|
The Layer Method
Our top Secret time-saving technique for creating and merging balloons and tails in Illustrator.
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Klezmer: Tales of the Wild East
Books can be musical
Written by Joann Sfar
Illustrated by Joann Sfar
Published by First Second
$16.95
I’ve been fascinated by Judaism for as long as I can remember. Some of the reason is historical. As a Christian, the roots of my spiritual beliefs are in Judaism, and I’m simply fascinated by the Jewish story. Plot- and character-wise, it’s got some of the coolest heroes in literature: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David, for example. Or the more obscure, but equally cool Jephthah and Ehud.
But mostly my interest in Judaism is cultural. I’m supremely interested in the theme of the Jewish story: how Jews have managed to hang onto their culture despite history’s repeated attempts to scatter them across the planet and wipe them out. That’s a story of courageous persistence that rivals any other ever told.
And that’s pretty much what Klezmer is about, which explains my attraction to it. Cartoonist Joann Sfar tells two separate stories, gradually bringing them together until they connect at the end, just in time for the “To Be Continued.” There’s a reason the book is subtitled Book One: Tales of the Wild East.
One of the stories is about a traveling musician who calls himself The Baron of My Backside. He and his fellow musicians are klezmers, wandering minstrels and preservers of Jewish culture who go from village to village in Eastern Europe, sharing traditional, Jewish songs and stories. When a rival group of musicians murders the Baron’s band and burns his instruments, he sets out on his own. Before long he picks up a tagalong: a beautiful girl named Chava who wants more from life than to have to marry one of the boys in her village. The Baron reluctantly accepts her company and eventually begins teaching her klezmer songs.
The other story is about a young boy named Yaacov who’s been kicked out of his boarding school for stealing the rabbi’s coat. Yaacov is experiencing a lack of faith anyway, so rather than return home to his parents, he also sets out on his own, meeting Vincenzo (another boarding school expellee) and a gypsy named Tshokola who’s on the run from bigoted Cossacks. The three of them, having no other form of income, start their own klezmer band. Between Yaacov’s newfound atheism, Vincenzo’s devout Judaism, and Tshokola’s hedonistic nature, they make an interesting trio.
Sfar uses these five characters to explore the nature of Jewish tradition and how people respond to it. Vincenzo is closely attached to it through his religion, while Yaacov and Tshokola see it purely as a way to make money. As Tshokola says, “Jews are constantly getting married, circumcised, engaged.” Lots of parties mean lots of need for music.
One of the funniest bits in the book is when Yaacov explains to Tshokola how to turn a typical fairy tale into a Jewish folk tale. “Instead of princes,” he instructs, “you say ‘the rabbi’s son.’ Instead of a princess you stick in ‘a rabbi’s daughter who lived holed up indoors because her father was very strict.” He finishes with, “Each time you have ‘the grateful king gave him his daughter’s hand in marriage,’ you say ‘to thank him the Czar decided not to kill Jews for a few weeks.’”
The Baron doesn’t appear to be invested in his career for religious reasons, but being a klezmer is all he knows how to do and he loves it. Chava is actively trying to escape one aspect of her Jewish background by embracing another part of it. All of these varying motivations and relationships with Judaism make for fascinating character studies and wonderful interaction, but they also combine to create a beautiful collage of what Judaism is.
Sfar’s loose inks and watercolors give the story a lyrical quality that emphasizes the foreignness of pre-WWII Eastern Europe while reinforcing the musical nature of the tale. Most comics about music struggle to communicate the melodies that are performed in the stories. Between his artwork and his use of scat phrasing (“zim za bali bali baliba zim”) and various lettering styles (bold for the boom of a drum; delicate for the singing of a violin), Sfar is adept at getting us to feel through art and words what we’d usually have to experience via sound. It’s the only book I’ve ever read that’s been able to do that.
Klezmer isn’t just an exploration of Jewish culture. It’s a celebration of culture in general and how we relate to our cultures as individuals. Seen that way, it’s a valuable book whose story works whether you think about its themes or just let yourself get pulled into the art and the music.
| |
<< Previous Article
|
Next Article >>
|
|
• Discuss in the Reviews Forum •
Reviews Archives
|
|
|
|
Our editors pick out the best in graphic novels and paperback collections.
Published Weekly
•
Discussion Forum
|
 
|
Friday, February 8, 2008
• The End.
So long. Farewell. Auf Wiedersehen. Good night.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
• Closing time
You don't have to go home...
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
• Oni resurrects letters columns
Resurrection series features letter-writing contest
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
• And... we're back
With Red 5 info
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
• Happy Thanksgiving!
From aka Comics and Comic World News
• Happy Birthday, COMICRAFT!
Lettering powerhouse and CWN sponsor turns 15
Monday, November 19, 2007
• Surrogates movie ready to start production
Bruce Willis to star
More >>
|
|
|
February 4, 2008:
November 20, 2006:
A Comic-Con without the Captain