Picture Palestine

Joe Sacco’s graphic novel, Palestine, has to do with the situation in Palestine, and their citizens in the early 1990’s. Sacco is a reporter and he goes to the Middle East to gather information for his graphic novel, he mostly visits towns and refugee camps in Palestine, and of course he also goes to Israel.

Sacco’s is trying to go to whichever place achievable in Palestine to collect useful and new information of Palestinian people, their side of the story and the intifada. At this point we can see how Sacco’s, being of Maltese origin, is not particularly totally biased towards any religious group in the Middle East. I would speculate that his main interest is Palestine, well, obviously, that the novel name. However he makes it seamlessly clear how interested he is in recollecting information, opinions and conditions of these people. And is able to represent it in pleasurable accordingly pictures.

At first I was not truly convinced with this graphic novel. Probably because prior of starting it I had the idea that it would be similar to another graphic novel, which I previously read: Maus, by Art Spiegelman, a really enjoyable reading, I must add. Also concerning the same areas, except a different time frame. Except this was much more different, not only how it was told, but also the different point of views and actual characters where particularly dissimilar.

 I was about to drop this reading because I definitely didn’t want it to be another ordinary graphic novel (but couldn’t because of class rules), when I unexpectedly started liking the dynamic, and structure of this reading. It tells facts about political conditions in Palestine and Israel, in a not-so boring way. Besides, the actual story line has become more interesting and catching, as the novel progresses. Although for now there’s not much of a point to the novel, the content is interesting and I do look forward to seeing how it will eventually develop.

Vocabulary:

Intifada: The Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, beginning in 1987. 




So, Which Is the Better Life?

I’m reading Strength in What Remains, by Tracy Kidder. And at this point in the book, the author has jumped to the past to tell us more about the main character, Deo’s childhood. We can see now, how he came to be and understand better the person Deo is.

And we learn that after being on the run for so many years, and on the verge of death numerous times, Deo is now, not only a nice humble guy, but also is an extremely strong man, Deo is definitely a fighter.

While reading about the harsh life of Deo in Burundi with his family and while escaping from death, and on top of that having survived all of it, to later go to America and realize what a different lifestyle it is, and how blind people are to the reality in other parts of the world, it made me recall a character, Amir, form a previous reading, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Houseini. Even though both Amir and Deo have different backgrounds, stories, and after all, they did end up having different lives, they started and ended up in similar places. Overall the main generalizations of both their lives, is that they are pretty similar. Yet completely different, since they where in complete opposite sides of the problems faced in Africa. This is how I was able to see how the social status really makes up a man in those situations such as the ones in parts of Africa in the 1900's.

I never really liked Amir, I though of him as a selfish coward, although he did man up at one point. But Deo, I do like, since the begging of the book he has shown to be extremely hardworking and perseverant toward all kinds of situation, making up a genuinely good and strong man.

After all what’s better? Living as a rich kid, who screwed up gravely and hurt his best friend, to avoid being bullied for being friends with a poor kid. Or a life where your economic conditions are not the best, and require constant hard work and various times the need to battle through life, to end up having a successful life, accomplished only by giving all the effort one has.

Vocabulary:

Gestation (n): the process of carrying or being carried in the womb between conception and birth.

Sapling (n): a young tree.

Doted (v): be silly or feebleminded.

Ubiquitous (adj.): present, appearing, or found everywhere.

Paramount (adj.): more important than anything else; supreme.