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Wordt Vervolgd Romans #7
Het besloten land
Meneer Toch! Een spookachtige verschijning die dag en nacht over de muren van Kommerlo, 'Het Besloten Land', dwaalt. Een vreemd soort eigenaar, die Toch, die regeert over een rijk van muren. Tegen degenen die vanachter hun gordijnen naar hem loeren en tegen hem samenspannen voert Toch een uitzichtloze strijd. Zijn doel is het herkrijgen van het uitgestrekte landgoed dat ooit aan zijn familie toebehoorde.
198 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1979
2 people are currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
Jacques Tardi
294 books212 followersJacques Tardi is a French comics artist, born 30 August 1946 in Valence, Drôme. He is often credited solely as Tardi.
After graduating from the École nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris, he started writing comics in 1969, at the age of 23, in the comics magazine Pilote, initially illustrating short stories written by Jean Giraud and Serge de Beketch, before creating the political fiction story Rumeur sur le Rouergue from a scenario by Pierre Christin in 1972.
A highly versatile artist, Tardi successfully adapted novels by controversial writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline or crime novelist Léo Malet. In Malet's case, Tardi adapted his detective hero Nestor Burma into a series of critically acclaimed graphic novels, though he also wrote and drew original stories of his own.
Tardi also created one of French comics' most famous heroines, Adèle Blanc-Sec. This series recreates the Paris of early 20th century where the moody heroine encounters supernatural events, state plots, occult societies and experiments in cryogenics.
Another graphic novel was Ici Même which was written by Jean-Claude Forest, best known as the creator of Barbarella. A satire, it describes the adventures of Arthur Même who lives on the walls of his family's former property.
Tardi has produced many antiwar graphic novels and comics, mainly focusing on the collective European trauma of the First World War, and the pitfalls of patriotism spawned several albums (Adieu Brindavoine, C'était la guerre des tranchées, Le trou d'obus, Putain de Guerre...). His grandfather's involvement in the day-to-day horrors of trench warfare, seems to have had a deep influence to his artistic expression. He also completed a four-volume series on the Paris Commune, Le cri du peuple.
Fantagraphics Books translate and publish in English a wide range of Tardi's books, done by editor and translator Kim Thompson.[3] The books released so far are West Coast Blues (Le Petit bleu de la côte ouest), You Are There (Ici Même), and It Was the War of the Trenches (C'était la guerre des tranchées); a single album collecting the first two Adele Blanc-Sec volumes has also been published.
->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_...
After graduating from the École nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris, he started writing comics in 1969, at the age of 23, in the comics magazine Pilote, initially illustrating short stories written by Jean Giraud and Serge de Beketch, before creating the political fiction story Rumeur sur le Rouergue from a scenario by Pierre Christin in 1972.
A highly versatile artist, Tardi successfully adapted novels by controversial writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline or crime novelist Léo Malet. In Malet's case, Tardi adapted his detective hero Nestor Burma into a series of critically acclaimed graphic novels, though he also wrote and drew original stories of his own.
Tardi also created one of French comics' most famous heroines, Adèle Blanc-Sec. This series recreates the Paris of early 20th century where the moody heroine encounters supernatural events, state plots, occult societies and experiments in cryogenics.
Another graphic novel was Ici Même which was written by Jean-Claude Forest, best known as the creator of Barbarella. A satire, it describes the adventures of Arthur Même who lives on the walls of his family's former property.
Tardi has produced many antiwar graphic novels and comics, mainly focusing on the collective European trauma of the First World War, and the pitfalls of patriotism spawned several albums (Adieu Brindavoine, C'était la guerre des tranchées, Le trou d'obus, Putain de Guerre...). His grandfather's involvement in the day-to-day horrors of trench warfare, seems to have had a deep influence to his artistic expression. He also completed a four-volume series on the Paris Commune, Le cri du peuple.
Fantagraphics Books translate and publish in English a wide range of Tardi's books, done by editor and translator Kim Thompson.[3] The books released so far are West Coast Blues (Le Petit bleu de la côte ouest), You Are There (Ici Même), and It Was the War of the Trenches (C'était la guerre des tranchées); a single album collecting the first two Adele Blanc-Sec volumes has also been published.
->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_...
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December 18, 2023Avec Ici Même, le duo Forest-Tardi nous offre un univers à la fois familier et déroutant. S'inspirant d'un scénario cinématographique avorté, les deux auteurs conduisent la bande dessinée pour adultes sur des voies nouvelles, renouant ainsi avec un genre qu’ils ont amplement contribué à définir : Forest avec sa Barbarella psychédélique, et Tardi dont le trait si caractéristique a fait revivre la Belle Époque et la Grande Guerre.
Le postulat de départ est pour le moins insolite : Arthur Même est un personnage qui arpente sans relâche les murs qui délimitent ce qui fut jadis le domaine familial. Désormais ruiné, il vit de la perception d’un octroi fantasque auprès des propriétaires des domaines que ses murs délimitent. Il y a quelque chose d’abstrait et de surréel dans cette histoire : Arthur Même est un homme qui vit dans les interstices entre des espaces clos, et dont la fonction, celle d’ouvrir et de refermer les grilles et les passages, est tout à la fois son unique pouvoir et son sempiternel esclavage.
Comme Arthur, nuit et jour en équilibre sur son mur, toujours sur le point de glisser, de tomber, de se faire dévorer par les molosses qui l’attendent en bas, le récit lui aussi oscille dans une atmosphère kafkaïenne, entre le rêve et la réalité, les pensées délirantes du personnage principal, ses fantasmes et ses angoisses, qui suintent sur la page et de temps en temps envahissent l’architecture graphique des cases. Ainsi la narration entremêle-elle plusieurs fils conducteurs, du passé trouble de la famille Même à la relation ambiguë entre Arthur et sa mère. Cette construction où la frontière entre imagination et souvenirs reste poreuse, n’est pas sans rappeler le style de Proust, chez qui le sujet central n’est jamais tant l’intrigue elle-même que la manière dont elle est racontée. Avec « Ici Même », la bande dessinée s’affirme donc comme un médium à part entière, capable de suggérer plus qu’il ne montre, et l’espace restreint de la case, loin d’être limitatif, devient le support d’une narration complexe et romanesque.
Le dessin de Tardi fait merveille dans ce cadre, car c’est justement dans le traitement du dessin (qui évoque au passage ses albums précédents, de Adieu Brindavoine à Adèle Blanc-Sec) que réside la force de cette œuvre. L’utilisation du noir et blanc, la structure des planches, la profusion de détails, tout concourt à donner corps à cet univers tarabiscoté, avec ses jeux d’ombre et de lumière, qui rappelle la photographie du début du XXème siècle -- on pense aux œuvres d’Eugène Atget.
Près de 40 ans après sa parution, à l’heure où le genre a acquis ses galons de noblesse avec Marjane Satrapi, Riad Sattouf ou Chris Ware, Ici Même reste une lecture incontournable et mérite sa place au panthéon de la bande dessinée d’auteur, aux côtés d’autres chefs-d’œuvre, tel que Corto Maltese de Hugo Pratt ou Maus de Art Spiegelman.
Le postulat de départ est pour le moins insolite : Arthur Même est un personnage qui arpente sans relâche les murs qui délimitent ce qui fut jadis le domaine familial. Désormais ruiné, il vit de la perception d’un octroi fantasque auprès des propriétaires des domaines que ses murs délimitent. Il y a quelque chose d’abstrait et de surréel dans cette histoire : Arthur Même est un homme qui vit dans les interstices entre des espaces clos, et dont la fonction, celle d’ouvrir et de refermer les grilles et les passages, est tout à la fois son unique pouvoir et son sempiternel esclavage.
Comme Arthur, nuit et jour en équilibre sur son mur, toujours sur le point de glisser, de tomber, de se faire dévorer par les molosses qui l’attendent en bas, le récit lui aussi oscille dans une atmosphère kafkaïenne, entre le rêve et la réalité, les pensées délirantes du personnage principal, ses fantasmes et ses angoisses, qui suintent sur la page et de temps en temps envahissent l’architecture graphique des cases. Ainsi la narration entremêle-elle plusieurs fils conducteurs, du passé trouble de la famille Même à la relation ambiguë entre Arthur et sa mère. Cette construction où la frontière entre imagination et souvenirs reste poreuse, n’est pas sans rappeler le style de Proust, chez qui le sujet central n’est jamais tant l’intrigue elle-même que la manière dont elle est racontée. Avec « Ici Même », la bande dessinée s’affirme donc comme un médium à part entière, capable de suggérer plus qu’il ne montre, et l’espace restreint de la case, loin d’être limitatif, devient le support d’une narration complexe et romanesque.
Le dessin de Tardi fait merveille dans ce cadre, car c’est justement dans le traitement du dessin (qui évoque au passage ses albums précédents, de Adieu Brindavoine à Adèle Blanc-Sec) que réside la force de cette œuvre. L’utilisation du noir et blanc, la structure des planches, la profusion de détails, tout concourt à donner corps à cet univers tarabiscoté, avec ses jeux d’ombre et de lumière, qui rappelle la photographie du début du XXème siècle -- on pense aux œuvres d’Eugène Atget.
Près de 40 ans après sa parution, à l’heure où le genre a acquis ses galons de noblesse avec Marjane Satrapi, Riad Sattouf ou Chris Ware, Ici Même reste une lecture incontournable et mérite sa place au panthéon de la bande dessinée d’auteur, aux côtés d’autres chefs-d’œuvre, tel que Corto Maltese de Hugo Pratt ou Maus de Art Spiegelman.
June 15, 2010
I originally encountered Jacques Tardi's work in a small Penguin collection of Raw magazine. I thought the art work was beautiful, but it was weeks before I finally read the thing. Through out the years, I encountered more of his work in various anthologies, but never found any of the few collected English translations (Tardi is French, btw).
Anyway, finally Fantagraphics has started to translate and publish Tardi's work in beautiful hardcover editions. I hope they sell well, so Fantagraphics can afford to publish everything this master has ever made.
When I flipped through this book it looked exactly like the story I had read in Raw when I was young. So I excitedly bought it. And it wasn't the same story, but it seemed to be the same characters. The story in Raw was dreamlike and violent, like a noir Kafka, and this story You Are There was also Kafkaesque, but it was more like an existential crisis story, you know, the type written by Moravia and Camus and typified by the protagonist in Nausea staring at a handful of dirt or something. You Are There follows Arthur There (which almost puts you in a second person narrative, which is another trope of so-called existential novels) and he (and you) are stuck on a small isolated island in France. Arthur There (whose surname is assumed) used to be part of a prestigious family who owned the island but are now reduced to owning the borders between everyone else's property.
The story is dark and depressing and of course things go from bad to worse. The outside world intrudes and as is usual, when the outside world intrudes it is almost always a bad thing.
But back to me and Raw. As I read the story I thought that it was a precursor to the story in Raw. After all, the main male and female characters looked exactly the same. But the Raw story was set in a city and was filled with political intrigue, and You Are There is set in an island (primarily) and is filled with political intrigue. But in the end, I think Tardi just recycles the characters for a completely different story... but then again, I haven't read that Raw story in a decade.
But this is just rambles... The art is great. Some of the best ever in comics. The story is ok. It's a wonderful fantasy and full of interesting allusions and affects (it's written by the guy who wrote Barbarella) but the story is ultimately only Kafka-lite, or Maravia-lite, or Camus-lite, or... you get the idea. It's good, but not great. Still, the art makes it great. And I still don't know if this story and the story in Raw are somehow connected
Anyway, finally Fantagraphics has started to translate and publish Tardi's work in beautiful hardcover editions. I hope they sell well, so Fantagraphics can afford to publish everything this master has ever made.
When I flipped through this book it looked exactly like the story I had read in Raw when I was young. So I excitedly bought it. And it wasn't the same story, but it seemed to be the same characters. The story in Raw was dreamlike and violent, like a noir Kafka, and this story You Are There was also Kafkaesque, but it was more like an existential crisis story, you know, the type written by Moravia and Camus and typified by the protagonist in Nausea staring at a handful of dirt or something. You Are There follows Arthur There (which almost puts you in a second person narrative, which is another trope of so-called existential novels) and he (and you) are stuck on a small isolated island in France. Arthur There (whose surname is assumed) used to be part of a prestigious family who owned the island but are now reduced to owning the borders between everyone else's property.
The story is dark and depressing and of course things go from bad to worse. The outside world intrudes and as is usual, when the outside world intrudes it is almost always a bad thing.
But back to me and Raw. As I read the story I thought that it was a precursor to the story in Raw. After all, the main male and female characters looked exactly the same. But the Raw story was set in a city and was filled with political intrigue, and You Are There is set in an island (primarily) and is filled with political intrigue. But in the end, I think Tardi just recycles the characters for a completely different story... but then again, I haven't read that Raw story in a decade.
But this is just rambles... The art is great. Some of the best ever in comics. The story is ok. It's a wonderful fantasy and full of interesting allusions and affects (it's written by the guy who wrote Barbarella) but the story is ultimately only Kafka-lite, or Maravia-lite, or Camus-lite, or... you get the idea. It's good, but not great. Still, the art makes it great. And I still don't know if this story and the story in Raw are somehow connected
March 13, 2012
Picked up at the library cause I wanted to read some Jacques Tardi. Turns out this was only drawn by him, but the drawing is a big part of the effect, both the architectural "realities" of a man living on the walls of a long-past family estate carved up by neighbors and leaving him only the in-betweens and divisions (which is a pretty great concept, too) and in the more fantastic bits that intrude along with our protagonists shifting thoughts. Plotwise, this is about our lead, something of a petty shut-in who never leaves his walls in his efforts to collect tolls from all other residents as they pass through his walls, dealing with a series of invasions into his life, foremost that of a bold young women he'd never taken notice of before, then later a larger political intrigue. Pretty good self-contained story, very French in a lot of ways, but left me wanting to see something that Tardis both wrote and drew.
July 19, 2020
Qué lástima lo de este cómic. Qué bien comienza y cómo se desinfla por el camino. Me fastidia especialmente porque el protagonista y la situación son muy kafkianos, y hay escenas de un surrealismo que parece sacado de una película de Fellini. Todo en este cómic te trae a la mente referentes maravillosos, pero Jean-Claude Forest no atina a hilvanarlos como merecen. Ya por la mitad la historia decae y se estanca. Estaba pensada originalmente como guión cinematográfico, y desde luego podría haber sido una película estupenda, pero también una novela o un relato buenísimos. Podría haber sido también un cómic de los que se convierten en clásicos. Pues no, qué rabia.
April 29, 2023
Ipak i ovdje vodi nas na jedinstvenu, ludu i nezaboravnu avanturu s toliko metafora i skrivenih značenja da ih je gotovo nemoguće sve prepoznati pri prvom čitanju. No čar ovoga djela je upravo u tome što ni ne moramo ništa prepoznavati i razotkrivati, dovoljno je samo da se prepustimo njegovoj neodoljivoj zaigranosti i zabava je zagarantirana. Naravno, hvatanje u koštac s aluzijama, metaforama i skrivenim značenjima otvara nove slojeve i dodatno obogaćuje doživljaj. Ne znam jesam li ikada naišao na strip koji je toliko lud i otkačen a istodobno funkcionira kao savršena preslika stvarnog svijeta. Forest i Tardi zakoračili su s one strane Carrollovog zrcala i pokazali nam svoju zemlju čudesa, ništa manje ludu od one izvorne i vjerujem još jednu koju će opetovano posjećivati mnoge generacije.
November 19, 2020
This is a baffling, but consistently enjoyable comic, quite unlike any other I've read.
The premise is as brilliant as it is ridiculous. An eccentric, socially dysfunctional man named Arthur Même (I believe "Arthur There" in the English translation) claims to be the rightful owner of the whole province of Mornemont. He claims that his ancestral land has, through the centuries, been usurped and divided up by various interlopers, so that now the only place left to him is the walls that separate Mornemont's grand estates from one another. As Mornemont has no public land (not even roads or footpaths), and Même refuses to leave, he is confined to a life on the walls that criss-cross the province. The comic follows Même's sad, sorry everyday life as he tries to reclaim what he believes is his rightful inheritance and gets embroiled in a series of outlandish events.
Anyone looking for a conventional, rationally comprehensible plot will be disappointed. Likewise, there's little in the way of believable, complex characterization. Instead, this is a work of farcical absurdism in the vein of Samuel Beckett, or proto-absurdist Nikolai Gogol. The characters are cartoonish caricatures who often lack readily discernible motivations, and they frequently find themselves in preposterous, inexplicable situations. The tone is whimsical and humorous, at times satirical. In addition to the absurd turns of events, lot of humour derives from the dialogue, with many of the characters (especially the protagonist) prone to long, rambling, verbose soliloquies.
Tardi's bold black-and-white art matches the story's tone. His figures are cartoonish, their expressions exaggerated, and their outfits have a humorously quaint, old-timey feel. He also, on occasion, lets the characters' internal worlds seep out onto the page, drawing their surreal daydreams as if they're real, or metaphorically representing their fears. His ink work is invariably gorgeous, particularly his treatment of architecture. Above all, it looks fantastic when he makes it rain, with raindrops white over black inks and black over white backgrounds.
Despite the light-hearted tone, there's darkness lurking below the surface. Même is a tragic, pathetic figure. If you take him as a caricature, he's amusing, something of a clown, but at times the reader is nudged into considering him as a real person, at which points you can't help but pity him. In fact, the same is true of several other major characters. The comic also frequently addresses suicide and sexuality, including sexual taboos, so this definitely isn't just kooky kids' stuff. There's a significant element of political satire, but to my reading, the work's dominant theme is that of absurdism as a whole: a hapless, communicatively challenged protagonist being swept up in essentially meaningless events that he's powerless to control. In other words, an exaggerated demonstration of the human condition.
Whether taken as a profound commentary on life, or just as a weird and wacky bit of nonsense, this comic is entertaining, beautifully drawn, and full of surprises.
The premise is as brilliant as it is ridiculous. An eccentric, socially dysfunctional man named Arthur Même (I believe "Arthur There" in the English translation) claims to be the rightful owner of the whole province of Mornemont. He claims that his ancestral land has, through the centuries, been usurped and divided up by various interlopers, so that now the only place left to him is the walls that separate Mornemont's grand estates from one another. As Mornemont has no public land (not even roads or footpaths), and Même refuses to leave, he is confined to a life on the walls that criss-cross the province. The comic follows Même's sad, sorry everyday life as he tries to reclaim what he believes is his rightful inheritance and gets embroiled in a series of outlandish events.
Anyone looking for a conventional, rationally comprehensible plot will be disappointed. Likewise, there's little in the way of believable, complex characterization. Instead, this is a work of farcical absurdism in the vein of Samuel Beckett, or proto-absurdist Nikolai Gogol. The characters are cartoonish caricatures who often lack readily discernible motivations, and they frequently find themselves in preposterous, inexplicable situations. The tone is whimsical and humorous, at times satirical. In addition to the absurd turns of events, lot of humour derives from the dialogue, with many of the characters (especially the protagonist) prone to long, rambling, verbose soliloquies.
Tardi's bold black-and-white art matches the story's tone. His figures are cartoonish, their expressions exaggerated, and their outfits have a humorously quaint, old-timey feel. He also, on occasion, lets the characters' internal worlds seep out onto the page, drawing their surreal daydreams as if they're real, or metaphorically representing their fears. His ink work is invariably gorgeous, particularly his treatment of architecture. Above all, it looks fantastic when he makes it rain, with raindrops white over black inks and black over white backgrounds.
Despite the light-hearted tone, there's darkness lurking below the surface. Même is a tragic, pathetic figure. If you take him as a caricature, he's amusing, something of a clown, but at times the reader is nudged into considering him as a real person, at which points you can't help but pity him. In fact, the same is true of several other major characters. The comic also frequently addresses suicide and sexuality, including sexual taboos, so this definitely isn't just kooky kids' stuff. There's a significant element of political satire, but to my reading, the work's dominant theme is that of absurdism as a whole: a hapless, communicatively challenged protagonist being swept up in essentially meaningless events that he's powerless to control. In other words, an exaggerated demonstration of the human condition.
Whether taken as a profound commentary on life, or just as a weird and wacky bit of nonsense, this comic is entertaining, beautifully drawn, and full of surprises.
June 2, 2025
3.5, maar ik rond af naar boven.
August 5, 2018
https://osrascunhos.com/2018/07/10/aq...
Aqui mesmo, neste lugar, onde sou tão infeliz, mas acomodado, onde cumpro um objectivo e esqueço o mundo lá fora – Aqui mesmo é o segundo volume da colecção Novela Gráfica e é da autoria conjunta de Foresi e Tardi, sendo Tardi o autor de Foi assim a guerra nas trincheiras. A história centra-se numa personagem traumatizada que reduziu o seu mundo aos muros em que vive. Arthur Même sobrevive nos muros que dividem as propriedades dos primos, separadas geração após geração por partilhas e disputas, esperando conseguir conquistar as mesmas terras no tribunal.
No cimo dos muros Arthur controla as entradas e as saídas, cobrando a cada passagem uma portagem. De forma a chamarem-no para abrir o próximo portão, quem deseja passar toca um dos sinos, sendo que Arthur distingue facilmente que portão corresponde a que tinido. O seu dia a dia é monótomo, com poucas ou nenhumas conversas, excepto aquelas que terá diariamente com a mãe, por telefone.
A abertura de portão intercala-se com as raras visitas dos advogados e a entrega de bens por um barco merceeiro. Assim é o quotidiano de Arthur que lhe reduz os horizontes. Esta monotomia irá ser quebrada por uma rapariga atrevida que vive numa das propriedades e pela vantagem estratégica que a região poderá conceder aos actuais líderes políticos do país, que tem perder as próximas eleições.
A quebra de monotomia irá expor os problemas de Arthur, problemas que no início pareciam apenas elementos numa caricatura mas que revelam os profundos traumas que o levam a apegar-se ao muro numa demanda sem fim.
Caricato e mirabolante, Aqui mesmo pode dividir-se em duas partes, uma primeira onde se apresenta a personagem e as suas peculiares movimentações em cima do muro, e uma segunda, em que se quebram todos os elementos que o rodeiam e se perturba o difícil equilíbrio. Aqui mesmo começa como um relato divertido, sobretudo pelas suas particularidades, mas a quebra da rotina faz o enredo aumentar a loucura a cada página.
O resultado é uma leitura estranhamente movimentada, carregada de episódios extravagantes, onde o cómico anda de mão dada com o trágico e o inusitado.
Aqui mesmo, neste lugar, onde sou tão infeliz, mas acomodado, onde cumpro um objectivo e esqueço o mundo lá fora – Aqui mesmo é o segundo volume da colecção Novela Gráfica e é da autoria conjunta de Foresi e Tardi, sendo Tardi o autor de Foi assim a guerra nas trincheiras. A história centra-se numa personagem traumatizada que reduziu o seu mundo aos muros em que vive. Arthur Même sobrevive nos muros que dividem as propriedades dos primos, separadas geração após geração por partilhas e disputas, esperando conseguir conquistar as mesmas terras no tribunal.
No cimo dos muros Arthur controla as entradas e as saídas, cobrando a cada passagem uma portagem. De forma a chamarem-no para abrir o próximo portão, quem deseja passar toca um dos sinos, sendo que Arthur distingue facilmente que portão corresponde a que tinido. O seu dia a dia é monótomo, com poucas ou nenhumas conversas, excepto aquelas que terá diariamente com a mãe, por telefone.
A abertura de portão intercala-se com as raras visitas dos advogados e a entrega de bens por um barco merceeiro. Assim é o quotidiano de Arthur que lhe reduz os horizontes. Esta monotomia irá ser quebrada por uma rapariga atrevida que vive numa das propriedades e pela vantagem estratégica que a região poderá conceder aos actuais líderes políticos do país, que tem perder as próximas eleições.
A quebra de monotomia irá expor os problemas de Arthur, problemas que no início pareciam apenas elementos numa caricatura mas que revelam os profundos traumas que o levam a apegar-se ao muro numa demanda sem fim.
Caricato e mirabolante, Aqui mesmo pode dividir-se em duas partes, uma primeira onde se apresenta a personagem e as suas peculiares movimentações em cima do muro, e uma segunda, em que se quebram todos os elementos que o rodeiam e se perturba o difícil equilíbrio. Aqui mesmo começa como um relato divertido, sobretudo pelas suas particularidades, mas a quebra da rotina faz o enredo aumentar a loucura a cada página.
O resultado é uma leitura estranhamente movimentada, carregada de episódios extravagantes, onde o cómico anda de mão dada com o trágico e o inusitado.
February 4, 2017
Jacques Tardi is an interesting French cartoonist, and a few years back I read the two available English volumes of his own series
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
with much enjoyment. Consequently, I could not help myself from checking this graphic novel, written by Jean-Claude Forest and drawn by Tardi, out from the library when I happened to come across it.
You Are There is the story of Arthur There who keeps the walls (and gates) in Mornemont (the country within), which his family has lost. Arthur is a figure both tragic and absurd, and as he encounters the beautiful Julie, while simultaneously being drawn into a plot involving a political gamble, the narrative situates itself as part of an absurdist tradition looking at conditions both human and societal.
You Are There is the story of Arthur There who keeps the walls (and gates) in Mornemont (the country within), which his family has lost. Arthur is a figure both tragic and absurd, and as he encounters the beautiful Julie, while simultaneously being drawn into a plot involving a political gamble, the narrative situates itself as part of an absurdist tradition looking at conditions both human and societal.
June 1, 2017
A qualidade é a habitual em Tardi, mas a obra é demasiado extensa e monótona, não logrando nunca o efeito de suspensão da descrença que é exigível num trabalho de ficção como este. Duas ou três ideias com grande potencial (um herói que apenas é proprietário de muros, uma heroína lúbrica e imaginosa, um merceeiro marinho...), mas que não resultam numa obra de arte grandiosa.
May 6, 2022
Ok dit was absurd, hilarisch en gewoonweg briljant
December 29, 2014
Such a mind-bender. Sure, there is political parable both straightforward in the deus ex machina and in the disenfranchised marquis walking the fences, nickel and diming the gates. That is what I thought I was getting for the first half, but I lose faith with my narrator when a phone call is interrupted and things get really crazy after, though I appreciate that the crazy is really concealed most of the time. As I disassociated from messages and themes I really began soaking up the excellent art work in this volume. I really got into Tardi with his noir and WW1 titles where I think the art is strongest, and after getting rather discouraged with a lot of other titles, was reminded reading this how good the man can build a panel or a page. My god he could cut some dialog I hope. Subtract a star for logorrhea.
February 9, 2025
je m'attendais à un peu mieux,
l'univers graphique est sympa et l'idée pas inintéressante mais je me suis un peu ennuyée + parfois j'etais tres perdue; et j'ai pas forcément apprécié comment chaque personnage était dépeint
l'univers graphique est sympa et l'idée pas inintéressante mais je me suis un peu ennuyée + parfois j'etais tres perdue; et j'ai pas forcément apprécié comment chaque personnage était dépeint
May 4, 2011
This is really a great and enjoyable read-sardonic with a sincere protagonist who is just trying to get his property back in the midst of corrupt politicians facing election and being oppressed but the upper class elite who have taken away his family's property in the first place. Great drawings as usual and interesting characters..I was a little unsure about the ending but overall found it to be a worthwhile read with a farcical demeanor containing more serious political undertones.
June 27, 2012
What a load of indulgent wankerism! Tres Gallic perhaps but I seem to have missed the -- or any -- point. Obscure. Rambling. So metaphoric perhaps that you cease to bother with what may be intended and look forward to getting the reading over and done with. As a graphic nove -- for me -- a waste of time.
November 9, 2023
Lo que consiguen aquí Forest y Tardi les sitúa en un lugar muy especial en la historia del cómic europeo, en el de los pioneros. Es impresionante lo que logran en Ici Même, la historia de un antihéroe contada en capítulos que revolucionó el género y que supuso un salto a la hora de abordar personajes, historias, dibujo, disposición de viñetas y formato.
Want to read
November 23, 2009So excited that this has finally been republished and translated. Thanks, Fanta!
unfinished
September 29, 2012Ipak, ovdje je kraj.
June 24, 2014
Niet mijn ding. Veel en niet altijd even steekhoudende tekst, absurde tekeningen en weinig of geen personages die empathie weten op te wekken. Een heuse worsteling om door te komen.
June 30, 2018
Même vive numa situação peculiar: sendo o soberano legal de uma aldeia perdida no meio de França, não possui quaisquer terras porque estas foram "roubadas" aos seus antepassados pelos vizinhos. Para contrariar esta situação, comprou todos os muros e portões da aldeia e vive da portagem que cobra aos vizinhos para entrarem nas suas próprias casas.
Forest criou uma situação absurda para apresentar uma sátira política e social, ilustrada por Tardi.
A vida de Même está restringida aos segmentos de recta que separam umas propriedades de outras (até construiu um cubículo para viver em cima de um dos muros), numa clara crítica à propriedade privada.
De Même, através dos seus advogados (pagos pelas portagens entre-muros), chegamos ao governo francês, que se apodera do litígio de Même como arma de propaganda eleitoral (após uma noite de reunião onde se chegou à conclusão que Hmm..., Ahm... e Hrrrr... são ideias essenciais para o futuro da nação). Deste ponto, Forest aproveita para expor a nu (literalmente) as forças que actuam por detrás das cortinas do aparelho de Estado.
Parece-me, infelizmente, que os alvos da crítica do autor são ainda mais medíocres hoje em dia do que quando esta obra foi lançada. Se à altura as suas características foram ridicularizadas, hoje em da parece que os defeitos ilustrados tornaram-se não só banais como se "transformaram" em qualidades políticas.
Forest criou uma situação absurda para apresentar uma sátira política e social, ilustrada por Tardi.
A vida de Même está restringida aos segmentos de recta que separam umas propriedades de outras (até construiu um cubículo para viver em cima de um dos muros), numa clara crítica à propriedade privada.
De Même, através dos seus advogados (pagos pelas portagens entre-muros), chegamos ao governo francês, que se apodera do litígio de Même como arma de propaganda eleitoral (após uma noite de reunião onde se chegou à conclusão que Hmm..., Ahm... e Hrrrr... são ideias essenciais para o futuro da nação). Deste ponto, Forest aproveita para expor a nu (literalmente) as forças que actuam por detrás das cortinas do aparelho de Estado.
Parece-me, infelizmente, que os alvos da crítica do autor são ainda mais medíocres hoje em dia do que quando esta obra foi lançada. Se à altura as suas características foram ridicularizadas, hoje em da parece que os defeitos ilustrados tornaram-se não só banais como se "transformaram" em qualidades políticas.
May 27, 2021
This surreal and haunting book has been a companion for many years. The musings and ruminations of Monsieur Même, set against a backdrop of a life entirely lived on the tops of walls, not to mention the bewitching Julie who occupies a whole hemisphere of his brain – all rendered into a completely believable world by Tardi's vivid eye for telling detail.
An utter classic of the franco-belgian BD!
An utter classic of the franco-belgian BD!
March 2, 2023
I've enjoyed other Tardi work, mostly his noir crime books. I had to read this in increments. The absurdism is the point I guess, because at some point you have to agree not to follow any plot and just go along for the ride. There are a series of inexplicable turns and events that reveal invisible insanity or absurdism. I guess this was a real deal when it first came out, but not my favorite Tardi book. Maybe the satire failed in translation from the French.
November 10, 2018
Story has some funny and strange situations. I felt a little like I was reading an illustrated Milan Kundera in the way that the writer conveys strangeness and fantasy. But what ruins this one for me is the dialogue. Doesn't feel like the characters are speaking to eachother, but instead it's like they are all giving a long-winded speech. Maybe it's just the way this translates.
December 31, 2018
An imaginative tale about Même, a complex character who has a particular job. He falls in love, while struggling with his business and gets mixed in a political plot.
The story is amazingly complex with twists and turns. The characters are great and the dialogs are funny enough to give you a few laughs. The artwork by Tardi does not disappoint. Worth reading.
The story is amazingly complex with twists and turns. The characters are great and the dialogs are funny enough to give you a few laughs. The artwork by Tardi does not disappoint. Worth reading.
September 22, 2025
Una obra muy importante de los "tebeos" en su momento y contexto. Tiene un gran punto atrayente en sus situaciones surrealistas, pero no he conseguido entrar del todo. La trama política me resultó muy divertida y tiene diálogos buenísimos.
El dibujo de Tardi genial en su línea.
El personaje de Julie ha envejecido muy mal
El dibujo de Tardi genial en su línea.
El personaje de Julie ha envejecido muy mal
January 22, 2025
220×295 'les romans (a suivre)' ¦ D.L. ⁴tri/1979 ¦ rear code 4304
—>ISBN₁₀ 4010 should be the green eo cover
Narrative: *****
This came as close as I remember to be shelved as a masterpiece!
Visual: ****
—>ISBN₁₀ 4010 should be the green eo cover
Narrative: *****
This came as close as I remember to be shelved as a masterpiece!
Visual: ****
November 18, 2018
Tedious and ridiculous.
January 30, 2019
Jos tykkää ranskalaisista elokuvista, on tämä varmasti parasta ikinä. Itse olen liian yksinkertainen näin "syvälliseen" ja "ajatuksia herättävään" teokseen.
Kivat kuvat.
Kivat kuvat.
September 12, 2020
A classic and not like anything I have seen before in comics, wonderful
July 29, 2021
A satire in the vein of Jonathan Swift. I agree with one of the other comments here -- Tardi's drawings do not always "fit" with the pulse of the text.
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