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372nd out of 520 books
—
95 voters
Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me
Harvey Pekar’s mother was a Zionist by way of politics. His father was a Zionist by way of faith. Whether Harvey was going to daily Hebrew classes or attending Zionist picnics, he grew up a staunch supporter of the Jewish state. But soon he found himself questioning the very beliefs and ideals of his parents.
In Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, the final graphic memoi...more
In Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, the final graphic memoi...more
Hardcover, 176 pages
Published
July 3rd 2012
by Hill and Wang
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Feb 07, 2013
Mariel
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
if the masses have agreed to split the sea then let it bleed
Recommended to Mariel by:
and I'm reborn every time the wine metamorphs back to water
Harvey Pekar's widow Joyce Brabner is knelt on the ground with a memorial, in the afterward. Not the Israel My Parents Promised me was published two years after his death. It is a tombstone pulpit that reaches its voice from somewhere not quite the gut. A gizzard choking voice, maybe. Her husband's father was in the ground before they met. Both had Alzheimer's and they were strangers. She didn't know their son anymore so what was the point in meeting his girl. Brabner didn't meet his family unti...more
wonderfully illustrated. the mosaic portions alone are worth reading this book.
topic is pekar trying to explain why he is a moderate usa jew in relation to palastine and israel. he goes all the back to his childhood and how his mom was a leftist zionist atheist? and his dad maybe more moderate zionist and would pay attention to his religion and such. and how they thought it a good idea to create the state if israel. he even goes all the back to UR and its religions and thought before they made u...more
topic is pekar trying to explain why he is a moderate usa jew in relation to palastine and israel. he goes all the back to his childhood and how his mom was a leftist zionist atheist? and his dad maybe more moderate zionist and would pay attention to his religion and such. and how they thought it a good idea to create the state if israel. he even goes all the back to UR and its religions and thought before they made u...more
Harvey Pekar and JT Waldman’s book, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, is a beautiful, touching piece.
Generically, you could say it’s a graphic novel, but it’s also, really, a tapestry, an assemblage, a curated work of designs.
One impression that stays with me is the almost karmic interrelationship of Muslims and Jews. It’s not just that we can be friends, it’s that we are all Semites—relatives—biologically, spiritually, and aesthetically.
In Enfoldment and Infinity: An Islamic Genealogy of N...more
Generically, you could say it’s a graphic novel, but it’s also, really, a tapestry, an assemblage, a curated work of designs.
One impression that stays with me is the almost karmic interrelationship of Muslims and Jews. It’s not just that we can be friends, it’s that we are all Semites—relatives—biologically, spiritually, and aesthetically.
In Enfoldment and Infinity: An Islamic Genealogy of N...more
I am impressed. Graphic novels have not exactly been on my reading list. In fact, until today, I had never read a graphic novel or even a comic book, at least not since I was 13. I picked this one up on a whim from the "New Books" shelf at the library because the subject intrigued me. So it turns out my first graphic novel is not even a novel, but rather a genre I was not even aware existed – the graphic memoir. This is book is actually a powerful combination of memoir and history - LOTS of hist...more
Author Harvey Pekar shows how his parents presented Israel to him with idealism and sincerity. As a boy he sees his parents thrilled as Israel wins its "War of Independence". As he grows older he sees why the Palestinians call the very same war, "The Catastrophe".
The graphic and conversational formats force an economy of words that boils this complex story to its essentials. The conversational format also aids in personalizing the content.
While the comic style usually does not move me, some of t...more
The graphic and conversational formats force an economy of words that boils this complex story to its essentials. The conversational format also aids in personalizing the content.
While the comic style usually does not move me, some of t...more
In many ways this was Not the Book My Expectations Promised Me. I think I gave it 3 stars out of sentimentality.
The book is basically a graphic portrayal of a long conversation that the illustrator had with Pekar over the course of a day (with a separate epilogue done by Pekar's widow). Were there more conversations planned that were interrupted by Pekar's illness and death? Pekar's fatigue was alluded to a couple of times in the book, and we know he was ill for a long period before his death,...more
The book is basically a graphic portrayal of a long conversation that the illustrator had with Pekar over the course of a day (with a separate epilogue done by Pekar's widow). Were there more conversations planned that were interrupted by Pekar's illness and death? Pekar's fatigue was alluded to a couple of times in the book, and we know he was ill for a long period before his death,...more
Harvey Pekar’s mother was a Zionist by way of politics. His father was a Zionist by way of faith. Whether Harvey was going to daily Hebrew classes or attending Zionist picnics, he grew up a staunch supporter of the Jewish state. But soon he found himself questioning the very beliefs and ideals of his parents.
In Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, the final graphic memoir from the man who defined the genre, Pekar explores what it means to be Jewish and what Israel means to the Jews. Over the c...more
In Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, the final graphic memoir from the man who defined the genre, Pekar explores what it means to be Jewish and what Israel means to the Jews. Over the c...more
Three books in one, really. The first is a condensed history of the Jews, from Abraham to roughly last week. And by condensed, I mean: the Cliff Notes version, or maybe the Cliff Notes of the Cliff Notes. But it's pretty good, as far as it goes, and it has the best artwork.
The second book is the story of how Harvey Pekar's thinking on Israel evolved. It's interesting and sometimes poignant, but it's built on a really annoying framing device that involves Harvey and JT Waldman (who, in a fair uni...more
The second book is the story of how Harvey Pekar's thinking on Israel evolved. It's interesting and sometimes poignant, but it's built on a really annoying framing device that involves Harvey and JT Waldman (who, in a fair uni...more
The late cartoonist Harvey Pekar was known for his unflinching portrayal of real life. When I first came across his American Splendor series, I didn’t like it much—at the time, I would rather have read comic books with superheroes or gods or monsters—not everyday, depressing people that I could see around me if I just took the time to look.
He passed away in 2010, and was remembered by many as a revolutionary force in comics. When I saw a posthumous graphic novel, Not the Israel My Parents Prom...more
I believe this is the final project Pekar was working before passing away. As such it really feels like a companion to "Cleveland" in that with the two books you really get a feeling for who Harvey was as a person. That said, I preferred "Cleveland" more since this one is primarily a history of Israel as seen through Harveys' eyes. I mostly agree with his opinions, I'm not sure if some would find this scandalous or not, and it's certainly presented well.
The art is great as well. JT Waldman does...more
The art is great as well. JT Waldman does...more
So I'll admit that I can't give an unbiased review of this work. I worked at the Cleveland Heights Library when Harvey came in as a patron, and I was there the day he brought J.T. in for a tour. Carole? She really looks like that, and is that fabulous. And when she and J.T. go upstairs, it's to visit my graphic novel collection.
I feel that, even though this is a book about Israel, it's a very Cleveland story. The East Side is home to many Jewish families who fled Russia and Europe over the last...more
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Not the Israel My Parents promised me feels less like a memoir by Harvey Pekar and more like a conversation dictated by JT Waldman. It's good; don't get me wrong. However, there's almost too much going on. We see a little of Pekar's upbringing by his Zionist parents, and then his disillusionment with Zionism in the '60's, but most of the book is a history of Israel that is both too short to be comprehensive and too long to be just a brief overview. I almost would have liked to see separate volum...more
What a disappointment this book was. I love Harvey Pekar, and I was anxious to see what he had to say on this issue. And the sad thing is, while I agree with him about just about everything he says, he says it in such a bland, formulaic way, that he will fail to persuade anyone who is of a different opinion, and bore and alienate those who already agree with him. This book, unlike his others, is mostly about Pekar's thoughts and opinions, without any real action or other characters. It's just a...more
It is sad because I think that this could have been a great book had Pekar not died before it was finished. What could have been a good story about changing one's mind, parental disapproval, and growing into one's own political opinions is instead a fragmented mess. Most of the book is long history lectures about history and Judiasm, which while relevant, distracted so much from what I thought the book should have been about.
I thought I was going to get a book about Harvey Pekar (the me in the...more
I thought I was going to get a book about Harvey Pekar (the me in the...more
Pekar gives us a quick introduction to Israel and the search for a settled state for the Jews. The history points us towards the present problems of Israel and makes mention of a desired solution: two separate states: one for Arab Palestine and one for Jewish Israel. Pekar also shows an understanding of what West Bank Arabs must feel (we've lived here forever) and the hypocrisy of an oppressed people oppressing others.
The work is beautiful: each of the "history" sections is drawn in the artwork...more
The work is beautiful: each of the "history" sections is drawn in the artwork...more
I always like reading Harvey Pekar because of the conversations he opens up. It is as if he is having a dialogue with himself, his illustrators and his readers all at once while arguing with history, everyone, and his own system of beliefs. It seems he wants to believe the world is different than it is and is disappointed in general -- and waiting to hear news that people are better than they are. He does not perhaps love human-ness, yet he is profoundly curious and appreciative of times and pla...more
This was a quick read. For his last posthumously-published book, it's a good note to end on. If you're already a pro-Palestinian Jew, you'll find yourself nodding your head a lot. I like the way Pekar blends his personal history as a child of Zionist parents with his own coming to terms with the reality of how the modern Jewish state actually operates. There's a big rift between the ideal and the reality and he doesn't pretend that it's not there. The art is fantastic - every frame seems really...more
I wanted to like this book more and was excited to read the final publication of Harvey Pekar before he passed. But his disillusionment with Zionism was just so simply explained and to summarize complex conflict and oppression within a short book, I kind of thought some aspects were a bit dangerous. I also wanted to know more about his communist mother and how she understood marxism and colonialism. And...it might have helped if he had maybe gone there and also talked in more detail about Palest...more
Maybe it is a function of my reading a lot of sort of sketchy, minimalist work (Seth, Jason, others) and enjoying the early American Splendor "ordinary stories" so much ('got back 27 cents more in change than I should have at the store?!! I feel great!'), but I don't like this book as much as earlier work. It is a little TOO elaborate and historical and "filled in" for me.... and on an important topic, Israel and its relation to the middle east, but you know, that story has not fundamentally cha...more
Brilliant marriage of subject and author. My disappointment was with the amount of space devoted to broad historical facts, leaving (in my opinion) far too little space for what Pekar does best - telling personal stories. I have a fascination with personal narratives of ideological shifts, and loved hearing about this process in Pekar's raw, smart-as-hell voice. I wish there had been more space devoted to his voice. Mostly I'm just really sad that he's gone. I was so moved to hear about the serv...more
BOY OH BOY did I want to like this more than I did!
As a 31 year old Jewish man from Ohio who was raised in exactly the kind of Zionist household that Harvey describes, I was excited to explore some of the emotional depth involved in evolving opinions of Israel in response to it's change from a leftist/Marxist dream state in the early part of the 20th century, to one increasingly controlled by right wing religious zealots as it is today.
ALAS! The vast majority of the book is a history of Israel a...more
As a 31 year old Jewish man from Ohio who was raised in exactly the kind of Zionist household that Harvey describes, I was excited to explore some of the emotional depth involved in evolving opinions of Israel in response to it's change from a leftist/Marxist dream state in the early part of the 20th century, to one increasingly controlled by right wing religious zealots as it is today.
ALAS! The vast majority of the book is a history of Israel a...more
Not my favorite from Harvey Pekar, but I respect what he was trying to do with this. So many of us are ignorant on the discord between Israel and Palestine and he really wanted us to understand...but this was a little too much complex information crammed into not a lot of space for me. I think I would need to read it a few times with a pot of hot coffee and a notepad to really get it to sink in. This book is nothing if not ambitious!
I will say that every time I read a Harvey Pekar work now I fe...more
I will say that every time I read a Harvey Pekar work now I fe...more
I quite enjoyed this, though it didn't blow me away as much as say Maus. Pekar has courage to stare the moral dilema of the Israeli occupation of Palestine in the face. Israel can kick the Arabs arses all the way back to Mecca and beyond, there is no doubt about this, it is the continual bullshit paranoia of right-wing bananas and reaxtive religious filth that causes the problems.
Whilst the Arabs are a bunch a Israel-denying scum, backward, superstitious and hateful warmongers, Israel in a posit...more
Whilst the Arabs are a bunch a Israel-denying scum, backward, superstitious and hateful warmongers, Israel in a posit...more
this graphic novel is a MUST for clevelanders, jews and comic book nerds. the story takes place during one day in cleveland, and it in harvey explores what it means to be jewish and what israel means to jews. the places harvey visits in cleveland are all familiar to me and he does a great job of telling the story of how israel became a state. harvey is my former neighbor and will always be a hero to cleveland kids. this is his last book and was published after he died. i own this book and will l...more
The most unusual Hannukah gift I received, this book provides a thumbnail history of Israel, sprinkled with wry banter between Harvey Pekar and his friend JT regarding Pekar's personal relationship to the Zionist movement. I think my favorite part was the weird epilogue where Pekar's widow recounts how Pekar's mothers' funeral turned into a Zionist fundraiser, and how Harvey Pekar's funeral was engineered to be the opposite of that, with Cleveland being substituted for Harvey's symbolic "homelan...more
Actually quite good. Gives a quick but telling history of Israel and of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. From the point of view of a Jew who saw the country of Israel unfold (from the US). He started off as many of us Jews do, unabashedly supporting Israel no matter what. And slowly changed as he saw the reality of what the Israeli government was doing (and the rise of the Jewish religious right-wing). Pekar died before his book could be published and his wife adds an epilogue.
I hoped this book would give me some insights into something I find very troubling: Jews who are harshly and publicly critical of Israel. And I really tried to stay open-minded. But I'm sorry I went to the effort of buying and reading this book. A few interesting quotations from Israeli leaders aside (quotations I'd never seen and will be looking up), I gained little from my time with this book. I also can't help wondering if Pekar's views would have altered at all had he ever visited Israel.
Never read American Splendor. Good, detailed, accurate storytelling. I have learned more about Judaism in this, than I likely ever would on my own, or by casual observation. A chatty, sometimes preachy opinion piece. Beautiful art, articulate, detailed; I forgot it is a book, I feel like I am "there." Great characterization. I feel like, even though it may not be the best book, that I am watching a master at work.
This book is about a very specific perspective of Israel/Palestine - what's it's like to be raised by Zionists in the 1960s but be friends with leftist radicals at the same time. I loved reading about that tension the most, but found the parts about the biblical history of the formation of Israel (we are talking 600 A.D.) to be a bit dense.
I adored the shout out to the Cleveland Height library and the homage to Cleveland - essential Pekar.
I adored the shout out to the Cleveland Height library and the homage to Cleveland - essential Pekar.
This book feels unfinished. While the highlights of history are a reasonable summary at a very high level, and while I sympathize and agree with the criticisms voiced within, the lack of any concrete suggestions of what to do instead leaves me dissatisfied. I understand that Mr. Pekar died before this book was finished, as a result, it's hard to tell what is really his voice and vision, and what is that of his illustrator and co-author.
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Harvey Lawrence Pekar was an American underground comic book writer best known for his autobiographical American Splendor series.
In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the same name.
More about Harvey Pekar...
In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the same name.
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Feb 08, 2013 02:04pm
Feb 08, 2013 05:01pm