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rosielockieeverson's review against another edition
5.0
This is a successful blend of travelogue and history. The narrator isn't always the most sympathetic, but her experience is a useful lens through which to view the contradictions of this region and her own personal reckoning with the past and her identity. This book had a richer illustration style compared to Glidden's other graphic novel, "Rolling Blackouts."
ellstar's review against another edition
4.0
A fantastically affecting diary of a Birthright trip gone terribly...right? Sarah Glidden is torn between what she thinks she knows about Israel and the reality of a place so torn to history and the effect it has on the present. Searing at times and really touching at others, I loved this book.
lukeisthename34's review against another edition
4.0
A really well done narrative about the underlying confusion so many of us have when it comes to Israel. I thoroughly enjoyed the perspective of Sarah and the notions she brought with her. Some were confirmed, some questioned and she was clearly changed. After reading it I really want to visit Israel and understand the conflict more. The most telling part of the entire story was the portion where she listens to the family members on both sides, who have lost someone. 'The media needs this war to keep going.'
barrettcmyk's review against another edition
3.0
alright, so basic run down -- an American woman takes her birthright trip to Israel, armed with research about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and no small amount of sympathy for the Palestinians. she travels hoping to make a little more sense of the region.
yes, as other commenters point out, the author does come off as a bit of a self-righteous, privileged American sometimes. but that's the whole point -- the author full on acknowledges that she sympathizes with the Palestinians, but feels conflicted when she gets to Israel and meets people who throw her preconceived notions out the window. i think that's kind of the beauty of it. it's one person's inner struggle with the outer conflict. it's not supposed to be some sort of diplomatic ideal.
from the perspective of a graphic memoir, it's easy to follow, and the illustrations add to the narrative. kind of makes me wish all my own travel diaries were so detailed and lovingly rendered. from the perspective of a primer on Israel... well, it gave me a bit better understanding of the region. is it biased? maybe. but then again, i'm not Jewish or Arab in any way-shape-or-form, so make of that what you will.
helpful note, especially to those not familiar with Israel in general and Yiddish in particular: there's a glossary of key terms and events in the back of the book (which, as usual, i didn't find until halfway though).
yes, as other commenters point out, the author does come off as a bit of a self-righteous, privileged American sometimes. but that's the whole point -- the author full on acknowledges that she sympathizes with the Palestinians, but feels conflicted when she gets to Israel and meets people who throw her preconceived notions out the window. i think that's kind of the beauty of it. it's one person's inner struggle with the outer conflict. it's not supposed to be some sort of diplomatic ideal.
from the perspective of a graphic memoir, it's easy to follow, and the illustrations add to the narrative. kind of makes me wish all my own travel diaries were so detailed and lovingly rendered. from the perspective of a primer on Israel... well, it gave me a bit better understanding of the region. is it biased? maybe. but then again, i'm not Jewish or Arab in any way-shape-or-form, so make of that what you will.
helpful note, especially to those not familiar with Israel in general and Yiddish in particular: there's a glossary of key terms and events in the back of the book (which, as usual, i didn't find until halfway though).
kazuya's review against another edition
5.0
Of course you cannot understand Israel in 60 days or less. If you were going to attack the 'falsity' of the title, you probably need to review your ability of seeing implicaitons.
The book doesn't solve any problem. The author didn't find any answers. Maybe some clues, but far away from the solution she was longing for.
And it doesn't give any conclusion. The reader is left hanging in the air, sort of. And I really love that. Yeah I know some people don't like this sort of suspension, it's just unfortunate for them not to enjoy it.
What modern liberal Jews think has been one of my bigger questions. How do they reconcile their seemingly incoherent agenda? What do they think about their identity? Again, no answers here and there won't be a single definitive answer. But at least from this intriguing work I've got tiny clues to start with.
The book doesn't solve any problem. The author didn't find any answers. Maybe some clues, but far away from the solution she was longing for.
And it doesn't give any conclusion. The reader is left hanging in the air, sort of. And I really love that. Yeah I know some people don't like this sort of suspension, it's just unfortunate for them not to enjoy it.
What modern liberal Jews think has been one of my bigger questions. How do they reconcile their seemingly incoherent agenda? What do they think about their identity? Again, no answers here and there won't be a single definitive answer. But at least from this intriguing work I've got tiny clues to start with.
kate_in_a_book's review against another edition
4.0
Despite the grandiose title, this is the account of a small, albeit important, step in one person’s attempt to understand the complex situation surrounding Israel and Palestine. Told in comic-book style, it combines journalism and memoir to great effect.
Sarah Glidden is a “cultural Jew”. Raised in America by largely non-religious parents, her own politics being liberal and left-leaning, she has always tended to side against Israel, feeling it to be the political “bad guy”. A combination of a wish to understand, a hope to be proven right and the promise of a free holiday encourage her to sign up for a Birthright Tour. These trips, funded by the Israeli government and private sponsors, are open to Jews from around the world to show them the country that they can choose to move to if they so wish.
Sarah travels with her friend Melissa, another cultural Jew who is more earnest than Sarah in her attempts to learn about Israel without pre-judgement. Melissa’s upbringing was even more secular than Sarah’s, so Judaism itself is strange to her, but she is eager to learn and often frustrated by Sarah’s one-track mind: to every experience, every talk, Sarah asks “but what about the Arabs?”.
- See my full review: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2015/12/22/who-am-i-to-judge-someone-elses-holy-site/
Sarah Glidden is a “cultural Jew”. Raised in America by largely non-religious parents, her own politics being liberal and left-leaning, she has always tended to side against Israel, feeling it to be the political “bad guy”. A combination of a wish to understand, a hope to be proven right and the promise of a free holiday encourage her to sign up for a Birthright Tour. These trips, funded by the Israeli government and private sponsors, are open to Jews from around the world to show them the country that they can choose to move to if they so wish.
Sarah travels with her friend Melissa, another cultural Jew who is more earnest than Sarah in her attempts to learn about Israel without pre-judgement. Melissa’s upbringing was even more secular than Sarah’s, so Judaism itself is strange to her, but she is eager to learn and often frustrated by Sarah’s one-track mind: to every experience, every talk, Sarah asks “but what about the Arabs?”.
- See my full review: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2015/12/22/who-am-i-to-judge-someone-elses-holy-site/
abbeyjfox's review against another edition
4.0
I appreciated the history of the nation-state, the deep personal struggle with her own connection to Israel as I leftist American Jewish woman, and the critical lens of birthright trips.
I would bump it up to five stars if she would have visited Palestine. But...she didn't. However, the goal here was her own personal travelogue to Israel, though, which makes it a valuable text for those reading up on the conflict.
I would bump it up to five stars if she would have visited Palestine. But...she didn't. However, the goal here was her own personal travelogue to Israel, though, which makes it a valuable text for those reading up on the conflict.
jlconnery's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
rjlee89's review against another edition
4.0
Since I don't know much about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, other than snippets that I heard in the news, particularly when I was growing up, this was a refreshing read since it follows the author through her birthright trip to Israel and questioning some of the things she learned as well as her biases. She comes in thinking that the birthright trip is going to brainwash her to be pro-Israel vs. pro-Palestine, but she struggles even with the idea of pro-peace as she learns so many different aspects of the war and conflict in the region. It was an intriguing read and reiterates that everyone has a story, a struggle, painful past and present, but it's hard to know what to do with that. I liked how there was a Rabbi at the end of her trip that talks about how as a religious Jew, he is does not obtain spirituality and closeness to God by following a checklist of rules and then, boom, done. If he is a doctor and sees a Palestinian Arab who is sick, he should still treat that person since we are all part of the "human condition". Personally, completely agree, and this happens in Christianity too (where it becomes all about following rules, instead of a relationship with Jesus that pours out into loving/helping/caring/being compassionate toward other people like me and NOT like me). At the same time, it's this feeling of and what now, especially since this graphic memoir took place nearly a decade ago. And now what? :T