Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
Unlike anything I've read and constructed in a really unique way. An interesting subject, but ultimately one I couldn't relate to tremendously.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Very impressive exploration and understanding of a girl discovering her family from Germany.
Thoughtful, poetic, artistic
Thoughtful, poetic, artistic
Creative layout and format that I found quite interesting. The local research and family history was complicated, conflicted, and thoughtful. I highly recommend this book.
Läs min recension på bloggen: https://www.fiktiviteter.se/2020/02/11/heimat-av-nora-krug/
In Belonging, German-American woman Nora Krug shares an unflinchingly honest family history as she grapples with the meaning of "homeland" and "belonging" when you grew up knowing your grandparents and those of all your friends may have played a direct role in devastating atrocities. Raised to be ashamed of being German, Krug does not try to whitewash the past or excuse her relatives - she unequivocally condemns the Holocaust and repeatedly inserts reminders in the text so its events are never lost among family stories. Instead asks difficult questions about the veracity of family stories and fragmented memories, acknowledges her complicated feelings, attempts to humanize the individuals and illuminate the communities they lived in, including those communities' long history of anti-Semitism. It's a powerful book and gorgeously illustrated, combining more conventional comic book-style panels with word art, colorized photos and collages of historical artifacts. It's clear an immense amount of research and effort went into this book and it feels very much like a magnum opus.
Belonging quickly vaulted into my top 5 list for graphic novels because of how skillfully it is crafted, how beautifully it's illustrated, and how much it demands of readers. I would say it's a must-read, with one big qualification - if I were a Jewish reader I don't know that it'd be helpful to read Krug grappling with her German guilt. I don't think any reader will leave this book feeling comforted, per se, but it's less problematic and less potentially triggering when you come to it as a reader who has not suffered the oppression it discusses.
Belonging quickly vaulted into my top 5 list for graphic novels because of how skillfully it is crafted, how beautifully it's illustrated, and how much it demands of readers. I would say it's a must-read, with one big qualification - if I were a Jewish reader I don't know that it'd be helpful to read Krug grappling with her German guilt. I don't think any reader will leave this book feeling comforted, per se, but it's less problematic and less potentially triggering when you come to it as a reader who has not suffered the oppression it discusses.
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Very interesting. Occasionally felt a bit disjointed, but that could possibly have been an intentional choice by the author, I'm not sure.
A beautifully written memoir dealing with the struggle of growing up as a second generation German post WW2; outlining Krug's struggle to identify as a German national whilst fighting her own inherited guilt at the events of the Holocaust. A quick and moving read, enlightening to a different mentality and culture, Krug draws you into her search for answers that are lost in time; highlighted elegantly in a format reminiscent of a family scrapbook.