Hostage by Guy Delisle

August 2, 2018 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Translated from the French. Drawn and Quarterly, 2017. 436 pgs. Library copy. In 1997, a French administrator for Médecins Sans Frontières (or, Doctors Without Borders) named Christophe Andre was kidnapped in the middle of the night from the organization’s base in Nazran and taken to Chechnya in Russia. Andre is held hostage for three months and tormented by the thoughts of escaping and fantasies of rescue. Delisle is best known for his graphic travelogues of places normally […]

Categories: 2018 Reads, Comics, Crime, Europe, French, Nonfiction, Russia, Translated • Tags: Guy Delisle

Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle

December 9, 2014 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Translated from the French by Helge Dascher. Drawn and Quarterly, 2008. Originally published 2007. 263 pgs. Library copy. Burma, also known as Myanmar, has been ruled by a military junta since a coup in 1962 and has largely been demonized by the governments of Western countries, particularly the United States. The ruling generals use isolation as a tool of social control – censors monitor the papers and remove stories with scissors, the leader of the opposition won […]

Categories: 2014 Reads, Asia, Comics, French, Nonfiction, Translated • Tags: Guy Delisle

Shenzhen by Guy Delisle

December 6, 2014 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Translated from the French by Helge Dascher. Drawn and Quarterly, 2006. Originally published 2000. 148 pgs. Library copy. Once again, Delisle is hired by an animation company to oversee the animation office outsourced to an Asian country. This time, he spends a few months living in an urban city in southern China located near Hong Kong but sealed off from the rest of the country by electric fences and armed guards. Such conditions were unknown to me […]

Categories: 2014 Reads, Asia, China, Comics, French, Nonfiction, Translated • Tags: Guy Delisle

Pyongyang by Guy Delisle

December 4, 2014 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Translated from the French by Helge Dascher. Drawn and Quarterly, 2005. Originally published 2002. 184 pgs. Library copy. North Korea, often referred to in America as part of the “Axis of Evil”, is one of the most secluded, mysterious, and poorest nations in the world. Hired by a French film company to oversee its animation office in North Korea, Delisle spent months living in one of the country’s few hotels and traveling around the city with a […]

Categories: 2014 Reads, Asia, Comics, French, Nonfiction, Translated • Tags: Guy Delisle

Jerusalem by Guy Delisle

November 29, 2014 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Translated from the French. Drawn and Quarterly, 2012. Originally published 2008. 336 pgs. Library copy. Delisle’s book chronicles the year he spent living in the Holy City, specifically the Palestinian area known as East Jerusalem, with his wife and two children after his wife was posted in the West Bank by Doctors Without Borders (referred to by its French name, Médecins Sans Frontières, and initials, MFA, in the text). His travelogue provides an account of the major […]

Categories: 2014 Reads, Comics, French, Israel/Palestine, Middle East, Nonfiction, Translated • Tags: Guy Delisle