An Extraordinary Life In Pictures

Reviewed by Nicola Rossi

Orwell: Etonien, flic, prolo, dandy, milicien, journaliste, révolté, romancier, excentrique, socialiste, patriote, jarnidiner, ermite, visionnaire

by Pierre Christin, Sébastien Verdier et al.

George Orwell’s rich and varied life is the gift that keeps on giving in this elegant graphic biography which includes illustrations referencing his best-known works. It takes you on a journey that begins in India where majestic elephants, adorned in gold, carry colonial officials on their backs; takes in the terrifying battlefields of the Spanish Civil War; and ends with the author’s burial in Sutton Courtenay.

Christin and Verdier have collaborated with guest artists to produce a beautiful book. It could appeal to anyone who is merely curious about Orwell, as much as it would to a diehard fan.

Staying true to the original texts is important to the authors. They employ a simple but effective typographical device to distinguish between direct quotations (in translation) from his works and their own words. The font of a manual typewriter is used for Orwell’s writing, with standard comic lettering everywhere else. This allows his work to speak for itself in the context of illustrations that ratchet up its emotional impact.

Although most of the book is comprised of black and white comic strips, the occasional use of colour lifts the story. Captivating illustrations, spanning a double-page spread, are contributed by guest illustrators. Blutch’s depiction of Orwell having his wounds tended in Catalonia, with a grave digger in the background, and Larcenet’s drawing of a desperate young woman, alongside a passage from The Road to Wigan Pier, stand out. The use of spot colour is witty. For example, the lobster Orwell catches in Scotland turns from blue to pink when it is cooked. The hot flames engulfing St Cyprians, his loathsome prep school, are also peculiarly gratifying.

There is no shortage of touching moments, not least among the domestic aspects of Orwell’s life. The adoption of his son ‘le petit Richard’ and their brief time together, including the near-drowning incident at the Corryvreckan whirlpool, are overshadowed by tuberculosis, as Orwell’s ‘kof kof kof’ infects the pages.

‘Après Orwell’, a short section at the end, allows the authors to give their perspective on his cultural legacy, such as his influence on Christin’s own 1979 political graphic novel, The Black Order Brigade, produced with Enki Balal, another guest contributor to this book.

Christin, Verdier et al have pulled off a rare feat. They have taken one of the most straightforward writers in the English language and made his canon and life story more accessible.

Published by Dargaud in French and German (2019).

£8.99 ebook; £14.99 paperback; £19.95 hardback.

ISBN: 9782205072525

An English translation will be published by Self Made Hero in March 2021.