A Jew in Communist Prague #1-3 (GN) Complete

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

Vol.1: Loss of Innocence
In Czechoslovakia in 1950 a young boy and his father spy a cicada while on a picnic in the woods. The father notes that the insect doesn't trust humans: "They're not completely wrong. There are children who put them in cages. Then they stop singing and die very quickly. They can't stand to be locked up," he says. Two months later, without any warning and with precious little cause, the father is arrested for his supposed counterrevolutionary activities; in reality he is arrested because of the state's anti-Semitic resentment. Thus begins Vittorio Giardino's extraordinary masterpiece A Jew in Communist Prague. It is the story of Jonas Finkel, a boy who grows up all too soon; cares for his frantic, grieving mother; and fights off wave after wave of prejudice. There is sincerity in every one of Giardino's lines. He writes, "I spent hours trying to write down, in a few words, a simple and honest presentation of Jonas Finkel's story, but it just got increasingly difficult." The result of his careful work is well worth any reader's time.

Vol.2: Adolescence
The second volume of Italian master cartoonist Vittorio Giardino's powerful A Jew in Communist Prague finds the main character, Jonas Finkel, still patiently waiting for word on his father's imprisonment. After much ill luck at a variety of odd jobs, Jonas finds employment first as a working-class laborer and then at a bookstore, where he can again pursue his love of books (his education was previously stunted by the racially motivated actions of the state). The beauty of Adolescence–even more than Giardino's wonderfully realistic drawings–is in the relationships he reveals: Jonas's friendship with a kind, middle-aged drunk in the labor yards; the supportive fatherly role of the bookstore owner; and Jonas's awkward connection to a group of young radicals bent on reading anything and everything that the government bans. Giardino lays down slices of life like jewels along a dusty path.

Vol.3: Rebellion
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.

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