My Never Ending List

I’ve been meaning to read this graphic novel as I’ve heard many great things about it so when our book-club announced it for this month’s read, I was pretty excited. This book afterall, was a graphic novel and it pertained to WWII, so what could go wrong?

This graphic novel is presented in black-n-white and written by the son of a Jewish Holocaust survivor. The son, an illustrator, visits his father and inquiries about his life in Poland around the time of WWII. His father’s memory is quite good as he recalls this tragic event in history.

I was amazed at how well Vladek recalls the names of places and individuals as he reaches back in time to relive his life. As the story unfolds, his journey was quite extensive. I have a hard-enough time remembering what I did yesterday and Vladek memories include quite a bit of detail.

This novel provides more than just his father’s flashbacks during this father and son interview, we learn about other individuals who play a role in their lives. We learn about other relationships, past and current, including the relationship between the father and his son. I thought the some of these relationships were quite interesting and I was amazed at the connections that Vladek had.

I do feel that there were times that the language in the book felt stiff and off for me. I think it was how the book was translated that threw it off for me. As I read, during Vladek days of trying to survive, I went through many emotions. A good read will provoke that in a reader.

I appreciate Vladek for sharing his story and for his service. I also appreciate that Art wrote this graphic novel about his father. It’s a momentous piece of history told from one who survived.