Palestine
4.1
Joe Sacco
Fantagraphics Books is pleased to present, for the first time, the definitive, expanded, hardcover collection of Sacco's landmark of comics journalism. Palestine: The Special Edition is more than a new edition: consider it the Criterion Palestine. In addition to the original, 288-page graphic novel and introduction by the late Edward Said, The Special Edition includes a host of unique material never before published, including many of Sacco's original background notes, sketches, photographic reference, and much more. The book also includes a new, introductory interview with Sacco about the making of the book as well as a new cover and design. Palestine: The Special Edition will be a cornerstone of any serious comic collection. With the Middle East's role in contemporary world politics, Sacco's Palestine has never been more relevant or more valuable to a country desperate to understand this long-running conflict. Based on several months of research and an extended visit to the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the early 1990s (where he conducted over 100 interviews with Palestinians and Jews), Palestine was the first major comics work of political and historical nonfiction by Sacco, whose name has since become synonymous with this graphic form of New Journalism. Sacco's insightful reportage takes place at the front lines, where busy marketplaces are spoiled by shootings and tear gas, soldiers beat civilians with reckless abandon, and roadblocks go up before reporters can leave. Sacco interviewed and encountered prisoners, refugees, protesters, wounded children, farmers who had lost their land, and families who had been torn apart by the Palestinian conflict.
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Author
Joe Sacco
Pages
285
Publisher
Fantagraphics Books
Published Date
2007
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"The initial rap on graphic novels was that they would trivialize serious topics, turning them into pretty cartoons suitable for children. Then we saw [b:Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began|15197|Maus II A Survivor's Tale And Here My Troubles Began (Maus, #2)|Art Spiegelman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1615818399l/15197._SX50_.jpg|1782551]. Like that blood-curdling tale of the Holocaust, Joe Sacco has created a bleak, documentary style account of the Occupation of Palestine. Unsparing in detail, the grim illustrations only heighten the sense of despair and humiliation. Sacco embeds himself in the narrative, chronicling his attempts (some successful, many fruitless) to interview Palestinians of various generations about their experiences during the Nakba, the Intifada, and today. While his sympathies are obvious, Sacco generally lets his subjects tell their own harrowing stories. Nor does he present himself as a hero; rather as a hapless and ineffectual witness. A grieving mother of two sons murdered by the IDF bitterly asks, “What good is it to talk to you? I’ve given these interviews before and nothing changes. Aren’t we people too?” Sacco, alas has no answer."
Lesley Williams