Are you a Geek?

I was at the bookstore the other day, and found this beautiful piece:

For those of you not familiar with Pride & Prejudice, it is a classic romantic novel from the acclaimed Jane Austen, and tells the story of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. It is one of my favorite novels of all time. You can probably guess my reaction as I came across this graphic portrayal of this classic originally published in 1813.

My question to you, dear reader, is… Are you a Geek?

I’m a total geek. I wear glasses (not that that’s a requirement to hold the title, but it helps). I read… a lot. I’m watching my cat knock over a stack of books as I write this. But do I watch Star Wars? Do I read as many comic books as say… Mark Brassington? Not exactly.

The point is, you may be a geek and not even know it.

The world of literature is changing. I don’t just mean that in the sense of the publishing world, traditional vs. independent, etc., but more in the sense of the people. The readers. Not too long ago when I was at another bookstore, I saw a collection of silent teenagers taking up an aisle of the YA section, each with a book in their hands, like, in my high school days, we might have taken up a section of the record store. Being a geek doesn’t carry the same weight anymore. Readers, we’re proud to be readers. We revel in the fact that we would rather buy books than shoes. Anyone who has ever participated in #fridayreads on Twitter has spent at least one of those Friday night’s at home reading, without even thinking about what else they could be doing. Stuff us in a locker, ridicule us and laugh at our expense (I never really understood that. You’re making fun of me for reading. Really?), but try to take our books away and see what happens. I guarantee that limp you walk away with will be the least of your problems.

The publishing world has definitely recognized that there are more of us to market to these days, which is where graphic novels like Pride & Prejudice comes from. I’m not ashamed to say that I seriously considered buying it, and ten other graphic novels, because I stand here, proudly, a geek. Do you?