Palestine Review by Nick
Hello reader, I am Nick Bodony and this is my review of Palestine by Joe Sacco.
Palestine is a graphic novel written by Joe Sacco about his trip to Palestine and the West Bank in December of 1991 to January of 1992. The story focuses on the history of the Palestinian people especially the large amount of religious conflicts over control of the holy city of Jerusalem in the West Bank and how it has affected everyday life. These are some of my favorite sections of the book:
There is an extremely high military presence in all of the West Bank and Palestine which makes a lot of casual situations, such as shopping, intense and eventful. I think that Sacco's choice to select everyday life as the focus of this book is really interesting because in the text he is constantly noticing slight differences from his life in America which have a much larger significance than it first seems. These gradually build throughout the book to leave the reader with a feeling of understanding as all of the things mentioned come together and let the reader form a final opinion.
In the book, Sacco conducts many interviews with Palestinian locals and their opinion on certain topics such as a lack of aid from the United Nations and refugee organizations. The people who he talks to have varying opinions and interesting stories to go along with them. One interview I found particularly interesting was with an older man who lived in settlements outside of Jerusalem. His only source of income was a small olive farm that he kept outside his house. He explains that one night a group of Jewish settlers came and chopped down every single tree in his garden. The man is unable to report anything because the Palestinian government is very anti-Islam and won't do anything for him.
Even in the market streets there is a lot of violence in Jerusalem due to the city's significance in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Israel has taken control of Jerusalem and since Israel is mostly Jewish there are many conflicts over who should control the city. Even peaceful protests are often put to rest by gunfire from Israeli soldiers. In the book, Sacco has quite a few encounters with Israeli soldiers, mainly in the center of the city where protests erupt spontaneously and where military Jeeps roam the streets regularly.
Sometimes the people that he interviews in the book disapprove of what he is doing. During interviews he is sometimes accused of only covering the conflicts in Jerusalem to make money off of a controversial topic and that him writing a book won't change anything about their situation and the amount of aid that they are getting. Most often, when someone refuses to be interviewed by Sacco they say it is because of the amount of Israeli soldiers who pretend to be journalists to find out who are leaders of rebellions so that they have enough evidence to arrest them and stop the rebellions.
This book was a very interesting read and the drawings were all extremely well done and really help the reader get a picture of the situations Sacco goes through on his trip. This book contains a lot of information, but also has a very interesting plot. I never got bored reading, because Sacco fills the book with what seems like a continuous stream of significant events that he experienced in his two month trip to Palestine. I would highly recommend this book to people who like informational, non-fiction books, but also enjoy a good story and of course, lots of drawings, as it is 285 pages full of drawings.
Palestine is a graphic novel written by Joe Sacco about his trip to Palestine and the West Bank in December of 1991 to January of 1992. The story focuses on the history of the Palestinian people especially the large amount of religious conflicts over control of the holy city of Jerusalem in the West Bank and how it has affected everyday life. These are some of my favorite sections of the book:
There is an extremely high military presence in all of the West Bank and Palestine which makes a lot of casual situations, such as shopping, intense and eventful. I think that Sacco's choice to select everyday life as the focus of this book is really interesting because in the text he is constantly noticing slight differences from his life in America which have a much larger significance than it first seems. These gradually build throughout the book to leave the reader with a feeling of understanding as all of the things mentioned come together and let the reader form a final opinion.
In the book, Sacco conducts many interviews with Palestinian locals and their opinion on certain topics such as a lack of aid from the United Nations and refugee organizations. The people who he talks to have varying opinions and interesting stories to go along with them. One interview I found particularly interesting was with an older man who lived in settlements outside of Jerusalem. His only source of income was a small olive farm that he kept outside his house. He explains that one night a group of Jewish settlers came and chopped down every single tree in his garden. The man is unable to report anything because the Palestinian government is very anti-Islam and won't do anything for him.
Even in the market streets there is a lot of violence in Jerusalem due to the city's significance in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Israel has taken control of Jerusalem and since Israel is mostly Jewish there are many conflicts over who should control the city. Even peaceful protests are often put to rest by gunfire from Israeli soldiers. In the book, Sacco has quite a few encounters with Israeli soldiers, mainly in the center of the city where protests erupt spontaneously and where military Jeeps roam the streets regularly.
Sometimes the people that he interviews in the book disapprove of what he is doing. During interviews he is sometimes accused of only covering the conflicts in Jerusalem to make money off of a controversial topic and that him writing a book won't change anything about their situation and the amount of aid that they are getting. Most often, when someone refuses to be interviewed by Sacco they say it is because of the amount of Israeli soldiers who pretend to be journalists to find out who are leaders of rebellions so that they have enough evidence to arrest them and stop the rebellions.
This book was a very interesting read and the drawings were all extremely well done and really help the reader get a picture of the situations Sacco goes through on his trip. This book contains a lot of information, but also has a very interesting plot. I never got bored reading, because Sacco fills the book with what seems like a continuous stream of significant events that he experienced in his two month trip to Palestine. I would highly recommend this book to people who like informational, non-fiction books, but also enjoy a good story and of course, lots of drawings, as it is 285 pages full of drawings.
I thought that this was a very well-written review. You go into a lot of detail into the background information, which makes the story of Sacco more intriguing. Although I do not usually read graphic novels, I might try this one out!
ReplyDeleteThis book seems very interesting! I find it intriguing how the story is based around Sacco's actual interviews and having them all connect together at the end. This is a well-written post with both a good summary and good details included. I'll probably read this one (before I have to read it for World Since 1945)!
ReplyDeleteI think this review gave a good background of the material discussed in your book. It also clearly states what happens in the book, and I like how you analyze the reading as you simultaneously summarize it. I think this review is as informative as it is detailed.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds very intriguing. Usually when I hear about graphic novels, I always imagine something like a superhero comic but this is based on real people, events, and interviews which I haven't really seen anywhere else. It seems like you found this to be an interesting read so I may consider looking into it more.
ReplyDeleteYour review gives a very detailed summary of what's going on in the book, and your descriptions make me want to find out more about Sacco's various interactions. I like reading graphic novels, so I'm interested to see how Sacco documents his own real experiences in that form.
ReplyDelete