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amaniesami's review against another edition
1.0
How to understand Israel? Talk to actual Palestinians.
late_stranger's review against another edition
3.0
I read this on a fairly old recommendation and I'm not sorry I did, but I think it would have been more useful to me at the time of the recommendation (I think like 2 or 3 years ago) rather than now, as my own understanding of and positions on Israel have evolved. Glidden does not arrive at any pat answers, which is both definitely the right thing and also a little unsatisfying as the end of a book. But she does do a decent job of complexifying the situation from the perspective of an American progressive, which is a perpetually useful endeavor. I almost wish she had extended the narrative and talked more about how her experience returning to the US and her political community was, although I understand why she didn't.
florapants84's review against another edition
3.0
"In Israel, every person is a soldier, it's true. But every soldier is a person. And maybe we make mistakes. And maybe we do things you don't like, but we love this country. It has problems, yes, but we want to solve them."–Tour Guide at Independence Hall, Tel Aviv
This was an interesting travelogue and graphic memoir. Israel is a subject that has always baffled me. I just don't get it all. There are so many components to why it is in the state that it's in today. Glidden decides to take a "Birthright Israel" tour of Israel to learn about her roots and where she stands on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. She's determined not to come home a convert to Zionism, and throughout this book we are subjected to her inner struggle to accept that each side of the conflict has its points. It's not black and white. This very thing grated on my nerves eventually. This is a slim but dense comic. It tackles some tough subjects, but I didn't emerge with a full sense of understanding. Debating whether to pick up her sequel: [b:Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria and Iraq|28116811|Rolling Blackouts Dispatches from Turkey, Syria and Iraq|Sarah Glidden|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453685234s/28116811.jpg|48126474]. Hmm...
This was an interesting travelogue and graphic memoir. Israel is a subject that has always baffled me. I just don't get it all. There are so many components to why it is in the state that it's in today. Glidden decides to take a "Birthright Israel" tour of Israel to learn about her roots and where she stands on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. She's determined not to come home a convert to Zionism, and throughout this book we are subjected to her inner struggle to accept that each side of the conflict has its points. It's not black and white. This very thing grated on my nerves eventually. This is a slim but dense comic. It tackles some tough subjects, but I didn't emerge with a full sense of understanding. Debating whether to pick up her sequel: [b:Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria and Iraq|28116811|Rolling Blackouts Dispatches from Turkey, Syria and Iraq|Sarah Glidden|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453685234s/28116811.jpg|48126474]. Hmm...
elllie's review against another edition
4.0
Great look at the Israeli-Palestinian situation. I kind of wanted more background information before diving into the story and definitely some things could have been explained better, but overall, nice job.
elhiwe's review against another edition
4.0
Emotional, thought-provoking account of a young woman wrestling with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and her own identity as a liberal Jewish American. It was quite dense for a graphic novel, making it a heavy read.
nshemezis's review against another edition
3.0
sooo much information but i have a lot of new knowledge in my brain now!
maiakobabe's review against another edition
5.0
A thoughtful and personal take on the question of Israel and its history, its relation to Jewish identity, and its conflicts with neighboring countries. Published in 2010, this book chronicles author Sarah Glidden's birthright tour and a few days afterwards in which she travels alone. Sarah is determined to travel with a journalist's objectivity. She is constantly evaluating the information she receives from tour guides: does it seem biased? Is it incomplete? Are they using neutral language, especially when touching on international matters? Yet it's impossible to maintain this stance indefinitely. Slowly Sarah is overcome but the shear beauty of the country around her, from city to desert. Conversations with her fellow birthright travelers reveal a wide range of different motives for the trip: one friend has never before left the US; two people she speaks with are converts; another traveler is interested only in the nightclubs and souvenirs. Sarah came to Israel looking for an answer, but each new experience seems to say that the only definitive is infinite complexity.
bookish_calirican's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
3.5
olivia_piepmeier's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this. To me, this is a primo example of excellence in non-fiction comics: lovely art, interesting story, and it helps me learn things.
As a concept, if you tell me a book is about travel and the people in it don't have an amazing time the entire trip and aren't afraid to say that, then I'll say give me the book now. Let's dispel the myth that when you travel, everything is perfect and happy! This definitely fits that category but it feels unfair to make it seem like that's the only reason. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a progressive Jewish person on a Birthright trip. I thought I knew a little about Israel/Palestine going into this, but as the author learned a lot about it, so does the reader and I'm grateful. Possibly the best part about this is there's no big resolution with these feelings. She doesn't leave affirmed to the beliefs she had going into this but she also isn't sure about anything. She's just changed.
Her narrative approach is interesting as it feels very journalistic but she peppers in a bit of magical realism, like picturing herself in a courtroom of herself judging her opinion of how propagandist the tour is or seeing ghosts that speakers as people are talking about their relatives that have died due to the conflict. To me, this just makes it all feel more personal. Our minds are always active, thinking of odd things as life happens around them, and she just illustrated them instead of ignores them.
Glidden's fine, detailed lines and enchanting watercolors felt comforting to me. Her panels don't really stray from the standard squares/rectangles but the directness helps you focus on the story vs. "oooh interesting panel shape/size choice." She's very good with backgrounds and employs them purposefully.
Like non-fiction comics and/or travel? Does reading about a "progressive Jewish American twenty-something who is both vocal and critical of Israeli politics in the Holy Land" taking a Birthright trip sound interesting? Do you just enjoy watercolors? Definitely worth a read.
As a concept, if you tell me a book is about travel and the people in it don't have an amazing time the entire trip and aren't afraid to say that, then I'll say give me the book now. Let's dispel the myth that when you travel, everything is perfect and happy! This definitely fits that category but it feels unfair to make it seem like that's the only reason. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a progressive Jewish person on a Birthright trip. I thought I knew a little about Israel/Palestine going into this, but as the author learned a lot about it, so does the reader and I'm grateful. Possibly the best part about this is there's no big resolution with these feelings. She doesn't leave affirmed to the beliefs she had going into this but she also isn't sure about anything. She's just changed.
Her narrative approach is interesting as it feels very journalistic but she peppers in a bit of magical realism, like picturing herself in a courtroom of herself judging her opinion of how propagandist the tour is or seeing ghosts that speakers as people are talking about their relatives that have died due to the conflict. To me, this just makes it all feel more personal. Our minds are always active, thinking of odd things as life happens around them, and she just illustrated them instead of ignores them.
Glidden's fine, detailed lines and enchanting watercolors felt comforting to me. Her panels don't really stray from the standard squares/rectangles but the directness helps you focus on the story vs. "oooh interesting panel shape/size choice." She's very good with backgrounds and employs them purposefully.
Like non-fiction comics and/or travel? Does reading about a "progressive Jewish American twenty-something who is both vocal and critical of Israeli politics in the Holy Land" taking a Birthright trip sound interesting? Do you just enjoy watercolors? Definitely worth a read.