A Game for Swallows – Book Review
“A Game for Swallows” is a graphic novel memoir written by Zeina Abirached, which chronicles her childhood experiences in Lebanon during the civil war. Fans of comic books may notice that the cover illustrations bear a resemblance to the style of Marjane Satrapi. In fact, when I first saw Zeina’s book at a store, I mistook it for a work by Satrapi, especially because her work “Embroideries” has a similar cover image. And even though Satrapi’s “Perspepolis” is one of my favourite memoirs, which is similar in themes, unfortunately “A Game for Swallows” failed to keep me invested in its story.
Zeina’s artwork is characterized by bold black-and-white strokes and a cartoonish style, although the illustrations can feel repetitive at times. The book introduces too many characters too quickly, which can make it difficult to keep track of who’s who. Despite this, I did like the fact that the memoir takes place over the course of a single day. Zeina’s parents leave to visit her grandmother, who lives just a few blocks away, but navigating through a war-torn neighborhood is like walking through a minefield. There’s a palpable tension in the air as they assure Zeina and her brother that they will be back soon. However, kind and cheerful neighbors gather around the kids, swapping stories, food, and drinks, and making the war seem like a distant reality.
I was hoping for a lot more from this book, so the brief length, the lack of personal touch and an overload of characters was slightly disappointing.
It’s a 2.5 on 5 from me.
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