Yomiko Readman finally conquers her internal struggle which for a brief moment has caused her to say the unexpectedly shocking antithesis “I hate books!”, in one of the most powerful scenes back in volume three. She has found inner peace with her past, and with the spirit of Ronnie, ending on a bright note. On the whole, the manga suffers from hard to swallow abstracted/generalized dialogues, and employs at times cheesy feel good sentiments. There are numerous lines such as “…hurting others or developing dark powers. Actions like those…cannot lead to a new world!” that lack logical connection or support and ends up not making sense. What do you mean “new world” Ms. Readman? And faced with extremely dangerous situations and told to run away, Nenene says “We’ll fight together! Student…and teacher!!!”, cueing newly empowered students. I can’t help but retch a bit at such sappiness, but perhaps that’s just the cynic in me. Nevertheless, Yomiko Readman’s unique character, and her physical and mental conflicts in a fast paced plot makes for a gripping read and far outweighs its flaws. Her passion, obsession, love, words that does not quite adequately describe her ineffable enthusiasm towards books that both is her strength and her weakness, are the traits that I admire and respect of the nineteenth paper. And thus experiencing Read or Die has slightly enhanced my will to keep reading literature as a pastime, and as a way to better myself.
Muir Woods 