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“ A Singing Treat
Ms. Gardners Honors English 10 wrote this review Wednesday, April 18, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The vigorous gusts of wind whooped and swirled freely, carrying with them bits of the scents,
places, and sounds they had touched. The smoke from the recently fired black pistols, to the hats once sitting upon the stringy hair of men, reaching across to the echo of that sturdy guitar’s chords played by the roughly calloused hands, all spiraled and zigzagged across the moonlit air in a chaotic maze. This is the Wild East. With the snow enveloping the small town in Eastern Europe, Joann Sfar’s 113 paged Klezmer, wistfully traces the hardy steps of the five musicians as they all unknowingly, make their way to Odessa, “the most charming city of the Russian Empire”(66). An amusing reflection of the pre- World War Two and the Jew communities, Klezmer identifies the true essence of friendship and music as they all unravel the stiff knots of anti-Semitism.
Joann Sfar has a deep passion for the Eastern side, not only reflected through this graphic novel but also his family history. Sfar’s Sephardic father and Ashkenazi mother both have influenced his capturing Eastern tales or his Yiddish folklores, enabling him to write over 100 books including the bestselling, The Rabbi’s Cat. Even if recently published in 2006, Klezmer— the first book in a series— continues to attract international readers. This graphic novel portrays heroes’ journeys and signifies premises of amity, survival, and of course music.
The cowboys from the west ride on carefree, oblivious to the scorching sun and the dry desert. Similarly, Baron of my Backside (Noah Davidovich), a lost clarinet player, Chava, a runaway bride who sings, Yaacov, a banjo playing thief, Vincenzo, a violinist banished from becoming aYeshiva student, and Tshokola Levy, a gypsy guitar expert, all too trample the bitter snow and the passionately malevolent people, staying blithe. Sfar’s subject-to-subject transitions dominate as much as the action-to-action shifts for once all these protagonists had their own individual road. Through the connections and friendships acquired in these twisted roads, the subject-to-subject changes soon yield to action-to-action. No cactus could block the path that was generated from the violin, banjo, and guitar or the clarinet and the high-pitched voice united through the same music. This crucial theme of Klezmer is reflected in the 55th page of the novel. “Did anyone ever tell you that there are people who don’t like Jews?” inquires the Baron, puzzled. “Teach me another song” replies Chava confidently.
Klezmer embodies vibrant hues that are bright, dull, bold, soft, dark, light etc… that all at once create a carefree atmosphere: the water color painting remains the reason. Not only does Sfar acknowledge the rhythms of Klezmer through the free and loose painting style, but his use of words to create visible from the invisible—sound—allows the reader to experience the full energy of the tune. As a reader, I listened to Vincenzo’s astounding violin keys as they ring “Tee ghee lee ghee lee ghee” or “Zim zoo zim zoo” and Yaacov’s gleeful singing as he bellows “Odessa, Odessa, la la la” (80, 41). The word bubbles also reflect a melody in the way they are molded. From curvy, round lines to the usual circles and ellipses, Sfar maps a music piece. The arrangement of the scenes flows from left to right, most shaped inside soft edged squares, much resembling music sheets. The tone ranges from the different characters but majorly settles as humorous. Joann Sfar constantly garnishes with wispy and thin lines depicting the faces, the places and the things of the scene. The jaggedly pointy lines used to draw The Baron’s irate face to the smooth waves specified for Chava’s admiring eyes, Sfar conveys a mood by each flip of a page.
Leisurely, the sand tornado moves and rocks the base of the desert, twirling all the objects into different directions similar to Klezmer, which would reside as a sphere of influence, carrying the roots of customary Yiddish folktales and extending them across various sites. Being the first of its Tales of the Wild East series, it is inevitable for its consequents to follow. Until today, anti-Semitism prevails with the same distasteful impact. Therefore, Klezmer is a bullet to this target, proudly chanting a rise to traditional Eastern culture, and coolly singing the defeat of discrimination.
Feben M.”
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