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geekwayne's review against another edition
5.0
'A Bunch of Jews (and other stuff)' by Trina Robbins is an adaptation of a book her father wrote in Yiddish in the 1930s called A Minyen Yidn.
An introduction by Robbins talks about how the book was found by her daughter. It is translated here in English and illustrated into graphic novel form by a series of artists including Ken and Joan Steacy, Jen Vaughn, Steve Lealoah, Anne Timmons and others.
Many of the stories are about a shtetl in what is Belarus called Duboy. The stories are about stern rabbis, devoted dogs and everyday life. There is food as women bake matzos and a young boy yearns for a chance to eat something called kotletn (the recipe is included after the story for those curious to know what it is).
The book finishes with a short Yiddish glossary and artist bios for all the creators. I really enjoyed reading this book adapted from another time and place.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Bedside Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
An introduction by Robbins talks about how the book was found by her daughter. It is translated here in English and illustrated into graphic novel form by a series of artists including Ken and Joan Steacy, Jen Vaughn, Steve Lealoah, Anne Timmons and others.
Many of the stories are about a shtetl in what is Belarus called Duboy. The stories are about stern rabbis, devoted dogs and everyday life. There is food as women bake matzos and a young boy yearns for a chance to eat something called kotletn (the recipe is included after the story for those curious to know what it is).
The book finishes with a short Yiddish glossary and artist bios for all the creators. I really enjoyed reading this book adapted from another time and place.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Bedside Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
ljrinaldi's review against another edition
4.0
If you are only familiar with Sholom Aleichem and Fiddler on the Roof, this might be a good book to expand your horizons on. This book was originally written in Yiddish, by the father of Trina Robbins, of Underground Comic and Wonder Woman fame. As she said in the introduction, when her father wrote this, she wanted nothing to do with the book, Yiddish was old-fashioned, and she wanted nothing to do with that world.
Than, years later, she not only embraced the book, got it translated, and heald a fundraising to get illustrators to bring the stories to life.
Some stories are better than others, but all have an old worldly sense of time and place, though a few do take place in the New World (New York).
A good addition to any library, be it personal or public, for people who want to hear the stories of a world long gone.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest reveiw.
Than, years later, she not only embraced the book, got it translated, and heald a fundraising to get illustrators to bring the stories to life.
Some stories are better than others, but all have an old worldly sense of time and place, though a few do take place in the New World (New York).
A good addition to any library, be it personal or public, for people who want to hear the stories of a world long gone.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest reveiw.
rivqa's review against another edition
4.0
This short book beautifully illustrates and translates a short story collection originally written in Yiddish by the author's father. The comic artists have perfectly matched the quaint and sometimes heartbreaking sense of humour of the original text. Delightful work.
panichistory's review
4.0
The story of Feydo almost made me cry!
I admit I didn't "get" all of these stories, I think they are very specific to Eastern European Ashkenazi Jewish culture/mindsets, which is not a problem, and they are definitely stories worth telling, but I think I need to expand my knowledge of 19th/early 20th century Jewish culture to fully understand and appreciate the stories. I am definitely not the target audience for this book, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
The artwork is great, and I really feel like each artist's style relates well to the story they're telling. Everything seems to fit quite nicely in terms of tone and whatnot.
The brief history (2 pages I believe) at the beginning of the book is also very interesting to me. It tells of the author's father's original book, the cultural context in which he wrote it, and the author's journey from being ashamed of her father's perceived "foreignness" to wanting to learn more and setting out to track down copies of his book, both originals and reprints, with the help of her daughter. As a recent student of history I am always interested in seeing peoples' journeys into trying to distance themselves from their own history or trying to embrace it, and often the transition from one to the other.
Overall this is a very interesting collection that acts as a snapshot into Jewish history.
I admit I didn't "get" all of these stories, I think they are very specific to Eastern European Ashkenazi Jewish culture/mindsets, which is not a problem, and they are definitely stories worth telling, but I think I need to expand my knowledge of 19th/early 20th century Jewish culture to fully understand and appreciate the stories. I am definitely not the target audience for this book, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
The artwork is great, and I really feel like each artist's style relates well to the story they're telling. Everything seems to fit quite nicely in terms of tone and whatnot.
The brief history (2 pages I believe) at the beginning of the book is also very interesting to me. It tells of the author's father's original book, the cultural context in which he wrote it, and the author's journey from being ashamed of her father's perceived "foreignness" to wanting to learn more and setting out to track down copies of his book, both originals and reprints, with the help of her daughter. As a recent student of history I am always interested in seeing peoples' journeys into trying to distance themselves from their own history or trying to embrace it, and often the transition from one to the other.
Overall this is a very interesting collection that acts as a snapshot into Jewish history.
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