Rebellion (Jew in Communist Prague) (v. 3) [Paperback]

Vittorio Giardino (Author), Giardino (Author), Joe Johnson (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Jew in Communist Prague | Publication Date: January 2003

A brilliantly written graphic novel about the real human experience of living behind the iron curtain from one of Italy's leading comic artists.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA?In this third book in a series that begins with Loss of Innocence and continues with Adolescence (both NBM, 1997), Jonas tries to take action against the people oppressing him. He and his friends hide forbidden manuscripts for his employer the night before the bookseller is arrested. Jonas begins dating Tatiana, the daughter of a Russian attache to the Embassy. When her parents find out he is the son of an "enemy of the people," they forbid her to see him, but the young lovers arrange secret meetings. In the end, however, her parents take her back to Russia. Jonas also finds out that this father has been sentenced to 10 more years in prison, setting up the situation for the fourth (and possible final) book. The story is conveyed not only through words, but also through pictures, which create the world of Prague in the 1950s. Nuances of expression and body language add shades of meaning to the story, which is told solely through dialogue. Giardino manages to suggest characters' flaws and quirks using only pen and ink. From Tatiana's mother, sly and manipulative, to hard-drinking, practical Slovak, each character has a unique look and personality. Jonas's plight is real and dramatic without those who persecute him ever becoming caricatures of evil. They are simply people acting on their own motivation. A must for collections that own the first two books, and highly recommended elsewhere.?Susan Salpini, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Teenagers Jonas Finkel and Tatiana Gostrov, who met in A Jew in Communist Prague: Adolescence , are getting serious about each other. In 1950s Czechoslovakia, because of who they are, that is serious indeed. Jonas is a Jew, the son of an imprisoned enemy of the people and the employee of a bookseller regarded with suspicion by the state. Tatiana is the daughter of the business attacheat the Russian embassy; for her, seeing a shady character like Jonas is risky--her father could lose his job if she continues. Giardino takes his beautifully realized graphic novel into star-crossed-lovers territory in its third volume while keeping the theme of political repression foremost. For the net is closing around the bookseller, who is helping distribute contraband literature from a cache of it, in the store's basement, that Jonas and his friends--clandestine readers of it--move off site just before security officers raid the place. And then Jonas learns that Tatiana's parents have taken her back to Moscow. To be continued. Ray Olson

Product Details

• Paperback: 56 pages
• Publisher: Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561632090
• ISBN-13: 978-1561632091
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 8.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,630,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but too short as usual, June 11, 2002

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rebellion (Jew in Communist Prague) (v. 3) (Paperback)

This third installment (following Loss of Innocence and Adolescence) of Italian cartoonist Giardino's graphic novel series about a Jewish boy growing up in Communist Prague concentrates on the developing relationship between title character Jonas and fellow teen Tatiana Gostrov. Of course, since he's the son of a political prisoner and she's the daughter of a Soviet diplomat, they are forced to see each other in secret. Meanwhile, the bookseller for whom Jonas works is coming under increasing scrutiny by the secret police. Over the course of the short (56 page) book, Jonas moves from outsider in his group of intellectual teenage friends, to a leader of them. As with the other books, the story is drawn in the lovely realistic style I tend to associate with European cartoonists, and colored with an appropriately subdued palate of grays and browns. And, as with the other books, it's all too brief-one day this series will be assembled an excellent single volume.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars jew in communist prague:rebellion, December 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rebellion (Jew in Communist Prague) (v. 3) (Paperback)

the art is forceful, somewhat stylized. Faces and personalities are delineated with simple precision. The adaptions the characters make to live under a dictatorship while remaining human and intelligent give the reader hope for our civilization. As soon as you finish you turn to the front and start reading it again!