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katnortonwriter's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Slow and information-dense, but as always I love that Joe Sacco records without a clear thesis. I feel like this will be a tough book for people who haven't already tried to engage with questions/reflections about land rights, generational trauma, and system disenfranchisement. And I mean that statement broadly, because Sacco really gets into the nitty gritty or land rights and communal decision-making. What benefits communities, and what harms them? It would be easy to make broad statements, but Paying the Land provides nuanced insight into how complex that question really is.
I don't know if this is Sacco's style changing, or his narrative voice shifting as he gets older, but there are only a few instances of self-reflection in this work, as compared to pieces like "Footnotes in Gaza." While he never comes to a conclusion about that would be best for the future of communities in the bush--in part because it would be wildly presumptuous of him to do so--he has some pointed comments for his white readers at the end.
Definitely worth a read, both as a record of the communities he visited on his trip, and as food for thought for those of us whose actions and lifestyles are part of a larger interconnected system.
I don't know if this is Sacco's style changing, or his narrative voice shifting as he gets older, but there are only a few instances of self-reflection in this work, as compared to pieces like "Footnotes in Gaza." While he never comes to a conclusion about that would be best for the future of communities in the bush--in part because it would be wildly presumptuous of him to do so--he has some pointed comments for his white readers at the end.
Definitely worth a read, both as a record of the communities he visited on his trip, and as food for thought for those of us whose actions and lifestyles are part of a larger interconnected system.
geekwayne's review
4.0
'Paying the Land' with words and art by Joe Sacco is a nonfiction account ot the Dene of the Mackenzie River Valley in Canada.
There are multiple narrators in the book and multiple subjects. The author interviews many Dene about mining, governance, residential school, and alcoholism. All while the people struggle not to lose their heritage. There are lots of problems and solutions are hard.
This book is primarily comprised of interviews. In other hands, this might have been a very tedious read, but Joe Sacco is a master of the non-fiction graphic novel. His page layouts make the conversations flow with interest and content. I found it to be a very moving read, and I feel like the subject matter is treated fairly.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
There are multiple narrators in the book and multiple subjects. The author interviews many Dene about mining, governance, residential school, and alcoholism. All while the people struggle not to lose their heritage. There are lots of problems and solutions are hard.
This book is primarily comprised of interviews. In other hands, this might have been a very tedious read, but Joe Sacco is a master of the non-fiction graphic novel. His page layouts make the conversations flow with interest and content. I found it to be a very moving read, and I feel like the subject matter is treated fairly.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
poorlywordedbookreviews's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
βππ΄ π΅π©π¦π³π¦ π³π¦π’πππΊ π΄πΆπ€π© π’ π΅π©πͺπ―π¨ π’π΄ π΅π©π¦ π£π¦π΄π΅ π°π§ π£π°π΅π© πΈπ°π³ππ₯π΄?β
Still working my way through Saccoβs works, and still really appreciating his graphic illustration take on journalistic essaying. Here heβs exploring the complicated realties facing the indigenous Dene in Canadaβs North West Territories as they battle to save their culture and assert greater independence. The legacy of colonialism looms large, and its inter-generational legacy is illustrated well - just stopping some of the worse offences doesnβt resolve the impact. But how do you embrace the positives modern Canada can bring, without the negatives when the two are so entwined? When capitalism is so insidious? When Canada is a petro-state? When isolation is now a fiction, as human driven climate change impacts land never stepped upon?
I much preferred his slightly evolved drawing style her too, a little less cartoonish than Palestine.
laverna's review against another edition
dark
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse
Minor: Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Incest
adudemaybe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
thisisstephenbetts's review
Interesting, but I wanted to like this more than I did.
lakecryptid's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Colonisation, and Racism
Minor: Police brutality, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia
pink_distro's review
4.0
this was so good. joe sacco's unique genre of graphic journalism likee amazed me with his book Palestine so glad i could read this too. he relays the stories of many Dene indigenous people in the northwest territories of canada as they navigate the various contradictions and horrid choices put forth by colonialism. there are beautiful illustrations of the land and people's family histories, and really heart-wrenching explorations into the brutality of residential schools and how it's felt across generations. he generally avoids boxing people or situations into some big narratives or binaries, instead just giving people space to be their complex selves.
paradisecreated's review
4.5
A deeply empathetic and thorough telling of Dene experience *from colonisation* onwards. I appreciated how much it was just the words of the people, even and especially when their perspectives differed widely, and how there was still so much space given to sharing what life had been like for them pre colonial intrusion.
Saccoβs line about a (white) people who take from the land without prayer or ceremony, and pay it back with arsenic, in contrast to Eugene Boulanger sharing his experience with the caribou and feeling in the thread of his ancestors, is going to sit with me for a long, long time.
Saccoβs line about a (white) people who take from the land without prayer or ceremony, and pay it back with arsenic, in contrast to Eugene Boulanger sharing his experience with the caribou and feeling in the thread of his ancestors, is going to sit with me for a long, long time.
giduso's review against another edition
5.0
Ad un certo punto, uno dei personaggi intervistati dice all'autore: "Questa storia non Γ© roba da fumetti. Γ una cosa seria". Quasi per smentirlo, Joe Sacco crea con questo volume un reportage profondo e ricco, raccontando i tanti aspetti di un popolo e di un territorio che ha subito e subisce ancora tanto. Il disegno Γ© come al solito preciso e dettagliato, mentre le pagine ci parlano di vicende personali, storie di colonialismo, vicende di abusi e molto altro. Un vero esempio di giornalismo a fumetti.