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Una grottesca distorsione della realtà… i sette racconti di Rutu Modan che compongono questo volume sono un curioso e particolare sguardo sulla società ebraica, vista dall’interno, ma cosciente delle contraddizioni che la pervadono. Le situazioni più banali acquistano una valenza particolare e personale nelle mani di questa autrice sempre più famosa a livello internazionale, mentre gli aspetti della vita ebraica più singolari, se confrontati alla nostra società, diventano invece di una normalità disarmante. Il timore che un proprio caro sia la vittima di un aereo militare abbattuto; la caccia a un bizzarro serial killer; il rapporto conflittuale tra madre e figlia; un’infermiera che si trova a soccorrere un palestinese in fin di vita… sono queste solo una parte delle vicende raccontate in questa nuova antologia.
165 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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1002 people want to read
About the author
Rutu Modan
25 books194 followersRutu Modan (Hebrew: רותו מודן) was born in Tel-Aviv in 1966. In 1992 she graduated cum laude from the illustration program at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Shortly after graduating, she began regularly writing and illustrating comic strips and stories for Israel's leading daily newspapers, as well as editing the Israeli edition of MAD magazine with Yirmi Pinkus. Together, they founded Actus Tragicus, an internationally acclaimed collective and independent publishing house for alternative comic artists, in 1995. The following year she collaborated with Israeli author Etgar Keret on her first graphic novel, Nobody Said it Was Going to Be Fun, an Israeli bestseller. Rutu has worked as an illustrator for magazines and books in Israel and abroad, with illustrations published in The New York Times, New Yorker and Le Monde, among many other renowned publications.
She has received much recognition for her work, including four Best Illustrated Children's Book Awards from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The Israel Ministry of Culture named Rutu Modan the Young Artist of the Year in 1997, and she was one of the contributors to the Eisner-Nominated Actus Tragicus anthology Jet Lag in 1999. In 2001 she won the Andersen Award for Illustration from the International Board on Books for Young People in Basel, Switzerland, and was nominated for the Ignatz Award for Best Story and Promising New Talent for her story "Bygone" in Flipper, Vol. 2 (Actus Tragicus / Top Shelf.) She has been a chosen artist of the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation since 2005, and in 2006 she was nominated for the Angoulême Festival's Goccini Award, granted to a scriptwriter whose past year's work deserves special praise.
She has received much recognition for her work, including four Best Illustrated Children's Book Awards from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The Israel Ministry of Culture named Rutu Modan the Young Artist of the Year in 1997, and she was one of the contributors to the Eisner-Nominated Actus Tragicus anthology Jet Lag in 1999. In 2001 she won the Andersen Award for Illustration from the International Board on Books for Young People in Basel, Switzerland, and was nominated for the Ignatz Award for Best Story and Promising New Talent for her story "Bygone" in Flipper, Vol. 2 (Actus Tragicus / Top Shelf.) She has been a chosen artist of the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation since 2005, and in 2006 she was nominated for the Angoulême Festival's Goccini Award, granted to a scriptwriter whose past year's work deserves special praise.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
September 20, 2011
"Jamilti and Other Stories" is a collection of Rutu Modan's stories from her early career up until the publication of "Exit Wounds". The stories range from whimsy (King of the Lillies, about a plastic surgeon who falls for a beautiful girl who disappears and the surgeon spends his days making every woman he works on to look like the girl who disappeared) to the strange (a story about a serial killer who puts underpants on the heads of all the victims) to the contemporary (Jamilti is about a bombing in a cafe).
The stories all contain immediately compelling characters from the fringes of society like a struggling musician or a psychic. There wasn't a story here I didn't like. There were a couple of stories about people looking to find out who their parents were which were all touching and clever. There was also a strange story about a plane that circles a Kibbutz whose owners believe it's flown by their missing son. That was probably the best story out of many great stories in this book.
Rutu Modan's drawing style might not be to everyones' tastes. Some might see it as too simplistic or child like but it's deceptively simple approach makes it's serious subject matter all the more striking as you're reading it. The tone of the stories are perfect in each and all are fascinating reads. Highly recommended, as is "Exit Wounds".
The stories all contain immediately compelling characters from the fringes of society like a struggling musician or a psychic. There wasn't a story here I didn't like. There were a couple of stories about people looking to find out who their parents were which were all touching and clever. There was also a strange story about a plane that circles a Kibbutz whose owners believe it's flown by their missing son. That was probably the best story out of many great stories in this book.
Rutu Modan's drawing style might not be to everyones' tastes. Some might see it as too simplistic or child like but it's deceptively simple approach makes it's serious subject matter all the more striking as you're reading it. The tone of the stories are perfect in each and all are fascinating reads. Highly recommended, as is "Exit Wounds".
April 5, 2019
Reading some older Modan while jonesing for a new book. If you're in the same boat here are some good interviews.
http://www.tcj.com/rutu-modan/
https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/a...
http://www.tcj.com/rutu-modan/
https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/a...
March 1, 2022
A wonderfully crafted 180 pager with a range of stories. For some strange reason I was reminded of Raymond Carver in the way the stories were crafted - the stories end somewhere in the middle and you don’t know it - but they are well framed.
Very unique themes and situations. Highly recommended.
Very unique themes and situations. Highly recommended.
November 13, 2018
4.5 stars. Really odd stories with unexpected endings! Love the quirky art style too. Definitely want to obtain a copy for my own library so I can revisit in the future :)
September 15, 2014
This is a collection of work that precedes Exit Wounds, which is obviously a longer, more developed and more sophisticated story, but I liked a lot of the stories, nevertheless. Israeli artist, got international fame from Exit Wounds, which I liked, a richer story. These I guess provide some background to the later work, for her as artist and storyteller, but some stories are pretty sketchy, too...
June 10, 2023
Modan to jednak świetna jest! Podobała mi się w długiej formie, ale w krótkiej jest nawet fajniejsza.
„Jamilti” to zbiór 7 historyjek rysowanych w latach 1998-2007. Chociaż pozornie są to komiksy obyczajowe, każdy z nich zawiera jakiś taki mały haczyk, lekki twist, który sprawia, że stają się dziwnie-fajne i tracą ten nudziarski ton obyczajówek. Czego tu nie ma! Jest historia o mordercy, który zakłada ofiarom majtki na głowę, a jego następną ofiarą może być kobieta, która wygrała toster w niegdyś popularnym klubie ze striptizem. Jest historia o trzech siostrach, które prowadzą hotel z pokojami tematycznymi i chodzą przebrane za postaci z bajek, ale jedna z nich nosi też maskę na co dzień. Jest opowieść o chirurgu plastycznym, który po nieudanej próbie przeszczepu męskiej brody ulicznej akrobatce przejmuje opiekę nad jej osieroconą córką i szaleńczo się zakochuje. Jest historia o zaginionym chłopaku z kibuca, który w tajemniczych okolicznościach pojawia się na niebie, tak przynajmniej chcą myśleć jego najbliżsi. Jest opowieść o kobiecie, która porzucona przez męża zyskała nadprzyrodzoną moc - ma elektryczne ręce, którymi pomaga pacjentkom. Jest historia pewnego pocałunku - na przekór polityce i całemu światu. I jeszcze komiks o młodym muzyku, który nie doceniony w kraju dostaje zaproszenie na koncert do Sheffield, licząc, że zrobi karierę jak Joe Cocker albo Arctic Monkeys, ale czeka tam na niego tylko jedna, za to największa fanka. Wiele z tych historii są komentarzem izraelskiej rzeczywistości, ale jednocześnie jest w nich coś uniwersalnego.
Idealnie pasują do tego rysunki Rutu Modan, które niby są zupełnie zwykłe, ale każda z postaci dostała lekkiego kopniaka piętą jakiegoś kubisty, po którym odziedziczyła subtelne zniekształcenia. Co ciekawe, chociaż komiksy powstawały na przestrzeni 9 lat, w ogóle nie różnią się poziomem, te wczesne są równie wciągające jak te późniejsze, za to możemy fajnie zaobserwować jak rozwijała się kreska autorki.
Smutno mi tylko, że kończy mi się repertuar komiksów Rutu Modan wydanych w Polsce.
Przede mną jeszcze tylko „Tunele” (, nie ma w bibliotece ☹️) i wiem, że to będzie super przygoda.
March 28, 2022
A lot of this was so. strange. The author's art initially strikes me as a bit crude, but I grew to love the odd characters and style throughout (and the haircuts!). I was glad that I enjoyed this, as I've liked most of what I've read by the author but could not get into Tunnels at all.
February 16, 2009
I will confess, I am a former comic geek (geekette?) to a degree. I once blew off writing a paper on King Lear to read Swamp Thing all night, interspersing plucking psychedelic yams with plucking out eyes. I owned a full run of Sandman that was destroyed in a basement flood (albeit it a well-timed one: we really needed the insurance money). A pal once spotted me reading a graphic novel in public and declared, “We’re such geeks that even the women are geeks!”
Granted, I was always more artsy than superhero in my tastes, accumulating Love & Rockets, X (the insomniac architect, not to be confused with The X-Men), Neil Gaiman, Roberta Gregory, Phoebe Glockner… and Julie Doucet will always be in the Pantheon. So shame on me for not knowing about the accomplished Israeli Rutu Modan, recipient of the 2008 Eisner Award for Exit Wounds. Her new collection, Jamilti and Other Stories – jamilti means ‘beautiful one’ in Arabic - portrays quiet poignancy in fine lines.
The seven stories range from current events to an odd anachronistic fairytale. Characters include a nurse, suicide bomber, abandoned children, theme hotel patrons, plastic surgeons, and Internet obsessives. The emotions delicately arrayed include loss, denial, delusion, hope, and the shattering death of dreams. This inspired me to view Modan’s work for the New York Times magazine, and her journals there are consistently honest and accessible, as well as willing to access the absurd. Women are engaged to asses, brandish underwear, direly seek fertility through hucksters, find lost fathers, wear matching yellow outfits, commit murders, put on Snow White costumes, disappear, reappear, play strange instruments, import would-be rockstars, and all this only on the diegetic level. Some of the drawing recalls Hergé, but Tin Tin never gave me quite the kick in the teeth. Like the final panel in these pages, the most powerful moments in life are those when nothing gets said at all.
Review by Erika Mikkalo
Granted, I was always more artsy than superhero in my tastes, accumulating Love & Rockets, X (the insomniac architect, not to be confused with The X-Men), Neil Gaiman, Roberta Gregory, Phoebe Glockner… and Julie Doucet will always be in the Pantheon. So shame on me for not knowing about the accomplished Israeli Rutu Modan, recipient of the 2008 Eisner Award for Exit Wounds. Her new collection, Jamilti and Other Stories – jamilti means ‘beautiful one’ in Arabic - portrays quiet poignancy in fine lines.
The seven stories range from current events to an odd anachronistic fairytale. Characters include a nurse, suicide bomber, abandoned children, theme hotel patrons, plastic surgeons, and Internet obsessives. The emotions delicately arrayed include loss, denial, delusion, hope, and the shattering death of dreams. This inspired me to view Modan’s work for the New York Times magazine, and her journals there are consistently honest and accessible, as well as willing to access the absurd. Women are engaged to asses, brandish underwear, direly seek fertility through hucksters, find lost fathers, wear matching yellow outfits, commit murders, put on Snow White costumes, disappear, reappear, play strange instruments, import would-be rockstars, and all this only on the diegetic level. Some of the drawing recalls Hergé, but Tin Tin never gave me quite the kick in the teeth. Like the final panel in these pages, the most powerful moments in life are those when nothing gets said at all.
Review by Erika Mikkalo
March 29, 2018
A collection of pre-Exit Wounds short stories. The art is rough and awkward, a little clumsy, yet still fuctionally capable of conveying the information Modan needs to impart.
None of the shorts here leap out in the way that Exit Wounds did, but they're almost all solidly constructed. "Number One Fan" is the only misfire, and "Homecoming," Modan's first Israeli life-based tale is quite good, as is a period piece about three young women running a theme hotel. It's a good book. Not a great one, but worth looking into if you liked Exit Wounds and want to see how Modan found her voice.
+++++++++++++++++++++
I liked this one a lot more the second time. Even "Your Number One Fan," which I was indifferent to initially, seemed much more effective. I think perhaps I was just in the mood for its somberness, but I find all the stories darkly witty and emotionally true. A very good book and one I'm glad to have in a color, hardcover edition.
None of the shorts here leap out in the way that Exit Wounds did, but they're almost all solidly constructed. "Number One Fan" is the only misfire, and "Homecoming," Modan's first Israeli life-based tale is quite good, as is a period piece about three young women running a theme hotel. It's a good book. Not a great one, but worth looking into if you liked Exit Wounds and want to see how Modan found her voice.
+++++++++++++++++++++
I liked this one a lot more the second time. Even "Your Number One Fan," which I was indifferent to initially, seemed much more effective. I think perhaps I was just in the mood for its somberness, but I find all the stories darkly witty and emotionally true. A very good book and one I'm glad to have in a color, hardcover edition.
June 24, 2016
Interesantes historias, a veces surrealistas, a veces absurdas, contadas con un humor sutil. Los gráficos se adaptan bastante bien a la narrativa y dibujan el mundo entre real e imaginado en el que ocurren las historias. Recomendado :)
February 12, 2014
I loooooove love love Rutu Modan. So beautiful and weird.
September 20, 2014
AN excellent collection of short stories in a variety of art styles, all imaginative and poignant. A wonderful range of narrative tones too, this book really showcases Modan's versatility.
September 22, 2022
All the stories are strong, but the title story is the best, very poignant.
October 25, 2021
How do I un-read a book?
What a strange, messed up, waste of a book. Rutu Modan seems to have a knack for making highly unlikable characters. Every single story in here was replete with cringe-worthy characters and I am so irritated that I read this entire book. My mind is so turned off.
I've read plenty of twisted, noir short stories in the graphic novel format (a great example of such work is Yoshihiro Tatsumi) but this was not dark in an artistic/literary sense. Frankly, this was plain stupid and none of the stories left me haunted in a good way. I actually hated this book more as it progressed.
A worse example of such work is Adrian Tome, and while he makes unrelatable, unlikable characters as well, even he has his bright moments sometimes.
The Property is the only book by Modan I actually enjoyed reading, which is why I even gave this book a shot. Exit Wounds was also pretty boring and meaningless.
What a strange, messed up, waste of a book. Rutu Modan seems to have a knack for making highly unlikable characters. Every single story in here was replete with cringe-worthy characters and I am so irritated that I read this entire book. My mind is so turned off.
I've read plenty of twisted, noir short stories in the graphic novel format (a great example of such work is Yoshihiro Tatsumi) but this was not dark in an artistic/literary sense. Frankly, this was plain stupid and none of the stories left me haunted in a good way. I actually hated this book more as it progressed.
A worse example of such work is Adrian Tome, and while he makes unrelatable, unlikable characters as well, even he has his bright moments sometimes.
The Property is the only book by Modan I actually enjoyed reading, which is why I even gave this book a shot. Exit Wounds was also pretty boring and meaningless.
January 31, 2022
The storied share a loose theme based in and around Tel Aviv:
A themed hotel is run by sisters orphaned by a fire, though their matriarch has a secret. Several attendees at a club are murdered, their heads wrapped in panties, the culprit a daughter humiliated by her mother’s past trysts. A woman kisses a terrorist victim that turns out to be the actual terrorist. A escaped prisoner flies above his hometown and may be a suicide bomber. A love sick plastic surgeon begins shaping his lost muse’s face on all his patients.
Etc. All shorts are not created equal. Tonally and artistically, it’s all over the place, a step down from author’s “Exit Wounds”.
A themed hotel is run by sisters orphaned by a fire, though their matriarch has a secret. Several attendees at a club are murdered, their heads wrapped in panties, the culprit a daughter humiliated by her mother’s past trysts. A woman kisses a terrorist victim that turns out to be the actual terrorist. A escaped prisoner flies above his hometown and may be a suicide bomber. A love sick plastic surgeon begins shaping his lost muse’s face on all his patients.
Etc. All shorts are not created equal. Tonally and artistically, it’s all over the place, a step down from author’s “Exit Wounds”.
April 25, 2024
Moje drugie zetknięcie z twórczością Rutu Modan, chociaż w tym przypadku jest to zbiór komiksów ukazujących się przez prawie dekadę. Kreska jest różna i czuć trochę, że autorka nie zdecydowała się jeszcze na konkretny styl. To co jednak łączy wszystkie opowieści, to jakieś poczucie zawodu pojawiające się z przeczytaniem ostatniego kadru. Zawodu wynikającego z faktu, że historia nie potoczyła się po myśli jej bohaterów, że i oni i czytelnik mogli mieć nadzieje na więcej. To jest uważam za siłę tych krótkich historyjek to to, że w tym zawodzie czuć jakąś prawdę o bardzo specyficznych okolicznościach panujących w bardzo konkretnym miejscu na Ziemi.
Z pewnością sięgnę po "Rany wylotowe".
Z pewnością sięgnę po "Rany wylotowe".
October 30, 2023
Otra novela gráfica que leo. Esta la cogí porque por su título eran historias de Israel y quería saber un poco más de ese país. Yo creía que era un país cerrado, muy suyo pero nada que ver, estaba completamente equivocada. Habla de cosas muy occidentales y lo complementa muy bien con las viñetas. Los dibujos se entienden muy bien. La última historia, la que le da el nombre al libro me ha parecido muy realista porque están tan habituados a lo que ocurre que ya no les afecta nada. Lo recomiendo. 30/10/2023.
October 8, 2020
„Jamilti i inne historie” to zbiór ilustrowanych opowiadań autorstwa izraelskiej pisarki i rysowniczki Rutu Modan. Nie jestem fanką opowiadań, nie jestem fanką komiksów czy opowieści rysunkowych. Kocham za to absurd, groteskę i mam słabość do prawie wszystkiego izraelskie, a literatury w szczególności. Zbiór Modan przeczytałam już dwa razy i myślę, że to nie koniec, bo fascynuje mnie dziwaczność tych historyjek, szczególnie, że jak wynika z posłowia autorki zaczerpnęła je z prawdziwego życia.
October 31, 2023
Es un compendio sobre siete historias de Israel de las cuales llama mucho la atención sus finales con conclusiones asombrosas y el diferente estilo gráfico utilizado entre unas y otras. Me gustaron mucho tres historias especialmente: «El rey de las rosas», «Lo pasado» y «Bragas». Considero que las historias dan cuenta de una manera concisa de la vida cotidiana que se da al interior de Israel, de su relación con el mundo y con los sueños y esperanzas de algunas personas.
August 1, 2025
2.75
Magical realism vignettes are very in fashion right now and none of these were “bad” just not particularly good. I wish I had more to say but I really don’t. I mean the suicide bomber terrorist using his dying breath to catcall her in the titular story was definitely a choice, but it didn’t even feel hateful, just kinda like a ‘weird/quirky’ way to end the comic? I felt similarly about the crude art style. Hm.
Magical realism vignettes are very in fashion right now and none of these were “bad” just not particularly good. I wish I had more to say but I really don’t. I mean the suicide bomber terrorist using his dying breath to catcall her in the titular story was definitely a choice, but it didn’t even feel hateful, just kinda like a ‘weird/quirky’ way to end the comic? I felt similarly about the crude art style. Hm.
June 8, 2019
After the surprising success of *Exit Wounds*, Modan re-released some of her older work in this short story anthology. Most of these literary stories are dark and deal with the different illusions and lies about our lives that we each perpetuate in order to survive in a difficult world. The drawings are rough and mostly unappealing, but the coloring is very well done.
August 10, 2019
Rutu Modan's 'Jamilti' is full of beautifully drawn and well told short stories. The illustrations compliment the well written narratives perfectly, making for a wonderful reading experience. The stories are touching, and at times fantastically bizarre. I will definitely look out for more of Modan's work in future, having read 'Jamilti' I have become a fan of her artistic style and story telling.
September 27, 2022
Few of the stories really hold some surprises. However, two stories, particularly 'the number one Fan' is bit disappointing. But, still I appreciate the stories and graphics made by Rutu Modan because these were her early works. I loved her work in 'Exit Wounds' and I'll remember that book for a long tiime.
August 26, 2017
Varias historias cortas de dibujo heterogéneo y una relación directa con Israel. Aunque todas tienen su gracia, tanto en la historia como en la forma, no tienen demasiado espacio para desarrolarse y se quedan más como prometedores esbozos.
March 31, 2019
A collection of short stories in the form of graphic novellas, all centered in Israel. Most of the stories deal with topics such as Israeli and Palestinian conflict, while other stories focus on murder mystery or uncovering the truth about your family.
September 13, 2022
Me encanta cómo narra Rutu Modan. El formato de historias cortas en forma de cómic le queda muy bien a su estilo de narración como dibujante. Me encanta ver el humor y la oscuridad que le caracteriza.
March 24, 2017
I found the stories in the book to be very intriguing and quite unique. The assortment of stories contains themes of family, relationships, politics and love, which are set within an Israeli landscape. Some of the illustrations are awkwardly drawn to the point where it looks amateurish (see “Bygone”), while others are refined (see “The King of the Lillies”). So, the artwork for the stories ranges with quality.
December 17, 2017
Great mixture of the everyday, the extraordinary and the fantastic. Stories beautifully told.
March 13, 2018
Interesting short story collection from an Israeli cartoonist.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews