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sducharme's review against another edition
4.0
Stark fictional narrative of a man trying to immigrate from Cote D'Ivoire to France and the people and problems he encounters on the way. It's a bleak picture and I definitely felt the guilt of the expat and tourist who's seemingly oblivious to the struggles of these "adventurers" as he calls himself. The gloomy muddled style of the illustrations adds gravity to the tone of this short graphic novel.
emmanovella's review against another edition
5.0
wow.
The story within this book is so incredible and important. The art, in my opinion, let this book down. It wasn't my sort of style and I didn't enjoy looking at it. However, whilst normally I would incorporate the art into my rating, the story this book tells is far too important and powerful for me to be petty about my personal art style preference.
I've read and watched news reports on refuge crisis', I've seen the images of people dead on beaches. I know, as well as someone with privilege can, how impossible there lives are and how much trauma and pain they go through yet every time I pick up a book like this my heart breaks a little more.
I don't think I'll ever be desensitised to the sheer inhumanity of this world when it comes to the way we treat our fellow human beings.
The story within this book is so incredible and important. The art, in my opinion, let this book down. It wasn't my sort of style and I didn't enjoy looking at it. However, whilst normally I would incorporate the art into my rating, the story this book tells is far too important and powerful for me to be petty about my personal art style preference.
I've read and watched news reports on refuge crisis', I've seen the images of people dead on beaches. I know, as well as someone with privilege can, how impossible there lives are and how much trauma and pain they go through yet every time I pick up a book like this my heart breaks a little more.
I don't think I'll ever be desensitised to the sheer inhumanity of this world when it comes to the way we treat our fellow human beings.
woodiefrog's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Heartbreaking in its wonderful simplicity.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Xenophobia, Violence, and Trafficking
krpollard's review against another edition
4.0
An uterly heartbreaking story, but so important to understand the refugee experience today. The illustrations were stark, and I appreciate what they added to the story, even though I don't really prefer the style.
the_red_one's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
ohnoflora's review against another edition
5.0
The heart breaking story of an Ivorian man trying to make his way to the Gare du Nord to reunite with his family, of whom he has had no news since they left to make the same journey. A graphic novel but laid out more like a collection of photographs with captions underneath. Mostly there are two to a page, sometimes one larger one. The illustrations are impressionistic but vivid, people's faces sketched out and staring - sometimes at the floor, sometimes searching the horizon, sometimes directly out at the reader.
I overheard a student this morning saying that the wall would make America "safer and more free". He was being provocative - riling up his peers on purpose - and, like Trump, I don't even know if he believed what he was saying -but I hope that with this book in his hands he might begin to think again.
I think it's important that the main character is a migrant, not a refugee. It challenges us to empathise with someone the press and politicians have told us is lazy, free-loading, a "benefits tourist", not worthy of our hospitality. This book challenges these assumptions: for example the page that shows an American tourist in Mali, skin pink and peeling. The caption says: "You see tourists in Abidjan, Bamako and Gao. Americans, French, happy people touring around Africa on bicycles. And what have we asked of them? Us, plenty is asked of us. They put up barriers, bang, bang, bang, barbed wire, bang, bang, bang, sniffer dogs trained to find illegal migrants, sniff, sniff, sniff, and watchtowers. We can't just go touring when we want."
It shows us that the world is impossibly weighted in favour of a very few privileged people, people who then despise others for not having the same advantages as them, for daring to dream, for daring to want something more, for daring to want to live. Borders are inhumane. Walls are inhumane. Why are we still building them?
I overheard a student this morning saying that the wall would make America "safer and more free". He was being provocative - riling up his peers on purpose - and, like Trump, I don't even know if he believed what he was saying -but I hope that with this book in his hands he might begin to think again.
I think it's important that the main character is a migrant, not a refugee. It challenges us to empathise with someone the press and politicians have told us is lazy, free-loading, a "benefits tourist", not worthy of our hospitality. This book challenges these assumptions: for example the page that shows an American tourist in Mali, skin pink and peeling. The caption says: "You see tourists in Abidjan, Bamako and Gao. Americans, French, happy people touring around Africa on bicycles. And what have we asked of them? Us, plenty is asked of us. They put up barriers, bang, bang, bang, barbed wire, bang, bang, bang, sniffer dogs trained to find illegal migrants, sniff, sniff, sniff, and watchtowers. We can't just go touring when we want."
It shows us that the world is impossibly weighted in favour of a very few privileged people, people who then despise others for not having the same advantages as them, for daring to dream, for daring to want something more, for daring to want to live. Borders are inhumane. Walls are inhumane. Why are we still building them?