Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics Books, 2002.
Description
IN THE EARLY 1990s, Joe Sacco spent two months with Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, traveling and taking notes. The result was the comic-book series Palestine, which combined the techniques of eyewitness reportage with the medium of comic-book storytelling to explore a complex, emotionally weighty situation. The fifirst collected edition won a 1996 American Book Award and singlehandedly created a new genre: graphic journalism. It remains a perennial classic, and a landmark work of both comics and journalism.
Media reviews
Sacco is formidably talented. A meticulous reporter, he scrupulously interprets the testimonies of dozens of victims of the Israeli regime into cartoon form. He is also a gifted artist whose richly nuanced drawings tread a delicate path between cartoonishness and naturalism.
Palestine not only demonstrates the versatility and potency of its medium, but it also sets the benchmark for a new, uncharted genre of graphic reportage.
It figures that one of the first books to make sense of this mess would be a comic book.
User reviews
LibraryThing member dr_zirk
Joe Sacco's Palestine is gripping stuff, and manages to be depressing, uplifting, and frustrating all at the same time. The author chose to try and understand the Palestinian situation by diving in head-first, visiting a number of Palestinian refugee camps and villages minus any type of official
Sacco is highly sympathetic to his hosts and their uniquely troubling life of landless displacement and partial citizenship. But Sacco does not shy away from some of the "self-inflicted wounds", and an apparent tendency for Palestinians to either grudgingly accept their reduced lot (with lots of endless grumbling and whining), or resort to futile low-level violence, the latter of which simply spurs their repressive Israeli overseers to ever greater acts of brutality and humiliation.
Not surprisingly, Sacco has no obvious solution to offer for the ongoing "Palestinian crisis". Like many before him, he is able to achieve a great understanding of where it is that the Palestinians currently find themselves, but is in no way able to see a path out of the mess. That said, Sacco is a formidable talent, and his bold and intricate pen work greatly enhances his compelling narrative, and lends it a sense of absurdity and pathos that is all too appropriate to the sad story that he tells so well.
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escort or guide, but meeting with individual Palestinians along the way. Sacco is highly sympathetic to his hosts and their uniquely troubling life of landless displacement and partial citizenship. But Sacco does not shy away from some of the "self-inflicted wounds", and an apparent tendency for Palestinians to either grudgingly accept their reduced lot (with lots of endless grumbling and whining), or resort to futile low-level violence, the latter of which simply spurs their repressive Israeli overseers to ever greater acts of brutality and humiliation.
Not surprisingly, Sacco has no obvious solution to offer for the ongoing "Palestinian crisis". Like many before him, he is able to achieve a great understanding of where it is that the Palestinians currently find themselves, but is in no way able to see a path out of the mess. That said, Sacco is a formidable talent, and his bold and intricate pen work greatly enhances his compelling narrative, and lends it a sense of absurdity and pathos that is all too appropriate to the sad story that he tells so well.
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LibraryThing member wilsonknut
Palestine is often in the top 10 best nonfiction graphic novels lists. Sacco's journalism is scrupulous. His artwork and writing captures the colossal weight of depression, frustration, and anger that is the Palestinian experience. This is a heavy book, regardless of the medium. And you have to
My only issue with the book, and it is an important one, is that none of the Arabs ever really develop into characters. Their stories all blend together. They all sound the same. Many ask Sacco the exact same questions. Even Sacco's character states several times when he is interviewing Palestinians that he has "heard this all before." I understand that we are to see how common the terror is and how it touches all of the Palestinians, but flat characters just don't punch you in the gut with the Kafkaesque horror of it all. With no character to hold on to, the repetition begins to dull the senses about two-thirds of the way through the book.
Ironically, he meets two Israeli women in the last chapter, and they feel more developed in a few pages than most of the Arabs in the first 8 chapters. I imagine this could be because he frantically tried to cram as much experience in the refugee towns as he could in the time given. He was under pressure and too focused on details. With these two women, he was more relaxed, and they seemed to not be part of the original research plan. They just happened. Of course, this is all amateur speculation on my part.
It is still a great wok of nonfiction, and like Maus, it validates nonfiction graphic novels as serious literature.
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keep in mind this is Palestine in the 1990s, before the War on Terror. My only issue with the book, and it is an important one, is that none of the Arabs ever really develop into characters. Their stories all blend together. They all sound the same. Many ask Sacco the exact same questions. Even Sacco's character states several times when he is interviewing Palestinians that he has "heard this all before." I understand that we are to see how common the terror is and how it touches all of the Palestinians, but flat characters just don't punch you in the gut with the Kafkaesque horror of it all. With no character to hold on to, the repetition begins to dull the senses about two-thirds of the way through the book.
Ironically, he meets two Israeli women in the last chapter, and they feel more developed in a few pages than most of the Arabs in the first 8 chapters. I imagine this could be because he frantically tried to cram as much experience in the refugee towns as he could in the time given. He was under pressure and too focused on details. With these two women, he was more relaxed, and they seemed to not be part of the original research plan. They just happened. Of course, this is all amateur speculation on my part.
It is still a great wok of nonfiction, and like Maus, it validates nonfiction graphic novels as serious literature.
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LibraryThing member dutchmarbel
This book won the American Book Award in 1996 and I think that it is worth every award it gets.
“Palestine” describes the months Joe Sacco spend in the occupied territories (end of 1991, beginning of 1992).
In a rather distanced manner and without romantisizing his own role he documents what he
The combination of drawing and text is very strong and really touched me. I couldn't finish the book in one go, I really had to put it down regularly to let the events sink in. The piling on of big and litte things communicate the powerlessness very well. The personal and often funny angle makes the subjects real and alive.
A must read!
“Palestine” describes the months Joe Sacco spend in the occupied territories (end of 1991, beginning of 1992).
In a rather distanced manner and without romantisizing his own role he documents what he
Show More
did and saw, whom he spoke to, what happened. He talks to people in the resistence, civilians, farmers, victims and their family. Without drawing attention to anything special he tells their stories and describes the different POV's. Slowly you feel the distance disappear, you get commited, the feeling of watching a cartoon fades away. The combination of drawing and text is very strong and really touched me. I couldn't finish the book in one go, I really had to put it down regularly to let the events sink in. The piling on of big and litte things communicate the powerlessness very well. The personal and often funny angle makes the subjects real and alive.
A must read!
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LibraryThing member labfs39
Joe Sacco spent two months in the Occupied Territories in the winter of 1991-92 as the first intifada was winding down. He interviewed dozens of people, sometimes with a Japanese photojournalist, sometimes alone. He eventually turned his experiences and the interviews into a series of nine
The artwork is entirely in black and white, and people are portrayed with large mouths, lips, and teeth. Faces press in giving a sense of immediacy and overcrowding; closeups of boots stomping through mud or hands thrust out authoritatively jump from the page; and grimaces of every sort convey anguish and despair. Every once in a while, however, there will be a one or two page spread of a scene that is drawn with fine detail and is quite beautiful, in contrast with the heavier, bulky style of the rest.
I found Palestine to be moving in ways I didn't expect. I had to stop every few chapters to recoup from the intensity of both words and images. The combination of journalistic reporting and graphics is very powerful. The complete nine-volume series won the 1996 American Book Award, and Edward Said wrote a very insightful introduction to the compilation.
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documentary graphic works, which are compiled here into one volume. This is not a history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, nor is it a discussion of all the issues. Instead it is the story of a young journalist hoping to get a scoop and the testimonies of the people he encounters: conversations with old men at tea shops, families he is introduced to, two Jewish women in Tel Aviv, random people he shares a cab with, an American who teaches in Gaza. He talks with members of Hamas, the PLO, and Fatah, and others who are unaffiliated. It's a messy, confusing situation, and Sacco offers no pat answers or solutions.The artwork is entirely in black and white, and people are portrayed with large mouths, lips, and teeth. Faces press in giving a sense of immediacy and overcrowding; closeups of boots stomping through mud or hands thrust out authoritatively jump from the page; and grimaces of every sort convey anguish and despair. Every once in a while, however, there will be a one or two page spread of a scene that is drawn with fine detail and is quite beautiful, in contrast with the heavier, bulky style of the rest.
I found Palestine to be moving in ways I didn't expect. I had to stop every few chapters to recoup from the intensity of both words and images. The combination of journalistic reporting and graphics is very powerful. The complete nine-volume series won the 1996 American Book Award, and Edward Said wrote a very insightful introduction to the compilation.
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LibraryThing member .Monkey.
For something supposedly unbiased, Sacco is awfully forceful about those evil Israelis. This book appalled me with it's utter "woe is Palestine" attitude, completely ignoring the other side of the problem. I am loathe to touch more of his work after reading this.
LibraryThing member michellebarton
Palestine is a compilation of a comic book series chronicling the author's time spent in Israel and Palestine during the winter of 1991-1992. Sacco does a great job of listening to the many people he meets and relaying their personal stories and experiences, and his art work brings it all to life
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on the pages, especially the desolation and devastation of the Palestinian refugee camps. I find his style of comic journalism has a good balance of text with illustration. I also felt that even though the majority of this book is told from Palestinian points of view, he still provides some balance by also including some Israeli perspective, too - he talks about the massacre of Jews in Hebron as well as the damage some Jewish settlements have caused the Palestinian people. Joe Sacco is helping to provide some balance to the seeming bias of mainstream media around these issues. Show Less
LibraryThing member JapaG
Palestine is one of those books that change the way that you look at the world around you. I knew that the people in Palestine are living surrounded by the Israeli people, many of whom are hostile towards them. But before this, I had not experienced any first-hand information about the simple
Joe Sacco's style in creating comics is something that I at first did not like. He uses a LOT of text, and his drawing style is somewhat cartoonish. But once I got engrossed in his journey to the Gaza strip and other Palestinian territories, his style seemed to become more and more suitable. It is his style, and this is a very personal account.
Sacco tells about the people that he met during his journey, recounting their joys and sorrows as well as the "endless" stories about their plight in the hands of the Israelis. Mr. Sacco does not spare his subjects, one of which is himself. He tells about his selfishness in hunting good stories and subject matter, which makes the book very believable and touching.
If you have never read any comics or graphic novels, this is a good place to start.
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people in Palestine and their lives.Joe Sacco's style in creating comics is something that I at first did not like. He uses a LOT of text, and his drawing style is somewhat cartoonish. But once I got engrossed in his journey to the Gaza strip and other Palestinian territories, his style seemed to become more and more suitable. It is his style, and this is a very personal account.
Sacco tells about the people that he met during his journey, recounting their joys and sorrows as well as the "endless" stories about their plight in the hands of the Israelis. Mr. Sacco does not spare his subjects, one of which is himself. He tells about his selfishness in hunting good stories and subject matter, which makes the book very believable and touching.
If you have never read any comics or graphic novels, this is a good place to start.
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LibraryThing member mjspear
Graphic (in every sense of the word) portrayal of the plight of Palestinians in the Middle East. Hard-hitting and, ultimately, numbing in its ferocity of images, Sacco nonetheless presents an often-unheard side of the Middle East conflict.
LibraryThing member ironicqueery
Joe Sacco's Palestine presents an informative look at the Israel and Palestine conflict from the Palestinian perspective. While admitting Sacco's own motives of interviewing people to gather material for his own book, he's able to create authenticity. He clearly explains his motive is to show the
As for the story and art, it's first-rate. The graphics stick to the important details with bold strokes and firm lines that fit the conflict well. The text is genuine and to the point. Sacco tells what is important. At the end, especially, he explains the imperative to tell the Palestine story in a touching manner.
Palestine is a graphic novel anyone wanting to understand the Israel and Palestine conflict should read. It makes the story accessible and tells the story most mainstream media won't touch.
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conditions the Palestinians endure, so the material is slanted. However, as he points out, we see the Israeli perspective in most media, so it's the less told story of the Palestine people that needs to be told. As for the story and art, it's first-rate. The graphics stick to the important details with bold strokes and firm lines that fit the conflict well. The text is genuine and to the point. Sacco tells what is important. At the end, especially, he explains the imperative to tell the Palestine story in a touching manner.
Palestine is a graphic novel anyone wanting to understand the Israel and Palestine conflict should read. It makes the story accessible and tells the story most mainstream media won't touch.
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LibraryThing member Arctic-Stranger
Much like his Safe Area Gorazde, Sacco takes us into the heart of Palestine, showing us the joys and sufferings of the people who live behind the walls that separate them from the rest of the world. The graphic novel approach works very well in this case. For those who are not used to reading
Sacco has a heart for people, an ear for dialog, and eye for the world around him. This is a heartbreaking, but delightful book.
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serious "comic books" let me assure you, Sacco handles the medium well, and this is nothing like reading X-Men or Superman. Sacco has a heart for people, an ear for dialog, and eye for the world around him. This is a heartbreaking, but delightful book.
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LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
Palestine is an illustrated account of Sacco's time spent visiting Palestinians in various places, including occupied territories, hospitals, refugee camps, and prisons. Told as a series of vignettes, Sacco strings together many different stories of torture and hardship with little editorializing
That being said, once I banished the idea of this book being a work of journalism, I enjoyed it a great deal more. It may not be an unbiased presentation of all sides to a complicated issue, but it does give voice to a lot of voiceless people. I appreciate how Sacco went to places where I would never dare to tread and spoke to everyday people about what they were experiencing. For me, the passages about prisoner life were some of the most heart-wrenching and compelling parts of the book. Hearing these kinds of stories are both horrifying and illuminating - and discomforting because they force us to look at complex situations and evaluate or perhaps re-evaluate our opinions. They also force us to ask questions about what we should - or even can - do when we see such atrocities.
Like I said earlier, some of the inflammatory remarks out of the mouths of certain Palestinians could have used Sacco adding in some context afterwards, but the way he presented other moments really gave the reader pause and provided food for thought. One such vignette was an early one called "Valley of Kidron," in which some street children take Sacco on an unrequested and really unwanted tour and then demand they give him money. Afterwards, he stomps away from them angry, cursing under his breath and disbelieving everything they had said. It's a small scene and it's not referenced again, but I think it sets the reader up for the idea that Sacco is being taken for a ride, literally and sometimes figuratively, throughout the book. He is reporting what people tell him, but there's always the possibility that what they say is not true, or is not the whole truth. Another vignette was called "Law" and presented the idea that there's all kinds of morals out there and which ones should the be the ones respected? When they clash, which ones should supersede which ones? There's Islamic law (brought up because of a case involving an honor killing), Israeli law, the Geneva Convention, and U.N. resolutions all competing with one another. Sacco concludes this part by noting that the soldiers walking about everywhere are for all intensive purposes the law. The final one that really made me think was called "Women" and dealt with a very small subsection of the population concerned about women's rights in Palestine. The women Sacco interviews actually ask the questions directly and the way Sacco presents the illustrations, it's as though the reader is being addressed with these: "If we get a state, do we retreat back to the way things were, or do we change things? Will economic development be considered priority and women's issues left behind? We're attached to the national movement ... Any regression in the national movement and we're the hardest hit people ... The intifada isn't over ... But people figure, "If we lose Palestine, why worry about women?" (p. 136) As someone who cares a lot more about women's rights than politics (although of course recognizing that the two are almost inextricably combined), the questions raised explicitly and implicitly in this short part were particularly interesting and relevant. And throughout the book, other hard questions are directed at Sacco, especially the question of what help will come from his book. While it's a question aimed at the writer, it can also be interpreted as a question for the reader - you know about these atrocities now, what are you doing to do about them?
Regarding the graphic novel format for this book, I think it was a bold move and one that I would generally very much enjoy. However, Sacco's use of a very cartoonish style of illustration was off-putting for me. For starters, this is a look I am not really a fan of in most cases. For this book in particular, it felt very out of place with the serious story being told. A more gritty and realistic illustration style would be more difficult to stomach but more fitting with the subject matter.
In sum, I appreciate the book for bringing a perspective that American media does by and large ignore. But I do think it could use some more alternate viewpoints to make it more meaningful. Sacco attempts this but briefly in the final chapter when he talks to a few Israelis in his final days and hours before departing, but by that point it definitely seemed like "too little, too late." I'm not sure that I would necessarily recommend this book and I don't feel compelled to go read any more of Sacco's works, but for what it's worth, this is the one thing I've read/heard/watched on the Arab-Israeli conflict that really struck a chord, gave personality to the statistics, and made me want to learn more about this complicated issue.
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or contextualizing. This may have been an attempt to allow the reader to make his or her own judgments, but I think the book could have done with a little more commentary to balance out all the one-shot stories from Palestinians who Sacco often met only long to write down said stories. For this reason, I loathe to call what Sacco is doing here "journalism," despite his own repeated acknowledgement of his role as a journalist and the general opinion that this book represents a journalistic effort.That being said, once I banished the idea of this book being a work of journalism, I enjoyed it a great deal more. It may not be an unbiased presentation of all sides to a complicated issue, but it does give voice to a lot of voiceless people. I appreciate how Sacco went to places where I would never dare to tread and spoke to everyday people about what they were experiencing. For me, the passages about prisoner life were some of the most heart-wrenching and compelling parts of the book. Hearing these kinds of stories are both horrifying and illuminating - and discomforting because they force us to look at complex situations and evaluate or perhaps re-evaluate our opinions. They also force us to ask questions about what we should - or even can - do when we see such atrocities.
Like I said earlier, some of the inflammatory remarks out of the mouths of certain Palestinians could have used Sacco adding in some context afterwards, but the way he presented other moments really gave the reader pause and provided food for thought. One such vignette was an early one called "Valley of Kidron," in which some street children take Sacco on an unrequested and really unwanted tour and then demand they give him money. Afterwards, he stomps away from them angry, cursing under his breath and disbelieving everything they had said. It's a small scene and it's not referenced again, but I think it sets the reader up for the idea that Sacco is being taken for a ride, literally and sometimes figuratively, throughout the book. He is reporting what people tell him, but there's always the possibility that what they say is not true, or is not the whole truth. Another vignette was called "Law" and presented the idea that there's all kinds of morals out there and which ones should the be the ones respected? When they clash, which ones should supersede which ones? There's Islamic law (brought up because of a case involving an honor killing), Israeli law, the Geneva Convention, and U.N. resolutions all competing with one another. Sacco concludes this part by noting that the soldiers walking about everywhere are for all intensive purposes the law. The final one that really made me think was called "Women" and dealt with a very small subsection of the population concerned about women's rights in Palestine. The women Sacco interviews actually ask the questions directly and the way Sacco presents the illustrations, it's as though the reader is being addressed with these: "If we get a state, do we retreat back to the way things were, or do we change things? Will economic development be considered priority and women's issues left behind? We're attached to the national movement ... Any regression in the national movement and we're the hardest hit people ... The intifada isn't over ... But people figure, "If we lose Palestine, why worry about women?" (p. 136) As someone who cares a lot more about women's rights than politics (although of course recognizing that the two are almost inextricably combined), the questions raised explicitly and implicitly in this short part were particularly interesting and relevant. And throughout the book, other hard questions are directed at Sacco, especially the question of what help will come from his book. While it's a question aimed at the writer, it can also be interpreted as a question for the reader - you know about these atrocities now, what are you doing to do about them?
Regarding the graphic novel format for this book, I think it was a bold move and one that I would generally very much enjoy. However, Sacco's use of a very cartoonish style of illustration was off-putting for me. For starters, this is a look I am not really a fan of in most cases. For this book in particular, it felt very out of place with the serious story being told. A more gritty and realistic illustration style would be more difficult to stomach but more fitting with the subject matter.
In sum, I appreciate the book for bringing a perspective that American media does by and large ignore. But I do think it could use some more alternate viewpoints to make it more meaningful. Sacco attempts this but briefly in the final chapter when he talks to a few Israelis in his final days and hours before departing, but by that point it definitely seemed like "too little, too late." I'm not sure that I would necessarily recommend this book and I don't feel compelled to go read any more of Sacco's works, but for what it's worth, this is the one thing I've read/heard/watched on the Arab-Israeli conflict that really struck a chord, gave personality to the statistics, and made me want to learn more about this complicated issue.
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LibraryThing member asxz
I was a bit nervous about reading this... for the past 20 years. I needn't have been. Sacco is an honest witness even as he witnesses only one side. The stories stand up. The shocking parts are still shocking. The most depressing part of the whole thing is how little has changed in 25 years.
LibraryThing member moyshka
I was wary what I will find in this book, having been to Middle East quite a few times and studying the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I found a masterpiece. Well balanced journalism, at its best; stories that would not make it to the newspapers and if they did, without the pictures
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they would be unimaginable. After a while I found the Palestinians' cries tiring, as it happens in real life too because there is only so much one can take without becoming a little numb. The pictures are there to remind me of the reality. When he meets with the Israeli women they say all the cliches by the book. Mind you, they represent the majority, not everyone thinks (or at least speaks) like that. They are also a big reminder to take everything said with a pinch of salt, on both sides. This is not a conflict of reasonable minds. Show Less
LibraryThing member NinaCaramelita
Journalism through comics. Joe Sacco brings a far better truth than what we're being spoonfed through media for a very long time - a mush flavoured to their own taste, or whoever is influencing them.
No Matter how heartbreaking or horrifying this collection (originally 9 comics) is, I felt honored
Palestine gets honorable place on my shelf; next to graphic novels such as Footnotes in Gaza, Persepolis, Zahra's Paradise and several others!
No Matter how heartbreaking or horrifying this collection (originally 9 comics) is, I felt honored
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to be part of this journey and see Sacco grow & gain more and more confidence. It showed a lot in his artwork!Palestine gets honorable place on my shelf; next to graphic novels such as Footnotes in Gaza, Persepolis, Zahra's Paradise and several others!
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LibraryThing member SGTCat
It wasn't bad, as long as one remembers to take it for what it is: a collection of stories that are relayed to Sacco and which he then relays to us, in an attempt to convey a feeling and an atmosphere of what it's like to be a Palestinian in Gaza and the West Bank. He does a good job, towards the
A few things were off-putting in this story. One thing that really threw me was the abrupt ending and the fact that we never find out what happens to his friend that doesn't speak English and takes photos (I'm too lazy to go pick up the book again to check for his name). What happened after the bus driver asked for more directions?
Also, given the nature of the problems in Israel and Palestine, I feel like there could have been more context and more back-and-forth between the conflicting views of what's going on there. The collection of stories here are meant to have an emotional impact. It's meant to be in-your-face. That's fine. But most people never look beyond the emotional impact and will come away from this graphic novel feeling like they have a deep understanding of the whole conflict, despite Sacco's in-text commentary that he intentionally did not include the Israeli narrative, because he's heard it all so many times before. What about readers that haven't?
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end of the collection, of emphasizing how boring and run-of-the-mill the horrendous can become when constantly exposed to it, through his narrative text expressing his need to keep a schedule. "A complete tragedy in 20 minutes!"A few things were off-putting in this story. One thing that really threw me was the abrupt ending and the fact that we never find out what happens to his friend that doesn't speak English and takes photos (I'm too lazy to go pick up the book again to check for his name). What happened after the bus driver asked for more directions?
Also, given the nature of the problems in Israel and Palestine, I feel like there could have been more context and more back-and-forth between the conflicting views of what's going on there. The collection of stories here are meant to have an emotional impact. It's meant to be in-your-face. That's fine. But most people never look beyond the emotional impact and will come away from this graphic novel feeling like they have a deep understanding of the whole conflict, despite Sacco's in-text commentary that he intentionally did not include the Israeli narrative, because he's heard it all so many times before. What about readers that haven't?
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LibraryThing member DarthDeverell
Joe Sacco’s Palestine draws upon the cartoonist’s experiences in Israeli-occupied Palestine near the end of the first Intifada in the early 1990s. Drawing upon both his background in journalism and years of work as a comics creator and commentator, Sacco works to capture the complexity of
Sacco’s artistic style resembles many of the underground comix artists of the 1960s – 1990s, in particular Robert Crumb, Gary Dumm, Greg Budgett, and Brian Bram. His caricatures of faces successfully capture the emotions of his interview subjects, ranging from suspicion to grief, anger to fatigue, joy to malaise. In addition to focusing on facial emotions, Sacco brings to vivid life the physical conditions of the refugee camps, bombed-out cities, and demolished villages. He represents both the scale of the destruction in large splash-pages and the way people try to eke out some comfort amid the deprivations of soldiers and the weather in tighter panels. His use of black-and-white linework ensures that Tel Aviv’s comparative cleanliness and sleek architecture stand out all the more in juxtaposition to the Palestinian refugee camps when he visits Israel at the end of the graphic novel.
Sacco refers to Edward Said’s “The Question of Palestine” as “one of the reasons” he traveled to Palestine (pg. 177) and, in a nice connection, Said later wrote an introduction for this complete graphic novel edition. This edition collects all nine issues that Sacco originally published individually.
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Palestine and the varying viewpoints among the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, deliberately commenting on himself as an outsider as he seeks to expand the American understanding of the events currently occurring in those regions. He not only endeavors to relay the different personal narratives and opinions that people share with him, but shows how his own presence can affect events, either by drawing suspicion or experiencing roadblocks, skirmishes in the streets, funerals and weddings. Sacco uses his work to show how the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza are a form of modern-day colonialism. While some Israelis encourage him to do similar research in their region, he points out that the Israeli narrative dominates the discourse in the West and his goal with the project was to learn about the Palestinian perspective. Sacco concludes, “That’s the thing about coming to the Holy Land or Palestine or Israel or whatever you want to call it… no one who knows what he’s come here looking for leaves without having found it” (pg. 280).Sacco’s artistic style resembles many of the underground comix artists of the 1960s – 1990s, in particular Robert Crumb, Gary Dumm, Greg Budgett, and Brian Bram. His caricatures of faces successfully capture the emotions of his interview subjects, ranging from suspicion to grief, anger to fatigue, joy to malaise. In addition to focusing on facial emotions, Sacco brings to vivid life the physical conditions of the refugee camps, bombed-out cities, and demolished villages. He represents both the scale of the destruction in large splash-pages and the way people try to eke out some comfort amid the deprivations of soldiers and the weather in tighter panels. His use of black-and-white linework ensures that Tel Aviv’s comparative cleanliness and sleek architecture stand out all the more in juxtaposition to the Palestinian refugee camps when he visits Israel at the end of the graphic novel.
Sacco refers to Edward Said’s “The Question of Palestine” as “one of the reasons” he traveled to Palestine (pg. 177) and, in a nice connection, Said later wrote an introduction for this complete graphic novel edition. This edition collects all nine issues that Sacco originally published individually.
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LibraryThing member klburnside
In this graphic novel, Joe Sacco recounts the time he spent in Palestine in the early 1990s. He traveled to the area because he felt that journalists were doing a poor job portraying the Palestinian side of the conflict and he wanted to hear their side of the story. In the novel he depicts horrific
I didn't like the illustrations at all. In the introduction to the book, Sacco says that a number of critics have not been happy the way he draws people, that they are too "cartoony" or something of the sort. Maybe that was it, but I just felt like the illustrations made the people not seem like real people, even though they all are real people. (Wow, that is quite a sentence.) Anyway, I didn't feel connected to anything going on the the book, and even though it dealt with a pretty horrible subject matter, I wasn't all that empathetic.
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stories of imprisonment and the injustices suffered by the Palestinian people. I suppose it is a valuable piece of journalism, but I didn't like it very much. I didn't like the illustrations at all. In the introduction to the book, Sacco says that a number of critics have not been happy the way he draws people, that they are too "cartoony" or something of the sort. Maybe that was it, but I just felt like the illustrations made the people not seem like real people, even though they all are real people. (Wow, that is quite a sentence.) Anyway, I didn't feel connected to anything going on the the book, and even though it dealt with a pretty horrible subject matter, I wasn't all that empathetic.
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LibraryThing member Sense
I never imagined that comics would be such a perfect medium to tell the truth about the Israeli Occupation of Palestine. Joe Sacco has a talent in both journalism and illustrating a comic story. Just look at the emotions conveyed through the eyes of the Palestinians he draws. Growing surrounded by
Truth has never been presented this beautifully.
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Palestinians, I say his stories are nothing short of real. Truth has never been presented this beautifully.
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LibraryThing member AnupGampa
Breathtakingly detailed art work with wit, heart and soul.
Subjects
Awards
American Book Award (1996)
CLMP Firecracker Award (Graphic Novel — 2002)
Language
Original publication date
2001
Physical description
23 cm
ISBN
156097432X / 9781560974321