Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
First Second (2006), Edition: 1st, Paperback, 144 pages
Description
"Klezmer" tells a wild tale of love, friendship, survival, and the joy of making music in pre-World War II Eastern Europe. The Baron of My Backside is perfectly content as the leader of a traveling klezmer band, until his bandmates are brutally murdered. He sets out for Odessa alone, inconsolable even after he is joined by Chava, a beautiful girl with a voice like an angel. Meanwhile, Yaacov is expelled from his yeshiva for stealing; he too makes his way to Odessa along with Vincenzo, a violinist, and Tshokola, a gypsy entertainer. When these five misfits finally come together, they must set aside their differences and learn to work together (and rock a crowd) through their music. Tragic, humorous, violent, and tender, "Klezmer's" rich watercolor art and simple but moving story-telling draws you into the lives of these fascinating characters.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member jasonlf
Klezmer is a short graphic novel set in what Joann Sfar calls the "Wild East," Eastern Europe about a century ago. It tells of a disparate group of misfits who come together to form a klezmer band. One is the only survivor of an ambush of his musical troop, one a runaway bride, two of them are
Like all of Sfar's work, the drawing is marvelous. The story is often dark and, with the Cossacks roaming around, sometimes brutal, but also has extended lyrical sections that attempt to depict the music.
The book is an interesting counterpoint to Sfar's Rabbi's Cat. Rabbi's Cat (an even better book) is set in French Algeria, at the opposite end of Jewry of Odessa. Both books feature a woman who is drawn identically -- Chava in this and Zlabya in Rabbi's Cat -- but have almost opposite characters.
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rabbinical students thrown out of their yeshiva, and the final is a gypsy. The group only gets together in the end when they all meet each other in Odessa, which launches a "to be continued" for the second volume -- which unfortunately has not been translated into English.Like all of Sfar's work, the drawing is marvelous. The story is often dark and, with the Cossacks roaming around, sometimes brutal, but also has extended lyrical sections that attempt to depict the music.
The book is an interesting counterpoint to Sfar's Rabbi's Cat. Rabbi's Cat (an even better book) is set in French Algeria, at the opposite end of Jewry of Odessa. Both books feature a woman who is drawn identically -- Chava in this and Zlabya in Rabbi's Cat -- but have almost opposite characters.
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LibraryThing member -Eva-
The story of a few outcasts who come together to form a Klezmer band in pre-World War II Eastern Europe. The drawing style is much looser than I've seen from Sfar before and many drawings are no more than sketches with some slight watercoloring. The drawings are quite beautiful at times, and the
Where it gets really interesting is the "Notes for KLEZMER, Volume 1" section in which Sfar discusses his reasoning for writing the story to begin with, his thoughts on contemporary Jewish life, Klezmer music, and the State of Israel, which are quite thought-provoking. I would love to have the other volumes in English to continue reading these notes.
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characters, especially Yaacov who is a parallel to the cat in The Rabbi's Cat, are captivating due to their varied backgrounds. Unfortunately, it looks like volumes 2 and 3 of Klezmer has not been translated into English (yet?).Where it gets really interesting is the "Notes for KLEZMER, Volume 1" section in which Sfar discusses his reasoning for writing the story to begin with, his thoughts on contemporary Jewish life, Klezmer music, and the State of Israel, which are quite thought-provoking. I would love to have the other volumes in English to continue reading these notes.
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LibraryThing member lydiasbooks
Very amusing and fun. It was not entirely my thing due to the medium - this is the first graphic novel I've read in its entirety. Enjoyable though, and I'd recommend it to others.
LibraryThing member iftyzaidi
A great little graphic novel by this French graphic novelist. It is set in Russia during the time of the Tsars and follows the story of Noah Davidovich, whose Klezmer band is killed by a rival band. Over the course of the book he meets and befriends a rag-tag group of individuals who come to form a
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new band. Great stuff! It really made me want to learn more about Klezmer music! I look forward to reading more in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member raizel
Mr. Sfar's watercolors take some time to get used to. I'm still trying to get over an important part of the plot requiring Jewish musicians to murder other Jews for the sake of job security. I don't believe it! Other than that, the story seems both fantastic and true to life, with interesting,
However, there is a lot of interesting talk about Judaism, life in general, and Mr. Sfar's life and family in particular in both the story and the notes at the end of the book. He also compares these characters and how they are drawn with the what he did in The Rabbi's Cat, an earlier book of his.
The book is in the adult section of my local library; there is some nudity and the target audience is adult.
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likable characters. As befits a book subtitled "Book One...", the book ends in the middle of the story.However, there is a lot of interesting talk about Judaism, life in general, and Mr. Sfar's life and family in particular in both the story and the notes at the end of the book. He also compares these characters and how they are drawn with the what he did in The Rabbi's Cat, an earlier book of his.
The book is in the adult section of my local library; there is some nudity and the target audience is adult.
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LibraryThing member VioletBramble
The first book in a planned series about a Klezmer band in Russia in the days prior to WWII. The book starts with the massacre of one klezmer band by another klezmer band. They were afraid of the competition in their little village. The only survivor of this massacre is The Baron, aka Noah
The story was okay. I don't think I'll be looking for more titles in this series. I may change my mind - I do like klezmer music and I'm interested n the history of Jewish folk songs. The illustrations, to quote the book endnotes: a startling, loose watercolor style. I loved the story in Sfar's [The Rabbi's Cat], but didn't really like his illustrations. In comparison I like those illustrations much more than the ones in this book. I couldn't get used to this style or the color palate.
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Davidovich. We get the stories of 5 different characters as they meet each other. The Baron and Chava form a act that sings Jewish folk songs. Yaacov, Vincenzo and Tshokola form a klezmer band. At the end of the story Vincenzo's band barges on stage to join The Baron and Chava and they all, after some fighting, become a klezmer band. Judaism and Yeshiva life are the topics of conversation among these characters in their travels. The story was okay. I don't think I'll be looking for more titles in this series. I may change my mind - I do like klezmer music and I'm interested n the history of Jewish folk songs. The illustrations, to quote the book endnotes: a startling, loose watercolor style. I loved the story in Sfar's [The Rabbi's Cat], but didn't really like his illustrations. In comparison I like those illustrations much more than the ones in this book. I couldn't get used to this style or the color palate.
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LibraryThing member .Monkey.
I'm not crazy about the drawing style (and let's face it, if you don't like the drawings, it's hard to get pulled into a graphic telling of a story, no matter how good the story being told may be); occasionally I would think maybe I like it a little, but most of the time I didn't care much for it.
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Also, there's too much going on in other languages for me to fully absorb & enjoy the story. If I don't know what those things are, I can't get everything he's trying to tell, and maybe those would help to enjoy it more. The story being told is somewhat interesting, and I'm somewhat curious to see where it goes, but I must admit I wasn't so crazy about it. I enjoyed the Notes at the end more than the story, I think. Show Less
LibraryThing member nosajeel
Klezmer is a short graphic novel set in what Joann Sfar calls the "Wild East," Eastern Europe about a century ago. It tells of a disparate group of misfits who come together to form a klezmer band. One is the only survivor of an ambush of his musical troop, one a runaway bride, two of them are
Like all of Sfar's work, the drawing is marvelous. The story is often dark and, with the Cossacks roaming around, sometimes brutal, but also has extended lyrical sections that attempt to depict the music.
The book is an interesting counterpoint to Sfar's Rabbi's Cat. Rabbi's Cat (an even better book) is set in French Algeria, at the opposite end of Jewry of Odessa. Both books feature a woman who is drawn identically -- Chava in this and Zlabya in Rabbi's Cat -- but have almost opposite characters.
Show More
rabbinical students thrown out of their yeshiva, and the final is a gypsy. The group only gets together in the end when they all meet each other in Odessa, which launches a "to be continued" for the second volume -- which unfortunately has not been translated into English.Like all of Sfar's work, the drawing is marvelous. The story is often dark and, with the Cossacks roaming around, sometimes brutal, but also has extended lyrical sections that attempt to depict the music.
The book is an interesting counterpoint to Sfar's Rabbi's Cat. Rabbi's Cat (an even better book) is set in French Algeria, at the opposite end of Jewry of Odessa. Both books feature a woman who is drawn identically -- Chava in this and Zlabya in Rabbi's Cat -- but have almost opposite characters.
Show Less
LibraryThing member LibroLindsay
I liked the graphic novel well enough, but the notes at the end are superb!
Subjects
Original publication date
2005 (France)
2006 (English translation)
Physical description
144 p.; 5.12 inches
ISBN
1596431989 / 9781596431980