Books: The Photographer

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The Photographer
By Emmanuel Guibert
2009





Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/

With a laudatory quote on the cover from UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie ("A breathtaking journey through the best and worst humanity has to offer in times of war.") and even more praise from dignified luminaries on the back (everyone from Khaled Hosseini to Boing Boing) I was expecting a worthy, boring, stagnant book with nothing much to offer beyond obvious platitudes and trite "circle-of-life" type stuff. I was wrong. Following the journey of Didier Lefevre a naive French photojournalist who joins a group from Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (or the "MSF" as they're referred to in the book) on an eventful trip into Afghanistan - 1986 at the height of the Soviet occupation this is a comic that is inventive, informative (but not in any kind of preachy way) and - especially in the last third - as exciting and heart-pounding as anything else out there. With a unique style that stitches together the hundreds and hundreds of photos that Didier took during his trip with Guibert's clean, simple artwork (that looks like real life posterized) that and - strangely enough recalls the work of Tintin (who gets a shout-out! woo!) - this memoir brings you closer to the reality of the story than any other comic out there. It feels a bit like watching an animation when you have the photos taken in close succession following one after each other: and even better is when the good photos explode in size and fill the page. Like Guibert's previous book Alan's War there's also loads of good advice: from the right way to pee and poo in the desert and what to do if an enemy helicopter spots you (hide those thumbs). For anyone into serious comic books (and even for those that think they aren't) this is a beautiful, powerful book that is totally worth sticking with and guaranteed to reward you back tenfold.

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Links: New York Times Review, Boing Boing Review.

Further reading: Alan's War, Palestine, Maus, Tintin: Seven Crystal Balls / Prisoners of the Sun, Logicomix.

All comments welcome

Books: Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope

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Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope
By Emmanuel Guibert
2008





Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
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.