The Rabbi's Cat 1 & 2, By Joann Sfar-- Review

The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar is a really interesting graphic novel. The setting is truly fantastic, 1930's French Algeria in North Africa. This adds an exotic, almost mystical quality to the book. The artwork is very beautiful and different than most graphic novels which I haveseen. The books are illustrated in full color with strong earthtones. The descriptive boxes use a fluid cursive script which I haven't seen used before in graphic novels. The word bubbles are filled in with a neat pen handwriting. The actual panels appear to be handpainted and inked without typesetting.

Another of the authors books, a children's book, Little Vampire Goes to School was on the New York Times Bestseller list. The author is French so the book has a different sensibility than most graphic novels I have read which are either American, Spanish, or Japanese. On the back flap of the book cover is a picture of the author holding a grey cat which the author must have used as a model for the Rabbi's cat.

This is the story of the Rabbi's cat who eats the Rabbi's obnoxious parrot and then begins to speak. It tells a philosophical story of how the cat first wants to learn the Kabbalah, but then asks to become Bar Mitzvahed because he is too young to learn mysticism. The cat studies with the Rabbi. The cat is absolutely loyal to the Rabbi's daughter his mistress.

A whole series of adventures follows. The best part of the graphic novel are the characters and their development; there is Malka of the Lions, a wandering storyteller with a pet lion, Jules Nahaum a French Rabbi, and Sheikh Muhammad Sfar a singer, poet, and freind of the Rabbi.

Numerous details liven the story up. In one scene, the cat is talking to a donkey because animals can talk to each other, but humans can't understand what they are saying. The Rabbi says it is time to sit down because the animals are making too much noise. Because the main character is a cat, it can follow people around, watch what people are doing, and make comments which would be inappropriate if he was a person.

The second book is even better than the first book. It has much more intense, fantastic stories than the first book. The cat travels through the desert with Malka of the Lions, listens to Malka and talks to the old lion. He even has dangerous encounters with a scorpion and a snake. It gets even better when a Russian Jew appears in a crate. The Russian is seeking the land of Jerusalem in Africa. He is referring to the Falasha in black Africa. They assemble a group of people to make the journey from "North Africa" to "Black Africa", a sheikh, the rabbi, the Russian Jew who is a painter, the cat, and a few others. Numerous adventures follow. They even run into Tintin.

This story is for adults, there is sex, violence, racism, and religious conflict throughout both of these books. This makes the books tell a very interesting, sometimes profound story. It is very enjoyable reading. Some people may not like this book because parts of it are definitely blasphemous from a strict religious point of view. There is also some use of curse words and foul language. The second book is much more explicit. It includes some drawings of sex. This is not done in a prurient way.

Also, sometimes the story wanders a bit. I like that it wanders because it provides a variety of different views of Algeria. This is definitely not a book for children. The artwork is very nice to look at. I think both of the books are worth reading. However, I think people will have very different opinions on the graphic novels because of the way it is written. I personally would give it a five stars, but some people might find it objectionable enough to give it a one star.

Amazon did not have a picture for this one.

Morning Thoughts

American Treasure Room, U.S. Library of Congress. I visited here when I was at library school. There is an original Gutenberg Bible under glass.

I decided I needed a break from nonfiction. On the train home last night, I read The Collected Works of Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey, Volume Three and Four. It was lightweight and funny. Something which made me laugh and smile a bit. It didn't take me that long to finish. As usual Uncle Gabby the Sock Monkey, and Drinky Crow, the stuffed Crow were up to mischief. This time they were playing with a victorian hunters taxidermy exhibit with various stuffed critters deer, birds, and insects. Afterwards they went on a hunting exhibit with a butterfly net to collect some small lizards, beetles, and ladybugs.

After finishing Sock Monkey, I started on a new collection of science fiction short stories, Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi. The writing is quite interesting. It is focused on the environment and biology. The characters come from a variety of different walks of life. For example in the short story, The Fluted Girl, it seems to be set somewhere in Eastern Europe. A girl and her sister have been transformed into living instruments with fragile hollow bones by their owner. It is a tragic story. It is also one of the free sample stories avaialable on Paolo Bacigalupi's web site. http://windupstories.com/pumpsix/the-fluted-girl/ . There is some mature content in this story. It looks like quite an interesting site.

I plan on reading some more of the short stories on the train. I work late tonight, so I am off this morning. It is rather odd, having to work very late one night, then very early the next day. I really should not complain. I have a job in an American economy that could possibly be heading south very soon.

Tomorrow, I go to a seminar on poverty alleviation. I wonder how libraries can alleviate poverty. My boss asked me to go. I hope, I at least get to keep a name tag as a memento. The next day after that is the New York Comic Con so I should have a very interesting week.

I was thinking about muckraking stories this morning. One problem I have with them is that they solve nothing. They just point out problems which are often obvious. You get to read how terrible things are. I am beginning sometimes it is more constructive to read about how to invest in renewable energy than to read about how terrible the oil, gas, and coal companies are. Companies are made of people. Some are terrible and some aren't. Muckraking in some cases seems to distract people from creating solutions.

I found an interesting article in Library Journal this morning. It is Venezuelan saber rattling against the U.S. Library of Congress. I found it to be profoundly entertaining in a way. I have actually been to the Library of Congress. You can't go inside the actual building if you are a visitor, but you can look down into the reading room from above.

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6551558.html

Here I am in the afternoon. Two books or should I say graphic novels came in for me. They are The Rabbi's Cat and The Rabbi's Cat 2. Dine-O-Meter Deb said she was reading The Rabbi's Cat as part of the Graphic Novel Challenge. I wanted to see what it was about so I requested it to be sent to my library.

I also took a minute to look through the New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller List and put Earth The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy And Stop Global Warming by Fred Krupp who is the President of the Environmental Defense Fund.

I think right now, I have more than enough to read. Books are starting to pile up and I now have three small stacks of books to read.