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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
Heimat is zowel een sterk staaltje onderzoeksjournalistiek als een origineel familieplakboek, waarin de in de VS verblijvende auteur Nora Krug haar Duitse roots tegen het licht houdt. In de hoop zichzelf te verzoenen met haar heimat, en de schaamte rondom het Duits-zijn eindelijk van zich af te schudden, begint ze te graven in het oorlogsverleden van haar grootvader langs moeders kant en haar oom langs vaders kant.
Deze zoektocht naar Krugs wortels is prachtig vormgegeven. Verschillende visuele elementen wisselen elkaar af (fotocollages, officiële documenten, prachtige tekeningen, klassieke kleine stripverhaaltjes), maar alles wordt wel mooi gestructureerd door elke tak van de familie zijn eigen kleurenpalet te geven. De gebetenheid van Krug spat van de pagina’s af, waardoor je uiteindelijk als lezer ook zelf bijzonder benieuwd raakt naar hoe de vork nu écht in de steel zat voor haar familie. Waren haar opa en oom fervente aanhangers van het nazisme, of was de waarheid genuanceerder dan dat?
Deze zoektocht naar Krugs wortels is prachtig vormgegeven. Verschillende visuele elementen wisselen elkaar af (fotocollages, officiële documenten, prachtige tekeningen, klassieke kleine stripverhaaltjes), maar alles wordt wel mooi gestructureerd door elke tak van de familie zijn eigen kleurenpalet te geven. De gebetenheid van Krug spat van de pagina’s af, waardoor je uiteindelijk als lezer ook zelf bijzonder benieuwd raakt naar hoe de vork nu écht in de steel zat voor haar familie. Waren haar opa en oom fervente aanhangers van het nazisme, of was de waarheid genuanceerder dan dat?
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
After having read countless stories of WWII and the German complicity, I had always wondered how
they reconciled their nation's past.
Although Krug didn't live through the war, her grandparents did and although the family never spoke of the war years, generational trauma seemed to have been passed down. Krug documents her attempts to make sense of 20th-century history, the Holocaust, her German heritage, and her family's place in it all, and what home and belonging meant to her. Krug was brave to write this book, as she highlighted something rarely written about. Krug's book is a journey through family history à la PBS's tv show Who Do You Think You Are?
The combination of illustrations, scrapbooking, and collage all came together beautifully in this book.
they reconciled their nation's past.
Although Krug didn't live through the war, her grandparents did and although the family never spoke of the war years, generational trauma seemed to have been passed down. Krug documents her attempts to make sense of 20th-century history, the Holocaust, her German heritage, and her family's place in it all, and what home and belonging meant to her. Krug was brave to write this book, as she highlighted something rarely written about. Krug's book is a journey through family history à la PBS's tv show Who Do You Think You Are?
The combination of illustrations, scrapbooking, and collage all came together beautifully in this book.
3.5+. A sprawling graphic memoir that asks central questions about identity, home, and belonging when a history is shameful. This is essentially Nora’s exploration of her ancestry in a quest to paint a full picture of her German family. It also asks questions about how to instill pride and belonging when the history of a nation is deeply shameful. Some ancestral stories were more gripping than others and Nora uses artifacts as powerful illustrations throughout. However, given its length, I think she could have really done more to explore the questions and themes her historical research was producing. I was left fairly cold by the end. All that said, this was an interesting topic and one I’m currently pondering myself.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
This is a graphic novel.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Excellent graphic novel on family history and the messiness of life and history.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced