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L'Arabe du futur #2
Fremtidens araber bind 2: En barndom i Mellemøsten
Den lyshårede arabiske dreng Riad bor nu i Syrien sammen med sin familie. Nu skal han begynde i skole, hvor han møder en ret barsk hverdag.
158 pages
First published June 11, 2015
124 people are currently reading
2800 people want to read
About the author
Riad Sattouf
57 books932 followersRiad Sattouf est l’auteur de nombreuses bandes dessinées, parmi lesquelles Retour au collège, Pascal Brutal (Fauve d’or 2010) ou La vie secrète des jeunes. Les beaux gosses, César du meilleur premier film ; Jacky au royaume des filles)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 607 reviews
October 28, 2016
One of the best comics of the year, no question!
In Volume 2, Riad, in his father’s hometown of Homs, Syria, goes to school for the first time. He's maybe 6? Not much of huge significance seems to happen at first, it's quite episodic, but over 152 pages you get indelible impressions of what it was like for him to be a kid in that country in 1984, the accumulated effect of which ranges is disturbing. Riad has blond hair, so kids think he is Jewish and want to beat him up; he’s regularly a victim of bullying by kids who among other things torture frogs by tying them to bike wheels. The town of Homs is dingy, with evidence of poverty everywhere. We learn of kids neglected and dying. Hafez Al-Assad is the dictator at the time who got 100% of the vote, no dissent.
His Dad, a scholar who studied in France that everyone calls doctor, is pretty crazy in a generally goofy way through most of the first two volumes, and he defends the customs of this sad place out of nostalgia and. . . tradition. He's largely amusing, though over time, he's less and less funny. To save money the four in this family live in a largely unfurnished apartment, use a camp stove to cook with, even though he claims they have thousands of dollars saved up. They buy a stove from a guy that walked it on a camel three days from Lebanon. Black market rules. And then Dad kills sparrows to eat for a meal, which also seems barbaric.
Riad’s teachers seem anywhere from mildly to moderately psychotic, one of them beating them brutally on the hands with a stick for mild infractions like talking in class or tardiness while she alternates hateful expressions with grinning. He becomes sort of a emblem of unquestioned patriotism and xenophobia. Riad’s Mom is French and sort of speaks for us in being outraged about everything we see. Clearly in France, where they visit, the food is better, there are more opportunities, everything seems to be better. Sattouf lives there now.
There is one incident I shouldn’t reveal too specifically that is especially telling, that turns the relatively light comic tone of the memoir to darkness in this volume. I’ll say that it is something most of us know about, an “honor killing” that also comes to involve Riad's father and the extended Sattouf family. Until this happens, the tale seems generally paced as if it were just some episodic memoir, but the accumulation of what seems to be relatively minor acts of cruelty and barbarity leads us to this honor killing. The sense of how women are treated is inexcusable, as Sattouf gradually and compellingly makes clear. One of the last images of this volume is of Riad's mother protesting to her husband about this situation.
Sattouf is one of the best cartoonists in the world now. His comics timing and sublety are exquisite. Before this he had done four or more comics series, he worked at Charlie Hebdo, but this would appear to be his magnum opus. It sure looks like it. Here’s a master storyteller at work in a volume that is even better than the first one, one of the best comics of the year. Get on board!
In Volume 2, Riad, in his father’s hometown of Homs, Syria, goes to school for the first time. He's maybe 6? Not much of huge significance seems to happen at first, it's quite episodic, but over 152 pages you get indelible impressions of what it was like for him to be a kid in that country in 1984, the accumulated effect of which ranges is disturbing. Riad has blond hair, so kids think he is Jewish and want to beat him up; he’s regularly a victim of bullying by kids who among other things torture frogs by tying them to bike wheels. The town of Homs is dingy, with evidence of poverty everywhere. We learn of kids neglected and dying. Hafez Al-Assad is the dictator at the time who got 100% of the vote, no dissent.
His Dad, a scholar who studied in France that everyone calls doctor, is pretty crazy in a generally goofy way through most of the first two volumes, and he defends the customs of this sad place out of nostalgia and. . . tradition. He's largely amusing, though over time, he's less and less funny. To save money the four in this family live in a largely unfurnished apartment, use a camp stove to cook with, even though he claims they have thousands of dollars saved up. They buy a stove from a guy that walked it on a camel three days from Lebanon. Black market rules. And then Dad kills sparrows to eat for a meal, which also seems barbaric.
Riad’s teachers seem anywhere from mildly to moderately psychotic, one of them beating them brutally on the hands with a stick for mild infractions like talking in class or tardiness while she alternates hateful expressions with grinning. He becomes sort of a emblem of unquestioned patriotism and xenophobia. Riad’s Mom is French and sort of speaks for us in being outraged about everything we see. Clearly in France, where they visit, the food is better, there are more opportunities, everything seems to be better. Sattouf lives there now.
There is one incident I shouldn’t reveal too specifically that is especially telling, that turns the relatively light comic tone of the memoir to darkness in this volume. I’ll say that it is something most of us know about, an “honor killing” that also comes to involve Riad's father and the extended Sattouf family. Until this happens, the tale seems generally paced as if it were just some episodic memoir, but the accumulation of what seems to be relatively minor acts of cruelty and barbarity leads us to this honor killing. The sense of how women are treated is inexcusable, as Sattouf gradually and compellingly makes clear. One of the last images of this volume is of Riad's mother protesting to her husband about this situation.
Sattouf is one of the best cartoonists in the world now. His comics timing and sublety are exquisite. Before this he had done four or more comics series, he worked at Charlie Hebdo, but this would appear to be his magnum opus. It sure looks like it. Here’s a master storyteller at work in a volume that is even better than the first one, one of the best comics of the year. Get on board!
January 22, 2016
As a Syrian, I found a lot of exaggerations in the description, it is true that there are underdeveloped persons in Syria but not to this degree. Mr. Sattouf treated a segment of society that represents a very rare case. He showed the people as barbarians who are far from civilization entirely, dirties, racists.
Perhaps and unfortunately for him these samples were in his village but that never reflects the reality of the Syrian society.
What is more annoying is that he shows himself as the smartest and most beautiful boy among children . However , the presence of blond child is possible in Syria and it is not rare.
I do not want to defend my community. I know it is full of mistakes, but I'm sad by the image painted by Mr. Sattouf on Syrians.
Perhaps and unfortunately for him these samples were in his village but that never reflects the reality of the Syrian society.
What is more annoying is that he shows himself as the smartest and most beautiful boy among children . However , the presence of blond child is possible in Syria and it is not rare.
I do not want to defend my community. I know it is full of mistakes, but I'm sad by the image painted by Mr. Sattouf on Syrians.
October 17, 2016
Riad starts school in Syria while his mother demands modern appliances for their flat, sending her husband to the city to buy a washing machine and gas stove. Riad’s father begins making connections with important officials and plans for his family’s luxury villa…
Riad Sattouf’s The Arab of the Future, 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985, is an utterly fantastic follow-up to the amazing first book - this series is shaping up to be a modern masterpiece like Persepolis!
There’s no other way to say this: Syria is barbaric. We saw some pretty shocking things in the first book but this second book really shows how completely fucked up this country is (or was - maybe it’s different today? Probably not). There’s corporal punishment in Riad’s school where kids got their hands smashed by the teacher’s stick, while the kids are even more violent, tying live frogs to the wheels of a bike and splattering them as they ride!
Riad’s father tries to show his son what a real man he is by hunting sparrows with a shotgun(!) - the amount of meat on a sparrow is just pathetic and the shotgun shells are beyond overkill for such tiny birds. As silly as Riad makes his dad look at times, there’s genuine love for the man, particularly as he’s shown more often than not working hard to make life less dismal in Syria for his French wife.
There’s far more darkness in this memoir than I’d expected. One poor kid, Omar, with a burned face (from tea left carelessly lying around where babies crawl - a problem in rural Syria apparently) who befriended Riad, got beaten all the time for smelling bad (his family lived in abject poverty) though forced himself to smile through all of it. And then one winter he starts coughing and can’t stop, until one day he doesn’t come to school. Ever again.
It’s quietly heartbreaking but that’s nothing compared to the shocker in how women are treated. I won’t go into that particular scene here because readers should experience the full impact firsthand but to call Syrian women second class citizens is an understatement - it’s like they’re almost on the level of animals!
The brilliance of these memoirs is how insightful they are in showing us what real life in a country many readers will not know about is like. From the five to six hour power outages every day, to the worn-out doctor fed up with dealing with superstitious women who, tragically, only go to him when their babies are dead, Riad is informative but always entertaining too and his stories are filled with memorable characters and moments.
As sad as some of these episodes are, this book really is an absolutely captivating, powerful, sharply realised, and moving read - you know you’re in the hands of a masterful storyteller when they make you deeply care about a story you wouldn’t necessarily think would usually be for you. The Arab of the Future, 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985 is highly recommended - easily one of the finest comics of the year!
Riad Sattouf’s The Arab of the Future, 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985, is an utterly fantastic follow-up to the amazing first book - this series is shaping up to be a modern masterpiece like Persepolis!
There’s no other way to say this: Syria is barbaric. We saw some pretty shocking things in the first book but this second book really shows how completely fucked up this country is (or was - maybe it’s different today? Probably not). There’s corporal punishment in Riad’s school where kids got their hands smashed by the teacher’s stick, while the kids are even more violent, tying live frogs to the wheels of a bike and splattering them as they ride!
Riad’s father tries to show his son what a real man he is by hunting sparrows with a shotgun(!) - the amount of meat on a sparrow is just pathetic and the shotgun shells are beyond overkill for such tiny birds. As silly as Riad makes his dad look at times, there’s genuine love for the man, particularly as he’s shown more often than not working hard to make life less dismal in Syria for his French wife.
There’s far more darkness in this memoir than I’d expected. One poor kid, Omar, with a burned face (from tea left carelessly lying around where babies crawl - a problem in rural Syria apparently) who befriended Riad, got beaten all the time for smelling bad (his family lived in abject poverty) though forced himself to smile through all of it. And then one winter he starts coughing and can’t stop, until one day he doesn’t come to school. Ever again.
It’s quietly heartbreaking but that’s nothing compared to the shocker in how women are treated. I won’t go into that particular scene here because readers should experience the full impact firsthand but to call Syrian women second class citizens is an understatement - it’s like they’re almost on the level of animals!
The brilliance of these memoirs is how insightful they are in showing us what real life in a country many readers will not know about is like. From the five to six hour power outages every day, to the worn-out doctor fed up with dealing with superstitious women who, tragically, only go to him when their babies are dead, Riad is informative but always entertaining too and his stories are filled with memorable characters and moments.
As sad as some of these episodes are, this book really is an absolutely captivating, powerful, sharply realised, and moving read - you know you’re in the hands of a masterful storyteller when they make you deeply care about a story you wouldn’t necessarily think would usually be for you. The Arab of the Future, 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985 is highly recommended - easily one of the finest comics of the year!
December 21, 2025
Li o primeiro livro desta série e não fiquei impressionada, mas este segundo volume melhorou um pouco. Continua o inferno da infância do pobre Riad, agora na escola, a aprender o hino sírio e a aprender a escrever e a ler em árabe, ensinado por uma " dragona" de cana em punho.
O pai continua o iludido do costume e a mãe, coitada, abandonou França para ir para o atraso que era a Síria nos anos de 1980. O que virá a seguir?
O pai continua o iludido do costume e a mãe, coitada, abandonou França para ir para o atraso que era a Síria nos anos de 1980. O que virá a seguir?
October 23, 2016
Volume II is a continuation of the adventures of Riad as a young French-Arab in Homs in the mid-1980s. Riad is still a child, blond-haired and six years old. He is ready to go to school for the first time, and is terrified. With good reason, it turns out.
Sattouf positively outdoes himself drawing scenes from the classroom. The headscarf-wearing teacher has a skirt so short and legs so large that our eyes widen in fear. Riad takes a frame to zero in on the impossible narrowness of her high heels, her calves looming dense and heavy above, like a boulder snagged over a walkway. She looks dangerous. That is to say nothing of the smile she holds a second before she strikes the boys on the palms with a wooden rod. Nothing so thin as a ruler, her tool is a rod that looks very solid and hard in her hand.
Sattouf takes his time with this installment of the story of young Riad. We spend a couple of days sampling the coursework in first grade: patriotic songs, basic characters for writing, reading skills without comprehension, and inventive slurs and punishments. We meet the neighbors: a police-chief-cousin whose stash of gold jewelry could finance a bank, and whose home is a huge unfinished concrete pile cratered with moisture-seeping cracks. We go on a day trip to Palmyra with a general while Riad’s father spends his time trying to wrangle the general into “putting in a word” for his advancement at the university where he works. Palmyra is littered with ancient-looking pottery shards which Riad’s father disdains.
The scenes of RIad with the men in his community when he returns to Homs are memorable. Very little is said; the drawings do the work here. I did not understand all that was implied, but someone will. Perhaps the punchline will be revealed in another installation of the life of Riad in Syria. Riad’s father is becoming more and more unbearable as a husband, as a father, as a man. He is hopelessly out of his league wherever he is, and always aspirational, never in control. His wife is losing patience, and he himself is recognizing a few hard truths that have him sitting by himself in some frames, smoking and silent.
Sattouf leaves us feeling unsettled and unsure. Do we want Riad in this place with these people? I think his mother is feeling similarly unsure. The father…one gets the sense that however much the father thinks he is the man, there is precious little he does control.
This installment just cements my sense that this kind of graphic novel may be the easiest, most immediate, most fun way to learn about a culture. When it is done well, a boatload of information can be transmitted in a couple of frames. Sattouf appears to be completely frank about life in Homs as he sees it, and it is remarkable for its insights as well as its humor.
I love this series and will insist upon reading everything about Riad growing up. The Tintin series was the first set of books Riad had access to, the series being only one of two books his academic father had in his personal library. The other book was the Quran. Will look to see if I can see the influences from Tintin in Sattouf’s marvelous story of growing up Arab before his third book hits the stands.
The terrific translation of this work is done by Sam Taylor, and the U.S. publisher is Metropolitan Books, a division of Henry Holt.
Sattouf positively outdoes himself drawing scenes from the classroom. The headscarf-wearing teacher has a skirt so short and legs so large that our eyes widen in fear. Riad takes a frame to zero in on the impossible narrowness of her high heels, her calves looming dense and heavy above, like a boulder snagged over a walkway. She looks dangerous. That is to say nothing of the smile she holds a second before she strikes the boys on the palms with a wooden rod. Nothing so thin as a ruler, her tool is a rod that looks very solid and hard in her hand.
"Ha, ha, [Riad’s father chortles that evening] you’re funny. You’re just like me at your age. Scared of everything…Don’t worry, nothing will happen."More false words were never spoken. Lots happens, and much of it is life-threatening. But perhaps most importantly we see the utter cruelty with which people treat one another. If there was ever a time to be grateful for political correctness in our daily interactions, after reading this you will breathe a sigh of relief for those tedious niceties. You will remember the menace of schoolyard bullies, and realize Arab society, in Syria at least, is taught this is normal human behavior: to be admired if you win, killed if you do not.
Sattouf takes his time with this installment of the story of young Riad. We spend a couple of days sampling the coursework in first grade: patriotic songs, basic characters for writing, reading skills without comprehension, and inventive slurs and punishments. We meet the neighbors: a police-chief-cousin whose stash of gold jewelry could finance a bank, and whose home is a huge unfinished concrete pile cratered with moisture-seeping cracks. We go on a day trip to Palmyra with a general while Riad’s father spends his time trying to wrangle the general into “putting in a word” for his advancement at the university where he works. Palmyra is littered with ancient-looking pottery shards which Riad’s father disdains.
"In the third century after Jesus Christ [Riad’s father says dully, lighting a cigarette] Zenobia turned the nomad’s city of Palmyra into an influential artistic center."Riad returns to France and enjoys it at the same time he begins to realize he is changing…has changed. He is a desert child now, confused with the plenty that surrounds him in France. It is a poignant section we all recognize for its dislocation. He does not read or speak French particularly well. The French language is difficult, and complicated. Where does Riad fit in? Where does he belong? Where will he be accepted?
The scenes of RIad with the men in his community when he returns to Homs are memorable. Very little is said; the drawings do the work here. I did not understand all that was implied, but someone will. Perhaps the punchline will be revealed in another installation of the life of Riad in Syria. Riad’s father is becoming more and more unbearable as a husband, as a father, as a man. He is hopelessly out of his league wherever he is, and always aspirational, never in control. His wife is losing patience, and he himself is recognizing a few hard truths that have him sitting by himself in some frames, smoking and silent.
Sattouf leaves us feeling unsettled and unsure. Do we want Riad in this place with these people? I think his mother is feeling similarly unsure. The father…one gets the sense that however much the father thinks he is the man, there is precious little he does control.
This installment just cements my sense that this kind of graphic novel may be the easiest, most immediate, most fun way to learn about a culture. When it is done well, a boatload of information can be transmitted in a couple of frames. Sattouf appears to be completely frank about life in Homs as he sees it, and it is remarkable for its insights as well as its humor.
I love this series and will insist upon reading everything about Riad growing up. The Tintin series was the first set of books Riad had access to, the series being only one of two books his academic father had in his personal library. The other book was the Quran. Will look to see if I can see the influences from Tintin in Sattouf’s marvelous story of growing up Arab before his third book hits the stands.
The terrific translation of this work is done by Sam Taylor, and the U.S. publisher is Metropolitan Books, a division of Henry Holt.
April 24, 2018
In this second part, the very slow pace of this autobiographical graphic novel is particularly striking (Riad is now 6 and 7 years old, we are back in Syria); as a result, the pedagogical aspect of this novel becomes more visible: Sattouf wants to give the reader (undoubtedly the Western reader) insight into the basic data of life in an Arab country; together with the little Riad we learn Arabic (French is much more difficult), and we are introduced both formally (in school) and informally (through statements from his father and other children) into the world of Islam. At the same time, Sattouf clearly highlights the ugly aspects of life in an Arab country (in this case Syria).
Again a lot revolves around the father figure, and he remains very ambiguous: he continues to put up a very conforming picture of himself as a great intellectual, a true Arab, a real man, the boss over his wife and kid. But through the eyes of Riad we clearly see the false appearance of this, and we see how in reality he is constantly humiliated. And once again, the mother figure remains problematic: she is getting more angry now, but she continues to go along with the Arabic story.
Again a lot revolves around the father figure, and he remains very ambiguous: he continues to put up a very conforming picture of himself as a great intellectual, a true Arab, a real man, the boss over his wife and kid. But through the eyes of Riad we clearly see the false appearance of this, and we see how in reality he is constantly humiliated. And once again, the mother figure remains problematic: she is getting more angry now, but she continues to go along with the Arabic story.
February 26, 2019
I read Volume 1 of this graphic memoir series at the end of December, and made my way to Part 2 this week. The story was still fresh in my mind, and immediately picked up where it left off, with young Riad and his family in Syria.
Sattouf continues to tackle big issues in a changing Syria (his childhood is in the early 1980s): family and animal abuse and neglect, vast disparity of wealth and access to basic services, and a very disturbing - yet sanitized version through his 6-year old eyes - of an honor killing of one of his female cousins.
Serious and even brutal storytelling, but done in a light visual cartoon style. It's quite a juxtaposition between cartoon and content.
Sattouf continues to tackle big issues in a changing Syria (his childhood is in the early 1980s): family and animal abuse and neglect, vast disparity of wealth and access to basic services, and a very disturbing - yet sanitized version through his 6-year old eyes - of an honor killing of one of his female cousins.
Serious and even brutal storytelling, but done in a light visual cartoon style. It's quite a juxtaposition between cartoon and content.
September 19, 2016
The books in the graphic memoir series “The Arab of the Future” make me feel like a child about to read the new Harry Potter or see the new Star Wars film. I look forward to them with so much anticipation and read each new volume immediately. The second volume is published in the UK this week! These books are such a joy to read for their lively and expressive drawings and engaging stories that present the author's wide-eyed innocent look at his cross-national childhood. In this volume his family move back to Syria (the place of his father's birth) when Riad is six years old. He goes to school for the first time learning Arabic from his tyrannical teacher and French from his mother at home. Meanwhile his professor father claims he'll build his wife and children a palatial home on a desolate plot of land they own, but as the time ticks by no progress is made. Sattouf presents his family and experiences with wit, humour, intelligence and great emotion.
Read my full review of The Arab of the Future 2 by Riad Sattouf on LonesomeReader
Read my full review of The Arab of the Future 2 by Riad Sattouf on LonesomeReader
August 8, 2015
you take a young Syrian, you give him a good education, he leaves in France, marries a french woman and behaves like a french person. Now you bring him in Syria, with friends and family around, violence and radicalism, and he becomes a different person. This is scary and shows that unfortunately education is not enough to fight obscurantism. women are the first victims, how can you imagine that a dad and his son can kill their daughter and sister with a pillow because she is pregnant !! how can the world be so mad, crazy, sick !! the graphism is good, the story is told from a kid voice with some humor, but the whole story is pretty sad and scary. It is also frustrating to see that the young french woman does not react to this new life: why ? is it love or fear ? ... maybe a tome 3 will tell us more
October 19, 2016
Definitely still liking this series.
What makes it work for me is the wealth of observed detail, and the child's perspective that young Riad brings to everything. His family is clearly making the best of a bad situation. As in the first volume, I have some sympathy for his father, who seems unwilling to give up on his dreams long past the point where most would have thrown in the towel. It could be a stubborn unwillingness to admit that he was wrong, but it seems more like some boundless optimism that keeps him confident that a better life is just around the corner. I see we're in for at least one more volume. Does anyone know how long this series is? Just curious. I'm definitely up for however many of these Sattouf plans on creating.
What makes it work for me is the wealth of observed detail, and the child's perspective that young Riad brings to everything. His family is clearly making the best of a bad situation. As in the first volume, I have some sympathy for his father, who seems unwilling to give up on his dreams long past the point where most would have thrown in the towel. It could be a stubborn unwillingness to admit that he was wrong, but it seems more like some boundless optimism that keeps him confident that a better life is just around the corner. I see we're in for at least one more volume. Does anyone know how long this series is? Just curious. I'm definitely up for however many of these Sattouf plans on creating.
June 5, 2016
J'ai vraiment adoré ce tome, encore plus que le précédent. Avec Riad qui grandit et qui va à l'école (et la vache l'école Syrienne des années 80, c'était quelque chose), le ton général s'assombrit. Cependant Riad Sattouf parvient à trouver ici un équilibre quasi parfait entre la noirceur de certains événements (un en particulier) et l'enthousiasme enfantin de son héros. Tour à tour touchant, drôle, instructif, choquant et toujours aussi bien mis en image, ce deuxième tome de l'Arabe du Futur frôle la perfection. J'ai d'ailleurs hésité à mettre 5 étoiles. Peut être pour le troisième tome. Vivement !
March 18, 2017
This graphic memoir picks up where the first volume left off, and the family has now settled in Riad's father's hometown of Homs. The author starts to attend school and tries to fit in, but this is Syria under the dictator Hafez Al-Assad, and with his blond hair the author is often mistaken for a Jew, and is treated in ways that shouldn't surprise anyone.
Being a child in an adult world is bewildering in the best of times, and I love how we get glimpses of moments small and large in young Riad's life, juxtaposed with the politics, religion, and poverty of the environment he now inhabits. His awful teacher reminded me of many nuns of my youth, and with her headscarf, she even looked like my tormentors of old, albeit without the short skirts and high heels. There should be a support group for kids who endured these type of teachers. In some ways this is the ordinary life of an ordinary child, but this particular child is lucky enough to also get exposed to different ways of being in the world. The art style is not one I love, but it gets the point across, and I really like how the colors used evoke the appropriate mood for the various settings in this book.
How often do we really think about how much children are affected in ways large and small by the whims of their parents? This thought provoking memoir does just that. I highly recommend this series, and cannot wait for the next installment.
Being a child in an adult world is bewildering in the best of times, and I love how we get glimpses of moments small and large in young Riad's life, juxtaposed with the politics, religion, and poverty of the environment he now inhabits. His awful teacher reminded me of many nuns of my youth, and with her headscarf, she even looked like my tormentors of old, albeit without the short skirts and high heels. There should be a support group for kids who endured these type of teachers. In some ways this is the ordinary life of an ordinary child, but this particular child is lucky enough to also get exposed to different ways of being in the world. The art style is not one I love, but it gets the point across, and I really like how the colors used evoke the appropriate mood for the various settings in this book.
How often do we really think about how much children are affected in ways large and small by the whims of their parents? This thought provoking memoir does just that. I highly recommend this series, and cannot wait for the next installment.
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August 16, 2016This graphic novel series about growing up in the Middle East continues to showcase a window into a very different way of life than we're used to in America -- with some thoughtful moments and commentary from the author, and engaging artwork.
August 13, 2018
A great second installment of the Arab of the Future saga, a personal and humorous approach to a childhood spent in Syria and Libya in the mid-80s. Sattouf continues the telling of his rather blissful childhood, despite the unfinished house his family lives in (waiting for his father to start building the much anticipated villa, while his mother cooks meals on a camp stove), his bumbling father (who's a bit of a talker rather than a do-er), the deranged bully at school (who is convinced young Riad is Jewish due to his blond hair), the sadistic teacher (who likes to hit the kids' hands with a long stick every chance she gets).
There is so much here that resonates with my childhood that I could not stop laughing at some points. For example, the fact that Riad's father and other men get in fights about payment (rather, that his father should NOT pay for something he is buying or a visit to the doctor's office) is hilarious, unbelievable, yet so very familiar! I remember sitting for half an hour at dinner tables in restaurants where the heads of families argued just who will foot the bill, no, no way, we're paying, no ustad, you cannot pay, it's on me this time, no, no you're both wrong, I'm paying... and on and on and on... Only the children seemed embarrassed by this behavior so common to the adults. Of course, new generations are more relaxed, just splitting the bill! My elementary school teacher used to hit our hands and our knuckles, and sometimes even our wrists with the wooden ruler stick, so I know exactly the cringe-worthy anxiety of waiting for the stick to meet flesh and bone.
Some memories are refreshing and funny, like Riad learning Arabic, and then finding French much more difficult and illogical. His excursions with his grandma in France are a hilarious contrast to his life in the Middle East (even his hunting experience with his father and a rifle is at steep odds with hunting for eels in the sand with a stick with his grandma). But it is not all fun and games, Riad learns, when a relative, perhaps his first "art teacher," who kindly explains to him one-point perspective using the drawing of a soccer field, comes to a very tragic end. There is a lot left to ponder, too, mainly because Riad is a child and his information is lacking about what is really going on. A sweet boy who walks 3 miles to Riad's school does not return to school the next semester, and we have no idea why, but have a strange feeling that something bad might have happened to him.
Sattouf's drawing style is minimalist, yet expressive. He captures the vast emptiness of half-desert landscapes very well. The half-built structures, electricity lines that are sometimes the only sign of civilization, the posh holiday resort hotels with their empty bars, the giant, cracked villa of the local general and his bored wife... These things are rendered in just enough detail to fulfill a sense of place and even clime.
Arab of the Future 2 is highly recommended for those who like humor, history, and learning languages. I'd caution against getting this for anyone who might be sensitive to anti-semitism or anti-Israel stuff, as there is quite a bit of that (I don't think any book about the Middle East would be honest if it did not have strong sentiments on the subject expressed by some, if not all, of its characters.)
Thanks to the publisher and LibraryThing for a free copy of the ARC for my honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
There is so much here that resonates with my childhood that I could not stop laughing at some points. For example, the fact that Riad's father and other men get in fights about payment (rather, that his father should NOT pay for something he is buying or a visit to the doctor's office) is hilarious, unbelievable, yet so very familiar! I remember sitting for half an hour at dinner tables in restaurants where the heads of families argued just who will foot the bill, no, no way, we're paying, no ustad, you cannot pay, it's on me this time, no, no you're both wrong, I'm paying... and on and on and on... Only the children seemed embarrassed by this behavior so common to the adults. Of course, new generations are more relaxed, just splitting the bill! My elementary school teacher used to hit our hands and our knuckles, and sometimes even our wrists with the wooden ruler stick, so I know exactly the cringe-worthy anxiety of waiting for the stick to meet flesh and bone.
Some memories are refreshing and funny, like Riad learning Arabic, and then finding French much more difficult and illogical. His excursions with his grandma in France are a hilarious contrast to his life in the Middle East (even his hunting experience with his father and a rifle is at steep odds with hunting for eels in the sand with a stick with his grandma). But it is not all fun and games, Riad learns, when a relative, perhaps his first "art teacher," who kindly explains to him one-point perspective using the drawing of a soccer field, comes to a very tragic end. There is a lot left to ponder, too, mainly because Riad is a child and his information is lacking about what is really going on. A sweet boy who walks 3 miles to Riad's school does not return to school the next semester, and we have no idea why, but have a strange feeling that something bad might have happened to him.
Sattouf's drawing style is minimalist, yet expressive. He captures the vast emptiness of half-desert landscapes very well. The half-built structures, electricity lines that are sometimes the only sign of civilization, the posh holiday resort hotels with their empty bars, the giant, cracked villa of the local general and his bored wife... These things are rendered in just enough detail to fulfill a sense of place and even clime.
Arab of the Future 2 is highly recommended for those who like humor, history, and learning languages. I'd caution against getting this for anyone who might be sensitive to anti-semitism or anti-Israel stuff, as there is quite a bit of that (I don't think any book about the Middle East would be honest if it did not have strong sentiments on the subject expressed by some, if not all, of its characters.)
Thanks to the publisher and LibraryThing for a free copy of the ARC for my honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
May 26, 2025
Volume 1 was a tough act to follow, and I guess that's to be expected. But this is really good stuff, even if (or at least I'm guessing) different folks take different things away from it.
Ultimately, I find it ... interesting and thought-provoking, but, at the same time ... disorienting and unsettling, because it's unclear whether it's normal to laugh or cry or simply become exasperated or pull your hair out.
Sure, I'm only a third of the way through (assuming I'm correct that there are 6 volumes), so the pacing feels (nah, it's obviously) slower than many of the (admittedly diverse) non-fiction, autobiographical graphic novel efforts I'm inclined to compare it to - all of which were contained in or condensed into one or two books, including, most recently, Tessa Hulls' award winning Feeding Ghosts, Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do, George Takei's They Called Us Enemy, Marjane Satrapi's sublime Persepolis, Art Spiegelman's Maus, Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, or Kate Beaton's Ducks.... But it's a good reminder that there are innumerable ways, in innumerable formats, for folks to tell their own stories....
I'm not sure how soon I'll pick up Volume 3, but I don't see myself giving up anytime soon.
Ultimately, I find it ... interesting and thought-provoking, but, at the same time ... disorienting and unsettling, because it's unclear whether it's normal to laugh or cry or simply become exasperated or pull your hair out.
Sure, I'm only a third of the way through (assuming I'm correct that there are 6 volumes), so the pacing feels (nah, it's obviously) slower than many of the (admittedly diverse) non-fiction, autobiographical graphic novel efforts I'm inclined to compare it to - all of which were contained in or condensed into one or two books, including, most recently, Tessa Hulls' award winning Feeding Ghosts, Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do, George Takei's They Called Us Enemy, Marjane Satrapi's sublime Persepolis, Art Spiegelman's Maus, Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, or Kate Beaton's Ducks.... But it's a good reminder that there are innumerable ways, in innumerable formats, for folks to tell their own stories....
I'm not sure how soon I'll pick up Volume 3, but I don't see myself giving up anytime soon.
September 7, 2018
The Arab Of The Future in school
This book looks at the events around the first year of school for Riad Sattouf. Much of what I said in my review of the previous volume applies here. This sees him adapting to primary school in the al-Assad dictatorship. It also see how the traditional dynamics of the village play out. His blond hair still makes him stand-out, but he is learning how to fit in with his peers, and Syrian life, better. While the limited scope of this novel is more or less his school life, we do get some sharply contrasting moments . The narrative-style in this book reminded me of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in the way Sattouf really starts to make the narration reflect his younger-self more as oppose to a straight, omnipresent first-person. We're beginning to see rumbles of his mother's frustration with Syrian-village life; I can't wait to see where this goes.
This book looks at the events around the first year of school for Riad Sattouf. Much of what I said in my review of the previous volume applies here. This sees him adapting to primary school in the al-Assad dictatorship. It also see how the traditional dynamics of the village play out. His blond hair still makes him stand-out, but he is learning how to fit in with his peers, and Syrian life, better. While the limited scope of this novel is more or less his school life, we do get some sharply contrasting moments . The narrative-style in this book reminded me of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in the way Sattouf really starts to make the narration reflect his younger-self more as oppose to a straight, omnipresent first-person. We're beginning to see rumbles of his mother's frustration with Syrian-village life; I can't wait to see where this goes.
September 25, 2017
Si conferma quanto ho scritto per il primo volume di questo racconto autobiografico, e sono davvero curioso di scoprire a che punto si interromperà.
Qualche momento meno interessante non abbassa la qualità del testo, anche perché le sequenze nella scuola e le note sulla scrittura araba per me valgono da sole la lettura. E' inquietante per un occidentale come me vedere da vicino l'arretratezza della Siria dell'epoca e rendersi conto dell'ambiente in cui crescevano (crescono) i bambini in alcuni paesi: dalla subordinazione della donna al potere sociale del denaro al continuo indicare Israele come radice dei mali del mondo e dunque degli israeliani come popolo da sterminare.
Qualche momento meno interessante non abbassa la qualità del testo, anche perché le sequenze nella scuola e le note sulla scrittura araba per me valgono da sole la lettura. E' inquietante per un occidentale come me vedere da vicino l'arretratezza della Siria dell'epoca e rendersi conto dell'ambiente in cui crescevano (crescono) i bambini in alcuni paesi: dalla subordinazione della donna al potere sociale del denaro al continuo indicare Israele come radice dei mali del mondo e dunque degli israeliani come popolo da sterminare.
January 7, 2017
This book was even better than Part 1 in my opinion! Because it's a direct continuation from the previous one, the author doesn't need to spend a lot of time setting up the characters and storylines. He directly gets in to the story and uncovers even more in the Muslim-Arab world. Focusing on honor killings, child abuse, Muslim propaganda against Jews and the West - in the political time we're currently living through, this book should be required reading for all to really see what goes on in the Muslim world.
October 3, 2016
The childhood of Riad continues in this volume as his Dickensian schooldays are told with ludriciously stark details and alarming candour as he grappled with his twin heritage of having a French mother and a Syrian father.
August 7, 2017
This is the second volume of Sattouf’s childhood memoir and given the pace there might be who knows how many more volumes to come. Luckily, the graphic memoir grows increasingly entertaining and provocative. In the year plus of this volume, which mostly takes place in Riad’s father’s home village in Syria, Riad begins school, starts to read the Koran, observes his parents bicker over things large and small (honor killings and appliances), and enters that phase of childhood where independence creates one’s own meaning while leaving him vulnerable to external risks, from bullies to strangers to teachers with a tendency to beat children.
Rural fundamentalism, opposition to Israel that seems no different from anti-semitism, extreme poverty, political and economic corruption, Assad pere’s dictatorship—imagine requiring public praise from your staff; how, what’s the word? Sad—all get a child’s eye view, one that seems to escape’s Riad’s father, who is intent on protecting his university career and his place of stature in his village.
The storytelling and drawings are engaging and objections I had to the first volume regarding reliability of narrator didn’t seem to bother me with this volume. Sympathetic relatives, neighbors, and school friends who look out for each other balanced some of the negativity of other elements. In any case, I welcomed the “To be continued…” at book’s end and now eagerly await The Arab of the Future 3.
Rural fundamentalism, opposition to Israel that seems no different from anti-semitism, extreme poverty, political and economic corruption, Assad pere’s dictatorship—imagine requiring public praise from your staff; how, what’s the word? Sad—all get a child’s eye view, one that seems to escape’s Riad’s father, who is intent on protecting his university career and his place of stature in his village.
The storytelling and drawings are engaging and objections I had to the first volume regarding reliability of narrator didn’t seem to bother me with this volume. Sympathetic relatives, neighbors, and school friends who look out for each other balanced some of the negativity of other elements. In any case, I welcomed the “To be continued…” at book’s end and now eagerly await The Arab of the Future 3.
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February 6, 2017This one worked quite a bit better for me than the previous volume, but a lot of my comments there still apply (including the warnings). The mother is becoming a more comprehensible character who actually says a lot and does many things instead of just constantly rolling her eyes. The father is also becoming more well-rounded, and I have Feels about this because he looks quite a bit like my dad at his age. There are more positive moments than in the first one, I think, but some of them lead to truly awful developments in the second half of the book.
I also still remember my first visit to a department store in a Western country, I was about his age and had a very similar reaction :D And the smuggling.
Some of the translation seems either clunky or deliberately exoticizing, I mean even Arabic phrases which have very common English equivalents like "Thank G-d" or "G-d willing" are translated like "Thanks be to G-d" and "if G-d wills it". [Spelled out in the original, it is just my custom not to spell it out]
(I'm sorry I'm very brief these days, and I haven't had longer posts at all, but I had a bunch of deadlines at the end of Jan, and now I'm having quite an amount of health trouble and various dental procedures. Augh. I do want to briefly jot down my most important thoughts about each book though, and maybe I'll expand later.)
I also still remember my first visit to a department store in a Western country, I was about his age and had a very similar reaction :D And the smuggling.
Some of the translation seems either clunky or deliberately exoticizing, I mean even Arabic phrases which have very common English equivalents like "Thank G-d" or "G-d willing" are translated like "Thanks be to G-d" and "if G-d wills it". [Spelled out in the original, it is just my custom not to spell it out]
(I'm sorry I'm very brief these days, and I haven't had longer posts at all, but I had a bunch of deadlines at the end of Jan, and now I'm having quite an amount of health trouble and various dental procedures. Augh. I do want to briefly jot down my most important thoughts about each book though, and maybe I'll expand later.)
April 11, 2020
Už jsem se z toho šoku prvního dílu trochu vzpamatovala. Arab poprvé mě nesmírně iritoval: kresba (opravdu, opravdu se mi nelíbí ten karikaturistický přístup), postavy (ten otec, ten otec!), extrémnost náhledu na Sýrii (všechno špatně, všichni zpátečníci, sadisti, rasisti, antisemiti, misogyni, atp.), ale navzdory všem svým steskům jsem četla dál. Ta kniha je skutečně zajímavá, ale po prvním dílu jsem byla několik hodin úplně rozhozená. Brouzdala jsem po netu a hledala víc informací, kroutila nevěřícně hlavou a snažila se v paměti vyhrabat všechny ty případy, kdy mi lidé vyprávěli o milých a vstřícných Syřanech. Příběh Rijádova dětství jako by skutečně nahrával slušným Čechům jedna radost. S tímhle aspektem se pořád nedokážu smířit. A ne, nemám dojem že by autor měl rád svého otce ani Sýrii - a pokud věci vnímal tak, jak je zachycuje, vůbec se mu nedivím.
Nicméně, jak jsem psala, nejhorší šok už pominul a nalézám víc zajímavého než strašného, sem tam se mihne i nějaká postava, kterou člověk nemá chuť praštit cihlou a rychle utéct a kresba už mě irituje méně. Chci víc :) Objednala jsem si u Baobabu na G plus G trojku. Abych je podpořila. Kupte si knihu!
Nicméně, jak jsem psala, nejhorší šok už pominul a nalézám víc zajímavého než strašného, sem tam se mihne i nějaká postava, kterou člověk nemá chuť praštit cihlou a rychle utéct a kresba už mě irituje méně. Chci víc :) Objednala jsem si u Baobabu na G plus G trojku. Abych je podpořila. Kupte si knihu!
April 14, 2016
C'était pour moi intéressant de connaître l'histoire de la Libye de Kadhafi et la Syrie de Hafez al-Assad dans les années 70-80 par quelqu'un qui y avait vécu et pas en tant que touriste.
cela dit ça reste poussif, souvent dans une optique de comparaison entre le "progrès et l'émancipation occidentales" vs "l'Orient rétrograde et misérable". Toutefois, Sattouf n'est pas tendre avec la France des hypermarchés qui se développe ou le retard des jeunes Occidentaux dans l'apprentissage de ce qu'est le monde réel.
mais globalement, rien d'inouabliable puisque ça reste très superficiel.
cela dit ça reste poussif, souvent dans une optique de comparaison entre le "progrès et l'émancipation occidentales" vs "l'Orient rétrograde et misérable". Toutefois, Sattouf n'est pas tendre avec la France des hypermarchés qui se développe ou le retard des jeunes Occidentaux dans l'apprentissage de ce qu'est le monde réel.
mais globalement, rien d'inouabliable puisque ça reste très superficiel.
November 27, 2015
Dans ce tome #2, Sattouf pose un regard affectueux, et frappant d'honnêteté sur la société syrienne qui l'a vu grandir. Avec beaucoup d'humour. La fierté excessive mais attachante du papa avec ses rêves de panarabisme ne sera pas étrangère au lecteur d'origine maghrébine ou arabe, et ce même lecteur s'étranglera en découvrant l'épisode du crime d'honneur... J'ai hâte de lire la suite!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2018
Is the time of the year that if i want to keep the 100 books, need to read some comics as well.
This could have been my years, during 80s in Greece, so similar issues at school and so much the same life, minus the connections of powerful generals.
This could have been my years, during 80s in Greece, so similar issues at school and so much the same life, minus the connections of powerful generals.
July 20, 2015
Une lecture facile, intéressante et même touchante. Vivement le T3 !
April 1, 2017
Lu d'une traite un jour de pluie. Comme le premier, c'est un véritable plaisir de tourner les pages de ce livre !
April 12, 2017
Ravie d'avoir pu lire le time 2 ! C'est toujours un réel plaisir !!!
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