What do you think?
Rate this book
Moi, René Tardi #2
My Return Home
The second volume of Stalag IIB begins when captured French soldier Rene Tardi finally gets a taste of freedom, as prisoners and German officers alike are forced to evacuate the POW camp he has languished in for the past four years. Thus begins the long, grueling journey eastward, where Tardi and his fellow POWs must evade the pursuing Russian Army, stave off their gnawing hunger, and contend with the increasingly vicious German soldiers accompanying them. Throughout this harrowing odyssey, the only thing that keeps him going is the hope that he’ll one day return home to France, where his wife Henriette patiently awaits him.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published November 26, 2014
4 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Jacques Tardi
297 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_...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 29, 2019
The second of what may become a trilogy about Jacques Tardi's father Rene's experiences as one of the hundreds of thousands of French POW captured during WWII. It's an amazing accomplishment; working from the barest of notes his father kept, interviewing him (in the eighties), poring over historical records kept of the war in various archives, Jacques Tardi constructs a pretty detailed biographical account in this volume of the arduous trip from Stalag II B back to France, much of which has to take place under armed Nazi guard as the Russian invasion forced the Germans to take their prisoners westward. The account involves son Jacques filling in many gaps in the narrative, relying on his imagination and speculation, sometimes correcting his Dad's faulty memory.
The story is told as if Rene were telling the story in detail, with his son at his side, an imaginative and humanizing approach. It's a long and brutal trudge over many weeks, but the sense in which Jacques perseveres is agonizing and impressive. Rene is not depicted as a hero, but just as a guy who served his time and wants to get home. Jacques, in his fanciful place at Rene's side on the journey, as a young boy, sometimes reacts in horror as his father gives account of crimes he committed along the way, including killing some of his Nazi captors.
It's a great artistic accomplishment, one of many accounts of war from the master Tardi. And yes, Rene makes it back to his wife Henriette awaits him. Two essays, one by Tardi, complete the beautifully made, over-sized volume from Fantagraphics.
The story is told as if Rene were telling the story in detail, with his son at his side, an imaginative and humanizing approach. It's a long and brutal trudge over many weeks, but the sense in which Jacques perseveres is agonizing and impressive. Rene is not depicted as a hero, but just as a guy who served his time and wants to get home. Jacques, in his fanciful place at Rene's side on the journey, as a young boy, sometimes reacts in horror as his father gives account of crimes he committed along the way, including killing some of his Nazi captors.
It's a great artistic accomplishment, one of many accounts of war from the master Tardi. And yes, Rene makes it back to his wife Henriette awaits him. Two essays, one by Tardi, complete the beautifully made, over-sized volume from Fantagraphics.
March 11, 2018
1945 yılının Ocak ayının sonunda verilen emirle Stalaglarını boşaltıp Hammerstein’dan yola çıkan savaş esirlerinin refakatçileri olan Bosch’lar eşliğinde, ilk başlarda -30 derecede, şiddetli rüzgarda ve karın altında, harap olmuş şehirlerde sığındıkları bir çiftlikten diğerine savrula savrula dört ay boyunca sürecek olan yolculuklarına şahit oluyoruz kaldığımız yerden. Baş karakterler belediye bandosunda klarnetçi sonradan meslek olarak askerliği seçen, zırhlı birliklerden Rene ve oğul Jacques Tardi yine. Kitabın sonunda yer alan haritada gösterildiği üzere Pomeranya’dan-Birinci Dünya Savaşı’ndan sonra kısmen Polonya’ya geri verilen ve eskiden Prusya’ya ait olan topraklar bunlar-yola çıkıyorlar. Navigasyon olmadığından bazen kendi eksenlerinde dönseler de, nihayet ülkelerine varıyorlar yollarda azala azala. Almanya’yı geçiyorlar bir uçtan bir uca dile kolay. Zırhlılarla, hayvan taşınan vagonlarda istiflenerek gelmişlerdi bu yolları, şimdiyse binecekleri bir atları bile olmadan, yolda buldukları ölü atlarıysa mideye indirmek suretiyle dolaşıma sokan ve her zamanki gibi kötü donatılmış Fransız askerleri olarak ve her daim aç bilaç vaziyette dönüyorlar ülkelerine 1680 günlük esaret ertesi, dört ay daha sürecek olan azap verici yolculukları ertesinde. Terhis edildiklerindeyse her birine ödül olarak birer yurda dönüş hediyesi yiyecek kolisi ve Fransa için parmaklıklar ardında beş yıl geçirdiklerinden 1000’er Franklık ödeme.
“Bir tecavüz, beş darağacında idam ve Alman S.E. kafilesi üzerine 75’lik top saldırısı söz konusuydu. Şiddet, saçmalık, vahşet ve zulüm söz konusuydu. Soğuk, yorgunluk, açlık ve insanların, milleti, kökeni, kültürü ne olursa olsun benzer bir durumda, doğru dürüst davranmasının imkansızlığı söz konusuydu, çünkü savaş söz konusuydu.” Tardi
“Bir tecavüz, beş darağacında idam ve Alman S.E. kafilesi üzerine 75’lik top saldırısı söz konusuydu. Şiddet, saçmalık, vahşet ve zulüm söz konusuydu. Soğuk, yorgunluk, açlık ve insanların, milleti, kökeni, kültürü ne olursa olsun benzer bir durumda, doğru dürüst davranmasının imkansızlığı söz konusuydu, çünkü savaş söz konusuydu.” Tardi
July 23, 2019
This volume is a little more expository than the first volume. As the Russians advanced from the east, Rene Tardi's Stalag was emptied out. He and the other prisoners were marched by their captors to the West, staying out of the hands of the Russians, British and Americans. Jacques Tardi got his father to write a narrative of his imprisonment and gradual liberation some 40 years after the fact, and then researched the route to try to figure out what his father actually did. Like so many displaced persons at the end of the war, the way home was not a straight path. (In this, My Return Home resembles Primo Levi's classic memoir of his liberation from Auschwitz, known variously as The Truce or he Reawakening.)
Unlike the first volume, Jacques feels the need to keep us readers informed about what is happening in the last days of the war. Rene Tardi's group of POWs managed to skirt some of the major events at the end of the war, witnessing occasional aerial battles but avoiding heavy allied bombardments. But while they are slogging through the cold, scrambling to find whatever food they might, we are given a disjointed account of the last days for World War II. It feels overly expository, but it serves the purpose of reminding us readers of how little the vast hordes of wandering displaced persons and foot soldiers knew of what was actually happening all around them.
The book begins almost uniformly monochromatic--black and various shades of greenish grey, but as Rene gets closer to France, little splashes of color start to appear. Particular the red and blue of flags and red-crosses, which seem to symbolize liberation. Eventually fleshtones return and when Rene is reunited with his wife Henriette, Tardi allows himself a brilliant pink panel filled with flowers.
Unlike the first volume, Jacques feels the need to keep us readers informed about what is happening in the last days of the war. Rene Tardi's group of POWs managed to skirt some of the major events at the end of the war, witnessing occasional aerial battles but avoiding heavy allied bombardments. But while they are slogging through the cold, scrambling to find whatever food they might, we are given a disjointed account of the last days for World War II. It feels overly expository, but it serves the purpose of reminding us readers of how little the vast hordes of wandering displaced persons and foot soldiers knew of what was actually happening all around them.
The book begins almost uniformly monochromatic--black and various shades of greenish grey, but as Rene gets closer to France, little splashes of color start to appear. Particular the red and blue of flags and red-crosses, which seem to symbolize liberation. Eventually fleshtones return and when Rene is reunited with his wife Henriette, Tardi allows himself a brilliant pink panel filled with flowers.
July 12, 2020
Mijn Terugkeer Naar Frankrijk is de tweede graphic novel, in een reeks van drie, van de hand van Jacques Tardi. Waar de eerste novel over René gaat die opgesloten zit in een krijgskamp, bevat dit tweede boek het verhaal over zijn dodentocht en de terugkeer naar het vaderland eens de bevrijding compleet was.
Dit boek gaat verder waar het vorige stopte. René vertrekt vanuit de stalag, samen met alle andere gevangenen, omdat de bewakers hopen zo uit de handen van het bevrijdingsleger te blijven. René beschrijft zijn tocht met alle ontberingen en verliezen tot in detail besproken. Na de bevrijding komt zijn terugkeer naar Frankrijk, waar hij moet proberen om zijn plaats in het gezinsleven terug op te nemen.
De scenes zijn terug zeer mooi weergegeven en Jacques Tardi blijft zelf aanwezig in het verhaal. Hij blijft de dialoog aangaan met zijn vader en werpt nu en dan zijn eigen kennis naar voren.
De teksten bevatten terug een gedetailleerde versie van de feiten. Niets wordt uit de weg gegaan. De verliezen onderweg, de stijgende hardvochtigheid van de bewakers, maar er wordt ook melding gemaakt van wreedheden door het bevrijdingsleger.
Er wordt op zeer heldere wijze gezorgd dat wij als lezer goed vatten dat men na een krijgskamp en dodentocht niet simpelweg terug het gewone leven kan opnemen. Jacques verteld ons hoe zijn vader veranderd was ten opzichte van voor de oorlog.
Na het einde van dit verhaal worden we nog beloond met een reisverslag in tekst. Jacques Tardi heeft samen met zijn vrouw, en een bevriend koppel, geprobeerd om de reis van zijn vader na te bootsen. Hiervoor gebruikte hij de kaart die René bijhield tijdens zijn ‘reis’ naar het krijgskamp en tijdens zijn thuisrit.
Conclusie
Terug een mooi naslagwerk over hoe het er echt aan toe ging tijdens de dodentochten en hoe het bevrijdingsleger te werk ging.
Dit boek gaat verder waar het vorige stopte. René vertrekt vanuit de stalag, samen met alle andere gevangenen, omdat de bewakers hopen zo uit de handen van het bevrijdingsleger te blijven. René beschrijft zijn tocht met alle ontberingen en verliezen tot in detail besproken. Na de bevrijding komt zijn terugkeer naar Frankrijk, waar hij moet proberen om zijn plaats in het gezinsleven terug op te nemen.
De scenes zijn terug zeer mooi weergegeven en Jacques Tardi blijft zelf aanwezig in het verhaal. Hij blijft de dialoog aangaan met zijn vader en werpt nu en dan zijn eigen kennis naar voren.
De teksten bevatten terug een gedetailleerde versie van de feiten. Niets wordt uit de weg gegaan. De verliezen onderweg, de stijgende hardvochtigheid van de bewakers, maar er wordt ook melding gemaakt van wreedheden door het bevrijdingsleger.
Er wordt op zeer heldere wijze gezorgd dat wij als lezer goed vatten dat men na een krijgskamp en dodentocht niet simpelweg terug het gewone leven kan opnemen. Jacques verteld ons hoe zijn vader veranderd was ten opzichte van voor de oorlog.
Na het einde van dit verhaal worden we nog beloond met een reisverslag in tekst. Jacques Tardi heeft samen met zijn vrouw, en een bevriend koppel, geprobeerd om de reis van zijn vader na te bootsen. Hiervoor gebruikte hij de kaart die René bijhield tijdens zijn ‘reis’ naar het krijgskamp en tijdens zijn thuisrit.
Conclusie
Terug een mooi naslagwerk over hoe het er echt aan toe ging tijdens de dodentochten en hoe het bevrijdingsleger te werk ging.
May 27, 2025
The problem with Tardi is that he wants to draw and show everything - including the boring and monotonous. It's too much. Just like in movies, scenes have to be cut.
February 10, 2019
Sıkıldım epey. Bir yerden sonra çizimlere hiç bakmadım. Çizgi romanın arkasındaki düzyazı şeklinde olan kısım bence ilk kısımdan daha keyifli ve akıcı. Çok fazla bilgi mevcut ve verilenleri işlemeye uygun pek alan yok. Almanca bilmeme rağmen orijinalinin muhafaza edilmesi sebebiyle ekseriya 3.Reich dönemine dair tanımların sıklığı epey yorucu oldu. Dipnotlar oldukça yetersiz, olay akışını takip etmek çok zor.
Ay iyi ki bitti, bu kadar severek aldığım bir çizgi roman ilk kez bu kadar hayal kırıklığı yarattı sanıyorum.
Ay iyi ki bitti, bu kadar severek aldığım bir çizgi roman ilk kez bu kadar hayal kırıklığı yarattı sanıyorum.
September 11, 2022
Second book of the series, relate the long walk out of the camp. The war is (almost) over, the writing is on the wall for this Third Reich; Russian on one side, American and Brits on the others, the prisoners from stalag IIB begin a long, aimless trek. They walk across untouched cities, other devastated landscape. They are always hungry and submitted to the increasing and feverish brutality of the guards. Riveting, researched and perfectly illustrated.
March 13, 2019
Así deberían ser las obras bélicas.
May 5, 2020
savaş biterken bile felaket getiriyor
August 6, 2022
A bit longer and slower than the first volume with less action and more aimless POW marching.
December 24, 2022
Très intéressant d'appréhender le véritable périple de ces prisonniers de guerre pour rentrer chez eux. Impatient de lire la suite !
October 4, 2024
Surpreende que o retorno tenha sido ainda mais difícil que os anos de prisão.
February 12, 2025
A sharp memoir that spurns any lingering ideas of glory in war.
September 26, 2018
Classic Tardi, amazing drawings accompanied by a true, heart breaking story. A must read and must collect type of comic book.
November 3, 2022
Papirutgave. Biblioteket. Engelsk - men jeg tror jeg har denne på fransk på fjellet. Tardi med selvbiografisk/farsbiografisk/relasjondbiografisk grafisk doku/roman om faren sin krigshistorie, og eget forhold til faren. Veldig bra, lærte mye nytt.
(Jeg oppdaget likevel noen (antageligvis) feil oversettelser fra den franske originale til denne engelske utgaven:
- Under tegningen av propelldrevne jagere står det «fighter jets» istedetfor «fighter planes/aircrafts» - jeg antar det står «Avions de chasse» på fransk.
- I en ingress om fredsfølere og Folke Bernadotte står det plutselig at «Switzerland» er nøytralt…
Dette kan selvfølgelig være unøyaktigheter i originalutgaven, men….
(Jeg oppdaget likevel noen (antageligvis) feil oversettelser fra den franske originale til denne engelske utgaven:
- Under tegningen av propelldrevne jagere står det «fighter jets» istedetfor «fighter planes/aircrafts» - jeg antar det står «Avions de chasse» på fransk.
- I en ingress om fredsfølere og Folke Bernadotte står det plutselig at «Switzerland» er nøytralt…
Dette kan selvfølgelig være unøyaktigheter i originalutgaven, men….
September 20, 2015
On suit le retour du Stalag de ce prisonnier de guerre, à travers l'Europe ravagée par la guerre en 1945. Le récit est captivant, des informations d'époques et découvertes depuis, grâce aussi à son fils qui l'accompagne virtuellement dans ce voyage, de retour des enfers.
August 6, 2020
Long and repetitive, I was still fascinated.
Hope there's a third volume.
Hope there's a third volume.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews