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lbarsk's review against another edition
2.0
Really lovely art but frustrating in a way -- like another book we've read for this book club (True American), it felt like it was Trying To Say Things but it didn't actually Say Them.
Also, from a graphic novel standpoint, I'm curious as to why the art was so non-varied. There were very few full-page spreads and the book mostly stuck to a "three panels per strip, four strips per page" format. Glidden is clearly a talent with watercolors (hence "really lovely art" above!) but it seems like she could've done more there.
Also, from a graphic novel standpoint, I'm curious as to why the art was so non-varied. There were very few full-page spreads and the book mostly stuck to a "three panels per strip, four strips per page" format. Glidden is clearly a talent with watercolors (hence "really lovely art" above!) but it seems like she could've done more there.
syntaxx's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.0
Had some interesting tidbits but never really went anywhere with the narrative. No worth the squeeze. Art style was serviceable and easy to follow along with.
katnortonwriter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
5.0
lsparrow's review against another edition
2.0
although full of facts and good questions I found I was glad when I had finished this book - perhaps i had wanted more insight and facts
wise1librarian's review against another edition
I liked the different perspectives as told through the narrator's interviews. The drawing is simple lines so the graphic novel was easier for me to read.
sarahanne8382's review against another edition
4.0
This was an unexpected little gem. In 2010, Sarah Glidden traveled with several of her journalist friends to the Middle East as they plan to interview Iraqi refugees. As the non-journalist in the group, Glidden was actually tagging along to make a comic about the process of journalism and reporting in and around Iraq.
Like so many, this is a part of the world I know very little about, other than quick takes on our interventions there. The events of this book also took places months before the Arab Spring, so the Iraqi refugees they interviewed in Syria have likely mostly fled again, either back to Iraq, or yet another country. Still, it's a fascinating time capsule of interviewing a specific group of refugees and the complicated stories that led to them fleeing, as well a thoughtful examination of the role of journalism in reporting those stories.
This was something I wouldn't have sought out to read, but I enjoyed the experience and learned some things, too.
Like so many, this is a part of the world I know very little about, other than quick takes on our interventions there. The events of this book also took places months before the Arab Spring, so the Iraqi refugees they interviewed in Syria have likely mostly fled again, either back to Iraq, or yet another country. Still, it's a fascinating time capsule of interviewing a specific group of refugees and the complicated stories that led to them fleeing, as well a thoughtful examination of the role of journalism in reporting those stories.
This was something I wouldn't have sought out to read, but I enjoyed the experience and learned some things, too.
ocurtsinger's review against another edition
4.0
I'm initially drawn to Glidden's style of illustrating her comics, but what unfolded upon reading was a very powerful reflection on what journalism means and a very personal perspective on the process of creating nonfiction stories in a journalistic setting.
By reading I was transported to the personal and ethical dilemmas at stake for a budding journalist and how she navigated them (the same could be said for Glidden herself, who approached her own narration of her journalist friends with equal integrity, which I find so refreshing for the comics genre. [We need more comics journalism! This is a legitimate format!]). Obviously this message reverberates even more loudly today, when journalists are now "the enemy of the people" and any human journalist with any iota of human liberal empathy feels pressure to remain as neutral as possible or bring risk to their publication being labeled as "fake news." Woof! Don't get me started.
I also learned a great deal about the displacement of Iraqi civilians in Syria following the US invasion. I can't imagine what the situation on the ground is for some of those people that were interviewed then; in the time since Rolling Blackouts was published, Syria has also been affected by great trauma.
By reading I was transported to the personal and ethical dilemmas at stake for a budding journalist and how she navigated them (the same could be said for Glidden herself, who approached her own narration of her journalist friends with equal integrity, which I find so refreshing for the comics genre. [We need more comics journalism! This is a legitimate format!]). Obviously this message reverberates even more loudly today, when journalists are now "the enemy of the people" and any human journalist with any iota of human liberal empathy feels pressure to remain as neutral as possible or bring risk to their publication being labeled as "fake news." Woof! Don't get me started.
I also learned a great deal about the displacement of Iraqi civilians in Syria following the US invasion. I can't imagine what the situation on the ground is for some of those people that were interviewed then; in the time since Rolling Blackouts was published, Syria has also been affected by great trauma.
hc21's review against another edition
3.0
I have deeply mixed feelings on this book. On the one hand, I love the idea of getting a behind the scenes look at global reporting and a snapshot of the Middle East in 2010. On the other hand, I'm not interested at all in her operative question ("what is journalism for?"). And one of the main subjects (the other sarah) is the archetype of your most annoying liberal friend - convinced her rightness while also convinced of her neutrality and impartiality. By the end I was rooting for at least one of her projects to "fail."