bobsburgers23

Sarah Glidden's graphic novel, Rolling Blackouts is a book about the author traveling with journalists to document them documenting a story in the Middle East in the 21st century. She joins a crew of journalist friends who are bringing along a former soldier to document stories they found in Iraq and Syria. The team interviews many Iraqis and Kurds and There's a lot that I liked about this book I found at my library.

I like that it was both travelogue and an examination of regional issues. I love hearing about border crossing, running into random people and interviewing them. To me, meeting new cultures is one of the best parts of traveling. Glidden’s watercolors made me feel like I had already been there. The characters’ images are made with such subtlety it’s really like revisiting a memory. The scenes she presents work to help you see some of the broader stories that don’t make the news.

I like how the novel shows a soldier who isn't suffering wildly from PTSD or generally negatively affected by the war. In fact, it sounded like he had some pretty good times. It's a potentially fraught narrative, especially when thinking about the impact that the war had on the population of Iraq.

The book examined the results for Iraqis of Iraq War. They spend a lot of time in Kurdistan talking with Kurds who have a chance at a better future. The interviews at a Syrian refugee camp were really illuminating. Refugees’ stories are always heartbreaking, but hearing about the particulars make them so much more real. It's disappointing to hear about how refugees are so limited in their futures.

The only bit I was disappointed in was her thread of figuring out journalism. She set out a lofty goal and didn't address it to my satisfaction. She presents her figuring it out through discussions with her friends and I think she could have used some more of her own voice. That said, it didn’t detract much from the book. The whole thing was an exciting, fascinating look at a region I only know through headlines.