To the Heart of the Storm by Will Eisner

To the Heart of the Storm Reviews

• 
  Sam Quixote

  To the Heart of the Storm is Will Eisner’s memoir of growing up in Depression-era New York as well as a truncated bio of his maw and paw. It’s framed by a 25 year old Eisner looking out of a train window as he heads to war in 1942 looking back on his past.
  
  I thought this one was fairly interesting. His parents’ stories were compelling. His ma’s parents died when she was very young and she had to grow up fast, trying (and failing) to keep her younger brother and sister on the straight and narrow. Her older sister Rose was a complex lady, hard out of necessity but also oddly fragile at times - Eisner seems to hint that she was bipolar.
  
  His father was apprenticed to an artist in Vienna and, before making the trip to New York, him getting his own back on his nasty old master for treating him like garbage was amusing. You get a clear sense of the love Eisner had for his parents and they seemed like a pair of good people.
  
  I’m always blown away by the skill in Eisner’s art. There’s a very good reason why the most prestigious comics award is named after him - he really was the best! His understanding of comics storytelling is incomparable from the imaginative layouts to the evocative expressions of the characters. He’s still the only artist I’ve seen who’s ever drawn rain that looks genuinely wet!
  
  As you’d expect, you do get a strong sense of the time with fascism on the rise and Jews being treated as second class citizens. Anti-semitism is a recurring theme in Eisner’s work, and I understand that it’s important to note as Eisner was Jewish and this is autobiography, so this was his real experience. Still, having read several of his books now, I’m getting a bit bored of seeing the same scenarios and comments, and seeing it brought up again and again here gets repetitive real quick.
  
  Ironically, a lot of Eisner’s autobiographical stuff is really boring. He gets into fights with the neighbourhood kids because he’s Jewish, he builds a small boat with a wealthy German kid - ehhh. It’s nothing special.
  
  To the Heart of the Storm isn’t among my favourites of Will Eisner’s books, and I wouldn’t say it’d appeal to anyone but fans, but it’s not a bad read, particularly if you’re in the mood for a Dickensian comic!
  
  (Hat tip to
  Greta for the rec)
• 
  Alice Gonçalves

  Na edição que li de "Ao coração da tempestade", eu descobri o meu problema com o Will Eisner em uma informação que constava no prefácio: um dos trabalhos que o cartunista teve ao longo da vida foi desenhar quadrinhos educativos para o exército americano ou para outras organizações, governamentais ou não. Está aí: o didatismo, que vai sutilmente martelando obsessivamente as lições que Eisner pretende nos passar, não me agrada; seus personagens parecem existir em função de alguma moral humanista, e não em função de suas vidas simplesmente. Não que eu discorde da urgência da mensagem; a deste livro, que foca nos aspectos altamente nocivos do racismo, é universal e, infelizmente, atemporal. Mas... o bom espírito de uma história não nos faz gostar mais dela. Em certos sentidos, Eisner se aproxima do estilo do diretor Steven Spielberg: ambos criam histórias interessantes e são mestres visuais, mas são melodramáticos mesmo quando descrentes das relações humanas.
• 
  Jim Shaner

  Will Eisner is foremost an excellent observer of human nature, and he has the talent to give the reader a clear picture of the human condition in the faces and situations he so expertly illustrates. The flashbacks of his life offered a good selection of significant events. I would have liked to learn more, especially about his war experience, and have the age gaps filled in; but I understand a life is what it is, experienced one slightly different day at a time. If Eisner intended this novel to communicate the cause and effect of prejudice during the time leading up to WWII, he succeeded. It encourages me that, today, we have largely overcome our obsession with ethnic differences. However, these same themes resonate when we consider how in our modern society we beat each other up for having different political views, or we criticize those with different moral values. Yet, as this novel shows, if we open our hearts, we can build lasting relationships based on mutual respect.
• 
  Cinara

  "- Estamos em uma jornada... A vida é uma viagem daqui até lá!
  - E onde fica LÁ papai?
  - Lá é onde estoura o trovão... Longe daqui!"
  
  Estou apaixonada pelo Eisner! H.Q autobiográfica, conta como foi viver nos Estados Unidos uma família judia, ao mesmo tempo que estava acontecendo a segunda guerra, preconceitos, dificuldades financeiras e a relação entre os familiares.
  Traço incrível! Poderia ter mais páginas, Nova York me acostumou mal! No final fiquei com a sensação de quero mais! 🤣
• 
  Bira Dantas

  Will Eisner foi um mestre na arte de contar uma história. Este álbum "No Coração da Tempestade" foi publicado a primeira vez no Brasil em 1996 (pela Abril) e depois, em 2010, em formato livro pelo selo Quadrinhos na Cia. Foi uma Graphic Novel autobiográfica que sacudiu o mercado de Quadrinhos no Brasil. A técnica da arte sequencial foi usada aqui para passar toda a emoção pelas recordações de um artista que viria a se tornar um dos maiores de todos os tempos.
• 
  Gayle Francis

  Eisner doing his autobio best as he rides a troop train to serve in World War II and thinks back on his life up to that point. He didn't create this book at that time, though. He wrote it years later, and I think the intervening years allow him to see some of the layers that he brought to the story. There's hope here that I never found in Contract with God, and it makes for a very different book in terms of tone. He shows the very human side of the world as he knew it, and the world as his parents knew it, and it comes together as a thoughtful and honest moment in time.
• 
  Joel Cuthbert

  Wonderfully engrossing and beautifully told. I have read a handful of Eisner and this is one of the ones I found most consistently rewarding. The era in which the story is set is richly detailed in Eisner’s classic style. There is slow burning conflict and racial strife in every character. A powerful look at the times between wars and the struggle to survive and find ones place in a challenging and swiftly deteriorating world. High art in the Graphic Novel world.
• 
  Antonio Fanelli

  Perché a volte è necessario usare teso e disegno per raccontare.
  Legegre questa storia, questo fumetto, ne è la migliore dimostrazione.
  Bello nelle parole e negli sguardi
• 
  Vincenzo Pascarella

  Beh
• 
  Romain Blandre

  Will Eisner est sans contestation l'un des plus grands maîtres de la bande dessinée, à la fois par la composition originale de ses planches et par l'importance des thèmes qu'il a traités au cours de sa longue carrière. Au cœur de la tempête est le récit passionnant de sa vie, ou plutôt des prémices de sa vie, car c'est surtout de ses aïeux dont il est question ici.
  
  Dans ce roman graphique, Will Eisner se met en scène en 1942 dans le train qui le mène vers le lieu de rassemblement des engagés volontaires qui partent se battre en Europe contre Hitler. Le trajet est l'occasion pour lui de se remémorer son passé et celui de ses parents. Les éléments des paysages qu'il traverse font remonter des souvenirs qui nous permettront finalement à comprendre son engagement dans l'armée.
  
  Le premier destin raconté est celui de sa mère, une jeune femme devenue trop vite orpheline, et qui, avec sa sœur, doit mener une vie de labeur pour subvenir à ses besoins, alors que les autres membres de la fratrie ont été dispersés dans tous les Etats-Unis. Le second personnage principal de l'œuvre est Shmuel, ou Samuel, son père, juif viennois et artiste, qui cherche à se mettre au service de Schiller, ou plutôt de sa femme, qui le traite en véritable esclave alors que son peintre de mari ne souhaite pas le reconnaître comme artiste et encore moins le former.
  
  La rencontre entre ses deux parents se fera finalement aux Etats-Unis, ou Samuel s'est enfui pour éviter la conscription et son engagement force dans la guerre de 1914. C'est lorsque les Etats-Unis entreront dans le conflit que Sam cherchera une femme à marier pour ne pas partir à la guerre. De cette union naîtra Will, l'enfant qui préservera définitivement Sam d'avoir à porter l'uniforme. D'autres naissances agrandiront la famille, qui déménagera au grès de la situation professionnelle très aléatoire du père. D'abord peintre décorateur dans les salles de spectacle, il tentera avec peu de réussite d'autres expériences: antiquaires, brocanteurs, confectionneur de manteau de fourrures...
  
  Will va évoluer dans ce milieu familial et dans des différents voisinages plus ou moins sympathiques: du Bronx au New Jersey, il sera sans cesse confronté à un antisémitisme au moins tout aussi virulent que celui que connait l'Europe dans l'entre-deux-guerres, racisme importé aux Etats-Unis par les migrants européens qui viennent s'y installer. Pour Will, ce n'est que dans les années trente, alors qu'il vient de se lier d'amitié avec une jeune fille venue d'Allemagne, que cette haine anti-juive lui sautera à la figure de la façon la plus violente qui puisse être pour un jeune adolescent. Parallèlement à cette découverte, l'enfant découvre aussi l'absurdité de certains membres de sa famille qui rejettent par tradition ou par principe les non-juifs.
  
  La dernière partie de l'ouvrage nous le montre adulte, devenu dessinateur pour des journaux américains. La rencontre avec son meilleur ami de l'époque qu'il n'avait pas vu depuis des années et avec qui il avait mené le,projet de construire un bateau, semble le décider à entrer dans l'armée pour faire ce que son père avait toujours fui: aller se battre en Europe contre le nazisme.
  
  
  Au cœur de la tempête est le récit d'une famille de migrants ordinaires, de ses tentatives d'adaptation et d'intégration dans un pays qui ne veut pas forcément d'elle. C'est l'histoire d'une famille juive qui doit faire face aux préjugés et à la haine. Celle d'un homme qui ne veut pas reproduire les erreurs de ses parents. Le récit se termine par une magnifique planche pleine page montrant ces volontaires américains en route vers l'Europe où tonne l'orage de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Un livre poignant et magnifique, beau dans sa forme et son contenu.
• 
  Isaac Timm

  Eisner tells a story of antisemitism in the USA, which I found interesting but I really enjoyed the section about the father in Vienna and the his shared history as artist with his son. I thinking if Eisner had dropped me as the reader into that story, the one between father and son, without the flashbacks from the troop train I would have enjoyed it more. I just thought the father was an amazing character, that really showed the effect of antisemitism on the family dynamic. The scene about the invitation broke my heart. Eisner should have centered the book around the father. Still an amazing graphic novel.
• 
  Manish

  Written in the form a series of reminiscences during a train journey to join the war front in the early 1940s, Eisner focuses on the anti-antisemitism he faced during his childhood. Flashbacks and double flashbacks (sections dealing with his parent's struggles with the Jewish label) bring alive the different subtle forms of segregation that happened at the time when the Hitler phenomenon was slowly gaining traction. While the plot was not all that great, just as in his other works, the quality of illustrations - that literally leap out of the page - kept me hooked.
  
  
• 
  Kathleen

  Semi-autobiographical, indeed! I'd have hoped that the racism and prejudice of the past hundred years would've made the this book seem more dated by now, but the anti-Semitism Willie faces is as rampant as ever, along with a sea of his other timeless troubles: gentrification, job and money woes, families breaking up, health issues. Maybe we'll fix the world in the next century?
• 
  ComicNerdSam

  An exploration of prejudice and how inevitable it seems. Eisner soars with this one.
• 
  Sevket Akyildiz

  A great story about identity, multicultural USA, migration and minorities.
  Wonderful drawings.
  Will Eisner has produced a sympathetic and topical read.
• 
  MechaComicReviews

  You know, it’s a big shame that, despite the largest award in comics being named after him, I’ve only read a few Will Eisner books. I feel like a lot of current comic readers are in the same boat, but every book I’ve read of Eisner (some The Spirit and the Contract with God trilogy), I’ve enjoyed. His artistry is unparalleled, and he really redefined the medium without doing traditional superhero comics.
  
  To the Heart of the Storm is semi-autobiographical and some of Eisner’s most personal work nearer towards the end of his life. The book is framed as an adult Will travels on a train towards an army base where he serves during WWII. As he looks outside the window, he reminisces about his family history that spans both World Wars and his childhood.
  
  What Eisner truly excels at is his plotting, background designs, blocking, and exaggerated facial expressions. He imbues each character with humanity while also letting us feel their emotion. It’s a truly visceral experience. The occasional problem is that we don’t really get to see the characters doing a normal face every now and again so we know what they exactly look like. Everything is exaggerated so some of the character work is lost.
  
  What really works is his exploration of what it meant to be Jewish in early 20th century New York, but what is really interesting is showing that even Jewish people were racist or prejudiced against Jews from other parts of Europe, the Irish, Black people, and more. No one is quite safe from prejudice, and he shows that the upcoming generations are more accepting of each other.
  
  This book is reeaallyyy good, and you should definitely check it out. Eisner was a true masterclass creator that many artists should still look up to. His works have aged quite well and still have lasting, universal values.
• 
  Eva Siagian

  Will Eisner: To The Heart of The Storm
  1991
  A Graphic Novel
  
  Buku ini berkisah tentang seorang tokoh fiktif, Willie, yang tumbuh besar pada masa menjelang Perang Dunia 2. Begitu niatnya Will Eisner menulis, namun dalam kolom perkenalan dia mengatakan bahwa niatnya itu bermetamorfosis menjadi sebut saja thinly-disguised autobiography. Bagaimanapun dia pasti menulis berdasar pengalaman hidup jadi ya wajar saja.
  
  Jadi kisahnya bermula ketika Willie dalam perjalanan (naik kereta) menuju kamp training untuk perang menatap melalui jendela dan ingatannya kembali ke masa lalu (kilas balik) yang mana ingatan tersebut tergambar dalam bingkai jendela tersebut (bagaikan panel komik) seakan kita (pembaca) ikut dalam kilas balik tersebut. Lompatan kisah yang mewakili suatu fase kehidupan ke kisah lain terasa sangat halus padahal penceritaannya maju mundur (waktu) dan melompat dari satu perspektif ke perspektif lain. Untuk isi cerita saya rasa itu tergantung masing2 pembaca, jika saya bertanya apakah saya menyukainya, oh ya saya menyukainya.. Sangat? Ahh suka saja cukup ;) Intinya relatif.
  
  Dan berikut adalah quote bagus dari buku ini:
  .
  .
  “In life, Willie, like in arts… It is perspective!”
  .
  .
  
  “There is no going back!! We are on a journey… Life is a trip from here to there!”
  “...and where is ‘there’, pop?”
  “There is where the thunder is… far away!”
  .
  .
  14-15 November 2018
• 
  OV

  "A journey changes a person!" - Esta frase, proferida pelo pai de Will Eisner, resume bem o que o livro quer contar. Uma viagem de comboio que se transforma numa viagem introspectiva a partir de uma janela e através da vida de Will Eisner.
  
  Não é um livro fácil, não é uma narrativa linear, fala sobre a vida da mãe, sobre a vida do pai, sobre as dificuldades em se ser emigrante nos EUA no início do século XX, sobre como os europeus emigrados nos EUA não gostavam de judeus, e sobre como os judeus alemães refugiados não gostavam dos judeus russos e dos judeus polacos, fala, através dos títulos de jornais, sobre como Hitler subiu ao poder e como começou uma guerra na Europa...fala de como as circunstâncias da vida alteram as pessoas.
  
  Não é um livro bonito - o Will Eisner tem um traço cru - mas é um livro fantástico.
• 
  Aapo

  Eisnerin sukutarina hyppelehtii eri aikatasoissa: nykyhetki on toisessa maailmansodassa, jossa Will on matkalla kohti rintamaa ja muistelee menneitä. Omaa nuoruuttaan ja lapsuuden perheen vaiheita, isänsä kokemuksia ennen Amerikkaan muuttamista, äitinsä lapsuutta ja nuoruutta. Monenlaisista synkistä hetkistä ja vaikeuksista huolimatta sävy on yllättävänkin kepeä ja optimistinen. Ehkä isältä perittyä? Ehdottomasti klassikkokamaa, mutta ei kouraise ihan niin syvältä, kuin ehkä odottaisi ja toivoisi.
• 
  Frump

  Eisner is working in his standard playhouse here with the stories of his youth in the New York tenements and the problems of antisemitism and racism that took place (and surely still does). If you've read his Contract With God trilogy, you know what you're in for here. Great artwork as usual, almost looks like it's animated and popping off the page. It's a little heavy handed but you know what you're getting with Eisner. I found it pretty compelling, especially with it being punctuated by the stories his parents told to him about their own upbringing.
• 
  Lupo

  Autobiografia del grande Eisner, unita alla storia della propria famiglia. Uno spaccato della vita americana degli anni 20-30 all'interno delle gabbie etniche che la avvelenavano.
  Si ritrovano gli echi di Philip Roth e la sua denuncia dell'antisemitismo americano, così come il razzismo intraebraico, tra ebrei austriaci, quelli tedeschi e quelli provenienti da Yiddishland (Polonia, Russia, Romania etc.).
  Una grande opera storica, un grande poema umano.
  
• 
  Nic

  Flashbacks-within-flashbacks tale of a man reflecting on his family's experiences as Jewish immigrants in the US, as he journeys to fight in WWII. Spoilers: a whole lot of anti-Semitism, even as the people around him congratulate themselves on not being as bad as the Nazis.
  
  Shows its age in certain aspects of style and tone, but nonetheless amply demonstrates the capacity of graphic novels to dramatize very human stories.
• 
  Mitchell Friedman

  The best of the stories from
  Life, in Pictures. This benefits from being straight memoir and not as much fictionalized. It is mostly ugly stories, but not all ugly. It has that family warts and all feel to it. Though I don't really have those old family stories. Good art, though mostly of people.
• 
  Gabriela Ventura

  Embora a temática seja relevante - e a arte de Will Eisner continue irretocável - esse livro (uma de suas últimas obras) não me despertou grande comoção. Eu odeio gente que diz: Ah, mas essa é uma obra menor de um grande autor.
  
  Mas hoje eu vou ser exatamente a pessoa que diz: Ah, mas essa é uma obra menor de um grande autor.
  
  Desculpa, gente.
• 
  Cristiana

  "Perhaps the most indelible of my memories of those years was the insidious prejudice that permeated my world. Revisiting it brought me to the realization that primal prejudice has different meanings. To other than whites, it is racism; to the ethnically different, it is nationalism; to Jews, it is anti-Semitism."
  
  Se Will Eisner fosse vivo, veria que o mundo não mudou tanto assim!
• 
  Gustavo - [Kazu.]

  "
  - - Mas Pai, por que você não mexe com arte em vez de negócios ? .. nunca é tarde para voltar atrás.
  - Não existe volta!!
  - Estamos numa jornada.. a vida é uma viagem daqui pra lá.
  -- E onde fica "lá", pai?
  -- Lá é onde está o trovão.. bem longe !
  "
• 
  Mariana Calmon

  Amei muito essa graphic novel, a arte me encantou, achei bem bonita e a história me tocou muito, mesmo sendo no contexto das duas guerras mundiais, o que menos importa são as guerras, mas sim a relação entre as pessoas e o preconceito, que basicamente, se torna a guerra do dia-a-dia. Muito bonita
• 
  Greg

  Late career Eisner meets autobiography! This man said so much in his work and getting a first-hand look into his coming-of-age really sets the background. It was easy to forget it was autobiography and just imagine these were characters he created.