In the spring of 2003, a pride of lions escaped from the Baghdad Zoo during an American bombing raid, roaming the streets in a desperate struggle for their lives. Graphic novel Pride of Baghdad raises questions about the true meaning of liberation--can it be given or is it earned only through self-determination and sacrifice? And in the end, is it truly better to die free than to live life in captivity?
25 March 2009
Pride of Baghdad by Brian Vaughn
In the spring of 2003, a pride of lions escaped from the Baghdad Zoo during an American bombing raid, roaming the streets in a desperate struggle for their lives. Graphic novel Pride of Baghdad raises questions about the true meaning of liberation--can it be given or is it earned only through self-determination and sacrifice? And in the end, is it truly better to die free than to live life in captivity?
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28 comments:
At first, I chose this particular book because it was a comic book with lots of cool pictures. Later, I realized this was great story in describing the hardships of innocent bystanders caught in the middle of a modern day conflict. It also changes our ideals of the price that must be paid for the freedom we take for granted.
I chose this book because it had a bunch of picture an looked very interesting. I also thought is was interesting how it uses personification to give lions human abilities like talking.
Although I personally cant relate to the characters caught in the middle of a war, I believe this is an in depth description of those who are. I personally never had to face the consequences of freedom and directly witness the devastation in war, but the story seems to have good symbolism of families actually affected by war. Every element of the story is a representation of human society from the zoo keepers as government officials to the monkeys as gangsters in an unstable society.
I believe this book is definately worthy to be on the Abe list. Although it was a fairly quick and easy read, the reader needed a well developed mind to grasp its connection with human soceity. One must also pay close attention to the emotional effect in each picture. The reader cant just plow through this book and expect to understand the message it conveys.
I choose Pride of Baghdad because it was about the Iraq war and its consequences on freedom. I found it interesting that the point of view was a pack of lions. It was cool to read a book without humans involved in it. Also the pictures are great.
Peter Poulos Timmons 1
I chose this book because graphic novels tend to appeal to me. I enjoy visualizing stories and the pictures can never hurt. While reading this book I disocovered how much I take my own freedom for granted and how much value it really has. These lions represent innocent people caught in the middle of a war and mass confusion.It also reveals a deeper meaning that the American army had no hesistation in killing them, just as in the end of the story. In the end, i enjoyed this book because of its absense of a human protagonist, and its ability to relate to real world conflicts.
I chose this book because graphic novels tend to appeal to me. The help the reader visualize the story and possibly recieve a deeper meaning. In this novel it reltates lions to everyday innocent people in Iraq. These people are the ones who are innocent and confused trapped in a battle field that they had no merit to be in. These people were undereservid ly injured or killed during the war by Americans just like the lions in the story. This got to me showing me that war has no mercy and that ordinary people like me were harmed or killed for no reason.
I chose this book because i like graphic novels, it looked interesting and in the end i loved this book even with its sad ending. I would highly recomend this book =P
I chose this book because as a kid i read a few comic books so i thought that this would be an interesting one for me. I thought that the comic book thing would be a different more interesting way of reading a book so i thought I should give it a try. I also thought using the lions to explain some of the war and freedom was cool.
Steven Gianakas Saunders 1
I do not really relate to the characters in the book that much. They are in a totally different situation then I am. They finally get freedom from some luck of the war even though they were planing it any way. Safa is probably the easiest one to relate to. She shows that she has been through hard times with her eyes just like most people have gone through something hard. Safa is strong and fearless and a good role model for Ali even though Ali isn't her son. She didn't really know what she want: Freedom or to just stay in the zoo. This shows the indecision that everyone has when going through tough situations.
Steven Gianakas Saunders1
I think that this book does deserve to be on the Abe Award list because it gives normal kids a different way of reading. I also gives a different view of freedom and war. My favorite character in the book was Safa who should the most feelings. Protecting others, she showed that people need to step it up in times of war to keep everything in harmony. Each character had different problems that they dealt with differently which shows the difference of people. Overall it is a great book, and the slower your read it the easier it is to pick up the little things
Steven Gianakas Suanders 1
I chose this book because I read the back cover and it sounded like an interesting book. I also thought that it was cool because it had a lot of pictures and the fact that it is based on a true story.
I chose this book because of the fact that it is a graphic novel. All of the other books on the list are standard books but the graphic novel brings its particular story alive through words and pictueres. Also, telling the story through the perspective of escaped lions brings something that I dont think the other books have.
I am not going to lie. One of the resons I chose this book was because it was in the comic book style. It looked kind of simple and its plot sounded very interesting. Although originally it sounded obscure, once I got to reading it, it really opened my eyes to possible things that can happen to animals based on human mistakes. It is very interesting and with the attractive cover it really caught my eye.
Honestly, I first decided to 'read' this book because it had many pictures and i believed it would be easy to read. Lucky for me, I ended up finding a great and interesting story. I was really surprised with how deep this book really is even though it is mostly pictures with a few words. I really think this is a prefect example of the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words".
I could not relate to the character is the Lions Pride because i have never been in a situation that these lion are in. The character that i could relate to the most in the novel would have to be Safa. I would relate to her the most because she is a good leader and role model but sometime she cant really decide what she wants to do like when she couldn't decide if she wanted to leave the zoo or not.
Kyle Jeske Timmons
Fortunately, I can not relate to the characters. i have never had to fight for freedom or be imprisoned. I have never had to feel the bitterness of war while watching people and friends die around me. I still feel awful for what they had to go through.
This book contains a number of different character, each whom I believe represent different types of people and how they would react in this type of situation. If I had to choose the one i related to the most I would have to chose Ali. He is the young child in the group and has never truly lived life freely. He is not fully aware of what the outside world is like and still seems to have lots to learn. Yet, he still tries his best to adapt and always manages to act courageously when ever necessary. This reminds me of myself and how i sometimes try to adapt to different situations and act courageously even if I am not exactly sure of what i am doing.
The characters of this book are escaped lions caught in the middle of a war. This fact makes it quite hard for me to personally relate to any character, but the story told of there escape is still compelling even if I cant relate. I have never had to struggle for any of my freedoms, but the book , through its symbolism, shows how hard freedom is to attain.
I totally believe that this book is worthy of being on the Abe awards list. There are many reasons as to why this book has received all this praise. First, the way in which this book is presented in a picture/comic book style really helps it stand out. It really shows how the author of this book put a lot of thought into how he should present his story. In the end the decision to make more of a picture book then a novel really makes it easier for the reader to see and envision what it must have been like to be in Baghdad while all this was happening. The story itself is also very good. The way it tells this story about a fight for freedom through these animals is just amazing. It is really a great way to show how the events in Baghdad happened and how it effected more then just the humans who were living there.
Pride of Baghdad was an interesting read and well deserving of being on the Abe book list. First of all the stories presentation in the format of graphic novel separates it from the other books on the list. The graphic novel format may be seen as a glorified comic book but the richness of the story and the visuals allowed me to enjoy the story that much more. Also by having the main characters be lions the story brings another perspective not seen in many other stories. The majority of the other Abe list books are stories of humans but the Pride of Baghdad switches the perspective to animals and accurately conveys how an animal might think if forced to make human decisions. By setting itself apart from others, this book, the Pride of Baghdad deserves to be on the Abe list.
I believe this book is worthy of being on this years Abe list. This book was not only entertaining to read because of the artwork that was presented on each page but instead the way the book represented the life of an innocent civilian. Being an innocent civilian in iraq was presented to me so that i could understand clearly what would happen if someone was one. It most defiantly deserves to be on the Abe book list for this year.
Although I cannot relate to one of the characters in the books because they are lions, I did really connect to Safa. In the book she was the one that was originally in the wild but then taken to the zoo. She tried hard to break free by making up strange plans with other animals. But when the bomb is set off by the war, they are free. She then realizes how dangerous the world she wanted really is. In the end, Safa is killed by humans. Through her, I can see how hard the outside world really is. We are grown up by our parents and helped out by an extraordinary amount by teachers and school, but we still strive for the freedom and independence the world provides just like Safa wanted. She faced other struggles in the book like a bear and such, but was able to overcome it with help and hard work. I just think that in life we need help and other people to work together, and although Safa dies, I do not think that society now will kill me.
Pride of Baghdad definitely deserves to be on the Abe Award list because it really shows how human actions and changes affect everything, not just people. By reading the story you connect with the characters, and when you see them all get shot at the end, it really breaks one’s heart to see it all go down, especially just when they are looking at a sun set. It really puts in your mind how different animals really are because the lions in the book have such similar thoughts and intentions. It is very well written and set up!
I chose the book Pride of Baghdad because I thought it would be different and entertaining to learn about the war in Iraq, which I am very interested in, and freedom through a heard of lions that escaped from the Baghdad Zoo. Also it is a popular graphic novel that already appeals to me more than just a regular novel because it is filled with pictures.
In the Graphic novel I feel I can relate to Noor and Ali. I can relate to Noor because she has these great plans about escaping and trusting people. I also can come up with some pretty good plans but in the end not everyone can be trusted, like the monkeys, and all that really matters is if you keep your word, like she did toward the elk about not ripping out his jugular. Also I can relate to Ali because he is an innocent Lion who still has a lot to learn about the world and how to survive. I also know I still need to learn a lot even though at times I may feel that I am well equipped to handle an Army, like Ali against the Turtle and the Monkey.
I think this book is worthy of being on this year's Abe List because it was a very quick and interesting read that kept the reader interested with the graphic pictures and quick and action packed dialogue. It was a read that took no longer than 45 minutes but educated the public about the situation and destruction that is occurring every day in Baghdad. It also showed that the natives of Baghdad may feel that freedom has to be gained or that they should accept their new freedom and be happy with it. That addresses a very controversial topic in today's world, that I cannot answer. But because this book was so entertaining and information I believe it to be one of the better books I have read, and more and worthy of being on the Abe List.
When I first saw this "book" I did not believe it was a book. This graphic novel looked easy and fun. That is why i chose this book. The book was actually a great book. i read it 4 times before returning it. The suspense of what will happen next keeps you involved in the book. I don't think i relate to any of the characters maybe Safa when i am having a bad day. Safa was always annoying and complained a lot. I could say i'm like that on really bad days. I really did think this deserved on the list. Some might say well its too easy or a joke to read a book like that but it teaches a great lesson and has an awesome plot. The lesson or tip is to stay close to everyone in your family or when in a bad situation there is no one to help. In the book it showed that family was a big part, they all stuck together. (Included Blog 1, 2, and 3)
I chose this book because I have never read a graphic novel before and this looked like a good start. It looked very interesting since it was almost entirely pictures in the form of a comic book. I also wanted to see how the author would portray the lions as resembling the war.
I cannot directly relate to any of the characters in the book, however in more indirect ways I am able to. I never actually was in a situation involving war and restrictions on my freedoms. However the character I could most easily relate to is Safa, since she showed some indecision regarding her decision about freedom. Besides that thought there were no other connections I was able to make between me and this book or the characters.
This book stood out to me more than any other book on the list. The very uniqueness of it would make me consider it worthy to being on the Abe list. It was one of the most creative books I've ever read. How the author portrayed a fight for freedom narrated through the eyes of a lion in a comic book format was just amazing. I also found it to have a very good story line as well. He incorporated many controversial and relevant themes into a fun read.
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