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A review by barrettcmyk
Comment Comprendre Israël En 60 Jours, Ou Moins by Sarah Glidden
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).