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Jerusalem: A Family Portrait
(Jerusalem: A Family Portrait #1-2)
by
Jerusalem is a sweeping, epic work that follows a single family—three generations and fifteen very different people—as they are swept up in chaos, war, and nation-making from 1940-1948. Faith, family, and politics are the heady mix that fuel this ambitious, cinematic graphic novel.
With Jerusalem, author-filmmaker Boaz Yakin turns his finely-honed storytelling skills to a ...more
With Jerusalem, author-filmmaker Boaz Yakin turns his finely-honed storytelling skills to a ...more
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published
April 16th 2013
by First Second
(first published April 16th 2009)
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This is a graphic novel about the author's family history, during the time his family lived in Jerusalem during the occupation of Britain. The plot is somewhat fictionalized, filling in empty parts of the accounts he painstakingly gathered from his relatives. The art and dialogue is very powerful; the author doesn't impose his own thoughts about the events in the novel, but rather gives the reader a chance to create his or her own interpretation. What I took away from this experience was the und
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The year is 1940. The place is Jerusalem. And there is war all around. Not only is World War II continuing and taking away the men and boys of Israel to fight Hitler’s armies, but Jews and Arabs are fighting once more within Jerusalem. This story follows three generations of the same family, 15 members in total, from 1940-1948, through war, through jail, through faith, and through death. This is a story that will not let you go.
This has been one of the most difficult books for me to review, not ...more
This has been one of the most difficult books for me to review, not ...more

Absolutely outstanding! This chunkster of a graphic novel is a gripping read that I could not put down once started. It is one I already plan to re-read. Starting off with a map and couple pages of text we are given an historical background of Israel/Palestine up to the starting date of the book post-WWII 1945. Follows is a one page text background of the fictional family featured in the book up to this date as well. The reader is then fully immersed into the chaotic, war-torn life of a Jewish f
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I've mixed feelings about this book. The subject matter is close to my heart, the story is no doubt moving and powerful, but it just didn't do much for me. Maybe it is the (necessary but) desensitising violence, or the lack of overarching strong, central protagonist.
Good tale, but could have been much better presented. ...more
Good tale, but could have been much better presented. ...more

This may contain spoilers!
Jerusalem A Family Portrait begins in April 1945 and tells the story of two branches of the Halabys family. Jonathan and Motti are cousins, and despite their fathers' poor relationship, are also best friends. It should be noted though that their relationship has plenty of ups and downs. The family is torn apart due to the jealousy that Jonathan's father, Yakov, felt towards his younger brother Izak. Izak is debt to his brother, but Yakov refuses to forgive the debt des ...more
Jerusalem A Family Portrait begins in April 1945 and tells the story of two branches of the Halabys family. Jonathan and Motti are cousins, and despite their fathers' poor relationship, are also best friends. It should be noted though that their relationship has plenty of ups and downs. The family is torn apart due to the jealousy that Jonathan's father, Yakov, felt towards his younger brother Izak. Izak is debt to his brother, but Yakov refuses to forgive the debt des ...more

Jerusalem was often a time of chaos and conflict during the years the state of Israel was being established in the 1940s. Communists, Zionists, Jews, Arabs, and British soldiers were mixed into a boiling pot that pitted brothers against brothers and race against race.
Graphic novelists Boaz Yakin and Nick Bertozzi have sought to capture those unsettling times through the lens of one family: the Hallabys. In their novel, Jerusalem: A Family Portrait, they introduce readers to brothers Izak and Yak ...more
Graphic novelists Boaz Yakin and Nick Bertozzi have sought to capture those unsettling times through the lens of one family: the Hallabys. In their novel, Jerusalem: A Family Portrait, they introduce readers to brothers Izak and Yak ...more

Apr 17, 2013
First Second Books
marked it as first-second-publications
This book is based on the story of Boaz Yakin's family dealing with living in Israel from 1940-1948, but it's not a strict biography -- it has been fictionalized.
That's one of the things I like about it.
You know how sometimes you read memoir or biography and at the end you're left kind of furrowing your brow and going, 'huh,' because the main character didn't die in a blaze of glory or after they established their global pinochle empire, they miscellaneously got themselves killed trying to climb ...more
That's one of the things I like about it.
You know how sometimes you read memoir or biography and at the end you're left kind of furrowing your brow and going, 'huh,' because the main character didn't die in a blaze of glory or after they established their global pinochle empire, they miscellaneously got themselves killed trying to climb ...more

Jerusalem: A Family Portrait
Boaz Yakin, Nick Bertozzi (Illustrations)
This graphic novel is based on stories from the 1940s told to the author by his family. The content of those stories, as presented here, seems consistent with the history of the region. There appears to be no effort to relate this story to a fuller picture of the region, with viewpoints from multiple and conflicting sources. Although attempting to generalize about the region, on the basis of this story, is appealing, it might n ...more
Boaz Yakin, Nick Bertozzi (Illustrations)
This graphic novel is based on stories from the 1940s told to the author by his family. The content of those stories, as presented here, seems consistent with the history of the region. There appears to be no effort to relate this story to a fuller picture of the region, with viewpoints from multiple and conflicting sources. Although attempting to generalize about the region, on the basis of this story, is appealing, it might n ...more

Jerusalem is about a family living in Palestine, this takes place from 1940 to 1948 and has to do with the series of events that happening during that time. Its a very well told showing how tough it was for the people living there at times and even how sometimes British soliders mistreated the locals. The artwork was nice to look at and felt realistic and not like some crazy over the top cartoon-like graphic novel. This one I would recommend to people who enjoy history or stories based on histor
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Jerusalem: A Family Portrait is a graphic novel written by Boaz Yakin and illustrated by Nick Bertozzi, which traces the chaotic, bloody early history of the modern Jewish state in Palestine, focusing on a fractious family living in the hotly contested city of Jerusalem.
It follows the families of two estranged Israeli brothers, focusing primarily on the sons of these brothers as the many wars involving Jerusalem rage around them. They suffer life, death, and everything in between, all while sear ...more
It follows the families of two estranged Israeli brothers, focusing primarily on the sons of these brothers as the many wars involving Jerusalem rage around them. They suffer life, death, and everything in between, all while sear ...more

More graphically violent than necessary, but it is a very violent subject matter. Heartbreaking and informative, but not as conclusive as I'd have liked.
...more

Gruesome - just like reality.

Technically read during the school semester and I SUCK at adding books on here BUT this was AMAZING and I CRIED!!! Big family drama set between 1945-1948/9 during the period of the creation of the state of Israel -- you got a deep-seated decades-long feud between two brothers that extends to their children, young cousins best friends despite said feud, other brothers becoming peace-seeking Communists, idealistic terrorists, and awesome soldiers, and a sister that's definitely in love with a neig
...more

Set in the British Mandate of Palestine on the eve of its independence, it would be all too easy to ascribe historical or political meaning to every plot point in the story about an extended family torn apart by jealousy and ideology. While Yakin almost certainly intends for the reader to consider such interpretations, any mapping of this narrative to another is bound to reveal less about the author's opinion than it does about the audience's point of view. Halaby family patriarch Yakov is dedic
...more

I took my time with this book. It looked like it deserved it and I was not wrong, it’s a great read.
The panels are well planned out and shows the amount of heart out into the book in the earlier parts. However, towards the end there was less “play” with paneling which was a shame.
The art serves its purpose but I do wish each character was drawn a little more distinctly so I did not have to second guess who they were.
But these are small gripes, the book is good and the subject matter interesting. ...more
The panels are well planned out and shows the amount of heart out into the book in the earlier parts. However, towards the end there was less “play” with paneling which was a shame.
The art serves its purpose but I do wish each character was drawn a little more distinctly so I did not have to second guess who they were.
But these are small gripes, the book is good and the subject matter interesting. ...more

This looked such an interesting read - Jerusalem in the mid/late 1940's at the time of the end of the British mandate and the first war with neighboring countries, but unfortunately I found it very flat and uninteresting.
There was little character development, the story jumped about all over the place, perhaps i missed something, but there seemed to be lots of loose ends when the story finished. It just wasn't a satisfying read.
Perhaps reading it on a kindle wasn't the best idea. I'll certainly ...more
There was little character development, the story jumped about all over the place, perhaps i missed something, but there seemed to be lots of loose ends when the story finished. It just wasn't a satisfying read.
Perhaps reading it on a kindle wasn't the best idea. I'll certainly ...more

Wow! A family saga set against the backdrop of Jerusalem in the mid-40s. Characters and motivations feel real. The ending is just ... Wow! Wasn't sure I was going to like this when I began. War is an ugly business ...
...more

I read this as an ebook, and I think I missed a lot of nuance because of it. That, or it was hard to follow. In any case, it was still very good (I'd need to read it again to really get what happened). The illustrations are extremely expressive.
...more

I wanted to like this more... but the black and white art didn't serve the large cast of characters well, and when it was hard to distinguish between people, the story became very hard to follow, even for a careful reader.
...more

There was this Popular book sale at Avenue K where one book costs RM10 but if you buy five books, you can get them for RM25. While sifting through the available books, I saw this and it was a hardcover graphic novel. And damnshit if I buy five books, this will technically cost RM5 which is a steal considering most graphic novels cost RM40-RM100++.
I read this fresh after watching Dunkirk so I felt super horrified by war and couldn't stop thinking why we humans have to initiate them when they cos ...more
I read this fresh after watching Dunkirk so I felt super horrified by war and couldn't stop thinking why we humans have to initiate them when they cos ...more

This was the most fast-paced, thrilling graphic novel I've ever read. It's about a Jewish family from the Middle East (very different from the usual Ashkenazi Jewish story,) that live in Jerusalem during the "creation" of Palestine by Britain, and the bloody fight between the Jews and Arabs when the British finally leave. It is the story of a life-long fight between brothers, both literally and figuratively. It follows an entire family, from the scrappy mischief of the youngest to the fatal choi
...more

Relevant to the times, I saw Jerusalem in the news, and saw this graphic novel by Boaz Yakin and Nick Bertozzi, and thought, let me see relevance. The graphics and illustrations are amazing, very clear, and very haunting at times. When you see the conflicts and the history that puts relatives against each other, as well as neighbors, you begin to understand what a complex situation and dilemma so many have had in dealing with Israel, Jerusalem, Palestine, and all being a very complex equation wh
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This is a part of the world which is particularly well served by graphic non-fiction, not just by Jewish or Arab writers but by people from seemingly neutral backgrounds and so there is plenty of great graphic books to choose from. Of the ones I have read before, the two I have read by Joe Sacco still remain head and shoulders above anything else in the genre.
The art work in here is bold and at times inventive, but I struggled to love this. The Palestinian Israeli conflict has been well enough r ...more

Very powerful, tense story that gives a glimpse of the violence and the complexity around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the 1940s. Within one family, one finds secular and observant Jews, communists and Zionists, poor and wealthy, and all around them, allies and enemies, colonizers and colonized, British and Arabs. There is a Biblical feel to the story of brothers set against one another, which at times errs on the side of excess. The narrative could have used some breathing space; there a
...more

4.25.
I think a graphic novel is a great way to make a complex problem, like the conflict between Israel/Palestine, more accessible to people. This story will definitely leave its mark on the reader and the artwork is fantastic. The story line is a little complex because of the number of characters and a little more background info/or a glossary would have been helpful. In the end I was moved by the story (warning: graphic violence is used and is understandably necessary), but I really did not e ...more
I think a graphic novel is a great way to make a complex problem, like the conflict between Israel/Palestine, more accessible to people. This story will definitely leave its mark on the reader and the artwork is fantastic. The story line is a little complex because of the number of characters and a little more background info/or a glossary would have been helpful. In the end I was moved by the story (warning: graphic violence is used and is understandably necessary), but I really did not e ...more

This one will pull at your heartstrings and really drives home the complexities of the real-world Jerusalem. The media representations of the Middle East and of Israel, in North America, are woefully simplistic by comparison and as one might come to expect from the news, neglect the human element.
This would have been a powerful story as a novel, but having a visual reference for the multiplicity of individuals is what really elevates this narrative. It may sound cheesy, but having a face to atta ...more
This would have been a powerful story as a novel, but having a visual reference for the multiplicity of individuals is what really elevates this narrative. It may sound cheesy, but having a face to atta ...more

My favorite part of the book is when Motti achieves his dreams, Jonathan becomes a man, and the war is over. This is my favorite part because of how all the events previously lead to this. Motti and the other kids destroyed the only school causing there to be no school, which forces him to get a job and his brother David got him one working to make props for the theater, leading to him learning all about theater, since always being there. I would recommend this book. This book is for people who
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I'm pretty sure I read this twice but I can't recall when the first time would have been. The book doesn't give a lot of context, and rather focuses on the protagonist families in Jerusalem 1940-1948; if my historical knowledge was better, I may have gotten more out of it. I could see it being made into an epic film, possibly because I watched the Godfather 1 & 2 this weekend; it has the same overflowing cast of characters that a long movie could take the time to flesh out.
...more

This was a very fascinating read. Set in the Jerusalem in the 1940's, Jerusalem revolves around a family and each of their individual perspectives. What I loved most about this book was an insight into an era and place I know very little about. I didn't find the story particularly compelling, but I kept reading just to understand the history a bit more. However, I'm finding myself now hungry to read something scholarly and told from a variety of perspectives outside of a single family.
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This is that (thusfar in my experience) rare example of a graphic novel (historical in this case) poorly done. The narrative is difficult to follow throughout. The characters are poorly drawn (figuratively). And the point of it all (history telling aside), right up to its abrupt and confusing ending, is unclear. The book lacks an emotional core (despite the creators' efforts to demonstrate one). It is, alas, a mediocre effort. I cannot recommend it.
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