Le Sommet des Dieux - Tome 1

The Summit of the Gods / 神々の山嶺 #1

by Jirō Taniguchi, Baku Yumemakura

Quand les hommes font face à la nature, c'est d'abord eux qu'ils affrontent ! . A travers le regard et les souvenirs du héros-photographe Fukamachi Makoto, le lecteur pénètre dans un monde à part où cohabitent la dure loi de la montagne et la folle passion des hommes. Entre poésie, action et suspense, ce manga nous emmène très loin au coeur de l'Himalaya....

Genres: Manga, Bande Dessinée, Comics, Graphic Novels, Japan, Fiction, Adventure

340 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2000

About the author

Name (in native language): 谷口 ジロー
Zodiac: Leo

He began to work as assistant of the late mangaka Kyota Ishikawa.
He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kareta Heya (A Desiccated Summer), published in the magazine Young Comic.
From 1976 to 1979, he created several hard-boiled comics with the scenarist Natsuo Sekigawa, such as City Without Defense, The Wind of the West is White and Lindo 3.
From 1984 to 1991, Tanigushi and Natsuo Sekigawa produced the trilogy Bocchan No Jidai.
In the 1990s, he came up with several albums, among which Aruku Hito (歩くひと), Chichi no koyomi (The Almanac of My Father), and Keyaki no ki.
In 2001, he created the Icare (Icaro) series on texts by Mœbius.
Jirô Taniguchi gained several prizes for his work. Among others, the Osamu Tezuka Culture Award (1998) for the trilogy Bocchan No Jidai, the Shogakukan prize with Inu wo Kau, and in 2003, the Alph'Art of the best scenario at the Angoulême International Comics Festival (France) for Harukana Machi-E.
His work has been translated in many languages.

Far from the violent storylines often associated with the manga, Taniguchi has developed a very personal style, more adult. Along with other writers, like Tsukasa Hōjō, his comics focus more on the Japanese society and culture, with a subtle analysis of its customs and habits.

Reviews

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jiro Taniguchi wrote four books about the fictional conquest of Everest - along, without oxygen on the Tibetan side - and it is absolutely nail-biting. The manga treatment of rock-climbing including all the equipment, the sounds of the metal scraping against the mountain, the raging storms...it is hard to put down and you will be running out to grab the second volume when you finish this one.

[Seth T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know nothing about mountain climbing and care little for the sport. While I’ve backpacked a bit in the Yosemite backcountry (up around Hanging Basket at about 3000 meters) and Kings Canyon (over Lemarck Col at nearly 4000 meters), I’ve never actually taken to climbing at all. I had several friends who were into rock climbing out at Joshua Tree, but it just never appealed to me.  Around 2002, I had a roommate who was an honest-to-goodness mountain climber (see End Note 2). He and his partner were aiming to be the first black men to scale the Seven Peaks. Everest was one of those he hadn’t yet tried, but it was on the list. Still, for all that—after seeing all his gear laid out, seeing photos of him cresting the heavens, seeing the charge he got as an expedition approached—I never caught the bug. Not to climb and not to spectate.


[Lemarck Col. Nearly 13,000 feet. Nothing too strenuous, but beautiful. I backpacked over it in Chuck Taylors. Because I’m a moron.]

I probably just needed a narrative. I probably just needed The Summit of the Gods. Because this book. Oh, man. It crawls into your soul. You know that scene in Luke Pearson’s Everything We Miss where the shadow creature wends its way through the guy’s head and neck and pries his mouth open and waggles his tongue so that unbidden he says terrible things to his girlfriend? The Summit of the Gods is similar but instead of playing at cruelty with your words, this thing snakes deep within you, grips your heart’s heart, and ignites your very soul. For the space of my involvement within the pages of Baku and Taniguchi’s mountain-climbing epic, I am wholly theirs—and deeply enamoured with Everest and K2 and whatever other peaks they want to throw at me.



I picked up the first two volumes at the 2013 Small Press Expo. I’d hesitated for years to see what was going on in The Summit of the Gods. Despite the involvement of Jirô Taniguchi (probably one of my top ten favourite comics illustrators), the subject matter was inert to me. (As if Cross Game had taught me nothing.) I knew I’d get around to the book eventually, but I wasn’t in any hurry. Still, the pull was undeniable. The book was even name dropped (or close enough to it) in The Elegance of the Hedgehog by the younger of the book’s two narrators as being a proof of loveliness and beauty in the world. Hard to pass up a pitch that good. So when I stopped by Fanfare/Ponent Mon’s table at SPX, I rather easily allowed myself to walk away with books in hand. I cracked the first volume while sitting on the tarmac at DCA waiting for the Naval Yard shooter to stop being a moron. I finished the second volume, heart pounding, well before landing in Orange County—kicking myself for not having purchased volumes three and four as well.

I could not have expected this. I was so excited, so thoroughly overwhelmed, that I almost did not want to read anything else for some time after. I didn’t want to pollute the holy sacrosanctity of the experience Baku and Taniguchi provided. Honestly, the two deserve better than me. Book whore that I am, I grimaced in apology and started in on a Nate Powell book I hadn’t yet read. As fantastic as that book was, I was still haunted by Summit. It’s that good. It’s probably even better than that good—which of course doesn’t actually make much sense but is a fitting way to talk about an experience that’s essentially a bound paper embodiment of the inimitable mystery of the human spirit. Words fail and that feels right and just. Maybe we should simply leave it at this: I was affected.



While principally interested in a particular climber and his alienating pursuit of an impossible ascent of Everest, Summit of the Gods has more ranging interests as well. In order to build suspense and appreciation, much of the first three volumes of the series is built around the recollections of a handful of climbers as they recount to an interviewer past climbs, records, and disasters. These remembrances are fascinating, thrilling, and haunting. Some of this is heart-racing, life-and-death stuff. Especially invested readers may find themselves slightly exhausted as episodes close and the narrative moves to the next foundational piece ofSummit's puzzle.



Jirô Taniguchi is the ideal artist for this work. His unparalleled ability to communicate the grandeur of an environment turns these several-inch illustrations of various peaks and ice formations into awe-striking glimpses of a world that dwarfs our own. New York City is a teaming hive of the wonder of the human creature, an ode to the potential of the species. Everest, Mont Blanc, K2, Elbrus. Though ants in the form of men do rarely light across their surfaces, these massifs and mountains and tremendous stone faces ridicule human achievement by their immensity—and Taniguchi brings that home. His sense of scale comes through seamlessly, due in part to his intricate linework and in part to his choice of panel sizes. These eruptions scraping from earth to the heavens, by Taniguchi’s pen, are as much characters as the climbers themselves. I believe the work would be lesser in any other hands.



Baku, for his part adapts the novel into an abrupt and jaggedly paced thriller. However that sounds, it’s a good thing. I’m not familiar with the original prose work, but I cannot believe it could be more delicious, more exciting, more nerve-trilling than these present collections. The fourth volume is due on American shores next week and I will abandon all responsibilities to read it as soon as I can, dooming myself to an excruciating wait ‘til next year when the final volume emerges to coincide with the 90th anniversary of Mallory and Irvine’s disappearance.[1]

There are not many books that I will recommend as strenuously as I will Summit of the Gods. No really. You need to read this. You need to read this so badly that I will shake you like you’re not supposed to shake a baby if you don’t read this. I don’t care that that probably doesn’t make any sense because it still makes more sense than you not reading Summit of the Gods. I’m serious: read Summit of the Gods. Things will be shaken otherwise.



A Note #1
This is hardly worth mentioning, but everytime my eye caught one, I’d be bothered. I’m not sure of the origin, but I’d guess that in the raw files given to Fanfare/Ponent Mon, there was some Japanese text overlaying the art, which had to be scrubbed from the English-language version. To do so, some cloning was done. Generally, it’s pretty fair, but in some cases it’s too obvious. The below is one of those cases:





Of course, the reason is just speculation on my part. It could be something that occurred on the Japanese side—the correction of some error or other before the pages ever arrived in Britain for English-language adaptation. Whatever the case, it doesn’t occur often, but it is present more often than I’d like. Most people will likely never notice it.

A Note #2
This is my old roommate atop the summit of Elbrus, the tallest peak in Russia.

[Elliot Boston III on Elbrus]

I lost touch with him about a decade ago so I don’t know how he’s fairing in his quest to summit those seven peaks. My life’s too full of such stories—friends whom I was too busy to keep up with. Lots of regrets. And yet, I remain busy. And even more busy. We’re funny little people.
_______

[Review courtesy of Good Ok Bad.]
_______

Footnotes
1) Which, incredibly enough, is something I know quite a bit about now. Summit of the Gods is one of those incredible works that inspired me to learn more about a subject. I spent hours afterward scouring Wikipedia reading about the Seven Summits, their histories, their climbers, the kinds of routes involved in climbing them. It was astounding and I’m not done yet.

[Krysia o książkach · Rating 4 out of 5]

W pewnym momencie zaczęłam się zastanawiać czy postacie są prawdziwe, bo tak realistycznie zostały oddane. Odnaleziono zaginiony aparat z wyprawy Mallorego i Irvinga? To brzmi nieprawdopodobnie fascynująco, z niecierpliwością czekam jak ta historia się rozwinie, bo mimo wszystko ta pierwsza część daje odczucie dopiero wprowadzenia do większej opowieści.

[Greta G · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition, Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew "Sandy" Irvine both disappeared on the North-East ridge during their attempt to make the first ascent of the world's highest mountain.
Mallory's ultimate fate was unknown for 75 years, until his body was discovered on 1 May 1999 by an expedition that had set out to search for the climbers' remains.
Name tags on the body's clothing bore the name of "G. Leigh Mallory".
The body was well preserved, due to the mountain's climate. A brass altimeter, stag-handled lambsfoot pocket knife with leather slip-case and an unbroken pair of snow-goggles were recovered from Mallory's corpse. The team could not, however, locate the camera that the two climbers took to document their final summit attempt.
Experts from Kodak have said that if a camera is ever found, there is some chance that its film could be developed to produce printable images.

The 5 part manga series "The summit of the Gods", is about this camera.
It follows Makoto Fukamachi, a photographer who finds a camera supposedly belonging to Mallory, and goes on a mountain-climbing adventure along with his friend Habu Joujii.

This series was exhilarating, adventurous, suspenseful. An absolutely wonderful mountaineering epic.
I was engrossed from start to finish, and I didn't want it to end.

The art was also marvelous. Many readers don't like Manga, because they associate it with big eyes and big mouths. But this wasn't like that at all. The art couldn't be more realistic. It felt like the most breathtaking, thrilling mountaineering movie I've ever seen.

I can't recommend it highly enough.

10/10

[Vladimir Veškovac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vrhunski strip.

[Ej Szwagier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doskonała. Niespieszna i budująca napięcie, jakie lubię i jakie fascynuje mnie w himalajskich opowieściach. Myślę jednak, że zdecydowanie nie dla osób, których ta tematyka nie porywa.

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mystery surrounding George Mallory, and Andrew Irvine's disappearance during their Everest ascent comes to the spotlight again, after the protagonist finds their camera years later in a pawn shop in Kathmandu.

Armed with beautiful illustrations, The Summit of the Gods is quite an enthralling read. I was slightly put off by the pacing midway into the volume. It is quite obvious, after reading the manga that the author had indeed done an extensive research regarding the field of mountaineering, by the details he has put in.

Those who love or are curious about mountain climbing, or just love suspense will surely enjoy this one.

[Rod Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book about a decade ago when the series was originally released (and may have it somewhere down in my basement) but did not have a chance to get the subsequent volumes. I now have all five on hand from the library and am ready to binge.

What I mostly remembered about this book over the intervening years is the artwork. Taniguchi magically transforms little comic book panels into IMAX screens, hanging you off the side of the world's highest mountains.

While the dialogue is a bit stiff, and this volume has several proofreading errors, the story does a pretty good job of living up to the art. In the 1990s we follow a photojournalist, Makoto Fukamachi, who thinks he may have stumbled across a clue in Kathmadu, Nepal, that could help solve the mysterious disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine during the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition. As he investigates, Fukumachi crosses paths with a mysterious and legendary Japanese mountain climber of the 1970s and '80s named Jouji Habu, who may be key to breaking the case.

The book is filled multiple literal cliffhangers as we follow Habu's early career and watch his obsessiveness drive him to spectacular heights while his bluntness alienates him from his fellow mountaineers.

[Hal Incandenza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non so nulla di scalate in montagna, niente, nada, zero.
Eppure questo adattamento a fumetti ad opera del Maestro Taniguchi dell’omonimo romanzo di Baku Yamemakura mi ha completamente catturato.
Non da subito, c’è voluto qualche capitolo per ambientarmi, ma dopo che parte con il racconto della vita di Habu Joji diventa una droga.

Il volume (primo di cinque tomi) è difficile da descrivere perché ancora non è chiarissimo dove la storia voglia andare a parare, ma al suo interno prende vita un insieme di mistero, filosofia, avventura e soprattutto amore per la montagna.
Un amore folle, ossessivo e quasi patologico, che ha spinto molti uomini alla morte pur di riuscire a sfidare la montagna e prima ancora se stessi.

Stupendo.

[Romain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je reproche parfois aux livres de Jiro Taniguchi d’être ennuyeux – je vais me faire incendier en disant cela. Son travail est toujours irréprochable sur tous les plans, mais pas toujours palpitant – voir Le sauveteur par exemple qui se déroulait lui aussi en montagne. Malgré la longueur conséquente de cette série ce n’est pas du tout le cas. L’histoire est prenante, presque addictive. Est-ce lié au fait qu’il s’agit de l’adaptation du roman éponyme de Baku Yumemakura ? Dans tous les cas, la recette de l’alpinisme en littérature fait mouche une fois de plus. Ces histoires illustrent à un tel point le dépassement de soi, le combat de l’humain contre la nature la plus hostile, la pureté d’une quête qui se résume à gravir une montagne pour pour arriver à son sommet, qu’elles bouleversent invariablement le lecteur. Ajoutez à cela les drames qui accompagnent immanquablement ces exploits et vous avez l’une des raisons qui fait que l’on a du mal à lâcher ce titre une fois commencé.

C’est le plus grand défi qu’un être humain puisse relever. Il faut bénéficier de la faveur de dieux pour accomplir une telle ascension. Il s’agit de pénétrer dans leur domaine et de remettre sa propre vie entre leurs mains.

La deuxième tient certainement aux charisme des personnages. Ici le portrait du sombre et extrême Habu Jôji est irrésistible. Toute cette matière est sublimée par le talent de Taniguchi. Une maîtrise parfaite dans les dessins – c’est évident –, mais aussi dans l’art de la bande dessinée dans toutes ses dimensions et vous obtenez ce qui se rapproche d’un petit – ou plutôt d’un gros – bijou composé de cinq gros tomes à avoir dans sa bibliothèque, ou à emprunter – c’est ce que j’ai fait.

P.-S.: Il n’aura échappé à personne que ce roman / manga a été adapté avec succès – a priori car je ne l’ai pas vu – au cinéma.

Également publié sur mon blog.

[Cécile Afrikian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voici un récit en cinq tomes que l'on dévore page après page, suivant à la fois une enquête digne de revoir certains faits historiques sur les alpinistes britanniques Irvin et Mallory qui avaient tenté l'Everest pour la 1ere fois, et suivant également cette personnalité forte et captivante qu'est Habu Joji. Sa force de caractère et sa détermination sont une magnifique leçon de vie. Respect et admiration nous tiennent compagnie tout ke long de l'histoire. On retient même son souffle sur certaines pages.
C'est également un bel hommage à tous ces hommes qui ont péri dans leur périple himalayen, mais aussi à tous ceux qui y ont survécu, car on se rend vite compte de la rudesse de la nature à de si hautes altitudes.
Ainsi, nous escaladons sous le froid et les tempêtes aux côtés des personnages si bien illustrés, page après page, le sommet le plus haut du monde, ke sommet des Dieux, et petit à petit, cette marche devient bien plus qu'une exploration himalayenne, elle nous mène sur les traces d'une véritable quête vers soi.
On en ressort plus grand, plus fort.

[Saturn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo libro è il primo dei cinque volumi che costituiscono La vetta degli dei. È dunque solo la prima parte di una storia di alpinismo che punta a ripercorrere la spedizione sull'Everest di Mallory e Irvine. Tutto inizia da un giovane fotografo che scioccato dalla morte di due alpinisti di cui seguiva la spedizione, si perde nelle strade di Kathmandu per imbattersi in una vecchia macchina fotografica. Dopo un incontro con l'alpinista Joji Habu decide di saperne di più sulla sua vita. E così con le varie esperienze narrate vediamo splendidi paesaggi di montagna intercalati da sguardi sui grattacieli di Tokyo. L'accuratezza e la cura per il dettaglio fanno sì che tutta la passione e il fascino della montagna venga trasmesso al lettore. In questo volume brillano le prime luci di una storia che potrà essere un vero gioiello e non vedo l'ora di continuare.

[Cam · Rating 5 out of 5]

+
Illustrations
Paysages & grands espaces
Scenario :
- Narration avec un format typé "enquête"
- Personnage déterminé

[Madeline Corlouer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vite la suite !!!

[Manish · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the enduring mysteries in the world of mountaineering is the one regarding George Mallory’s attempt to scale the peak in 1924. He never returned from the quest. But his body was dramatically recovered in 1999, largely preserved in ice. While most of his equipment was traced, the Kodak camera he carried was never to be found. Did he scale the peak and die on the way back? We might never know. But the question itself makes him such a romantic figure!

The missing camera becomes the starting point of this gem of a book. Fukamachi – a Japanese climber stumbles upon a similar camera in a store in Kathmandu that deals with stolen items. His quest to unearth the finder leads him to the main character of Volume 1 - Habu Joujii. Fukamachi, through interviews tries to piece together the temperamental Habu’s reckless career as a mountaineer and his efforts to scale never-attempted-before faces of the Alps.
The book had a good pace and what ultimately stood out was the breathtaking pencil work of the illustrator. I’ve never climbed a mountain and in all probability will never do so too. But with this book, I have caught glimpses of what it would be like to actually attempt scaling a peak!

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I might have to kill the person who lent this to me, because I just realized it's 5 volumes and I'm pretty sure most of them aren't translated into English yet. Gah!

But seriously, this is a suspenseful adventure story about the kind of insane daredevils who climb sheer rock walls in the middle of the winter, for kicks -- or for glory, or because it's there, I suppose. It's framed as a bit of a mystery though, Citizen Kane-style, with a photojournalist trying to track down the real story on a contemporary daredevil climber, in order to eventually get to the bottom of the mystery of an explorer who disappeared a long time ago. This is a manga adaptation of a prose novel, and I'm not sure how much of the story is based on historical fact, but the detail is certainly convincing.

The art is clear and beautifully rendered, if sometimes a little static, and it manages to give a real sense of what taking those risks is like (even as the reader sits safely at home).

[Géraldine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Très prenant. Son titre de "référence" est justifié! Par contre, dommage pour les 5 tomes qui rendent l'histoire trop onéreuse :(
***
Dans ce premier épisode on met en place les personnages et le début de l'intrigue. D'un côté la photographe qui va enquêter sur l'appareil photo, de l'autre Habu, sa personnalité atypique et ses premiers exploits au Japon.

[Sacha Declomesnil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best graphic novel ever written for hikers, rock climbers and mountain aficionados. a must read for any wannabe adventurer

[Soteralzobooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0

[Sandrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 étoiles à Jirô Tanigushi dont le trait est, comme d'habitude, parfait. Quelle que soit l'histoire, je suis fan de la minutie et de la précision du dessin. Je l'avais découvert avec Quartier Lointain et depuis, je ne m'en lasser pas.
Pour le Sommet des Dieux, n'étant pas une fan d'alpinisme, j'ai un peu plus de mal avec le contexte. La première partie à Katmandou m'a embarquée mais je m'attendais à un récit avec plus de punch.
Je ne connais pas le roman original et je comprends que les cinq tomes du manga vont retracer les exploits et luttes intérieures de Habu. Mais je n'aurai pas le courage d'aller au bout (ni le budget pour 4 autres hard back, avouons le !)
Ce fut donc une excellente lecture pour les dessins, une moins bonne pour le sujet (juste que ce n'est pas mon truc).
Si vous aimez Jirô Tanigushi, vous aimerez. Si, en plus, vous êtes fan d'alpinisme, vous allez adorer !
Pour ma part, je laisse le Sommet ici et j'irai vers Le Journal de mon Père dans quelques temps.

[Giorgio Gabrieli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alla montagna bisogna dare del lei.
Intrigante "giallo alpino" ambientato sul Sagarmatha (Everest). Spiega i principi della cordata, ascesa, discesa, storia dell'alpinismo e oltre, mentre si svolge alla moviola la vita di grandi scalatori.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gipfel der Götter aka Männer würde lieber beim Bergsteigen draufgehen als Therapie zu machen. Solider anspruchsvoller Manga mit sehr detaillierten Zeichnungen. Thema ist sehr nischig aber gerade das macht es irgendwie so interessant. Mal schauen ob die Folgebände mithalten können.

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't wait to pick the other volumes and read more about this. I'm quite obsessed with mountains and alpinism, so this was obviously made for me. The drawings are unbelievable.

[Celdema · Rating 2 out of 5]

Très bien dessiné mais c’est un livre entre couilles. Ça parle d’égo des hommes. Absolument pas ma tasse de thé.

[Soteralzobooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.1

[Graziana · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought this was standalone and couldn’t understand the cliffhanger wistful ending only to find out it’s one of 5 which is fun.

[Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ainda estou entrando na história mas acho que o alpinismo está acordando em mim...

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je n'aurais jamais pensé être autant investie dans une histoire de grimpe

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quel banger, je vais commencé à vraiment aimer les mangas à force de lire des pépites comme ça