Comics / European Comics

Chroniques Birmanes

By Patrick Bérubé
March 13, 2008 - 22:40

After Shenzhen and Pyongyang, author Guy Delisle offers us a third travelog. This time he spent 14 months in Burma with his son and his wife who was a Médecin Sans Frontières (Doctor without borders). He recounts his time there with a series of chronicles ranging from his son’s popularity to trying to meet an imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner.  Slowly, Delisle shows us how living in another country is anything but boring.

First off, I have to admit that it is hard to judge this book without comparing it to Delisle two other travelogs. While they were more about being alone and isolated in foreign countries, Chronique Birmanes is a lot more about his life as a dad and as an artist. But along the way, Delisle never forgets to show us the living conditions of the Burmese and the aberration of the military regime in place there.

The structure of the graphic novel is not the same either. Instead of being one long story, this latest effort is a series of short slice of life events put together to show a rather large portrait of Burma. The result is an easy to read and very interesting view of the country through a stranger’s eyes. 

With the art, Delisle doesn’t stray from his usual style. Cartoony and iconic, it is very effective at making us visually understand some rather socially complex problems. Some of the chronicles are even drawn without text, which make these characteristics stand out even more. These pages also clearly betray Delisle’s background as an animator.

Is this graphic novel good? Yes. Good as the two previous? Maybe not as much but it clearly still stand above the fold.

North American readers will be pleased to know that Drawn & Quarterly confirmed to The Comic Book Bin that they will publish this volume in English as The Burma chronicles. It is scheduled for a fall 2008 release.

I rate this graphic novel 8 out 10

Last Updated: January 17, 2025 - 08:20