Reviews - Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me

67 reviews for:

Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me

The late cartoonist Harvey Pekar was known for his unflinching portrayal of real life. When I first came across his American Splendor series, I didn’t like it much—at the time, I would rather have read comic books with superheroes or gods or monsters—not everyday, depressing people that I could see around me if I just took the time to look.

He passed away in 2010, and was remembered by many as a revolutionary force in comics. When I saw a posthumous graphic novel, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, I figured I’d pick it up and see if my attitude toward Pekar had changed. Written by Pekar with the assistance of JT Waldman, with Waldman illustrating, the hardcover graphic novel is part history, part biography, part opinion piece.

The 172-page hardcover is framed with a simple story--Pekar and Waldman are in Cleveland, and Pekar is showing him around his hometown. They go to a bookstore, a diner, and a library, and over the course of the day Pekar explains to Waldman his feelings and changing attitude toward Israel. Within his story are several other stories--how he grew up Jewish in Cleveland with a father who was a believer, and a mother who wasn't; how their view of Zionism changed over the course of the 20th Century; and how global events would come to impact Pekar's own personal relationship with Judaism and Israel.

These personal stories are punctuated by ten-page interludes, each taken from history, and each explaining another part of the history of the Jews. The artistic style of these passages evolve, representing the period of history being told. So the most ancient part, telling the stories of Abraham, Moses, and other Old Testament prophets looks like it's drawn in clay tablets. The next section, highlighting interactions with the Greeks and Romans, is in mosaics. Others are stylized into tapestries, illuminated texts, and art deco frames, each fitting the history of the Jews in that particular time.

Taken as a whole, the book does a good job of examining what it means to be Jewish in the United States, and how the relationship of our country with Israel is strained because of our shared history and some of our shared religious traditions. Concepts that are difficult to articulate in a quick conversation are laid out with skill by Pekar and Waldman, and the illustrations make understanding some of those concepts a bit easier to comprehend, even if you don't agree with them.

My own experiences as a sometimes religious, sometimes thoughtful American citizen have me frequently questioning my own convictions--how do I feel about belonging to a religious group that, once persecuted, now ends up in a position of power? These questions are difficult to answer, and even after reading Pekar's book, I felt that he wasn't quite comfortable with the answers he found. But the examination is worth undertaking. Like the similarly-themed How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden, this is a graphic novel that manages to be global and personal, and well worth your time.

kubrickfan's review against another edition

2.0

Tremendously disappointed by the last third of the book. It was such a detailed, fair build up of history up through 1967. It then through rigor and complexity aside to take a simplistic view of post-1967 Israel. Unfortunate.

jahlapenos's review against another edition

3.0

Pekar gives us a quick introduction to Israel and the search for a settled state for the Jews. The history points us towards the present problems of Israel and makes mention of a desired solution: two separate states: one for Arab Palestine and one for Jewish Israel. Pekar also shows an understanding of what West Bank Arabs must feel (we've lived here forever) and the hypocrisy of an oppressed people oppressing others.

The work is beautiful: each of the "history" sections is drawn in the artwork of that time. Ancient Roman occupation of Israel is done in mosaic tile work. Late 19th century history is done with Art Nouveau flowing lattice while the 1980s is done with minimalist shapes that remind me of my 4th grade elementary school pictures.

The last 20 or so pages lost me with an argument/discussion between Pekar and Waldman that really didn't seem to have a point. This might be normal for a Pekar graphic novel - a real life moment without any easy answers but the discussion of sending the Jews into outer space just seem too absurd. Maybe if the two "characters" had chuckled a little more.

Be sure to read Joyce's epilogue.

_bb's review against another edition

2.0

It's not badly done, but it also doesn't do what it sets out to very well.

They intentionally (their say it) oversimplifies a topic that is phenomenally complex and leaves out so much relevant information on all sides that you'd probably be better of reading a wikipedia article than using this book to get an overview and understanding of the israel-palestine conflict.

Good try though.

readalert's review against another edition

4.0

While reading, I was thinking how I was going to review it, and had been planning on saying something along the lines of "It's clearly constructed as a personal narrative, not a persuasive argument, because even being anti-Zionist myself, I'm still sitting here reading this like "Okay, well there's very obvious counter-arguments to some of the things you're saying that you aren't addressing at all."" And then I got to the end.

It's structured somewhat similarly to Maus in that we get modern scenes with the author showing the process of and conversations surrounding the research and construction of the book interspersed with historical and personal flashbacks. Pekar and Waldman are in a library, discussing Israel in the 80s and the arguments for and against a two state solution when they say that they'll pick up the conversation later. It then cuts to the epilogue by Pekar's wife discussing his death and funeral two years prior to the publishing of the book.

As such, I have to assume that what we have is a rough and unfinished first draft that Waldman and Brabner were left with after Pekar's death. The book is pretty clearly unfinished- it left out 30 years of Jewish history and we never got any sort of conversation with Pekar's parents that it felt like the book was leading to. But I can hardly fault the man for dying.

I'd say it's still worth a read- the graphic format makes the history very digestible, and an as anti-Zionist Jewish man raised by Zionist parents who is older than the state of Israel, Pekar has a unique and valuable perspective. But it is, ultimately, unfinished. If you're looking for Jewish anti-Zionist writing, I would recommend any of Ilan Pappé's work over this. 4⭐️

ekyoder's review against another edition

3.0

Questioning the decision to posthumously publish this--I'm just not sure the interviewers and collaborators got enough material before Pekar's death. The three stars are mostly because I love Pekar's voice, and as a Cleveland native, I love his constant championing of the city.

Pekar's better when he's examining daily minutiae and interpersonal relationships, instead of trying to sum up complex social and historical problems in his comics.