Replay: Memoir of an Uprooted Family

Quite a journey. This is an intimate emotional rollercoaster of a read. Harrowing, personal, and un-embellished this book tells an incredible true story weaving three generations journey into the present. Even being familiar with the tumultuous historical events it covers, I was caught off guard by the detailed story of its survivors (and the not so fortunate) through the family lore and first hand accounts Jordan Mechner explored and researched. This book felt like a truly giant achievement, and I have no doubt it will take its place amongst notable accounts of WWI, WWII, and living in the shadow of present day realities. His art style compliments it all beautifully while feeling direct and honest. I was a very moving read and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I stole the French copy of Replay from my partner one night and ended up staying up until I finished it. It is such a gorgeous and moving book! Interwoven story lines, many heartbreaking, about several generations of a family spanning WWI, WWII, and modern day California and the south of France. The aspects about making a video game are interesting, but as a non-gamer what captivated me was the story of upheaval, different members of a family trying to figure out what it means to belong somewhere, creating homes. It’s intimate, the characters are treated with kindness. A really beautiful book.

Beautifully crafted memoir! The succinct overlapping narratives worked perfectly and were grounded by the through-line of Mechner’s deepening emotional intelligence. While it touches on generational trauma what it also brings to the fore is generational resilience. Mechner is known for his mastery of plot, meticulously accurate historical research and his light touch with character, giving just enough but not too much. What is a revelation is the joy and generosity baked into every line and inking, and of course the numerous ‘Eastereggs’ one can find. ᘛ⁐ᕐᐷ

The state of suspense the author brought to life--telling his intergenerational story with words and pictures so compellingly--was such that I had to read the book all the way through in one sitting. Among other things, this book preserves one family's account of the awful plight of Jews in war-torn Europe at a time when such history needs to be preserved because an appreciation of the oppressed status of Jewish people somehow is currently being put in question. I will not offer a spoiler alert, but just say the uplifting direction the novel ultimately takes makes the suspense running through it more bearable. Terrific graphic novel in every which way--story, depictions, and personal soul bearing--that is a must read.

This is far from the first and only Holocaust family escape story that I have read. I have read more than a few. This one is as good as any that I have read and the art work is wonderful.

The imagery and stories apply in large and small ways to the American experience. You don’t need to be a software developer or have a white mouse pet, or be from an immigrant family to find something that sings to you.

This is a magnificent book, a journey through the twentieth century, and beyond, by way of a deeply personal history of the author's extraordinary family. On the run from Nazi-occupied Vienna in 1938, they had to disperse, to Paris, Le Havre, New York and Cuba. Many years later, history repeated itself but in reverse when, in response to a once-in-a-lifetime professional opportunity, Jordan Mechner, a celebrated video game designer ("Prince of Persia"), sold his house in Los Angeles and moved with his two American teenagers to the south of France. The displacement brought his marriage to an end and could not fail to remind him of the stories -- and the costs -- of his remarkable family's perpetual state of exile.As its title suggests, Replay uses the format of the graphic novel to interweave the history of Mechner's family with that of the twentieth century itself; it's absolutely wonderful, simultaneously epic and intimate. His confidently imaginative, non-linear approach allows Mechner the freedom to combine disparate timelines and personal stories into a dreamlike narrative, the cumulative effect of which can only be compared to poetry or cinema. The juxtaposition of Mechner's grandfather's experiences in the trenches of World War One -- taken from his journals -- with the author's tender account of the end of his marriage a hundred years later is moving and evocative and expresses beautifully the personal resonances, consequences and otherwise hidden associations of historical events.This is a large-canvas story about displacement, survival and adaptation but it is also heartwarming, funny, imaginative and deeply moving. Mechner's artist's eye for telling, evocative detail is evident in every panel. Replay is an imaginative and important work of historical testimony that I have no hesitation at all in describing as a work of Art.

I will read Replay at least twice, once for the story, a fascinating journey through a few generations, and a second time for the drawings. I enjoyed it and was moved by it. Jordan's humor shows in the dialogs and his 'coup de crayon.'

Tolles Buch. Ich habe viel über einen Teil meiner Familie welche ich nicht so gut kannte erfahren. Über 100 Jahre Geschichte leicht verständlich erklaert. Sehr interessantes Buch auch wenn man nicht mit Jordan Mechner weitschichtig verwandt ist. Sehr empfehlenswert.

Much more than a game development memoir, the story jumps seamlessly between multiple generations to parallel 3 journeys in a way that reminds me of the ambition of Watchmen or Millennium Actress.Clever colour choice and art that evokes the height of Hergé goes a long way to keeping the multiple perspectives clear.