L’homme en mouvement, de l’auteur Patrick Straumann.
A biography generally tells the story of a person who has made an impact on his or her environment and society. Why, then, take the time to write a book about the existence of a completely unknown individual, who passes through life like a ghost?
Paul Reichstein, “l’homme en mouvement (the man in motion)”, is the enigmatic great-uncle of the author, journalist Patrick Straumann. The latter has carried out an extensive research to find out more about this “black sheep” of the family.
Why “black sheep”? Because Paul was born into a talented family, one of whose brothers, Tadeus (nicknamed Tajik), even won the Nobel Prize in collaboration with two Americans for having succeeded in isolating cortisone. His other brothers all went on to earn degrees that launched them into life. Except Paul, who is interested in everything, but quickly tires of one subject or one place.
Paul was born in Kiev in 1905 and spent his youth in Switzerland, specifically Zurich. He went everywhere, but only briefly. We find him in Russia, where he witnessed the return of the survivors of the Chelyuskin icebreaker . He worked in a tractor factory during the Stalin era and also became a mountaineering instructor where he climbed very high mountains for the glory of the Stalinist regime. (See also “Les alpinistes de Staline” on my blog).
He also joined the US Navy as a soldier. He managed to be expelled twice from Switzerland, did a stint in prison, sailed the Pacific Ocean working for the merchant navy, sold land and cabins in Anchorage, Alaska, and worked for several months in a mine in Chile, before making a detour to Australia.
He was hospitalized for accidents in Rochester, Oakland and Yokohama. We also follow him to San Francisco, Baltimore, Palm Springs, the banks of the Volga, Pusan, Seoul, China and the Philippines.
He died in 1995 and, having outlived all his brothers, there were only a dozen people at his funeral who didn’t know what to say about this elusive “man in motion”.
In 140 pages, the author succeeds in painting a generous, non-judgmental portrait of this great-uncle. Paul’s troubles and wanderings make this man very endearing.
Click on the link for more biographies on my blog.
Graphic novel “Deux filles nues” by Luz edited by Albin Michel.
German painter Otto Mueller created the painting “Deux filles nues (Two nude girls)” in 1919. Through an artwork which survived turbulent times, the reader follows a changing Germany. He also gets to know the different art dealers.
At the beginning of the book, the author uses a great deal of imagination to introduce us to the life of the Mueller couple. The painter died in 1930 and the painting changed hands for the first time three years later. At that time, inflation was raging in Germany, and the dissatisfaction of the population led to the appointment of Adolf Hitler to the chancellorship by Hindenburg.
Between 1933 and 1946, the painting miraculously survived censorship and the destruction of works deemed degenerate by the Nazis. Thousands of works of modern German art were set on fire by the authorities.
Pogroms spread across Germany. Jewish-owned paintings were seized. When the Gestapo forced part of Ismar Littmann’s (German link, English link) collection to be auctioned off , it selected 64 works, 53 of which were immediately burned.
During the same period, a traveling exhibition entitled “Entartete Kunst” (“Degenerate Art”) was commissioned by Joseph Goebbels, and 730 works traveled between Munich and other major German cities. Ironically, this degenerate art ended up attracting three times as many visitors as acceptable German craftsmanship, whose works were displayed in nearby buildings.
A page from the graphic novel “Deux filles nues” by Luz edited by Albin Michel.
Until 1946, the painting “Deux filles nues” changed ownership several times, and continued to survive the bombings, organized destruction and art thefts carried out by the Nazis.
After the war, the painting’s name was changed from Zwei Mädchenakte (“Two Nude Girls”) to Zwei weibliche Halbakte (“Two Female Half-Nudes”) and toured Germany and the world. In 1976, it was exhibited at the Ludwig Museum in Cologne. Former owners Ruth and Chaim Haller were finally reunited with their painting in 1999. Ruth is the daughter of Ismar Littmann, mentioned at the beginning of this article.
The museum officially returned the work to the owners, but in the same year made an offer to buy it back, which was accepted by the Hallers. Today, the painting can be found in the Expressionist section of Cologne’s Ludwig Museum.
Through his considerable research and the publication of his graphic novel, the author underlines the importance of remaining alert to the political and cultural censorship that regularly resurfaces.
The book ends with a chronology of events and biographies of the main characters. The author goes to great lengths not to show us what the painting “Two Naked Girls” looks like, until we’re practically at the end of the story! A very clever way of keeping our curiosity alive.
The graphic novel: La fortune de Poutine (Putin’s fortune).
This graphic novel in French on Putin’s fortune recounts the events surrounding Vladimir Putin‘s rise to power and the establishment of his personal fortune. The latter is built through the exfiltration of colossal sums belonging to the Russian people, which are redirected to shell companies and tax havens.
As the story spans several decades, the reader becomes familiar with a multitude of company names and key political and economic figures.
As in the case of other major powers, there are also political and economic wheeling and dealing.
Russia’s power structure differs from that of the West. Relationships with the president play a much more important role than in the West. Benefits are granted in exchange for unwavering loyalty. The links between Silvio Berlusconi and Putin are just one example.
The scale of outflows of money from Russia for discreet purposes is astonishing. To cite just one example, the author notes the creation of Operation Luch (a capital flight estimated at $50 billion) in 1990 to counter the changes brought about by Gorbachev. This involved dipping into secret KGB funds abroad to enrich a fund that could be used to ensure the survival of the party and other vested interests.
“Since Putin came to power, the total amount of dirty money taken out of Russia and laundered through Western banks has been at least $1,000,000,000 (one thousand billion dollars)!
So, the West’s hands are not clean when it comes to what’s going on in Russia. When there’s quick money to be made and shareholders expect an unreasonable balance sheet, virtue takes a back seat to practicality. European accomplices include Danske Bank (Denmark), SEB and Swedbank (Sweden), Crédit Suisse, Banca Intesa (Italy), Deutsche Bank Russia, Appleby-Estera (offshore services firm), Cyprus (financial services firms), Price Waterhouse Coopers.
The reader also notes the accumulation of suicides by all kinds of officials over the years. For example, the author notes the disguised suicides of Nikolai Kruchina, Georgy Pavlov and Dimitri Lissovolik. These men, with their precarious balance, all had the annoying habit of taking the air on a balcony too high for their capacity. The KGB doubted the reliability of these men, who managed the party’s secret funds in the West.
Poisoning (with the poison Novitchok) is also a favored method for ironing out political differences. But this state of affairs is already well known to Westerners, as most failed or successful operations are the subject of numerous articles in the media. For example, this was the case for Navalny and Skripal. For Yushchenko, the winner of the Ukrainian presidential elections, dioxin was used but the source was not confirmed.
Under Putin, the oligarchs can keep the fortunes acquired through the many privatizations, but there is no longer any question of them interfering in political affairs. The book also looks at the deteriorating relationship between Putin and oligarchs such as Berezovsky (found hanged in his London bathroom) and Khodorkovsky.
If a devoted collaborator changes sides, at best he can survive by leaving the country and remaining apolitical. Otherwise, his plane may explode in flight, as in the case of Prigozhin.
The book shows how Ivan Rybkyn, a political opponent of Putin’s in 2004, withdrew after an impromptu van ride. It seems that he was seized and forced into the vehicle. This experience and the likely discussions that took place during the ride were enough to convince the candidate that he wasn’t really cut out for politics.
A page from the graphic novel “La fortune de Poutine”.
In the 90s, the Tambov mafia clan protected Putin and Sobchak and helped run the port of St. Petersburg. This did not prevent a “road accident” involving Vladimir Putin’s daughters and wife. Those dissatisfied with their share of the cake raised the stakes, and Putin had to bring the families together to work things out between them. Pragmatically, he sent his daughters to Germany for their safety. The legal guardian was Matthias Warnig, a former STASI officer.
The author points out that Russian money was used to influence the Brexit result (51.89%), this with the aim of weakening Europe. Then, as we already know, Russia influenced the voting result in key US states to help elect Donald Trump.
The graphic novel ends with a documentary dossier, with photos, drawings and references for those who want more information.
What about Putin’s fortune? According to the authors’ research, it’s between 150 and 250 billion euros.
The “Carcajou (Wolverine in English)” graphic novel is one of the best buys I’ve made this year. The authors have created an almost perfect work, in terms of scenario, graphics and colors.
The vast forests of Alberta, a large province in western Canada, provide the backdrop for this tale. The reader meets a number of colorful characters trying to make their way in this wild environment. Not everyone has what it takes to adapt, but that’s the reality of life in the developing outback.
By 1895, Alberta was attracting gold prospectors and businessmen interested in oil development. Some territories were acquired more or less ethically, and the natives lost out. However, their ancestral beliefs persisted despite injustice and unequal power relations.
The authors tackle a number of significant themes in the development of Canada’s history: the lack of respect shown to First Nations, the harmful effects of alcohol in remote areas, the courage and tenacity required of women to impose respect, the violence caused by firearms, and a police force that sometimes gets involved in crime.
All these aspects developed by less talented authors would produce a negative storyline. The genius of the authors is to have developed the story in a very dynamic way, while still conveying essential messages. There’s no real break in the action. The plot keeps the reader on his toes right to the end.
I loved the characters and clever plot of “Carcajou” and recommend this superb work to graphic novel fans.
Novel cover “Dans le ventre de Klara” by Régis Jauffret
[For the presentation of this book published in French, I did my best to translate some sentences in English, but a professional translation would have better reflect the quality of Régis Jauffret’s writing].
“In July 1888, around Saint James’s Day, Uncle made me pregnant”. So begins Régis Jauffret‘s novel “Dans le ventre de Klara” (In Klara’s Belly) , that master of punchlines and synthesis. The Klara in question is Klara Hitler, who at the time of the story is carrying within her an Adolf Hitler already capable of infusing her on occasion with visions of the disaster he would orchestrate years later.
The author has found a unique way to position Klara’s terrible premonitions in the text. They are suddenly imposed in the midst of the mother-to-be’s daily reveries, often right in the middle of a paragraph or sentence.
In this tale of fact and fiction, the wife must stay in her place and hope for nothing. The writer has Klara say: “I’m afflicted with the mania of hoping for something other than my fate“. The husband decides everything. The local church’s confessor would love to have as much control as the spouse, but this proves more difficult than expected. The husband and abbot are a good example of the excessive power they wield over women in this era. A military officer with little combat experience who dictates his conduct to his wife as if she were a soldier, and a fanatical abbot who imposes the arbitrary rules of a sickening religion, enslaving women and imposing his dogmas on couples from a distance.
Back cover of the novel “Dans le ventre de Klara” by Régis Jauffret
Speaking of God and women, the author writes: “A Christian woman must bear children, help to populate the Earth He has given us as a theater for our sins”. And when Klara finds herself back in the confessional and being chastised by the priest: “Far from the voice of Christ gone, it was now Abbé Probst who was busy putting me through the wringer of language. Sentences as long as straps. Words as heavy and blunt as bludgeons. Subtle, sharp words, in places bristling with reddened spikes. Punctuation like broken glass […].” You get the idea…
I particularly appreciate Régis Jauffret’s writing, having read many of his works, including “La ballade de Rikers Island“, “Le dernier bain de Gustave Flaubert“, “Papa” and the three volumes entitled Microfictions, published respectively in 2007, 2018 and 2022. He even won the Goncourt short story award for the 2018 edition.
Régis Jauffret explains the intention behind his latest novel in a video on Youtube, if you’re interested in digging deeper into the subject.
The novel “Un monde au-delà des hommes” by Catherine Hermary-Vieille.
The novel ” Un monde au-delà des hommes” will be of particular interest to readers whose knowledge of early Antarctic expeditions is limited. If you don’t know whether Norway’s Roald Amundsen or Britain’s Robert Scott reached the South Pole in Antarctica first, don’t do the research before opening this book. You’ll find it much more interesting.
In the days of the great conquests of the planet’s uncharted territories, explorers risked their lives for the glory of their country. Here, Norway and Great Britain race to reach the South Pole first.
This historical novel runs to just 134 pages, allowing the author to concentrate on the essentials. She has divided the book into two parts. The first focuses on Amundsen, the second on Scott. The two men used very different methods to achieve their ends. At the beginning of the book, she includes a map showing the routes chosen by each team and the stopovers they agreed on.
Author Catherine Hermary-Vieille discusses the preparation of the journey, the strategic choices made regarding objectives, the obstacles encountered along the way, not to mention the mental attitude adopted by each explorer and the members of the expedition.
Back cover of the novel “Un monde au-delà des hommes” by Catherine Hermary-Vieille.
On this trip, one of the two expedition leaders will use sledge dogs as their main means of transport, while the other will try to make progress with mules. One will have only one objective in mind, the other will have several goals to achieve. One will behave as a flexible leader, the other will be more intransigent. The choices and attitude of each explorer will have a direct impact on the success of the expedition.
It’s worth noting that the two competitors don’t start their journey to Antarctica at the same time, so there’s an imbalance right from the start as to when they’ll arrive at the South Pole. But even so, once you know this, there’s still a frozen continent to cross, men to feed, crevasses to avoid and frostbite to treat. You also have to be able to come back alive.
A novel like this can be read in a day. We can forgive a few sketchy descriptions and even a small error like the one on page 19, where the name of the Inuit dog “Funcha” appears twice in the list. These distractions don’t detract from the intensity of the story. These are, after all, the stories of men who went to the very end of themselves for the glory of their country.
Today, we’re witnessing a similar race between countries to send humans to the planet Mars. Which country will get there first? And once it gets there, will it have the right to claim a planet for itself at the expense of Earth’s other humans?
Click on the link for more biography books on my blog.
Through drawings and superb photographs, this graphic novel recounts the events that contributed to the creation of Magnum, the famous international photography agency.
Before Magnum, there were only photographers trying to make a name for themselves and earn a meagre living in the face of media giants like Time. These big companies reframed original images, did not recognize copyright and made gigantic profits on the backs of photographers like Robert Capa, David “Chim” Seymour, Gerda Taro, Henri Cartier-Bresson and George Rodger. It was in reaction to this abuse that these photographers created the new agency.
The book makes us aware of the enormous risks involved in bringing back images of the world’s various conflicts. Robert Capa and Gerda Taro lost their lives in the heat of the action.
A page from the graphic novel “Magnum Generations”.
Magnum’s evolution, its internationalization and the change in its primary vocation are brought to life. From an initial focus on war coverage, photographers gradually turned to diversifying their activities, to accommodate the specific needs of both the media and film productions.
The agency now protects them from abuse. However, photographers remain mindful of the need of support from contractors to survive financially. Still, they reserve some leeway for pure creativity, depending on each photographer’s personality and the mood of the day.
Keeping this agency alive, made up of professionals with different ambitions, is no small task. There are crises, schisms and reinventions, all essential to the evolution of this internationally renowned institution.
For those who know nothing about Magnum, this graphic novel offers a very accessible first approach.
The graphic novel “Jours de sable” by Aimée de Jongh.
The graphic novel “Jours de sable” is a historical reminder of the famous Dust Bowl which struck the central United States between 1930 and 1940. These were ten years of misery that inspired John Steinbeck for his work “The Grapes of Wrath“.
Add to these factors linked to the economic crisis and multiple epidemics, and we can understand the mass exodus of American households. They left everything behind, including many family members who died of dust-related respiratory complications. Most headed for the West Coast, but this massive influx of people only served to increase the region’s already high unemployment.
A page from the graphic novel “Jours de sable”.
The strangest thing is that, decades later, the climate changes experienced today in these same states could help to repeat the phenomenon, without it necessarily covering such a long period.
Author Aimée de Jongh uses fictional characters, but the scenario respects the reality experienced by the population. In her story, a young photographer leaves New York in 1937 to report on the Dust Bowl. He has been briefed on the subjects to be covered, but soon realizes that he is dealing with a human tragedy of unsuspected proportions.
The main character in the graphic novel tries to do his job in the sandstorm.
Asking suffering people who have lost everything to pose for the New York media was not as simple as he had thought. The situation becomes even more complicated when he gets to know these people and experiences their difficulties first-hand.
In addition to the deftly drawn panels that delight the reader, there are plenty of period photos gleaned from various museums, as well as official historical content. I loved this award-winning book.
Dornier DO X stops its engines on a Swiss lake with Microsoft’s flight simulator
Microsoft has made the famous German Dornier DO X seaplane available to flight simulation enthusiasts. Designed in 1929 by Claude Dornier, this seaplane far surpassed anything else on the market at the time, in terms of weight, length and power.
Flyingboat Dornier DO X.
Unfortunately, the Germans couldn’t make a commercial success of it, as the aircraft was really too heavy to cover long distances at high altitude in an economical way. What’s more, bad experiences were piling up during the various stopovers: the left-wing canvas caught fire in Portugal, there was some problems with tropical weather, the tail was torn off during a poorly-planned ditching in Passau. What remains of the empennage after the accident can now be seen in the Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen.
The Germans built the three DO X models at Altenheim, on the Swiss side of Lake Constance, to get round the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.
Inside the flyingboat Dornier DO X with Microsoft flight simulator
One crew member was in charge of controlling and monitoring the engines. He obeyed the captain’s instructions.
Dornier DO X engine control
Dornier DO X engine room with Microsoft flight simulator
The layout of the engines caused headaches for the mechanics. Six propellers pulled the aircraft forward, while another six pushed the DO X. The engines driving the rear propellers received less air than those in front of the aircraft. This led to cooling problems, which reduced reliability on long-distance flights.
Dornier DO-X flyingboat over the Atlantic ocean with MSFS 2020 flight simulator.
The seaplane made its first test flight from Lake Constance (Bodensee) in 1929. Below, a screenshot of the flight near Lake Brienz in Switzerland.
Dornier DO X flyingboat over Lake Brienz in Switzerland with Microsoft flight simulator.
On its international routes, the DO X made stopovers in several European countries, Africa, South America, Miami, New York and Newfoundland. At the time, Newfoundland was not yet part of Canada. Newfoundlanders issued a stamp to commemorate the plane’s passage through Hollyrod. Naturally, those who kept a copy of the stamp have seen its value rise sharply over the years.
This legendary seaplane is still admired by aviation enthusiasts today. It’s available as a glue-on model, a desktop model and even as a remote-controlled model.
While in L’Islet, a stop at the Musée maritime du Québec is a must. Above, the icebreaker Ernest Lapointe, responsible for clearing the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Trois-Rivières for 37 years.
The Bras d’Or hydrofoil at the Musée de l’Islet
Also on the grounds is the famous HMCS Bras d’Or. This hydrofoil was created in Canada during the Cold War to monitor Canadian waters against possible Soviet submarine intrusion. As this museum boat explains, “it was compulsory to have a dual pilot’s licence for aircraft and navigation in order to operate this self-supporting winged craft“.
HMCS Onondaga submarine museum in Pointe-au-Père, Québec 2023
A little further east, we reach Pointe-au-Père, in the Rimouski region. Here you’ll find Canada’s only submarine museum.Visitors can tour the interior of the HMCS Onondaga, used until 2000. Travelers pass through 17 stations to learn about life aboard a submersible.
Inside the canadian submarine HMCS Onondaga in Pointe-au-Père
The mechanic worked for periods of two months at a time, monitoring the engines in this noisy, diesel-smelling environment. A German spy disembarking from a submarine at night in Gaspésie was spotted in a bus because it smelled strongly of diesel.
Empress of Ireland museum in Pointe-au-Père, Québec 2023
Above, a shot of one of the rooms in the Museum of the Empress of Ireland. Her sinking in the St. Lawrence River was the second most costly in human lives after the Titanic. Among all the objects recovered from the wreck is this porcelain skeleton that one of the passengers had in his cabin.
