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What it was really like

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My son enjoyed this book very much, and it gives kids a history lesson as to what it was really like growing up in behind the Iron Curtain. This book contains many first person details ( for example, Mr. Sis was an artist and tells about working with censors, and the tricks they would use to get around them). In a day and age that tends to whitewash the horrors of communism, this is an important book for schoolchildren to be reading.

My History

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The book tells partially my history too. The pictures are worth thousand words, yet, the beautiful drawings together with the short descriptive
sentences make understanding of the history easy.
Thank you, Peter Sis for the work. In my opinion all Czech families should have this book at home for their children to make them understand why we left our beautiful country, the culture, the parents and friends.
We left after a Czech student Jan Palach set himself on fire in a protest against the Soviet occupation and died.
It took another twenty years to get rid off communism.

Cold War Revisited

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I remember when I was in High School PBS did a series of presentations from inside Russia. Suddenly there were humans on the other side of the curtain of the Cold War. I remember reading an art book shortly after that about artists who hid out in basements and attics. "The Wall" is a many years removed view of life on the other side of the wall during that time period. What I appreciated most was that I could share this with my 13 yr old son who really has no idea of what the Cold War meant to either side. This is a book that works on many levels. It can be told lightly. Or you can dig into the journal entries and details of drawings to explain nuances a bit more.

life behind the curtain

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We in the West often cannot believe,or rufuse to believe what it must have been like to live behind 'The Iron Curtain'.Surely we are told,those tales of repression are merely 'Mc Carthyite propaganda' and 'cold war nonsense'.For some strange reason the idea of a socio political system that murdered more than one hundred million of it's own people while enslaving over a billion more is just too much to face.Leave it to a 'mere childrens book' to show us a slice of life behind the iron curtain.Peter Sis's book does more to open our eyes to life under communism than a spielberg movie ever could(or ever would).Using simple drawings he communicates the hopes and fears of those trapped on the other side of "the wall".Hope springs eternal and oppresion is ever present in a world where a young boy only wants to draw pictures and listen to music without the authorities telling him what to do and how to think and behave.Art and music were seen as powerfull tools and therefor powerfull weapons by soviet rulers.Play a guitar in the West and you were just like everyone else..maybe you could even make a living at it.In the East,a guitar or paintbrush or pen could get you imprisoned or even killed.The West was forbidden fruit.While the West tuned in turned on and dropped out in 1968,the people of Eastern Europe cowered against oppresion,while the West could'nt care less.Revollution was in the air,please dont confuse the issue by pointing out the results of said revollution.While we in the West fictionalsed socialism,it's victims turned to us and our freedom as if it were a drug.The Beachboys..the Beatles..Led Zeppelin.Powerful stuff.All the while the hopes and dreams of one little boy(and countless others)survived the brutallity of socialism and eventually survived to witness the collapse of the Iron Curtain.Sis survives and his artistic life continues.I dont know if this book can be compared to the likes of such works as "Maus" or other well known graphic books.It is a simple book,simply illustrated and simply told.But it is told well.But please dont think of it as a 'mere childrens book'.I can think of only too many grownups who could take a gander and maybe learn a thing or two.But that may be asking too much.Already i can hear some say "he's awfully tough on those poor socialists and way too easy on America".No...he is merely telling the truth...a small slice of life as it was.In fact,the reality was far more grim than even hinted at in this book.This is a simple book.An easy book.A good book for children (of all ages).This is a great book for a budding young artist or musician...or tenured proffessor or even Bay area resident.Liberals should love this book as much as conservatives(how many books can that be said of?).

Bittersweet return.

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I am a great fan of Peter Sis and collect all his books, this was my last acquisition. Being the same age and growing up in the same place, I can relate to everything he has to tell, and on top of it, between the lines my own thoughts and memories always resurface and add more dimensions to his story. My favorite of his books is the Tibet through the red box. There is an adventure, suspense, politics, the mysterious Tibet, and everything told so beautifully and illustrated with incredibly sweet detail!
The Wall is an important book and had to be told to the world, though many similar stories had been written on the subject. This one adds yet another facet. Again, the illustrations are fabulous, yet for me, personally, opening the book took some time. Apprehensions, goose bumps, unwillingness to relive those times and reopen old wounds...
In another of his books, The Three Golden Keys, on the publisher page is a tiny note: Thank you for a dream J.O.! A nice reminder that Jackie Onassis, who then worked for Doubleday, was an editor of the final outcome. It is somehow missing in his future books :(
So, yes, a good book to read, an important one, and hopefully it will lead to curiosity about his other books. They are too good not to own and collect.
By the way, did you know that Peter Sis made beautiful wall mozaiks for the New York subway station at 86th Street and Lexington? You must see it!