Tag Archives: Sad

Stitches: A Memoir

Fiction,

stitchesThe story revolves around David Small from the age of 6 to adulthood. He comes from an interesting family–his mother and her side of the family is explored in depth. David develops a growth on his neck, which turns out to be cancer. However, his family does not tell him this, which is just one of the sources of conflict between him and his parents. I really enjoyed how the story was told. You can really feel the struggles David goes through growing up within this family.

And in some ways, his mother reminds me of my grandma (in terms of the value of money and weighing the cost of something against something else). I also like how imaginative David (the character in the book) can be, and you see that throughout the story (like his admiration for Alice in Wonderland, which appears again towards the end of the story) In the end, the story has a great moral lesson–your voice is more than the words that

come out of your mouth. It is also your actions, what you do and how you do them, that speak for you. That is a great message to learn from a book about a child growing up.

The artwork is black, white, and gray, and in this story, it works perfectly. Some of the best frames in the book are when the author uses a direct light source on his character. For example, when David is in an elevator, and the doors open and close, he creates a fantastic effect by using this lighting technique. It happens a few times in the story, and it is definitely worth stopping to study the frame and look at the detail.

Finally, I believe that this story could only be told in this way. It just would not have been as effective if it was told in a traditional book. You need the art, combined with the

story, David’s imagination and the writer’s control of his words to get everything you

see in front of you. It just works as a graphic novel, telling the story of his own memories. I read the entire graphic novel in about 45 minutes. I now think that was too fast, and I plan to go back and read it again. I highly recommend this book for its great story and art work, even if you know nothing about the author. By the time you are done reading, you will feel like you know him personally.

Say You're One Of Them

Fiction

Say you're one of themSay You’re o

ne of them is a collection of five intriguing stories by Uwem Akpan, a Nigerian author. This book received rave reviews from the media and I think the cialis professional attention was well deserved.

What makes it stand out is that the author portrays what we would consider adult themes through the eyes of a child. The

five young narrators, in their innocence, are forced to face intricate situations where they have to deal with poverty, child prostitution, religious intolerance, human trafficking and genocide. These children are victims in a world they found themselves in, a world that they did not create. A world that is full of poverty, greed, ignorance and fear.

The five stories are set in Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Nigeria.

Akpan throws in some Swahili in the Kenyan story, a couple of words of Amharic for Ethiopia, Kinyarwanda into the Rwandan one, some French along with Pidgin English in one Nigerian story and a variety of uttering in the other, all which complement the narratives and give instant reality to the different characters.

In these stories there are no happy endings, which is mostly a reality for the people, both young and old, living in

these unimaginable circumstances. Readers, on the other hand, clearly see the evil at

play. By design, the book tugs your heartstrings; you pity the children, denounce the adults and deplore the circumstances.