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derschnauzbart's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Hate crime and Antisemitism
Minor: Death and Genocide
anna_wa's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
That's the longest it's ever taken me to finish a graphic novel. It was so full of serious and solumn material that I could not take more than two chapters a day, and sometimes even two chapters was too much.
I won this book in a giveaway my University was doing. As soon as I saw the title I knew I wanted it, and I also knew it was going to be very heavy (I was right about that).
Krug is an amazing author and artist. She uses both the text and the art to place you in her shoes, make you feel the guilt, the fear, the sadness, and (at times) the hope that she also feels. She utilizes so many fantastic tools that the graphic novel has to offer. For example, we see her face when she is a kid and a teenager, but during all the times she is an adult, her face is turned away from the readers, echoing the theme of the book - the struggle for identity and knowing who you are/where you belong.
If you have any sort of eye problems whatsoever, I would highly recommend trying to find an audio book to read along with this book. There were certain parts where, just as an example, she would make the words fainter and fainter as the page went on to echo that feeling of absense, that feeling of being far away from her late family members. Even with my 20/20 vision I had to squint during certain points. It's a very good artistic choice, as I said, but if you have any eye problems (including dyslexia) I would really really recommend an audio-book because of the choices she makes on pages like that.
This book was very informative and I learned a lot about the Holocaust I did not know before. She doesn't /only/ talk about her family (even though that is the primary focus of the book), she also talks about certain events that happened during and after the Holocaust that I either did not know about or forgot about. It was very educational.
I don't know how to talk about the content more specifically without spoiling it, but if you can handle the subject matter, I definitely recommend reading it. It was beautiful and had a very bittersweet ending. I am glad Krug shared her journey with the world through this book, and I wish her the best. <3
I won this book in a giveaway my University was doing. As soon as I saw the title I knew I wanted it, and I also knew it was going to be very heavy (I was right about that).
Krug is an amazing author and artist. She uses both the text and the art to place you in her shoes, make you feel the guilt, the fear, the sadness, and (at times) the hope that she also feels. She utilizes so many fantastic tools that the graphic novel has to offer. For example, we see her face when she is a kid and a teenager, but during all the times she is an adult, her face is turned away from the readers, echoing the theme of the book - the struggle for identity and knowing who you are/where you belong.
If you have any sort of eye problems whatsoever, I would highly recommend trying to find an audio book to read along with this book. There were certain parts where, just as an example, she would make the words fainter and fainter as the page went on to echo that feeling of absense, that feeling of being far away from her late family members. Even with my 20/20 vision I had to squint during certain points. It's a very good artistic choice, as I said, but if you have any eye problems (including dyslexia) I would really really recommend an audio-book because of the choices she makes on pages like that.
This book was very informative and I learned a lot about the Holocaust I did not know before. She doesn't /only/ talk about her family (even though that is the primary focus of the book), she also talks about certain events that happened during and after the Holocaust that I either did not know about or forgot about. It was very educational.
I don't know how to talk about the content more specifically without spoiling it, but if you can handle the subject matter, I definitely recommend reading it. It was beautiful and had a very bittersweet ending. I am glad Krug shared her journey with the world through this book, and I wish her the best. <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Antisemitism, and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Rape, and Abortion
aliceofbattenberg's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Genocide
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This was filled with tons of facts Krug's journey to learn about her family's history was fascinating. So much German history focuses on what happens during WWII, and it was interesting to see how many Germans reacted after the war. The secrecy, the not wanting to talk about what happened. This is all stuff I didn't know, and I could tell Krug had done her research.
However, there were pieces of this graphic novel that I felt could have been designed a bit better. I wasn't a fan of the images cutting the text in half; it made it difficult to follow at times. This doesn't take away from the meat of the story. For the most part, the images and illustrations really add to the story Krug is telling. Can't wait to discuss this at my book club!
However, there were pieces of this graphic novel that I felt could have been designed a bit better. I wasn't a fan of the images cutting the text in half; it made it difficult to follow at times. This doesn't take away from the meat of the story. For the most part, the images and illustrations really add to the story Krug is telling. Can't wait to discuss this at my book club!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Antisemitism
jbraith's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Antisemitism
dustyloup's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
En français ci-dessous
If you're looking for a story with a lot of action and an ending wrapped up neatly with a bow, look elsewhere. If you are interested in a personal story that struggles with identity, guilt, shame in a left and right brained way, you belong here. This book is hard to describe - graphic memoir comes closest, but it's a mix between graphic novel/memoir, scrapbook, children's book, that stack of photos and papers that you have hidden somewhere in your house because you just can't f-ing cope with them, and an archivist's tabletop.
As an American I have struggled with my country's history in the same way the author struggles with her German heritage, but with the double shame of being told I "should" be proud of being an American while living with an awareness of the horrible things my country has done. Even in elementary school I understood that "liberty and justice for all" was a story and not reality.
Then I, like Ms. Krug moved to another country. We went in opposite directions, but the same feeling of not being at home where you are, but also not being at home with where you are from. I find it too bad that some editions of this book are called "Belonging" instead of "Heimat", because it takes away from the fact that some concepts can really only be understood from one's native tongue and sometimes "le mot juste" comes from another language than the one in which you are writing. Another thing that bugs me is that the Heimat version has the figure on the cover looking forward, the Belonging version (and the French version) have the face looking to the side. I guess having the person's back to you might seem cold but to me it's about trying to move forward, not just looking back.
The book ends with so many questions unresolved and you may wonder, what was the point of it all?, yet that's the beauty of the book for me. There are no complete answers. There is no satisfactory way to process that your ancestor was a "follower". There is no way to close the can of worms once you open it. Once you start calling into question the Truth, there is no turning back, there is no THE END. I would love to see a sequel of her processing American myths or even her husband's family history. "Liberty and justice FOR ALL" - are you so sure about that?
Pas une traduction, juste mes pensées en français...
Evidemment 5* veut dire que c'était un coup de coeur. Ce livre m'a tellement touché avec son questionnement de l'identité (national et personnel), le sentiment d'appartenir à un lieu ou à un groupe et qui suis-je quand je quitte mon pays. Ai-je le droit d'aimer mon pays quand il est associé lorsqu'elle est associée aux pires atrocités jamais commises ? En tant qu'Américaine expatriée, je me pose la même question. On ne trouve pas de réponses faciles dans ce livre mais un découpage de mémoire, histoire, culpabilité et curiosité. J'aimerais bien lire un livre comme cela écrit par un.e français.e qui fait face à son histoire coloniale ou bien un.e américain.e faisant la même pour comprendre le rôle de sa famille dans l'esclavage. Mais je ne sais pas si je trouverais un roman ou BD tellement bien écrit que celui-ci. "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" En êtes-vous sûr qu'un membre de ta famille n'a jamais enfreint la liberté d'une autre personne ? On est vraiment solidaires ?
If you're looking for a story with a lot of action and an ending wrapped up neatly with a bow, look elsewhere. If you are interested in a personal story that struggles with identity, guilt, shame in a left and right brained way, you belong here. This book is hard to describe - graphic memoir comes closest, but it's a mix between graphic novel/memoir, scrapbook, children's book, that stack of photos and papers that you have hidden somewhere in your house because you just can't f-ing cope with them, and an archivist's tabletop.
As an American I have struggled with my country's history in the same way the author struggles with her German heritage, but with the double shame of being told I "should" be proud of being an American while living with an awareness of the horrible things my country has done. Even in elementary school I understood that "liberty and justice for all" was a story and not reality.
Then I, like Ms. Krug moved to another country. We went in opposite directions, but the same feeling of not being at home where you are, but also not being at home with where you are from. I find it too bad that some editions of this book are called "Belonging" instead of "Heimat", because it takes away from the fact that some concepts can really only be understood from one's native tongue and sometimes "le mot juste" comes from another language than the one in which you are writing. Another thing that bugs me is that the Heimat version has the figure on the cover looking forward, the Belonging version (and the French version) have the face looking to the side. I guess having the person's back to you might seem cold but to me it's about trying to move forward, not just looking back.
The book ends with so many questions unresolved and you may wonder, what was the point of it all?, yet that's the beauty of the book for me. There are no complete answers. There is no satisfactory way to process that your ancestor was a "follower". There is no way to close the can of worms once you open it. Once you start calling into question the Truth, there is no turning back, there is no THE END. I would love to see a sequel of her processing American myths or even her husband's family history. "Liberty and justice FOR ALL" - are you so sure about that?
Pas une traduction, juste mes pensées en français...
Evidemment 5* veut dire que c'était un coup de coeur. Ce livre m'a tellement touché avec son questionnement de l'identité (national et personnel), le sentiment d'appartenir à un lieu ou à un groupe et qui suis-je quand je quitte mon pays. Ai-je le droit d'aimer mon pays quand il est associé lorsqu'elle est associée aux pires atrocités jamais commises ? En tant qu'Américaine expatriée, je me pose la même question. On ne trouve pas de réponses faciles dans ce livre mais un découpage de mémoire, histoire, culpabilité et curiosité. J'aimerais bien lire un livre comme cela écrit par un.e français.e qui fait face à son histoire coloniale ou bien un.e américain.e faisant la même pour comprendre le rôle de sa famille dans l'esclavage. Mais je ne sais pas si je trouverais un roman ou BD tellement bien écrit que celui-ci. "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" En êtes-vous sûr qu'un membre de ta famille n'a jamais enfreint la liberté d'une autre personne ? On est vraiment solidaires ?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide
There are a couple of disturbing images of the Holocaust in here, but not that many and they fit into the context of the story. I think she carefully chose the images to correspond with the story that she was exploring and not just for shock value.
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