Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Days of Sand by Aimée de Jongh

2 reviews

ehmannky's review

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emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Like most of the worst parts of American history, we don't really spend a lot of time focused on the Dust Bowl in schools beyond just a week or two while we're talking about the Great Depression. And it's really interesting to get a historical fiction account of the time told by someone who isn't American. I thought the story was really interesting, especially the focus on how much photography of disasters can really do for the people who are experiencing them. I liked the addition of actual Dust Bowl photographs interspersed in the story as well. The art wasn't anything I really found unique, but it's still a really well done book and story overall. 

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livlamentloathe's review

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informative reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Fucking gorgeous. The colors and photographs and arrangement of this book was phenomenal. Just beautiful despite it’s depressed subject (depressing?). 

I don’t think we talk enough about how incredible graphic novels are as a storytelling medium. Genuinely. Especially as far as Non-Fiction goes. I often find myself bored by biographies and other factual books. But (and this book wasn’t non-fiction so it’s not the perfect example) there is nothing that catches my interest like graphic novels. A book on the dust bowl was the “school read” of my BA freshman year. I never read it—never even wanted to. But while and then after reading Days of Sand, I found myself scouring the internet for information about the Dust Bowl. 

I appreciated that this also acknowledged the difference between being the photographer and being the subject. The protagonist started as just a photographer and applied his ideas to his photography but as he lived and learned from the people and land of Oklahoma, he became too biased to just capture photos of their struggles. There if a major difference between sympathy for those struggling and being empathetic to the struggle.

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