First Second Replay: Memoir of an Uprooted Family

Quite a journey. This is an intimate emotional rollercoaster of a read. Harrowing, personal, and un-embellished this book tells an incredible true story weaving three generations journey into the present. Even being familiar with the tumultuous historical events it covers, I was caught off guard by the detailed story of its survivors (and the not so fortunate) through the family lore and first hand accounts Jordan Mechner explored and researched. This book felt like a truly giant achievement, and I have no doubt it will take its place amongst notable accounts of WWI, WWII, and living in the shadow of present day realities. His art style compliments it all beautifully while feeling direct and honest. I was a very moving read and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I read a lot of historical graphic novels (Spiegelman, Delisle, etc) and this ranks up there with the best I’ve ever read. It’s got a rich and deep interconnected narrative with elegant themes bridging the multiple generations of Jordan’s family’s stories together. The art is original and fresh with enough detail to get lost in the locations and appreciate the emotions of the characters. It’s funny, sad, hopeful and informative in equal measures. I read it cover to cover in a single sitting and immediately returned to the first page to start again. I can’t recommend more highly!

Much more than a game development memoir, the story jumps seamlessly between multiple generations to parallel 3 journeys in a way that reminds me of the ambition of Watchmen or Millennium Actress.Clever colour choice and art that evokes the height of Hergé goes a long way to keeping the multiple perspectives clear.

The state of suspense the author brought to life--telling his intergenerational story with words and pictures so compellingly--was such that I had to read the book all the way through in one sitting. Among other things, this book preserves one family's account of the awful plight of Jews in war-torn Europe at a time when such history needs to be preserved because an appreciation of the oppressed status of Jewish people somehow is currently being put in question. I will not offer a spoiler alert, but just say the uplifting direction the novel ultimately takes makes the suspense running through it more bearable. Terrific graphic novel in every which way--story, depictions, and personal soul bearing--that is a must read.

Tolles Buch. Ich habe viel über einen Teil meiner Familie welche ich nicht so gut kannte erfahren. Über 100 Jahre Geschichte leicht verständlich erklaert. Sehr interessantes Buch auch wenn man nicht mit Jordan Mechner weitschichtig verwandt ist. Sehr empfehlenswert.