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Jamie's Reviews > Judenhass
Judenhass
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Though effective in some spots--it's hard not to react to the horrific images of the dead at Auschwitz when placed next to some of the quotes of hatred Dave Sim has dug up--there is a big question mark over the whole of this project. There is a self-importance to the affair, like Sim feels he's being gutsy by reminding us of something we all already agree on, that the Holocaust/Shoah was a rank, evil happening and one we should never forget; yet, how am I supposed to feel about being reminded to be more sensitive by a man whose own sensitivity toward a whole segment of the human population has tainted his previous work? Is this just a case of an embattled, alleged bigot trying to find armor he feels it's safe to hide behind and prove he's really a nice, caring gentleman after all?
Even excepting those quandaries, there is plenty more to question about Sim's general approach. I will leave the critique of the writing method to others, who have handled it far better than I ever could. Both Bob Mitchell and Jarret Kobek cast fair and enlightening critical eyes on the comic that are must reading.
I will, however, question the art choice. Sim's photo tracing in this context sees him not just reproducing the photos as a whole but spending a page or two moving around the image, zooming in and out of it and representing pieces of the whole in smaller panels, before revealing the complete picture. The technique in its execution doesn't really come across as carefully planned, however, but more like he is just showing as many panels as he needs to in order to fill the space. He doesn't pan across the image, doesn't start at a smaller point and pull out, there is no cinematic language employed at all, nor any real comic book language. The point of the method is lost on me.
Really, Judenhass comes across as a half-assed attempt at a serious minded piece of literature, using specious logic and an audience's predisposition toward the topic to do most of the heavy lifting. In a way, it seems like the lazy efforts of a spoiled college student who doesn't have to give it his all because daddy already paid for his grades. I mean, seriously, when your final quote is "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," how deep are you really going? The book of an accepted truth ends with a single cliche.
Even excepting those quandaries, there is plenty more to question about Sim's general approach. I will leave the critique of the writing method to others, who have handled it far better than I ever could. Both Bob Mitchell and Jarret Kobek cast fair and enlightening critical eyes on the comic that are must reading.
I will, however, question the art choice. Sim's photo tracing in this context sees him not just reproducing the photos as a whole but spending a page or two moving around the image, zooming in and out of it and representing pieces of the whole in smaller panels, before revealing the complete picture. The technique in its execution doesn't really come across as carefully planned, however, but more like he is just showing as many panels as he needs to in order to fill the space. He doesn't pan across the image, doesn't start at a smaller point and pull out, there is no cinematic language employed at all, nor any real comic book language. The point of the method is lost on me.
Really, Judenhass comes across as a half-assed attempt at a serious minded piece of literature, using specious logic and an audience's predisposition toward the topic to do most of the heavy lifting. In a way, it seems like the lazy efforts of a spoiled college student who doesn't have to give it his all because daddy already paid for his grades. I mean, seriously, when your final quote is "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," how deep are you really going? The book of an accepted truth ends with a single cliche.
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Judenhass.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
June 23, 2008
– Shelved
June 23, 2008
– Shelved as:
graphicnovels
June 23, 2008
– Shelved as:
nonfiction
June 23, 2008
–
Finished Reading
I thought that in modern literary critique that author's intent was irrelevant, and that the text stood by itself to be engaged and interpreted on its own. Sim's other ridiculous views shouldn't be used to judge this book, which on its own is a revelatory work of truth.
It's size and presentation seem well-suited to the task of revealing to almost any reader just how much hatred there has been towards the Jewish people and was even up until, and in some cases during, that great tragedy in middle of the last century.
I think it's telling that something this simple and fact-based would compel anyone to feel the need to question its principles. Unless you are a modern anti-Zionist so-called 'progressive,' I can't possible imagine how this book would offend.