Recommendation: Kiki från Montparnasse

Title: Kiki från Montparnasse

Original title: Kiki de Montparnasse

By: Catel Muller & José-Loius Boucquet

Language: Swedish (French) 

369 pages, b&w, hardcover

ISBN: 978-91-86509-07-1

I've taken a summer break from reviewing/recommending the best comics out there, but now it's time to dive right into the pile of books that has accumulated here during the last few months. And what better way to start than with the biggest, most massive graphic novel to be published in Swedish this year (so far...): Kiki från Montparnasse (Kiki from Montparnasse). 

 

There's so much I'd like to say about this book, but let's start with the most important part: it's good, it's really, really good. There are so many biographies in the comics format out there, and many are hindered by too much emphasis on the didactic side of such endeavours and/or trying to squeeze too much information into too few pages. Kiki från Montparnasse suffers from none of this, as the author and artist have both taken their time to tell a good story and let it take the number of pages it requires (almost 400...).

I might say a few words about what the book is all about... It's the life story of Alice Prin, more known as Kiki from Montparnasse, artist, singer and actress but most famous for being the model and muse of so many great artists in Paris during the "roaring 20s". Picasso, Duchamp and Cocteau were among her admirers. The one artist that she became closest to was Man Ray, whose famous photo of her adorns the cover to the book (or rather a drawing of the same).

The book follows Prin's/Kiki's life chronologically, but divides it into sections/chapters, variously depicting a longer or shorter part of her life, using different storytelling techniques, sometimes only hinting at important events, sometimes elaborating on smaller, more private moments. The time elapsed between chapters also varies from a few weeks to several years. This gives the book a vigour that a more "straight" biography would not have achieved.

The style of the book is simplistic but never too much so. The black and white drawings tell the story and convey emotions, but they never clutter the panels full of details (except in the splash-page redrawing of a famous photo of the participants of a big party) a fact that makes the narrative flow easily, so easily that you read this massive book surprisingly quick.

All in all, I'm enamoured with this book, as you have probably gathered by now.  It gives a good insight into an interesting person's life as well as into an interesting time in history, but it is also a good read, with a strong sense for both drama and nuances in the inner life of the main characters, making the book a page turner. So, what are you waiting for, go out and get a copy! It's available in French, English and now also in Swedish.