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Posted: 16 May 2013 04:54 PM PDT

Guy Delisle's travelogue graphic novels are a wonderful window to some of the most culturally enigmatic places in the world.

By MICHAEL CHEANG

AS a comic book fan, my desire to escape into these fantastical worlds of wonder sometimes leads me to forget that I already live in a world full of wonders.

However, as much as I would love to travel the world and visit each and every wonderful country out there, there are still limits to where I can go.

Fortunately, we've got people like Guy Delisle, who has had the privilege and opportunity to travel the world and tell us about it in comic book form.

Hailing from Quebec, Canada, Delisle is a cartoonist and former animator most famous for a series of bestselling travelogue graphic novels. The first two – Shenzhen: A Travelogue From China (2000) and Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea (2003) – were based on his experiences working as an animator in China and North Korea; while in Burma Chronicles (2007) and his latest, Jerusalem: Chronicles From The Holy City (2011), he recounts his experience being a stay-home father to two children in those vastly different countries.

Reading more like journals about his own experiences than a comprehensive guide to those countries, Delisle's books are fascinating in the sense that they are set in places most of us would probably never ever set foot in, let alone survive in for a year.

Sure, China and Myanmar may not seem as exotic to us as they would to a Canadian cartoonist living in France, but his insights on Jerusalem and Pyongyang, on the other hand, are fascinating peeks into life there.

Pyongyang, in particular, seems to be the book that resonates most with readers, to the point that a movie adaptation is already planned – to be directed by Gore Verbinski (who directed the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy and the upcoming The Lone Ranger), no less.

It's hard to see Verbinski making a movie that stays true to Delisle's book, though, as most of the pages feature the animator slouched over computers, eating alone in empty restaurants, and talking to his translator.

As an insight into the secretive world of North Korea, however, Pyongyang is a fascinating read. Drawn in a clean and uncomplicated cartoonish style, the book maintains a largely neutral tone throughout, with Delisle wisely choosing to focus solely on the things he witnesses and experiences rather than pass judgement on the country and its culture.

Hence, what we get here is a charmingly honest and frequently witty journal about an expatriate's life in North Korea, and the culture shock that comes with it.

Sure, this sometimes limits many of his panels to lonely and sometimes mundane scenarios at his hotel, his restaurant, or offices, but these scenes feel authentic and real – not some fabricated, over-dramatised fairytale or Hollywoodproduction.

It's not terribly exciting stuff most of the time (for instance, the opening of a new restaurant is a "big deal" in his "little universe", while in another panel, he gets so bored that he scrutinises the toothpicks and concludes that they are hand carved), but what makes the story so fascinating are his astute observations about the eccentricities, oddities and beliefs there, which actually made me want to visit the country just to see if they are really true.

Compared to the loneliness and otherworldly atmosphere that resonates throughout Pyongyang, there seems to be a lot more happening within the pages of Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City. The city is right smack in the middle of the Israel-Palestine conflict zone after all, so it stands to reason that Delisle would have a lot more to write and draw about in this book than in his previous ones.

Being a stay-home father in Jerusalem (his partner was an administrative worker with Doctors Without Borders) meant he was largely left to his own devices and could wander around the city making the sort of quaint observations that normal tourists probably would not notice.

To his credit, he also tries to find out as much as possible about the country as he can – making the effort to visit different significant places and proactively seeking out new experiences, including a visit to a border checkpoint where he witnesses a fracas involving stones and tear gas.

Significantly thicker than his previous books, Jerusalem is also a much more comprehensive and informative tome, with some good observations on the complicated religious, social and political structure in the city, and some detailed yet easy to understand explanation about the history of the region and as well as the conflict itself.

It's not all guns, bombs and tear gas, of course – ultimately, this is still a book about a cartoonist and stay-home dad trying to raise his family and live a normal life in Jerusalem. Besides his adventures and his observations on the country, Delisle also writes about normal, everyday subjects like traffic jams and grocery shopping, even dedicating three whole pages to an attempt at retrieving his car keys from the gap between an elevator and the floor.

The combination of Delisle's simple and mundane everyday life and the ways he copes with the eccentricities and obstacles he faces makes his travelogues fascinating reads.

It also helps that he's pretty witty, and has the knack of seeing the funny and lighter side of things, even when he is writing about heavy subjects like war and oppression.

If you're looking for a sociopolitical analysis or a detailed cultural critique on North Korea or Jerusalem, then you're reading the wrong books. Delisle isn't interested in telling you what to think about these countries, he merely shows you what he saw and experienced when he was there.

By the time you've seen these countries through his eyes (and drawings), though, you will be ready to find out even more about – and perhaps, all set to visit – these little worlds of wonder yourself.

> Guy Delisle's graphic novels are available at Kinokuniya bookstore, Suria KLCC. For further enquiries, call 03-21648133, email ebd3_kbm@kinokuniya.co.jp, or visit kinokuniya.com/my.

Rembrandt’s dark genius shines in new comic

Posted: 17 May 2013 03:39 AM PDT

A NEW no-holds-barred graphic novel biography of Rembrandt strives to fill in the often dark, drunken and erotic gaps in the tragic life of one of the most famous of Dutch artists.

Rembrandt by comic book artist Typex shows the painter as you've never seen him before: cantankerous, obsessive and unfaithful.

Rembrandt's life, 1606-1669, spanned the height of the Golden Age, when the Netherlands was awash with bourgeois and aristocratic money, much of it spent on acquiring art, and the book is both sociological and historical.

"High quality art is a sound investment," dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh, who helped launch Rembrandt's career, tells the young artist in the book. "It gives status and prestige."

Rembrandt is being published as his most famous painting, The Night Watch, is moved back into Amsterdam's revamped Rijksmuseum, which commissioned the book during its 10-year renovation.

The book features characters from Rembrandt's life and art, including the main figure in the centre of The Night Watch: black-clad, red-sashed militia leader Captain Frans Banning Cocq.

Banning Cocq at one point questions Rembrandt about an 18-year-old Danish girl the artist slept with the night before, who ended up killing her employer with an axe.

Typex, 50, described by Australian singer Nick Cave as "the second greatest Dutch artist" after Rembrandt, wrote and illustrated the book by "squeezing five years into two-and-a-half years", with 14-hour workdays, a tempo the obsessive Rembrandt would likely have respected.

"I read a bookcase of books about Rembrandt, made a lot of notes, put all the books to one side and got to work," Typex told AFP.

"A lot is not known about Rembrandt. What's known are the official papers, the property contracts, marriage and death records. That's known, and here and there (is) a small commentary," Typex said.

As a result, much of the book is based on anecdotes, but hung on an accurate framework of names and dates.

The book illuminates the art record of Rembrandt's life, which literally fades into the obscurity of his increasingly dark self-portraits.

"You never do paid work any more," laments Rembrandt's long-term lover Hendrickje Stoffels, his former maid. "Just one self portrait after another. I'm really worried."

Rembrandt's wife, his lovers, children and even artistic competitors die, and the artist grows steadily more quarrelsome.

"He had a lot of tragedy, everyone around him died, that's how it was in those days," said Typex. "But I didn't want to make just a sad book.

Typex notably takes a novel approach to the death of Rembrandt's common-law wife Stoffels.

"I told it all from the perspective of the rat that brings the plague – it's not at all a sad event for the rat, he gets food and is having the time of his life," Typex said.

Friend and rival painter Jan Lievens keeps popping up, apparently more commercially successful than Rembrandt in the roaring 1660s.

"These are the sixties," social climber Lievens tells Rembrandt. "People are spoilt. The customer is king. So he thinks."

Rembrandt is shown admiring and then signing in his own name a painting by one of his most gifted students, Carel Fabritius.

Fabritius thanks Rembrandt for having signed the painting in his name, a tradition behind much 21st century confusion about which Rembrandts are really his.

Florentine grand duke Cosimo de' Medici is shown arriving in Amsterdam, trying to track down Rembrandt.

"Stupid tourists," Rembrandt's daughter Cornelia says at the sight of the grand duke trying to pick up Dutch girls in a scene reminiscent of Amsterdam today.

"Tell him that for paintings with pretty girls and bright colours he should look to the print dealer on the corner, not me!" a virtually destitute Rembrandt tells the grand duke.

"And now, all of you get out. Piss off out of my house. Capisce? Arrivederci," a typically irritable Rembrandt cries.

"He was a difficult man, obsessed," said Typex.

"He could have had it easier if he'd been less outspoken, fallen in with the tastes of rich people. But he just didn't have the social capacity for that." – AFP Relaxnews

A loaf affair

Posted: 16 May 2013 04:56 PM PDT

Beautiful bread and yummy recipes from mummies are just two of the features that make this month's issue of Flavours a great pick-me-up.

IT'S a product of passion. Artisanal bread makers address the rise in interest in unique breads, lovingly and slowly made with levain, what the French call the pre-ferment culture that leavens the bread; this is deemed "real" bread due to its nutritional values and preservative-free nature.

Sporting an almost edible-looking cover, the May issue of Flavours talks to bread lovers running bakeries right here in Malaysia that experiment with crunchy baguettes, focaccia, ciabatta and sourdough, among others, and why there's a growing market of young people who adore artisanal breads.

Nothing taste better than food sprinkled with love, of course, and in Mummy's Yummies, squash queen Datuk Nicol David, singer Yuna, Capital FM DJ Alison Victor, theatre veteran Jo Kukathas and others share with readers their favourite homecooked dishes prepared by their mothers. Don't wait till Mother's Day next year to present mum with one of these lip-smacking authentic dishes that you can make from the recipes provided.

If you're looking for something healthy, look no further than ulam, that uniquely Malay version of salads. Restaurateur and chef Shukri Shafie attributes his sharp mind and fit body to the green wonder, very much part of the traditional Malay cooking that inspires him.

And what about the environment in which you're going to try all the delicious recipes featured this month? World's Coolest Kitsche-en features Marco Polo Design that can bring colour to monotonous kitchens with images and shades inspired by the classic 1960s movie, La Dolce Vita.

Enjoy a cuppa after every meal? So do the Thais, apparently. The Coffee Culture column visits the independent espresso cafes that are popular in Chiang Mai. The 700-year-old city is commonly regarded as the coffee capital of the nation and hosts the Thailand Royal Coffee Research centre. Hop on as the writer tours the outlets and gets a whiff of coffee culture, Thai-style.

And, as always, Malaysia's premier food and lifestyle magazine doesn't disappoint when it comes to news bites and useful tips: Find out why olive oil keeps hunger pangs away, for instance, or, if you are a tortilla fan, discover the brand that can sate your needs.

Do you prefer the salty, crispy version or the mild, chewy ones? Get the low-down on chips. And to mitigate that guilty pleasure, why not focus on fresh herbs? Choose the ideal one among the herb-cutters featured in the issue to save your ringgit.

> Get your copy of Flavours at all good newsagents and bookstores nationwide. And make sure you get the free booklet featuring The Art Of Simple Cooking that comes along with this month's issue.

Flavours is published by Star Publications (M) Bhd.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Jumaat, 17 Mei 2013

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

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