Manu Larcenet
Ordinary Victories or Le Combat Ordinaire (2005)
Author: Manu Larcenet
Genre and (subgenre): Graphic novel (general fiction)
Plot Summary:
Marco is in his late 20s or early 30s, he suffers from paralzying panic attacks but after eight weeks of therapy, he decides to stop going because he thinks it isn't helping. He has recently moved from Paris to Chazay, a small village, where he has a rustic house that never gets warm in the winter. He has also recently decided to stop working; he is a photographer and he's tired of traveling around the world and taking pictures of "exotic corpses or of people in the process of becoming corpses." At one point in the book he looks at the photographs he has taken and taped to his wall and one of them is of a small boy holding a rifle. He takes all of the photographs down, stuffs them in garbage bags and in there place he puts up one photo that he loves. Slowly he starts to rebuild his portfolio. Marco also has a temperamental cat named Adolf who makes the sound "Fschhhh" when he's angry. Marco has a brother who lives in Paris with his girlfriend and whenever him and his brother get together they call each other "George", because John Malkovitch said he would call his rabbit George in the movie version of "Of Mice and Men," which the brothers watched many times when they were young. They also love smoking and saying "Big, fat joints!" whenever they get together. Marco has elderly parents and his father has suffered a number of attacks which have affected his memory. He walks with a crutch, has lost his left eye and worked for forty years in a shipyard. Marco doesn't like to visit his parents often because he finds it hard to deal with his father's failing health and his mother doesn't understand why he can't just force himself to take pictures and make money. While out with his cat Adolf Marco runs into a threatening man and his dog. The man tells Marco to get off his land and his dog hurts Adolf. An elderly man finds Adolf in the woods, takes him to Marco and tells him the cat is hurt. Marco rushes to a vet's office and Adolf is quickly repaired. Later on, the vet, Emily, visits Marco to check up on Adolf and the two begin dating. SPOILER: Marco gets his new photographs in a gallery in Paris and some famous photographers are also in the exhibit. Marco pictures are of the men who work in the shipyard where his father worked and he is very proud of them, but he overhears his fellow photographers critique his "provincial" photos. Marco realizes that just because the photographers are talented, it doesn't mean they appreciate the hard working men in the shipyard like he does. The elderly man, who Marco often sees around the countryside and becomes friends with, turns out to have know Marco's father in WWII and he tortured civilians. Marco confronts the man, they have a fight and Marco stops speaking to him. Later, Emily tells Marco that he shouldn't judge the man so harshly. Marco brings Emily to his parent's house and during the visit his father tells him he has Alzheimer's and he isn't receiving treatment. Marco suffers a panic attack which makes his decide to go back into therapy; he's babysitting for his brother's baby and he faints. Marco tells Emily that he can't be fainting when he's holding a child and Emily is thrilled- she has always wanted children and before now, Marco hated it when Emily made any mention of parenthood. Also, Marco and Emily finally decided to move into a different house. Right after the couple decide on the house, Marco gets a call from his mother and he finds out his father has committed suicide. After the funeral the couple move in their new home and on the last page, Marco wanders in the countryside and the elderly man fishes in a pond.
Geographical Setting: Paris, Chazay, a village in Rhone "département" (county), and the surrounding countryside
Time Period: Present day (2005)
Series: First in the Ordinary Victories or Le Combat Ordinaire series
Appeal Characteristics:
This book was originally written in French and those who are hesitant of reading it because it is translated into English shouldn't worry; there is nothing akward or jilted about the language but the book still feels authentic; for example, when Marco knocks on a door the sound is "nok, nok." At times, the pace of Ordinary Victories can be fast. For example, there is a quick leap forward in time from when Emily comes to Marco's house shortly after she has patched Adolf up after she fought with a dog and then in one of the next panels Emily says she has been dating Marco for six months. To seperate these panels and mark the passage of time there are eight sepia toned panels with drawings of a naked woman and Marco directly tells readers how he feels about intimacy. The plot moves quickly at the end of each time period but until that transition, the plot moves at a steady pace. Larcenet frames the story around Marco and his many problems. The story is an honest but sympathetic examination of Marco's life; readers see how Marco overreacts when Emily says she would like being pregnant but they also celebrate his "ordinary victories," like when he moves in with Emily. Marco's problems like his panic attacks aren't discounted and he isn't condemned as weak or crazy. Like Marco, many of the characters in Ordinary Victories are potrayed as neither good nor bad. Marco's father commits suicide but readers can understand why- he has Alzheimer’s. Mesrin, an army officer who tortured civilians in WWII, is now an old man, and though he is tormented by his former life he picks berries in the beautiful French countryside. Marco's childhood home and his home in Chazay are beautifully illustrated in the book. One can see why Marco likes his rustic home in the countryside, with its fields of high, soft grass, creeks, vineyards and cobblestone farmhouses. A review from the Comic Book Galaxy.com explains that the beautiful landscapes seem highly detailed from far away, but up close one can see that the illustrations are scribbles; it's amazing how the quick strokes of a pen creates fields, rollings hills and trees. The countryside is such an important factor in the book that the entire last page has Marco wandering amongst trees and rolling hills. Another important aspect of the drawings are the panels where Marco has panics attacks. Marco's eyes and mouth become round, dark, sketchy circles and everything in the panel is bathed in red and black. Sweat drips off his forehead and he can barely manage to force out the sound "H..." from his chest. These panels stand out because of the red and black colors and they communicate Marco's suffering. The tone of the book can be dark and heavy at times- especially when Marco is dealing with his father who has Alzheimer's and the pages with sepia-toned drawings tend to also be heavy; on one page there are drawings of a highway and surrounding scenery and Marcus says that his relationship with his parents "has been an utter failure." In another page there are portraits of anonymous people and Marcus says that as a child he greatly feared his parent's death.
Read-alikes: Hey, Wait… by Jason was translated from Norwegian into English and it is about a character named Jon and his idyllic childhood which abruptly ends when tragedy strikes him and his best friend. Readers who want to read another graphic novel that has an international “flavor” and a main character who struggles with emotional issues should like Hey, Wait… And, like Ordinary Victories, the tone can be dark and depressing while the main character, who is now an adult, struggles with his upbringing and childhood. Get a Life by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian is a famous French comic that has been popular for more than 15 years. It is about an everyman named Monsieur Jean who is nearing 30 and is not ready for marriage and parenthood like some of his friends. Readers who liked the setting in Ordinary Victories (Paris, rural areas in France) could also like the setting in Get a Life because it is set in Paris and the main character struggles with issues like marriage and fatherhood, just like Marco in Larcenet’s book. Tintin in Tibet is by Herge (Georges Prosper Remi),the very famous Belgian comic writer and in this comic, Tintin travels to the Himalayas to save his friend Tchang who was in a plane crash. Larcenet’s drawings have a style to Herge’s- one example, all the characters have small black dots for eyes- and readers who would like to see how Herge has affected modern European cartoonists, like Larcenet, might like Tintin in Tibet. Also, both stories are set against the backdrop of breathtaking scenery. Remembrance of Things Past: Combray, by Marcel Proust and adapted by Stephane Heuet is an adaptation of Proust’s famous work into graphic novel form. In this book Proust, aided by the sight of a madeleine recounts his childhood, his relatives and the familiar buildings and places he frequented as he grew up in the village of Combray. In Larcenet’s book there is the same introspective tone as in Remembrance of Things Past: Combray because Proust reflects on his childhood, the people who were around him as he grew up and how his childhood has shaped his adult life, much like Marco. Also, the drawings in both books are similar because one can see how the author's styles have been influenced by Herge. A review from “Booklist” remarks that Proust looks like an “enervated Tintin.” The Bloody Streets of Paris by Jacques Tardi is a detective story set in a POW camp in Paris, when the Nazis occupied the city. Though this book is very different from Larcenet’s, there are some important similarities, such as setting. Paris is a backdrop in both books; Marco moves away from the city when he gets tired of photographing and his move signals a great change in his life. Tardi doesn’t make the Nazi occupation of Paris the focus on his book but the occupation makes the city suddenly fraught with danger and filled with tension. Also, the role that WWII plays is character's lives in both books is important. When Marco remarks to his father, who fought in the war, that he never talks about it both his parents say “Because there’s nothing to say about it!” Marco isn’t completely untouched by the war because the kind old man he meets tortured civilians during that time. To a much greater extent than Marco, the detective character in The Bloody Streets of Paris is affected by WWII, though he doesn’t directly engage in the war, but it is, obviously, an important part of his life.
Red Flags: Drug use, profanitiy and nudity
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