Riad Sattouf

Brutal honesty from a 4-year-old’s perspective. It’s so innocent and yet so devastating. Riad’s mother is French, his dad Syrian. Born in France, his family first moves to Libya then to Syria. This is a fierce look at Riad’s view of his parents and his homes. The countries are filthy, bleak, garbage strewn, misogynistic, & racist. His father, claiming to be an atheist, finds every single bit of it beautiful. Qaddafi and Assad are his heroes. Riad loves his Arab family. He wants the show more gun his father has promised. He wants to be part of the all-out bruising fights with cousins. But upon returning to France, finally, and staying with his French grandparents he realizes he doesn’t want to go back. And there it ends. I’ve been looking for volume 2 and 3 (I have the last volume 4). Like Riad, I don’t want to see where his life goes from here. But it seems he’s grown up well, so I’m ready to travel this journey with him. And now I’m forewarned of how bad it could be. Serious trigger warnings, especially given Muslims’ extreme dislike of dogs (I didn’t know this) and so there is a horrific episode near the end. Your heart will be crushed. So beware. show less

This memoir was engaging and thought-provoking. I was struck by the universal childhood feelings and impressions set in an environment unfamiliar to me. The detail was amazing; narration, dialogue, images, and captions showing smells and sounds really brought the events to life.

This book follows the format of the first book closely. It is not a commentary or an essay, but simply a story told from the perspective of a small child. There are things about the story that are disquieting and show more frightening, but the reader is cushioned from feeling the full impact of the events taking place because the innocence of the main character mellows the horribleness into something more possible for a child to process.

It is hard to write from a child's point of view, because even our own memories from childhood are muddled from the passage of time and the adult point of view that we use to interpret what we remember. However, Riad Sattouf writes the child's point of view gracefully and accurately. I felt not only transported into little Riad's world, but transported back to my own childhood, remembering what it was like to feel, see, and understand the world through young eyes.

I look forward to reading the story of Riad in future publications. show less

This installment is a bit too slow and depressing, though still a fascinating glimpse into the life of a family with roots in both Syria and France.

The father, a Syrian Muslim, remains a complete narcissistic jackass, with his antisemitism and racism really on display this go round. He becomes more self-involved and conservative as he has a religious epiphany. The liberal French mother, meanwhile is mostly stuck in anger mode as she separates herself geographically from her husband, show more undergoes an illness, and finally begins to really question the point of her marriage. The author meanwhile starts to enter puberty.

As with previous volumes there is much moving back and forth between France and Syria, with much homophobic and antisemitic bullying happening in both places due to the author's appearance and voice. The whole thing really ground me down, but the cliffhanger ending will certainly bring me back for the next volume. show less

So much about Sattouf's childhood in Syria is alien and unpleasant to me. Adults treat children, animals and each other cruelly. Living conditions seem squalid at times. Corruption is rampant. And above all else, Sattouf's father is a narcissistic ass.

So much of this book is infuriating, but it is told in a captivating manner that kept me turning pages.

Somehow, Sattouf manages in his portrayal to make his father a lovable narcissistic ass. And though I wouldn't want to live there, Sattouf show more helps me understand the nuances of the complex love/hate relationship he and many of his characters have with Syria.

(Side note: Conan the Barbarian completists may want this volume for the 5-page recap of the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie included in Chapter 2.) show less