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Diario de Oaxaca [Edición bilingüe] [Próxima aparición]
Painting a vivid, personal portrait of social and political upheaval in Oaxaca, Mexico, this unique memoir employs comics, bilingual essays, photos, and sketches to chronicle the events that unfolded around a teachers' strike and led to a seven-month siege. When award-winning cartoonist Peter Kuper and his wife and daughter moved to the beautiful, 15th-century colonial town of Oaxaca in 2006, they planned to spend a quiet year or two enjoying a different culture and taking a break from the U.S. political climate under the Bush administration. What they hadn't counted on was landing in the epicenter of Mexico's biggest political struggle in recent years. Timely and compelling, this extraordinary firsthand account presents a distinct artistic vision of Oaxacan life, from explorations of the beauty of the environment to graphic portrayals of the fight between strikers and government troops that left more than 20 people dead, including American journalist Brad Will.
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First published January 1, 2009
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February 15, 2018
In 2015 cartoonist Peter Kuper published Ruins, about an artist and his wife taking a couple year sabbatical in Oaxaca. It focuses on his relationship with his wife, and with his life as an artist, and his drawing of bugs. And there’s some mention of political activity. I read it a couple years ago.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Now I come to read Kuper’s journal/sketchbook of those couple years, which would work as a nice companion to Ruins, of course. It is multi-genre, and gets less at the personal relationships and more on the political situation that exploded there. Ironically, he went there to escape the American political scene and the bad news he felt was created by the Bush administration. When he got there were strikers in the street and violence. There were also bugs, and great beauty.
This journal is bilingual, and includes many wordless sketchbook pages, and some actual journal entries in writing. And some photographs, one of his daughter holding turtles I love. He’s a tourist, he’s witnessing a bit as a kind of journalist, I guess. It’s collage, multi-genre, interesting. There’s a 2,000 year old tree there! And lots of drawings of bugs!
This would be 3 stars max except it is Kuper doing it, so the quality of the images is just better, more interesting. 3.5, as is what I thought about Ruins, rounded up. But not 4 stars as “literature” but as a travel memoir.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Now I come to read Kuper’s journal/sketchbook of those couple years, which would work as a nice companion to Ruins, of course. It is multi-genre, and gets less at the personal relationships and more on the political situation that exploded there. Ironically, he went there to escape the American political scene and the bad news he felt was created by the Bush administration. When he got there were strikers in the street and violence. There were also bugs, and great beauty.
This journal is bilingual, and includes many wordless sketchbook pages, and some actual journal entries in writing. And some photographs, one of his daughter holding turtles I love. He’s a tourist, he’s witnessing a bit as a kind of journalist, I guess. It’s collage, multi-genre, interesting. There’s a 2,000 year old tree there! And lots of drawings of bugs!
This would be 3 stars max except it is Kuper doing it, so the quality of the images is just better, more interesting. 3.5, as is what I thought about Ruins, rounded up. But not 4 stars as “literature” but as a travel memoir.
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May 16, 2021✍️ DIARIO DE OAXACA: A Sketchbook Journal of Two Years in Mexico by Peter Kuper, 2009 / with new afterword 2017 from PM Press.
Cartoonist / artist Peter Kuper and his partner lived in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca in the mid-2000s, witnessing (and drawing) several Indigenous rights protests and labour strikes, as well as daily life of shopkeepers, farmers, schoolchildren, and street dogs. DIARIO crystallized the mid-2000s, but the new edition I read also includes 2 addendums from the 2010s.
Dual language (Spanish/English) diary entries, art / photo captions, and full color artwork and sketches make up this unique work.
Kuper has a naturalist's eye and loves entomology and botany, so his artwork is full of bugs and plants. Since I just so happen to be really into both bugs and plants myself, I really liked seeing his sketchbook. He blends literary references, political statements, and humor right in with amazing artwork.
Kuper's other graphic novel RUINS (2015) was a particular treat a few years back. It documents the daily life of a fictional couple living in Oaxaca, and visiting other states like Michoacán and Chiapas.
RUINS and DIARIO are great companion pieces - seeing his actual sketchbook, and then what lead to a fictional story heavily based on his experiences.
Cartoonist / artist Peter Kuper and his partner lived in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca in the mid-2000s, witnessing (and drawing) several Indigenous rights protests and labour strikes, as well as daily life of shopkeepers, farmers, schoolchildren, and street dogs. DIARIO crystallized the mid-2000s, but the new edition I read also includes 2 addendums from the 2010s.
Dual language (Spanish/English) diary entries, art / photo captions, and full color artwork and sketches make up this unique work.
Kuper has a naturalist's eye and loves entomology and botany, so his artwork is full of bugs and plants. Since I just so happen to be really into both bugs and plants myself, I really liked seeing his sketchbook. He blends literary references, political statements, and humor right in with amazing artwork.
Kuper's other graphic novel RUINS (2015) was a particular treat a few years back. It documents the daily life of a fictional couple living in Oaxaca, and visiting other states like Michoacán and Chiapas.
RUINS and DIARIO are great companion pieces - seeing his actual sketchbook, and then what lead to a fictional story heavily based on his experiences.
March 28, 2017
Hace poco empecé a leer novela gráfica y me he convertido en fan. La novela gráfica a diferencia del comic es una historia de extensión larga, ilustrada por viñetas y escrita por un solo autor (apuesto a que hay muchas más diferencias, pero esta definición me pareció muy práctica).
Hay alguien del que me he enamorado perdidamente Peter Kuper, él ha colaborado en publicaciones como Newsweek, Time, The New York Times y MAD (revista en la que dibuja la tira Spy vs.Spy) además de ser autor de numerosas novelas gráficas (algunas de ellas autobiográficas) así como de diarios ilustrados, otra de las cosas que ha hecho es ilustrar historias ya conocidas como la Metamorfosis y A través del espejo.
Una de las tantas cosas que me gustaron de Kuper fue su particular postura tanto política como de vida, él ha sido un crítico del gobierno de Bush y del gobierno gringo, en los distintos diarios que ha hecho de sus viajes muestra los diferentes matices de los países que ha visitado, para él ”es importante tratar de hacer mi parte para buscar comunicación con otras personas, para decir algo y tratar de cambiar las cosas”, creo que estas palabras resumen a la perfección el trabajo de Kuper y la razón por la que lo encontré maravilloso.
Si quieren comenzar a leerlo recomiendo estos libros,
Diario de Oaxaca
Mi favorito, habla de su paso por Oaxaca durante el conflicto de maestros en 2006, no solo explica la visión que tuvo del problema sino que muestra pasajes muy bonitos de la vida en Oaxaca, desde los olores que percibió, los insectos, la comida y las diferentes expresiones gráficas que podían verse en las calles.
Diario de Nueva York
En este diario nos muestra la historia y aventuras en esta ciudad, particularmente su paso por Brooklyn, así como su experiencia durante los hechos del 11 de septiembre. Este libro tiene poco texto y más imágenes.
No te olvides de recordar
¡Uy! este es otro que me encantó, es una especie de autobiografía en donde nos cuenta su historia, recuerdos de su niñez, adolescencia así como su experiencia como padre primerizo y el proceso mediante el cual se convirtió en ilustrador y escritor.
Me gusta porque se me hace un libro honesto narrado de manera agridulce, sin ser ñoñisimo ni sensiblero, logra conmover, reír y reflexionar :)
Hay alguien del que me he enamorado perdidamente Peter Kuper, él ha colaborado en publicaciones como Newsweek, Time, The New York Times y MAD (revista en la que dibuja la tira Spy vs.Spy) además de ser autor de numerosas novelas gráficas (algunas de ellas autobiográficas) así como de diarios ilustrados, otra de las cosas que ha hecho es ilustrar historias ya conocidas como la Metamorfosis y A través del espejo.
Una de las tantas cosas que me gustaron de Kuper fue su particular postura tanto política como de vida, él ha sido un crítico del gobierno de Bush y del gobierno gringo, en los distintos diarios que ha hecho de sus viajes muestra los diferentes matices de los países que ha visitado, para él ”es importante tratar de hacer mi parte para buscar comunicación con otras personas, para decir algo y tratar de cambiar las cosas”, creo que estas palabras resumen a la perfección el trabajo de Kuper y la razón por la que lo encontré maravilloso.
Si quieren comenzar a leerlo recomiendo estos libros,
Diario de Oaxaca
Mi favorito, habla de su paso por Oaxaca durante el conflicto de maestros en 2006, no solo explica la visión que tuvo del problema sino que muestra pasajes muy bonitos de la vida en Oaxaca, desde los olores que percibió, los insectos, la comida y las diferentes expresiones gráficas que podían verse en las calles.
Diario de Nueva York
En este diario nos muestra la historia y aventuras en esta ciudad, particularmente su paso por Brooklyn, así como su experiencia durante los hechos del 11 de septiembre. Este libro tiene poco texto y más imágenes.
No te olvides de recordar
¡Uy! este es otro que me encantó, es una especie de autobiografía en donde nos cuenta su historia, recuerdos de su niñez, adolescencia así como su experiencia como padre primerizo y el proceso mediante el cual se convirtió en ilustrador y escritor.
Me gusta porque se me hace un libro honesto narrado de manera agridulce, sin ser ñoñisimo ni sensiblero, logra conmover, reír y reflexionar :)
February 3, 2013
hm, seems like most people really love this book. and generally I am a fan of graphic/sketchbook travelogues, but maybe i am pickier about drawing style than I even knew. and honestly i was annoyed with how enamored kuper was about he and his family living in oaxaca for two years and how lucky he was to catch the teacher's strike. there is one passage where he talks about walking past tourists who have no idea all the strike madness that had just past and how awesome it was that he and his wife experienced the empty streets and police in riot gear. really man? anyway, i feel just as excited to visit oaxaca as before the reading of this book, but just a little more sobered that i don't use visiting as a way to prove some sense of self importance.
November 12, 2018
Diario de Oaxaca is the result of being in the right place at the “wrong” time...
The day we landed in Mexico, July 3, 2006, the news was all about the suspicion of fraud in the previous day’s national elections. Oaxaca City was in the throes of a major teachers’ strike with encampments and protests throughout town, and just getting from the airport to our new neighborhood acquired circumventing strikers barricades...
Over the next few months, as the teachers’ strike reached a boiling point, family and friends in the United States corresponded urgently, asking how we were faring and questioning whether we should stay, given the threatening news reports they were reading...
_____________________________________________
October 10, 2006:
Since May the teachers of Oaxaca have been encampment in the town square (Zócalo). The strike has been an annual event for the last 25 years and usually lasted a couple of weeks or until their demands for pay raises and funds for schools were met. For the first time in the streets history of the new governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO), decided not to agree to their demands. Instead, on June 14 at 4:30 AM, he sent in riot police in an attempt to forcibly expel them. This attack completely backfired. Not only were the strike is not infected but their demands and their numbers in expanded. They were joined by a larger coalition of unions, APPO (Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca) who declared the strike would not end unless governor Ulises stepped down...
Water or desert, Oaxaca remains a fantastic choice.
November 9, 2006:
Paramilitary police working undercover for Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz had attacked strikers manning barricades. Three Oaxacans and an American journalist were shot dead. Brad Will, who captured the horrific event on film, wasn’t the first to die in this ongoing conflict, but the first American. I didn’t know Brad but later discovered that just about everyone I knew from the Lower East Side of Manhattan did, and it wasn’t that much of a stretch to imagine myself in his shoes...
The next day the president of Mexico ordered 4,000 federal troops to be flown into Oaxaca. The teachers and their supporters who would been encamped in the Zócalo since May we are about to face an overwhelming new threat...
Throughout this strike the teachers had managed their protest peacefully, but we are regularly attacked by Governor Ulises’ forces...
December 3, 2006:
Oaxaca had a long history of conquests and political struggle...
Federal troops had been brought in after an American journalist was killed and the town verged on economic collapse. The troops pushed strikers out of the Zocalo, but the strikers regrouped further up the street and made camp around Oaxaca’s landmark church, Santo Domingo, continuing their protest for better wages and demanding the removal of the governor...
It was a scene of complete mayhem, with helicopters hovering overhead and tanks rolling through the streets amid clouds of tear gas. Strikers set up burning barricades and hurled rocks at lines of marching police...
Since that explosion a few weeks ago, it has been eerily calm. Still, a shadow hangs over Oaxaca and many protesters languish in prison without hearings or sentencing. Nonetheless rumors that the new president will remove Ulises from office continued to swirl about, and there has even been a trickle of tourism returning to the downtown...
December 28, 2006:
It was Christmas in Oaxaca and all through the town that the teacher was stirring (they’re in jail, not around).
The graffiti with protest has been covered with paint and police are on the streets to enforce that it’s quaint. All barricades gone, tear gas dissipated, burning buses removed and encampments have faded.
January 9, 2007:
On the positive side, the teachers returned to work after many of their demands were met, including back pay. Still, hundreds were jailed and many of them still languish behind bars. Governor Ulises remains in power, his administration as corrupt as ever, and the roots of the teachers’ discontent remains unanswered. Though the streets are quiet, just below the surface everything Oaxacans fought for, and the oppressive poverty they continue to endure, festers...
November 1, 2007:
While Halloween is wrapping up in the USA, here in Mexico the cemeteries are just warming up for the Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos).
As an American who viewing cemeteries as grim places synonymous with mourning and discomfort, it is a relief to be in a culture that converts that bleak environment into a place to play music and sing, laugh, rejoice and celebrate memories of the dear departed. Altars are set up with flowers and food, including skulls made of sugar, incense, candles and other items that both commemorate the dead and entice them to return from the afterlife to enjoy the festivities...
January 24, 2008:
Today the streets are full of tourists, with vendors selling them an explosion of colorful clothing, wooden animals, pottery and textiles...
I certainly hope that this parade of images will have taken up permanent residence in my brain. When I return to the USA I’ll need the flow of Oaxaca to remain as a mental retreat when Manhattan turns to ice...
February 14, 2008:
Living in Oaxaca during the political upheaval of 2006 and seeing how those events were covered by major news outlets, I’ve come to believe that most news is all sizzle without the quake. If we were not witnessing an event firsthand, then we have to except hearsay and a tremendous amount of that heresay is misinformation and sometimes even outright lies. Yet we clear our minds and discussions with the endless stream of inaccurate and useless information we receive...
March 18, 2008:
One of the prominent features of the political struggles that have taken place here has been street art. Sometimes it takes the form of beautifully designed posters announcing an upcoming event; sometimes artist combine bold stenciled graphics with political slogans like “the revolution will not be televised”; and sometimes they’re more like an open canvas that becomes in expanding dialogue between different artists...
When the teachers’ strike was crushed, back in November 2006, the authorities immediately obliterated the street art. Slashes of blue, white and yellow paint used to obscure the graffiti can still be seen on many walls, appearing almost like intentional abstract artwork...
May 7, 2018:
I may be suffering from PDN (Pre Departure Nostalgia) as we get closer to our stateside return from Mexico this July. Whatever the diagnosis, all my senses seem to be strangely heightened. My eyes constantly watch for new subject, and drawing in my sketchbook has become a daily obsession. My ears are sharply attuned to the parade of sounds, from the ravens that wake me up each morning to the tree frogs that will need to sleep you tonight. It‘s my sense of smell that’s been really off the charts...
There are so many smiles to choose from here in Oaxaca, I expect I’ll have flashbacks long after we’re gone.
June 1, 2008:
The “Big Three” as they were known — Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siquieros, and José Clemente Orozco — painted complex murals seamlessly marrying modern and ancient history with social and political teams. Their enormous frescoes brought social realist art into public spaces throughout the world in their heyday, from the 1920s to the 1950s...
June 23, 2008:
Draw in sketchbook every day —religiously...
Contrary to what you’ve been told repeatedly for the last two years — mezcal is not the answer to all of life’s problems...
Looking back over our two years here, I feel truly fortunate we chose Oaxaca...
October 29, 2010:
Tourism had dropped of level similar to the time of the 2006 teachers’ strike and many businesses and individuals were struggling to survive...
Even so, if the city glowed with vibrancy and defiance. Museums and galleries had inspiring shows. Updated protest posters and anti-you are a graffiti adorn the cities ancient walls comment demonstrating people’s will to keep fighting...
During the February 2010 visit, I sat drinking coffee and one of the Zócalo’s many outdoor cafés. Time melted away as I watch vendors and street musicians ply their trades...
When the Day of the Dead rolls around again, Oaxacans will laugh, cry and celebrate those who are gone with art and mezcal, songs and flowers. They will embrace the rituals of centuries. All over Mexico matches will be struck in touched to candles, and the darkness with blaze with light...
May 9, 2017:
Though nearly a decade has passed since my sabbatical years in Oaxaca, what hasn’t changed is my desire to telegraph my enthusiasm for the place to anyone who would listen...
Apparently, Dario de Oaxaca is a lifetime work in progress!
Given the xenophobic portrayals of Mexico’s about it by the US government officials, my urgency to convey a broader vision of our neighbor is even greater today. With mandates to literally wall ourselves off from Mexico, it’s essential to question what would be lost.”
The day we landed in Mexico, July 3, 2006, the news was all about the suspicion of fraud in the previous day’s national elections. Oaxaca City was in the throes of a major teachers’ strike with encampments and protests throughout town, and just getting from the airport to our new neighborhood acquired circumventing strikers barricades...
Over the next few months, as the teachers’ strike reached a boiling point, family and friends in the United States corresponded urgently, asking how we were faring and questioning whether we should stay, given the threatening news reports they were reading...
_____________________________________________
October 10, 2006:
Since May the teachers of Oaxaca have been encampment in the town square (Zócalo). The strike has been an annual event for the last 25 years and usually lasted a couple of weeks or until their demands for pay raises and funds for schools were met. For the first time in the streets history of the new governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO), decided not to agree to their demands. Instead, on June 14 at 4:30 AM, he sent in riot police in an attempt to forcibly expel them. This attack completely backfired. Not only were the strike is not infected but their demands and their numbers in expanded. They were joined by a larger coalition of unions, APPO (Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca) who declared the strike would not end unless governor Ulises stepped down...
Water or desert, Oaxaca remains a fantastic choice.
November 9, 2006:
Paramilitary police working undercover for Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz had attacked strikers manning barricades. Three Oaxacans and an American journalist were shot dead. Brad Will, who captured the horrific event on film, wasn’t the first to die in this ongoing conflict, but the first American. I didn’t know Brad but later discovered that just about everyone I knew from the Lower East Side of Manhattan did, and it wasn’t that much of a stretch to imagine myself in his shoes...
The next day the president of Mexico ordered 4,000 federal troops to be flown into Oaxaca. The teachers and their supporters who would been encamped in the Zócalo since May we are about to face an overwhelming new threat...
Throughout this strike the teachers had managed their protest peacefully, but we are regularly attacked by Governor Ulises’ forces...
December 3, 2006:
Oaxaca had a long history of conquests and political struggle...
Federal troops had been brought in after an American journalist was killed and the town verged on economic collapse. The troops pushed strikers out of the Zocalo, but the strikers regrouped further up the street and made camp around Oaxaca’s landmark church, Santo Domingo, continuing their protest for better wages and demanding the removal of the governor...
It was a scene of complete mayhem, with helicopters hovering overhead and tanks rolling through the streets amid clouds of tear gas. Strikers set up burning barricades and hurled rocks at lines of marching police...
Since that explosion a few weeks ago, it has been eerily calm. Still, a shadow hangs over Oaxaca and many protesters languish in prison without hearings or sentencing. Nonetheless rumors that the new president will remove Ulises from office continued to swirl about, and there has even been a trickle of tourism returning to the downtown...
December 28, 2006:
It was Christmas in Oaxaca and all through the town that the teacher was stirring (they’re in jail, not around).
The graffiti with protest has been covered with paint and police are on the streets to enforce that it’s quaint. All barricades gone, tear gas dissipated, burning buses removed and encampments have faded.
January 9, 2007:
On the positive side, the teachers returned to work after many of their demands were met, including back pay. Still, hundreds were jailed and many of them still languish behind bars. Governor Ulises remains in power, his administration as corrupt as ever, and the roots of the teachers’ discontent remains unanswered. Though the streets are quiet, just below the surface everything Oaxacans fought for, and the oppressive poverty they continue to endure, festers...
November 1, 2007:
While Halloween is wrapping up in the USA, here in Mexico the cemeteries are just warming up for the Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos).
As an American who viewing cemeteries as grim places synonymous with mourning and discomfort, it is a relief to be in a culture that converts that bleak environment into a place to play music and sing, laugh, rejoice and celebrate memories of the dear departed. Altars are set up with flowers and food, including skulls made of sugar, incense, candles and other items that both commemorate the dead and entice them to return from the afterlife to enjoy the festivities...
January 24, 2008:
Today the streets are full of tourists, with vendors selling them an explosion of colorful clothing, wooden animals, pottery and textiles...
I certainly hope that this parade of images will have taken up permanent residence in my brain. When I return to the USA I’ll need the flow of Oaxaca to remain as a mental retreat when Manhattan turns to ice...
February 14, 2008:
Living in Oaxaca during the political upheaval of 2006 and seeing how those events were covered by major news outlets, I’ve come to believe that most news is all sizzle without the quake. If we were not witnessing an event firsthand, then we have to except hearsay and a tremendous amount of that heresay is misinformation and sometimes even outright lies. Yet we clear our minds and discussions with the endless stream of inaccurate and useless information we receive...
March 18, 2008:
One of the prominent features of the political struggles that have taken place here has been street art. Sometimes it takes the form of beautifully designed posters announcing an upcoming event; sometimes artist combine bold stenciled graphics with political slogans like “the revolution will not be televised”; and sometimes they’re more like an open canvas that becomes in expanding dialogue between different artists...
When the teachers’ strike was crushed, back in November 2006, the authorities immediately obliterated the street art. Slashes of blue, white and yellow paint used to obscure the graffiti can still be seen on many walls, appearing almost like intentional abstract artwork...
May 7, 2018:
I may be suffering from PDN (Pre Departure Nostalgia) as we get closer to our stateside return from Mexico this July. Whatever the diagnosis, all my senses seem to be strangely heightened. My eyes constantly watch for new subject, and drawing in my sketchbook has become a daily obsession. My ears are sharply attuned to the parade of sounds, from the ravens that wake me up each morning to the tree frogs that will need to sleep you tonight. It‘s my sense of smell that’s been really off the charts...
There are so many smiles to choose from here in Oaxaca, I expect I’ll have flashbacks long after we’re gone.
June 1, 2008:
The “Big Three” as they were known — Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siquieros, and José Clemente Orozco — painted complex murals seamlessly marrying modern and ancient history with social and political teams. Their enormous frescoes brought social realist art into public spaces throughout the world in their heyday, from the 1920s to the 1950s...
June 23, 2008:
Draw in sketchbook every day —religiously...
Contrary to what you’ve been told repeatedly for the last two years — mezcal is not the answer to all of life’s problems...
Looking back over our two years here, I feel truly fortunate we chose Oaxaca...
October 29, 2010:
Tourism had dropped of level similar to the time of the 2006 teachers’ strike and many businesses and individuals were struggling to survive...
Even so, if the city glowed with vibrancy and defiance. Museums and galleries had inspiring shows. Updated protest posters and anti-you are a graffiti adorn the cities ancient walls comment demonstrating people’s will to keep fighting...
During the February 2010 visit, I sat drinking coffee and one of the Zócalo’s many outdoor cafés. Time melted away as I watch vendors and street musicians ply their trades...
When the Day of the Dead rolls around again, Oaxacans will laugh, cry and celebrate those who are gone with art and mezcal, songs and flowers. They will embrace the rituals of centuries. All over Mexico matches will be struck in touched to candles, and the darkness with blaze with light...
May 9, 2017:
Though nearly a decade has passed since my sabbatical years in Oaxaca, what hasn’t changed is my desire to telegraph my enthusiasm for the place to anyone who would listen...
Apparently, Dario de Oaxaca is a lifetime work in progress!
Given the xenophobic portrayals of Mexico’s about it by the US government officials, my urgency to convey a broader vision of our neighbor is even greater today. With mandates to literally wall ourselves off from Mexico, it’s essential to question what would be lost.”
September 3, 2019
I wouldn't recommend this as a standalone work particularly, but as a companion to Ruins, it's pretty interesting. I liked the blend of sketches, developed art, and writing.
September 30, 2021
Como siempre, el Kuper no sólo cumple, sino que da de más. En esta ocasión tenemos un libro bien íntimo, donde algunas entradas escritas de diario se intercalan sobre un enorme lienzo de bocetos, apuntes, garabatos, fotos, collages y remixes de todo lo anterior, prácticamente trasladado al libro desde las libretas de dibujo del autor, luego de sus casi dos años viviendo en Oaxaca. Creo que lo que me gustó más fue el encuentro con lo inesperado, pues al llegar la familia a vivir a Oaxaca no esperaban encontrarse con una huelga de maestros, protestas, barricadas, violencia policial, pero quizá tampoco esperaban encontrarse con lo bello: insectos coloridos, orugas, crisálidas, perros callejeros bravos y de los otros, chapulines, café, mezcal... Me quedo con dos deseos, el reafirmado de visitar Oaxaca alguna vez, y el recién encontrado de leer "Ruinas" del mismo autor.
Esta vez mi costumbre de llegar tarde a la cultura me premió: tenía años deseando leer este libro, se agotó la primera edición y no lo encontraba, y ahora que conseguí una "Nueva edición", me encontré muy gratamente con algunos añadidos en las páginas finales, nuevos viajes a Oaxaca, 10, 12, 14 años después... hasta uno donde se repite la historia, donde llegaron a Oaxaca y no esperaban toparse... ahora con una pandemia.
Esta vez mi costumbre de llegar tarde a la cultura me premió: tenía años deseando leer este libro, se agotó la primera edición y no lo encontraba, y ahora que conseguí una "Nueva edición", me encontré muy gratamente con algunos añadidos en las páginas finales, nuevos viajes a Oaxaca, 10, 12, 14 años después... hasta uno donde se repite la historia, donde llegaron a Oaxaca y no esperaban toparse... ahora con una pandemia.
April 24, 2021
A unique look at the turbulence surrounding the 2006 teachers strike and uprising from the point of view of an accidental observer. Rather than running away, and many extranjeros might have, Kuper walked into its midst, recording the events by photo, sketch, and journal. While far from a definitive history of the events in question, this account provides the perspective of an outside observer with much love and respect for the people of the city and region. Small side journeys to Michoacan to witness the gathering of the Monarchs and to Chiapas take the focus away from the events of the strike while at the same time adding context in the form of the richness of variety present in Mexico.
The book is in both English and Spanish, so it affords an opportunity to build your vocabulary as well.
The book is in both English and Spanish, so it affords an opportunity to build your vocabulary as well.
April 3, 2024
wonderful book--in Spanish and English on opposite pages, so great for studying the language! it tells of the teacher's strike in 2006, a rather fraught time to be there. Illustrations are fab--more eloquent than photos would be.
February 10, 2020
Sketchbook travelogue of the author's sabbatical in Oaxaca City. He and his family moved there at the time that the teachers' strikes were attacked by the state. He discusses the strike from an observational standpoint, and acknowledges the corruption of the governor's office, but there is not an in-depth discussion of the political situation or the teachers. I love the sketches, especially all of the insects that he includes.
Read Harder Challenge 2020: a graphic memoir.
Read Harder Challenge 2020: a graphic memoir.
March 2, 2025
A very interesting mixed-technique journal of a new yorker and their two years in Oaxaca. I found the illustrations really nice in an every-day life kind of nature, and Kuper's tone is respectful and in many times, in awe, of Oaxacans and the ups and downs of life, resistance and politics there. I liked it, which was very refreshing (I'm always sceptical of what the tone of north-americans going out of their countries will be, I blame my terrible experience of hating Guy Delisle depiction of Koreans).
It does what it says in the title, and I would definitely recommend.
It does what it says in the title, and I would definitely recommend.
July 18, 2016
Don't be freaked out, english-only-speakers, if your library shelves this book in the spanish section. My library does, and I was a bit worried when I opened it to see entire pages full of spanish text.
This book is entirely bilingual. Virtually every caption, and all the bodytext is in both spanish and english.
Something about Peter Kuper's art speaks to me. I don't always enjoy his aesthetic (maybe because he works in almost every style and medium on the books - all on one page!), but every once in a while his imagery just stop me in my tracks. I have one of his strips on my locker at work (see my review of Axe Cop for a poor quality shot of part of it). I felt the need to take a picture of one of the illustrations here (an awesome image of a man cowering in a corner armed only with a spoon, surrounded by an army of bugs - I'll try to remember to upload it when I can).
I really enjoyed the narrative here too. Kuper writes candidly about his struggles, tourism, experiences witnessing the protests while he was there (which doesn't dominate quite as much as you will expect). I was particularly touched by the discussion of the choice to take his daughter to a country other than amerika for a few years, and the picture of her holding the turtles is out of control.
It's a really good travel memoir. Mostly told through captioned full color collage, blocks of typewritten text, and a couple of sequential shorts. Made me want to journey to the place the monarch butterflies go, the giant tree, and maybe an ancient pyramid or two.
This book is entirely bilingual. Virtually every caption, and all the bodytext is in both spanish and english.
Something about Peter Kuper's art speaks to me. I don't always enjoy his aesthetic (maybe because he works in almost every style and medium on the books - all on one page!), but every once in a while his imagery just stop me in my tracks. I have one of his strips on my locker at work (see my review of Axe Cop for a poor quality shot of part of it). I felt the need to take a picture of one of the illustrations here (an awesome image of a man cowering in a corner armed only with a spoon, surrounded by an army of bugs - I'll try to remember to upload it when I can).
I really enjoyed the narrative here too. Kuper writes candidly about his struggles, tourism, experiences witnessing the protests while he was there (which doesn't dominate quite as much as you will expect). I was particularly touched by the discussion of the choice to take his daughter to a country other than amerika for a few years, and the picture of her holding the turtles is out of control.
It's a really good travel memoir. Mostly told through captioned full color collage, blocks of typewritten text, and a couple of sequential shorts. Made me want to journey to the place the monarch butterflies go, the giant tree, and maybe an ancient pyramid or two.
March 28, 2015
Diario de Oaxaca opens during a teacher’s strike in a southern mexican town. Apparently the teachers strike every year for a week. The strike always ends after a week because the teachers always get what they want. Until 2006, when they didn’t.
The descriptions of the strike seemed mainly observational. At first I wondered why the author didn’t ask questions like “Why is a yearly strike necessary? Why can’t the teachers just negotiate yearly instead?”. Then I realized that the author didn’t travel to mexico to be a journalist. He is a tourist and this is the story of his experiences during an extended vacation from New York.
I enjoyed this book once I started taking it for what it is: a travelogue in pictures. The drawings appear to be in ink, watercolor, crayon and color pencil. The more I look at the drawings the more interesting they start to become.
Kuper appears to have done a bit of traveling around Mexico during his two year stay there. Not all of the pictures seem to take place within the town of Oaxaca, Mexico. Actual descriptions of all the places he visited are somewhat abstract.
Diario de Oaxaca is not a graphic novel in what I consider to be the traditional sense: This is not a 208 page long comic strip. It is roughly 85% pictures. All text within Diario de Oaxaca is written twice: once in English and once in Spanish, even captions.
I think the book is worth picking up for its art and to learn about Mexican culture, the Day of the Dead and the influence of ancient civilizations in Mexican culture.
Also, bugs. Bugs, everywhere!
The descriptions of the strike seemed mainly observational. At first I wondered why the author didn’t ask questions like “Why is a yearly strike necessary? Why can’t the teachers just negotiate yearly instead?”. Then I realized that the author didn’t travel to mexico to be a journalist. He is a tourist and this is the story of his experiences during an extended vacation from New York.
I enjoyed this book once I started taking it for what it is: a travelogue in pictures. The drawings appear to be in ink, watercolor, crayon and color pencil. The more I look at the drawings the more interesting they start to become.
Kuper appears to have done a bit of traveling around Mexico during his two year stay there. Not all of the pictures seem to take place within the town of Oaxaca, Mexico. Actual descriptions of all the places he visited are somewhat abstract.
Diario de Oaxaca is not a graphic novel in what I consider to be the traditional sense: This is not a 208 page long comic strip. It is roughly 85% pictures. All text within Diario de Oaxaca is written twice: once in English and once in Spanish, even captions.
I think the book is worth picking up for its art and to learn about Mexican culture, the Day of the Dead and the influence of ancient civilizations in Mexican culture.
Also, bugs. Bugs, everywhere!
June 20, 2020
No longer using this website, but I'm leaving up old reviews. Fuck Jeff Bezos. Find me on LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/profile/...
This book was beautiful. Originally, I bought it for the first 60 pages documenting the Oaxaca Commune, a seven month struggle that temporarily replaced a fascist police state with a socialist, anarchist, and indigenous inspired series of assemblies. But the book is a travel journal of two years, and after some annoyance that this section was over, I adapted to the style and pacing of the rest of the travelogue.
The struggle never went away, it's just sort of bubbling under the surface, and there is so much more to Oaxaca than even the incredible feat of the 2006 uprising. I love the way that Peter Kuper takes the time to point out tiny details of his stay, especially his fascination with insects. These are truly gorgeous splash pages, landscapes, collages, and. Peter Kuper does an amazing job of keeping the book dynamic and fascinating, even as personal a travelogue as it is.
The book design is among the most beautiful I've seen. Full color, full bleed, with plenty of paintings that cross the midline. The embossed cloth cover with picture insert are gorgeous, as is the red binding, and I love the sewn-in ribbon bookmark. This is like an heirloom quality book.
This book was beautiful. Originally, I bought it for the first 60 pages documenting the Oaxaca Commune, a seven month struggle that temporarily replaced a fascist police state with a socialist, anarchist, and indigenous inspired series of assemblies. But the book is a travel journal of two years, and after some annoyance that this section was over, I adapted to the style and pacing of the rest of the travelogue.
The struggle never went away, it's just sort of bubbling under the surface, and there is so much more to Oaxaca than even the incredible feat of the 2006 uprising. I love the way that Peter Kuper takes the time to point out tiny details of his stay, especially his fascination with insects. These are truly gorgeous splash pages, landscapes, collages, and. Peter Kuper does an amazing job of keeping the book dynamic and fascinating, even as personal a travelogue as it is.
The book design is among the most beautiful I've seen. Full color, full bleed, with plenty of paintings that cross the midline. The embossed cloth cover with picture insert are gorgeous, as is the red binding, and I love the sewn-in ribbon bookmark. This is like an heirloom quality book.
March 31, 2010
Pure. Happiness. And not just because I'm listed in the acknowledgments which I should disclose (though I'm hardly deserving), and not just because I have been a fan for a long time, but because it is beautiful, deeply personal, and brings joy. It is a sketchbook not a graphic novel, it does not pretend to be a deep analysis of the teacher's strike or Oaxacan history or etymology or even a regularly written travel journal. It is a series of impressions accompanied by art in Kuper's idiosyncratic style, a mixture of drawings and occasional photos, a taste of what it could be like to move from the U.S. to Oaxaca written and drawn with both humility and wonder. The combination of humility and wonder get me every time in fact, it allows you to experience so much through his eyes. And as someone who also loves bugs, I have to say, they are brilliant. AND, if you needed more, it's bilingual, entonces por todos los que hablan Espanol? Te va a gustar un chingo, y seguro que fue publicado primero en Mexico mismo, uno de los pocos ejemplos de autores que quieren compartir sus impresiones principalmente con la misma gente con quien han vivido y a quien han dibujado.
September 2, 2016
Peter Kuper, ilustrador, caricaturista y autor estadounidense, llega a Oaxaca durante su año sabático buscando paz y tranquilidad lejos del alboroto de la actualidad internacional. Lo que encuentra es todo lo contrario. Kuper llega a la ciudad de Oaxaca durante el conflicto magisterial del 2006 contra el gobernador Ulises Ruíz Ortíz, uno de los gobernadores más corruptos y sanguinarios que haya tenido esta región pobre de México.
En su libro, Kuper mezcla anotaciones y reflexiones de su diario con sketches de la gente, costumbres y naturaleza de Oaxaca. Su ojo de outsider nos presenta una Oaxaca viva, variopinta y extremadamente bella en su cotidianidad. Sus reflexiones de expatriado nos hacen conscientes de las contradicciones de la vida moderna y las maravillas de la vida en el México provinciano. Me interesaron especialmente sus anotaciones sobre la disparidad de lo dicho en la prensa con la realidad que él tuvo la suerte de presenciar.
En su libro, Kuper mezcla anotaciones y reflexiones de su diario con sketches de la gente, costumbres y naturaleza de Oaxaca. Su ojo de outsider nos presenta una Oaxaca viva, variopinta y extremadamente bella en su cotidianidad. Sus reflexiones de expatriado nos hacen conscientes de las contradicciones de la vida moderna y las maravillas de la vida en el México provinciano. Me interesaron especialmente sus anotaciones sobre la disparidad de lo dicho en la prensa con la realidad que él tuvo la suerte de presenciar.
January 5, 2015
Highly recommended. a journal-like book describing one of my fav political cartoonists accidental life in Oaxaca Mexico during the teacher's uprising a few years ago. from the perspective of a sympathetic outsider (who is very reluctant to get involved), the book serves as a good overview of what happened during the uprising, although lacks any real details, as you'd imagine if reading someone's journal. for instance, the murder of brad will was only mentioned in passing. regardless, his writing style isn't the most engaging or thought provoking, leaving me anxious to get to the artwork, which is quite the opposite providing a nice balance. the art is really the meat and potatoes of the journal and is pretty incredible, the text more guides you thru it. you can read this pretty quick and the carnegie library main has it.
December 27, 2016
The Oaxaca Diary is a lovely book filled with the author's own illustrations and photographs. It begins with a description of the teacher's strike of 2006 and the political situation in Oaxaca but then moves on to more personal experiences. Among these are a trip to Michoacan where millions of Monarch butterflies go in the winter, a trip to Puerto Escondido and another to Chiapas. Kuper also writes about street art/graffiti, dogs of the street, and the insects in his own back yard. Text is in both English and Spanish. Anyone would enjoy Kuper's wit and the colorful drawings but the book will mean more to those who have already been to the places he describes. Oaxaca is a beautiful state and Kuper's description of it is wonderful. Oaxaca Diary is a prize piece for any graphic novel or foreign language collection, I just wish it were longer.
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February 20, 2012Diario de Oaxaca offers the singular pleasure of browsing an artist's sketchbook, a beautifully curated one in this case; my only complaint is that I wish it were longer. Kuper combines colored pencil and black ink drawings with occasional photographs and other ephemera, plus narrative diary in both English and Spanish, and this additive approach is well suited to both the breadth of his interests and the eclectic beauty of Oaxaca. Like any really engaging sketchbook, it left me wanting to be a more thoughtful observer of my own world (and I did in fact pick up a new notebook and crayons after finishing it).
March 15, 2010
A charming little book about the author's experiences living in Oaxaca amid protests, scorpions, wild dogs, ancient ruins, and amazing beauty. I would not ordinarily have selected this book to read, given that the majority of it is the author's often surreal water colors. But the paintings really added something magical to the book, which if it were published alone would have been quite boring. The text is often repetitive and is certainly not intended to provide a deep analysis of Oaxacan life. But, as a diary, it's quite enjoyable and appropriate and charming.
March 25, 2013
I enjoyed this book very much. It seemed to have all of the things I like - travel experience in Mexico (in my favorite city of Oaxaca), lots of drawings because the author is an artist, and even a parallel translation into Spanish. I also liked the author's relaxed point of view on spending time in an area that was going through a crisis, and his descriptions of how the crisis did and did not affect his stay. But I cannot give it 5 stars, because there just was not enough content for a "Journal of Two Years in Mexico"! Two years is a long time, and hardly anything happens in this book.
March 11, 2010
I was more familiar with Peter Kuper's political stencil work so this full-color sketchbook from Mexico was a real surprise. It's a way more personal work than his strident, overtly-political pieces, and appealing in the way that drawing is such an intimate human endeavor. Of course there's still a huge teacher strike going on that he documents but we also get pages of nature sketches, insects & him geeking out about butterfly migration. The comic at the end is so good!
April 3, 2018
Kuper's sketchbook and journal entries during the two years he spent living in Oaxaca, Mexico, during the time of a major political upheaval connected to a teachers' strike. Intelligent, well drawn, and full of great images of the many facets of Mexican life. Very good, although there is less "story" content than most people will probably expect from it. Most of the pages are sketchbook material, but I enjoyed Kuper's great collages of Mexican culture.
January 17, 2010
This is mostly a picture book, so it's funny to say that I've "read" this book. Beautiful sensitive and thoughtful book. Peter Kuper obviously respects the culture he was lucky enough to be immersed in for two years. It's thoughtful, funny, and beautiful.I also really appreciated that it was in English and Spanish.
July 15, 2014
This is a keeper. Thanks l'il bro. I read this whenever I need a "Oaxaca " fix. We have been there several times and this book puts a return trip on the top of the to do list. Gorgeous cartoons. Witty language. Explore the Spanish version. You will be pleasantly surprised how much is added to your experience of the book.
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March 11, 2018I have to be honest. I was not a big fan. I thought the book would cover the teacher strikes more. I do not know if Kuper is really a part of the movement to bring justice to the world, or just an artist who had the luxury of going on a sabbatical. I know I am being too harsh, but I just wished every internationalist was like the wobblies and zapatistas. Note: I do not know Spanish.
May 16, 2018
Peter Kuper, his wife, and his daughter took a 2 year sabbatical in Oaxaca. Kuper chronicled his time there in a sketchbook journal. He ended up there during a teacher's strike when the military was called in. His first account of that ordeal was a great read. As someone who loves Mexico, it was fun to read about someone else who really loves it too.
June 10, 2019
I really enjoyed the excerpts from this I read in the World War 3 Illustrated collection but the whole piece together didn’t add much more. I understand it is being presented as random diary entries but it really lacked cohesion and a central theme. It felt really choppy overall.
March 26, 2010
The idea of the sketchbook/graphic novel itself was inspiring, but the writer didn't have much to say.
February 2, 2010
A wonderful companion to a trip to the amazing city of Oaxaca.
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