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lisalikesdogs's review against another edition
3.0
Very interesting for sure and well designed. Makes me excited for Berlin but also gives a good story to some of the history of the city.
hyebitshines's review against another edition
2.0
With comics and graphic novels, I always start and end in the art: the soft, color pencil drawings and bursting flow of the layout was unconventional for me and created a warn ambience despite the serious subject matter.
The execution of the story though wasn't there. The older Katin constantly yells about how she doesn't like Berlin and while I understand there is the underlying stubbornness, trauma, and pain of her past, it became tiring. A lot of the dialogue and words just passed through without realization and much of this read was a rambling, perhaps too candid (the diarrhea, the itch, the bad clarinet playing) depiction of the process of letting go. There was this disconnect between the story and me, the reader (who admits to be hugely inadequate in herself too).
The execution of the story though wasn't there. The older Katin constantly yells about how she doesn't like Berlin and while I understand there is the underlying stubbornness, trauma, and pain of her past, it became tiring. A lot of the dialogue and words just passed through without realization and much of this read was a rambling, perhaps too candid (the diarrhea, the itch, the bad clarinet playing) depiction of the process of letting go. There was this disconnect between the story and me, the reader (who admits to be hugely inadequate in herself too).
in2reading's review against another edition
4.0
Candid, earthy graphic novel recounting the author's difficulties in coming to terms with her son's move to Berlin - a city that to her represents the pain of her childhood when she escaped the Nazis with her mother. The story and artwork are both very affecting. I'll be reading her first graphic novel (We Are On Our Own, published in 2006 when she was 63) about her childhood experiences as soon as I can get my hands on it.
shelleyanderson4127's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
The art work in this graphic memoir is lovely and very skilled. The story is disappointing, especially compared to Katin's We Are On Our Own. The narrative is too disjoined and scattered.
Katin, a Holocaust survivor, now New Yorker, is an accomplished graphic designer who worked for both Disney and MTV. In this work her adult American son decides he wants to become a Hungarian national, in order to settle legally in Berlin.
Katin had left her native Hungary after World War II and loved to Israel. Her associations with both Hungary and Germany were understandably problematic, and she struggles with her son's decision.
This struggle loses its emotional intensity for the reader because of its lack of focus. There are too many sub-plots and ideas to have any cohesion, and the narration suffers for this. It's a damn shame because Katin obviously can make a deeply impactful memoir, given her debut graphic novel. It was still an interesting read but it could have been so much more with better editing.
Katin, a Holocaust survivor, now New Yorker, is an accomplished graphic designer who worked for both Disney and MTV. In this work her adult American son decides he wants to become a Hungarian national, in order to settle legally in Berlin.
Katin had left her native Hungary after World War II and loved to Israel. Her associations with both Hungary and Germany were understandably problematic, and she struggles with her son's decision.
This struggle loses its emotional intensity for the reader because of its lack of focus. There are too many sub-plots and ideas to have any cohesion, and the narration suffers for this. It's a damn shame because Katin obviously can make a deeply impactful memoir, given her debut graphic novel. It was still an interesting read but it could have been so much more with better editing.
wordnerdy's review against another edition
4.0
I always maintain that Katin's We Are On Our Own is totally underrated, mainly b/c it's not as well-known as Maus is, b/c how many Holocaust graphic novels do people want to read, anyway? Her latest memoir deals with her complicated emotions about her son wanting to move to Berlin, when she still hates the Germans so much. (Plus, I know the story took place a couple years ago, but getting Hungarian citizenship just seems like a bad idea--they're so anti-Semitic these days!) Anyway, gorgeous gorgeous art, and kind of a cathartic read.
rachelmcshane's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this book. I really did. I wanted it to be beautiful and deep and make me cry my eyes out. It seemed so promising, but man, did it fall short. The plot was so scattered, none of it seemed to come together for me. I kept waiting for the story to get emotional and deep at some point, and it just didn’t. There was about two pages towards the end where it talked about “coming to terms with the past,” but it was just glossed over and never really addressed again. And then the strange ending...I don’t know, man. The illustrations were really nice, though. I just wish the story could have been just as good.
pilesandpiles's review against another edition
Loved the colored pencil style and old lady pride. Everything else not so much.