Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope
By Emmanuel Guibert
2008
Available now from Islington Libraries
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http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
Emmanuel Guibert is a French comic writer and artist. In 1994 he met Alan Cope - an American ex-G.I. living in France. From that first chance meeting the two embarked on a friendship that lasted until Alan's death in 1999. During which Alan related to Emmanuel his experiences growing up, joining the army, first coming over to Europe and the encounters, freindships and memories he made along the way. Taken in by Alan's natural direct anecdotal style Emmanuel took the decison to turn the stories he heard into a comic book: Alan's War is that book. It's worth mentioning for those that may be put off by the size and subject matter: this is a very easy book to read and is refreshing in the way it's so plainspoken. Alan's narrative voice is everything you could hope for: charming and funny and wise and conveyed in a way that mimics the narrative flow of someone speaking - like how he forget's a philsopher's name at one point - but then remembers it a few pages later. He also has a keen eye for detail that lets the book roam everywhere from the praticalties of driving a tank to pubic lice, from the contents of a K ration to his first experience of classical music. Personal history at it's finest. A lifetime depicted in clear, precise black and white: with insights that take you as close as it's possible to get without having been there yourself.
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Links: Sean T Collins Review.
Further reading: The Photographer, Maus, Last Day in Vietnam, Waltz with Bashir, Kiki De Montparnasse, Battlefields.
All comments welcome.
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