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Graphic novels and comics

The graphic novel « Une saison à l’ONU ».

The graphic novel: "Une saison à l'ONU"
The graphic novel: “Une saison à l’ONU”

The graphic novel “Une saison à l’ONU” (A season at the UN) makes it easy to understand the various challenges facing the UN, this necessary organization, but one that is largely hampered in its interventions.

International crises and the complexity of day-to-day political maneuvering are not lost on the author, who nevertheless chooses to adopt a light-hearted tone to keep the reader’s interest throughout the book. Funny stories, humor and confidences alternate to bring the story to life.

We all know how difficult it is for the UN to pass resolutions. There is pressure from all sides and the use of veto powers. As a North American, I hear more about the use of the veto by Russia or China than by the United States. The author puts a figure on the use of veto by all the major powers and the result is surprising.

The reader gains a better understanding of the grammatical mastery and compromises required to ensure that a note from the UN receives international approval. You have to know how to dilute and spare sensitivities if you want to be able to publish without generating too much opposition.

In short, “Une saison à l’ONU” is a graphic novel full of interesting and relevant real-life stories. The book demystifies some of the UN’s activities in New York as well as abroad.

Click on the link for more graphic novels on my blog.

Title: A Season at the UN

Author: Karim Lebhour and Aude Massot

Publisher: Steinkis

© 2022

ISBN: 978-2-36846-610-3

Categories
Graphic novels and comics

Environnement toxique (Ducks)

"Environnement toxique" by Kate Beaton
“Environnement toxique” by Kate Beaton

To pay off her student debts quickly, Kate Beaton, a young Nova Scotia resident, decided in 2005 to go and work in northern Alberta for oil companies exploiting the tar sands. At the time, this trip west was popular with Canadians looking for a lucrative job. So she left the paradisiacal landscapes of Cape Breton to plunge into the world of Syncrude and Shell in Fort McMurray.  

It was then that she realized what life was like on construction sites occupied mostly by men far from their families, many of whom had behavioral problems. Wherever she found herself, she suffered harassment in the form of derogatory remarks, insults, and eventually sexual assaults.

For these workers, loneliness and survival take on a completely different meaning than for the rest of the male employees in these isolated posts.

A multi-talented storyteller and cartoonist, Kate Beaton published a graphic novel in 2023 describing her experiences. She denounces “a harsh and complex system, which exploits natural resources as coldly as it does human beings”.

“Toxic Environment” is less about the destruction of habitat caused by tar sands mining than about the toxic working environment endured by the few women working on these sites.

Time Magazine, The Guardian and The New Yorker hailed this graphic novel, which also happened to be the winner of the Canada Reads 2023 contest.  It was published in English under the title “Ducks“, probably to remember all those ducks caught in the oil that made headlines at the time.

Click on the link for other graphic novels on my blog.

Happy reading!

Title: Environnement toxique (Ducks in English)

Author: Kate Beaton

Publisher: Casterman, for the French version

ISBN: 978-2-203-24223-4 (French version)

©2023