Scan barcode
mehitabels's review against another edition
3.0
This was an excellent birthday gift from my superhero friend, a reminder that the effects of war never seems to end. No matter how much I want the world to be a better place, it is still filled with the hate and damage that people inflict so casually upon huge numbers of their own species.
This is a memoir comic, with the rounded hardness of memory made humorous. A horrible reminder of life stripped of meaning by bigotry and racism. A gently prodding reprimand of the inconsistent youth and their treatment of the aged. The long-lasting effects of diaspora and the meaning of home are underlying riptides to the story.
It sounds serious, and the after effect is serious, but the story reads quickly and sweetly and funny. It will be familiar and liked by fans of [bc:Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood|9516|Persepolis The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1-2)|Marjane Satrapi|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327884892s/9516.jpg|3303888].
This is a memoir comic, with the rounded hardness of memory made humorous. A horrible reminder of life stripped of meaning by bigotry and racism. A gently prodding reprimand of the inconsistent youth and their treatment of the aged. The long-lasting effects of diaspora and the meaning of home are underlying riptides to the story.
It sounds serious, and the after effect is serious, but the story reads quickly and sweetly and funny. It will be familiar and liked by fans of [bc:Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood|9516|Persepolis The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1-2)|Marjane Satrapi|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327884892s/9516.jpg|3303888].
summerfjord's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
2.0
If I found out I owned an apartment with an old man living his golden years peacefully inside, I'd kick his ass out in a heartbeat.
Then a quick Ikea trip, boom, AirBNB in Warsaw.
It's been WAY too long since we've seen a classic 80's plot where condo developers are going to destroy the cool beach house, or condo developers are going to demolish an apartment building.
Maybe the modern version is someone who buys a bunch of properties and then turns them into AirBNBs.
Y'all, I hate AirBNB. Everyone seems to love it, and I'll admit, I had my love affair with it as well. But the bloom is off the rose.
It's like a hotel, but less convenient. When I go on vacation, I don't really want to like, hang out with a new, temporary landlord. If I'm going to pay someone to be my friend, I'll go to Vegas where it's legal and buy a VCR and one of those tapes with a virtual friend.
I bet you thought I was going to say my friend plan was "hooker" didn't you? What the hell, man?
And the person is always cagey about the fact that you just let yourself in and shit, then it's like, "Okay, use this secret passcode to get the key. Knock on the gate three times. There's a dog in the yard sometimes, we don't know why, we think he's a ghost..."
All this so you can have a kitchen, which you'll probably use like one time.
Then a quick Ikea trip, boom, AirBNB in Warsaw.
It's been WAY too long since we've seen a classic 80's plot where condo developers are going to destroy the cool beach house, or condo developers are going to demolish an apartment building.
Maybe the modern version is someone who buys a bunch of properties and then turns them into AirBNBs.
Y'all, I hate AirBNB. Everyone seems to love it, and I'll admit, I had my love affair with it as well. But the bloom is off the rose.
It's like a hotel, but less convenient. When I go on vacation, I don't really want to like, hang out with a new, temporary landlord. If I'm going to pay someone to be my friend, I'll go to Vegas where it's legal and buy a VCR and one of those tapes with a virtual friend.
I bet you thought I was going to say my friend plan was "hooker" didn't you? What the hell, man?
And the person is always cagey about the fact that you just let yourself in and shit, then it's like, "Okay, use this secret passcode to get the key. Knock on the gate three times. There's a dog in the yard sometimes, we don't know why, we think he's a ghost..."
All this so you can have a kitchen, which you'll probably use like one time.
kris_t97's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A read that will always be a part of history - especially worth reading now.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War and Violence
Minor: Antisemitism and Racism
amber_lea84's review against another edition
4.0
This is a strong graphic novel. It's cute, sad, and pretty unsettling.
I was worried it might be boring, but it definitely wasn't.
I was worried it might be boring, but it definitely wasn't.
bookishperseus's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
ajkhn's review against another edition
5.0
A really thoughtful book about property, family, place...all of that good stuff. So yes, I'm a sucker for that.
I was surprised at how gentle the book is about Warsaw. It doesn't really touch the city itself - just a few people in it - but the book is a lot less pugnacious about Jews and Poland than it could have been. And I suppose, that's a huge part of the point of the book as a whole.
I don't want to ruin any of the plot twists or the like. It's a graphic novel, so it moves quickly and enjoyably. Even for the dark parts. So you have a story of family and what that family is "owed", and what they owe to each other. It's really beautiful, in that way.
I was surprised at how gentle the book is about Warsaw. It doesn't really touch the city itself - just a few people in it - but the book is a lot less pugnacious about Jews and Poland than it could have been. And I suppose, that's a huge part of the point of the book as a whole.
I don't want to ruin any of the plot twists or the like. It's a graphic novel, so it moves quickly and enjoyably. Even for the dark parts. So you have a story of family and what that family is "owed", and what they owe to each other. It's really beautiful, in that way.
thishannah's review against another edition
A lovely story with a lot of heart and humor. I really enjoyed the art, too. The faces and body language were so expressive.
twilliamson's review against another edition
5.0
A lot has been said about Modan's linework, but linework isn't quite enough to describe the way in which Modan tells a story; indeed, to appreciate the depth of Modan's artistic ability, I think it's important to note that every page is something of a masterpiece of total composition, in which Modan carefully paces panels together for clear, careful expression.
One of the things that is most powerful about comics as a medium is its ability to involve readers in the recreation of events. With Modan, composition becomes an important component in this recreation; what works about her artwork is that there is a universality to characters' body language and expression, such that their panel-to-panel activity becomes wholly identifiable to the reader, and the reader can thus recreate ideas of movement and expression from what are otherwise static images. And what Modan teaches us through these moment-to-moment shots is a depth of human experience that feels authentic.
So, while the story of The Property might focus on the plot of a family trying to recover a piece of property in Warsaw, the conflict resides not on the economic motives of any of the characters but instead on the emotional turmoil they each encounter as they explore the ways in which history weighs on them. Modan gets away with making a comic expressive of emotion, and thus expressive of the very human turmoils each character feels, without relying on explicit textual narrative to explain those turmoils; the reader is capable of building that understanding for him/herself.
That's brilliance. This book, to say the least, is totally, utterly brilliant.
One of the things that is most powerful about comics as a medium is its ability to involve readers in the recreation of events. With Modan, composition becomes an important component in this recreation; what works about her artwork is that there is a universality to characters' body language and expression, such that their panel-to-panel activity becomes wholly identifiable to the reader, and the reader can thus recreate ideas of movement and expression from what are otherwise static images. And what Modan teaches us through these moment-to-moment shots is a depth of human experience that feels authentic.
So, while the story of The Property might focus on the plot of a family trying to recover a piece of property in Warsaw, the conflict resides not on the economic motives of any of the characters but instead on the emotional turmoil they each encounter as they explore the ways in which history weighs on them. Modan gets away with making a comic expressive of emotion, and thus expressive of the very human turmoils each character feels, without relying on explicit textual narrative to explain those turmoils; the reader is capable of building that understanding for him/herself.
That's brilliance. This book, to say the least, is totally, utterly brilliant.
droar's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful. The story bumped along a bit for me, but the art more than makes up for it.