Books › L'Arabe du futur, tome 2
L'Arabe du futur, tome 2
160 pages
A darkly funny, piercingly observant graphic memoir that filters the absurdities and brutalities of a Syrian childhood through a deceptively innocent lens.
What it feels like
Reading this graphic memoir feels like flipping through a family photo album where the edges of every snapshot are singed with dark irony and historical dread. The pace is brisk, propelled by the episodic, highly visual nature of childhood memory, yet the atmosphere is undeniably tense and disquieting. You are seated right behind the eyes of a young boy trying desperately to make sense of a world governed by casual cruelty, playground sadism, and the looming shadow of a dictatorship. The narration is blunt and unsentimental, contrasting sharply with the expressive, color-coded artwork to create a tone that is simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking. It will deeply satisfy readers who gravitate toward candid, culturally complex memoirs, offering a masterclass in how the smallest domestic moments can reflect the sweeping tragedies of a fractured nation.
- Mood
- disquieting
- absurd
- tense
- unsentimental
- Tone
- darkly comedic
- observant
- candid
- ironic
- detached
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- cultural displacement · casual cruelty of childhood · absurdity of authoritarianism · family dysfunction · loss of innocence
- The writing
- Deceptively simple and blunt, pairing unadorned narration with highly expressive, color-coded visual storytelling.
- The arc
- Moves from a child's earnest desire to assimilate into a growing, chilling awareness of systemic brutality and familial fracture.
- Who it's for
- Readers who appreciate unsentimental, darkly funny graphic memoirs that explore complex cultural identities and the shadows of authoritarianism.
Content notes
- animal cruelty
- child abuse
- antisemitism
- casual violence
- political oppression
About the book
The highly anticipated continuation of Riad Sattoufs internationally acclaimed, #1 French bestseller, which was hailed by the New York Times as a disquieting yet essential read in the Arab of the Future: Volume 1, cartoonist Riad Sattouf tells of the first years of his childhood as his family shuttles back and forth between France and the Middle East. In Libya and Syria, young Riad is exposed to the dismal reality of a life where food is scarce, children kill dogs for sport, and his cousins, virulently anti-Semitic and convinced he is Jewish because of his blond hair, lurk around every corner waiting to beat him up. In volume 2, Riad, now settled in his fathers hometown of Horms, gets to go to school, where he dedicates himself to becoming a true Syrian in the country of the dictator Hafez Al-Assad. Told simply yet with devastating effect, Riads story takes in the sweep of politics, religion, and poverty, but is steered by acutely observed small moments: the daily sadism of his schoolteacher, the lure of the black market, with its menu of shame and subsistence, and the obsequiousness of his father in the company of those close to the regime. As family strains to fit in, on chilling, barbaric act drives the Sattoufs to make the most dramatic of changes. Darkly funny and piercingly direct. The Arab of the Future, Volume 2 once again reveals the inner workings of a tormented country and a tormented family, delivered through Riad Saffoufs dazzlingly original talent.
Description from Open Library.
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