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311th out of 1,512 books
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3,109 voters
Marzi
“I am Marzi, born in 1979, ten years before the end of communism in Poland. My father works at a factory, my mother at a dairy. Social problems are at their height. Empty stores are our daily bread. I’m scared of spiders and the world of adults doesn’t seem like a walk in the park.”
Told from a young girl’s perspective, Marzena Sowa’s memoir of a childhood shaped by politic...more
Told from a young girl’s perspective, Marzena Sowa’s memoir of a childhood shaped by politic...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
October 25th 2011
by Vertigo
(first published June 1st 2005)
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Dětskou perspektivu v komiksech mám ráda. Přijde mi, že komiks se dobře hodí k vyprávění dětských vzpomínek, protože člověku z těch dob často utkví spíš útržky zážitků, pocity a obrazy, a je snazší takové fragmenty zrekonstruovat prostřednictvím komiksové zkratky, než v próze, kde je potřeba verbálně simulovat dětský způsob myšlení, čehož je asi schopný jenom málokdo. Ale co já vím. Marzi se mi každopádně líbila podobně jako Persepolis, Pod dekou nebo Rodinný ústav.
Zaujalo mě:
Chudoba. Prázdné ob...more
Zaujalo mě:
Chudoba. Prázdné ob...more
Dall'altra parte.
Non sono un'esperta del genere graphic novel piuttosto che del fumetto (tanto è vero che non so nemmeno se siano due modi differenti per definire la stessa cosa!), ma so riconoscere cosa mi piace da cosa non mi piace: Marzi mi è piaciuto moltissimo.
Mi sono piaciuti i disegni (un tratto pulito e un'impaginazione chiara e per niente confusa), mi è piaciuto lo sguardo infantile per descrivere la Polonia degli anni '80 (prima della caduta del muro di Berlino), mi è piaciuta la sempl...more
Non sono un'esperta del genere graphic novel piuttosto che del fumetto (tanto è vero che non so nemmeno se siano due modi differenti per definire la stessa cosa!), ma so riconoscere cosa mi piace da cosa non mi piace: Marzi mi è piaciuto moltissimo.
Mi sono piaciuti i disegni (un tratto pulito e un'impaginazione chiara e per niente confusa), mi è piaciuto lo sguardo infantile per descrivere la Polonia degli anni '80 (prima della caduta del muro di Berlino), mi è piaciuta la sempl...more
Marzi by Marzena Sowa is a memoir about the author, Marzena Sowa’s childhood. The setting takes place in Staolwa Wola, where Marzena was born and when she was young, she dreamt of many things. Some of those things was about living in France and free from communist rule. From the point of view from a child, the story shows mood and perspective, giving it a better meaning.
Throughout the book, Marzena had faced many challenges and obstacles. For example, her fear with spiders. When Marzena sees sp...more
Throughout the book, Marzena had faced many challenges and obstacles. For example, her fear with spiders. When Marzena sees sp...more
This was an interested memoir about a young girl growing up in Poland and her account of the end of communism in the country. It really is told from a child's point of view but I felt Persepolis did it better. I had a hard time getting through this book(put it down a few times and almost returned it to the library without finishing it) but I pushed myself to read the rest of the story. I can definitely relate to the loneliness of being an only child and how her mother treated her when she was gr...more
Jeff flipped out when he saw me reading this because it is so far removed from what I normally choose to read. But I saw this at the "new" shelf at the library and it reminded me of Persepolis, the only other graphic novel I've ever read.
Like Persepolis, Marzi is a graphic novel about a girl growing up in politically turbulent times. Instead of Iran, Marzi takes place in Poland just as the Solidarity movement is gaining momentum in the mid-1980s and up through 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wa...more
Like Persepolis, Marzi is a graphic novel about a girl growing up in politically turbulent times. Instead of Iran, Marzi takes place in Poland just as the Solidarity movement is gaining momentum in the mid-1980s and up through 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wa...more
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I always feel bad when I don't like memoirs because I know it's someone else's story and it must have taken a lot of effort to write down those special memories to try to get a point across. But I'm really not cut out for this book. I really don't like reading a book that's from the perspective of a child, it just annoys me. And the thing is, that I don't even understand what's going on in Poland at the moment, so I really am just like Marzi, with no idea what's going on.
I just wanted the book...more
I just wanted the book...more
Let me just say how much I loved little Marzi. Her character is sweet, charming, and vulnerable, with a healthy dose of insecurity brought on by the culture of her environment and a mother who seemed to feel she had to bring Marzi up with an iron first. Marzi was just a normal little girl, watching as her parents stood in line for simple food staples, went to school with friends who had goods her family seemingly couldn't afford, and spent time with her country relatives, learning to store up fo...more
Marzi was born in Poland in 1979. For the first ten years of her life, Marzi grows up under Communist rule. Waiting in long lines for food is the norm, and Marzi doesn't really understand why things are the way they are. She can tell the adults are unhappy, but no one will bother to explain what's really going on.
This was excellent. The story is told through a series of vignettes. Marzi recalls many different events from her childhood, and they all blend together to give us an excellent picture...more
This was excellent. The story is told through a series of vignettes. Marzi recalls many different events from her childhood, and they all blend together to give us an excellent picture...more
A graphic novel about Marzena Sowa's life growing up in Poland in the 80s and 90s admit political unrest, the fall of Communism, and financial hardships.
The illustrations liven up the story and the frank, but not short text adds to its value. It's not hard to understand but its also not dripping with difficult vocabulary and language (as sometimes Safe Area Gorazde was) that inhibits understanding for young adults understanding this era in history, as this is her memoir.
Marzi discusses typical...more
The illustrations liven up the story and the frank, but not short text adds to its value. It's not hard to understand but its also not dripping with difficult vocabulary and language (as sometimes Safe Area Gorazde was) that inhibits understanding for young adults understanding this era in history, as this is her memoir.
Marzi discusses typical...more
I was expecting something of a mix between Persepolis (which I enjoyed) and Maus (which I didn’t really), but it wasn’t exactly like either of them. Perhaps because of these two graphic novels lingering in my mind, the subject matter of Marzi didn’t feel as heavy to me as it seemed it should.
The blurb on the back says that Marzi is “structured as a series of vignettes that build on one another,” but to me it felt far too disconnected and wandering… for most of it, I was pretty bored. At some poi...more
The blurb on the back says that Marzi is “structured as a series of vignettes that build on one another,” but to me it felt far too disconnected and wandering… for most of it, I was pretty bored. At some poi...more
Well… actually, this should probably be put under on the unfinished/abandoned shelf.
I think it may just be me, but I found that the book, structured as a series of vignettes, while nice but actually not compelling for me. Perhaps the problem was that it needed a bit of editing and focus. While billed as a memoir of a childhood I perhaps was hoping for some reflective insight, especially since the author lived through the dramatic changes in Poland… and having lived in a Communist country (as wel...more
This was a really interesting, entertaining and informative graphic novel. I feel like I learned so much about what it must have been like to grow up in Poland during the 1980s. Poland was standing up for more freedom - freedom from Communism - and it was a scary, exciting time.
Towards the end of the book, there was a bigger dose of historical fact, which is sometimes tougher to follow, since much of the information may be new. The vocabulary is a bit tougher when the novel talks politics, but t...more
Towards the end of the book, there was a bigger dose of historical fact, which is sometimes tougher to follow, since much of the information may be new. The vocabulary is a bit tougher when the novel talks politics, but t...more
This is the first graphic novel that I have read. I thought I would read through it quickly, but it took me longer to read than a regular book because I enjoyed looking at all of the pictures. It is a memoir, Marzi's story of growing up in communist Poland during the last 10 years of communism. She shows what it was like to live under the communist regime from the viewpoint of a child. She tells about standing in long lines at stores when they got one product in, and hoping that they did not run...more
'Marzi' is a memoir of childhood in Communist Poland, written by Marzena Sowa with beautiful illustrations by her French partner, Sylvain Savoia. The limited palette of grey, beige and orange worked well, giving an historical sepia look that reinforced the mood of poverty and limited resources. I liked Savoia's puckish sense of humour, clean lettering and sharp ink lines.
Interesting to read these stories of deprivation, oppression and rebellion against a sinister but elusive "Big Brother" during...more
Interesting to read these stories of deprivation, oppression and rebellion against a sinister but elusive "Big Brother" during...more
Originally posted at http://littleapplebookworm.blogspot.c...
This simply but beautifully illustrated graphic novel tells the story of Marzi, a young girl coming of age behind the Iron Curtain. Marzena Sowa was born in 1979 in Stalowa Wola, Poland. The majority of this graphic novel, written as a series of vignettes, takes place in the years leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Ms. Sowa manages to demonstrate both the uncertainty of the time and the joys and wonder any child can fin...more
This simply but beautifully illustrated graphic novel tells the story of Marzi, a young girl coming of age behind the Iron Curtain. Marzena Sowa was born in 1979 in Stalowa Wola, Poland. The majority of this graphic novel, written as a series of vignettes, takes place in the years leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Ms. Sowa manages to demonstrate both the uncertainty of the time and the joys and wonder any child can fin...more
This book was a win from first reads give-away. It was an advanced copy=not for sale.
The story follows the trials and tribulations, as well as the joys, hopes, and drams of a girl growing up in Communist Poland, in the 1970's. I remember being about the same age at this time, and dreading the Red Menace, that plagued my grandparents' homeland. I thought how horrid it would be somewhere, where they decided what you would do, where you lived, and what you do when you grew up. The lines for scare f...more
The story follows the trials and tribulations, as well as the joys, hopes, and drams of a girl growing up in Communist Poland, in the 1970's. I remember being about the same age at this time, and dreading the Red Menace, that plagued my grandparents' homeland. I thought how horrid it would be somewhere, where they decided what you would do, where you lived, and what you do when you grew up. The lines for scare f...more
6 likes · like · see review
I love graphic memoirs. I think that there's something about the graphic format that fully brings out nuances in biographical material. I was especially interested in Marzena Sowa's remembrances of being a child in Poland during the political upheaval of the 80s. This book starts by being a series of stories, not necessarily connected. We're introduced to Marzi, her parents, her neighbors and friends, and her extended family. Through Marzi's eyes, we learn about life in Poland at the time, wheth...more
This graphic novel of a childhood in Communist Poland at the cusp of Solidarity's success was entertaining and fascinating. I couldn't put it down.
Although the Polish struggle against Soviet control takes up a chunk of the book (the author's father was part of one of the Solidarity-aligned unions), Marzi is really about childhood experiences - getting a pet, gaining and losing friends, visiting relatives in the country, etc. Where politics comes in is how Polish Communism colors everything. For...more
Although the Polish struggle against Soviet control takes up a chunk of the book (the author's father was part of one of the Solidarity-aligned unions), Marzi is really about childhood experiences - getting a pet, gaining and losing friends, visiting relatives in the country, etc. Where politics comes in is how Polish Communism colors everything. For...more
Dec 22, 2012
Michael Scott
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who have lived or are living under a Communist regime.
My list of graphic novels depicting the horrors of daily life under a Communist regime is growing: after Pyongyang A Journey in North Korea, The Year of the Pioneer, Acum nu e momentul and other Romanian books by Mihai Stanescu, I found the wonderful memoir of Marzena Sowa, Marzi.
Overall, this is one of the best first-hand accounts of a survivor of those times, aided greatly by the visuals. Recommended for anyone interested in life under Communism and for anyone who's lived that nightmare. (I a...more
Overall, this is one of the best first-hand accounts of a survivor of those times, aided greatly by the visuals. Recommended for anyone interested in life under Communism and for anyone who's lived that nightmare. (I a...more
Marzi's got a bit of a slow burn, because it's a series of vignettes only loosely tied together with narrative. What's nice about that is that it's easy to pick up and put down again if you only have small blocks of time to read. It does, however, reward he patient reader with a sense of time and place not necessarily connected to narrative, a sense of how one's own childhood connects with Marzi's--because so much of our own childhoods follow that nonlinear path. Sowa doesn't try to tie these ev...more
Yes, I'm biased as can be reviewing this wonderful graphic novel about a girl born at the end of the 1970s to live through the last decade of communism in Poland. Yes, I grew up in the same city of Stalowa Wola and shared so many similar experiences like time spent with relatives in the countryside, and being told that “children and fish don’t have a voice.” Despite this incredibly coincidental bias I will still congratulate Marzi for writing the story of her childhood with such a strong voice....more
2 likes · like · see review
GLI OCCHI DI UNA BAMBINA CHE VEDONO LONTANO
Tenera, dolce, spiritosa, acuta, divertente, Marzi-Marzena mi ha fatto fare un bel viaggio in un tempo e in un luogo che conosco poco.
Mi ha raccontato la sua infanzia in Polonia, mentre nasceva Solidarnosc con i primi scioperi e il regime reagiva dichiarando lo stato di guerra, Chernobyl, papa Wojtyla e il cattolicesimo tra la gente comune (la parte che preferisco), la fabbrica, le code per comprare qualcosa, qualsiasi cosa, il razionamento, i negozi d...more
Tenera, dolce, spiritosa, acuta, divertente, Marzi-Marzena mi ha fatto fare un bel viaggio in un tempo e in un luogo che conosco poco.
Mi ha raccontato la sua infanzia in Polonia, mentre nasceva Solidarnosc con i primi scioperi e il regime reagiva dichiarando lo stato di guerra, Chernobyl, papa Wojtyla e il cattolicesimo tra la gente comune (la parte che preferisco), la fabbrica, le code per comprare qualcosa, qualsiasi cosa, il razionamento, i negozi d...more
Dobře napsaný a skvěle ilustrovaný autobiografický grafický román nebo spíš sled samostatných příběhů o dětství v komunistickém Polsku v druhé polovině 80. let. Fronty v obchodech, povinné lékařské prohlídky, Černobyl, polská obdoba Tuzexu, dlouhé velikonoční mše, stávky dělníků, Solidarność - to všechno líčené očima a jazykem malé a zvědavé Marzi s velkýma modrýma očima.
Kdo tehdejší dobu zažil, připomene si, kolik nenormálních věcí byli dospělí tak dlouho ochotní snášet a kolik z nich dodnes př...more
Kdo tehdejší dobu zažil, připomene si, kolik nenormálních věcí byli dospělí tak dlouho ochotní snášet a kolik z nich dodnes př...more
Ein etwas zu buntes Comicbuch über das Leben im grauen sozialistischen Polen der Achtziger, es sei denn man sieht die Welt durch die Brille der kleinen Erzählerin, die amerikanische Zahnpasta zutzelt und als Papst verkleidet im tristen Treppenhaus der Plattensiedlung herumturnt. Für die sogenannte "Generation '89", Menschen, die um diese Zeit herum im Ostblock sozialisiert wurden, ist es eine sehr lohnende, nur stellenweise langatmige Lektüre. Ich fürchte jedoch, dass die meisten "westlichen" Le...more
*Received in Goodreads Giveway*
I was delighted to receive a copy of Marzi recently. I have read few graphic novels (as in, books that do read as illustrated novels), but they can be very engaging and affecting to the reader. I've already started this book before I planned to.
Update: I was sucked in to this book and quite enjoyed it. The cover suggested to me a very child-versus-soldiers kind of plot, but Marzi is a volume of childhood remembrances/memoir tales about growing up in Poland while co...more
I was delighted to receive a copy of Marzi recently. I have read few graphic novels (as in, books that do read as illustrated novels), but they can be very engaging and affecting to the reader. I've already started this book before I planned to.
Update: I was sucked in to this book and quite enjoyed it. The cover suggested to me a very child-versus-soldiers kind of plot, but Marzi is a volume of childhood remembrances/memoir tales about growing up in Poland while co...more
An autobiography of Marzena Sowa in a graphic novel format- it was a very enjoyable read! This book details memories she had as a child growing up in Poland during the fall of the communist regime. It was very interesting to look from a child's perspective the various issues that plagued her young life- such as financial and political issues, ration cards, worker strikes, and long lines to purchase limited food items. I would definitely recommend this book. The story of young Marzi is fascinati...more
a graphic novel about growing up in late communist-era Poland. i was disappointed. the author is too young to offer much more than a child's point of view on the events of the early 1980s- and this is just too narrow, self-interested, and quirky a view to really be interesting to me, or to really be very educational. there are some sequences that do show the everyday life of citizens dealing with food rationing, secret police, strikes & military responses, but they are surrounded by comics a...more
Calling this book "The Polish Persepolis" as many did would not be fair.
What I like, apart from the book, is the story behind its genesis.
Let's take a French illustrator and a Polish woman with some writing skills. Let's call them Sylvain and Marzena. Then let these two fall in love with each other.
Visiting Marzena's country, Sylvain got interested in the childhood of his girlfriend and he asked her to remember those days. Marzena did it beginning with some apparently minor details related with...more
What I like, apart from the book, is the story behind its genesis.
Let's take a French illustrator and a Polish woman with some writing skills. Let's call them Sylvain and Marzena. Then let these two fall in love with each other.
Visiting Marzena's country, Sylvain got interested in the childhood of his girlfriend and he asked her to remember those days. Marzena did it beginning with some apparently minor details related with...more
I don't know if I'm qualified to be giving a review of this book, I barely read half of it....
I finally decided today to stop reading it because I've been dragging it out forever. I even try to avoid picking it up and I NEVER avoid reading! Never ever!
For one, the artwork isn't my thing. I'm sure the artist is very talented but I just didn't like the style. If that makes any sense. There was to much text! I know that's what I should expect because it was a book, but it's actually a graphic nove...more
I finally decided today to stop reading it because I've been dragging it out forever. I even try to avoid picking it up and I NEVER avoid reading! Never ever!
For one, the artwork isn't my thing. I'm sure the artist is very talented but I just didn't like the style. If that makes any sense. There was to much text! I know that's what I should expect because it was a book, but it's actually a graphic nove...more
Marzi is a young girl, born in 1979, and the book is told through her big, wondering eyes. She’s very much like you, me, or anyone else was as a child: easily excitable, enjoys playing pretend, has close friends. But Marzi experiences things I’d never thought of. She only has a few toys, and they were hand-me-downs from older cousins. She desperately wants a Barbie, but it’s too expensive and because of government food rations, her family can barely afford food, so the doll is out of the questio...more
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Marzena Sowa, ur. w 1979 roku w Stalowej Woli, studia wyższe magisterskie rozpoczęła na Uniwersytecie Jagiellońskim w Krakowie, a ukończyła na Uniwersytecie Michel de Montaigne w Bordeaux. Od 2001, mieszka we Francji, w Szampanii, a od półtora roku mieszka również w Brukseli. Jest autorką autobiograficznego komiksu Marzi wydawanego przez Dupuis, do którego rysunki robi Sylvain Savoia. Jak dotąd uk...more
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“Anger and fatigue well up all over the country. Fall has arrives, with its biting winds, its long rainy evenings. The gloom matches our overall mood. It mirrors the minds of the adults. And we children absorb everything, we drink everything in without anyone noticing, until the moment we get squeezed. We're baby sponges, you can't just wring us out, you have to be careful what you soak us in. Even washed, rinsed, dried a hundred times over, traces still remain in us.”
—
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