Sartre


By Mathilde Ramadier & Anaïs Depommier, with supplemental colour by Nawelle Saidi and translated by Peter Russella (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-68112-101-7

Publisher NBM have struck a seam of pure gold with their growing line of European-created biographies. The latest release is certainly one of the most challenging yet, closely examining the life and career of one of the most influential and controversial figures of the 20th century.

Political activist Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (June 21 1905-April 15 1980) emerged from a mixture of humble and elevated ancestors, rejected religion, staunchly championed pure Marxism, wrote plays, novels, biographies, critiques and intellectual tracts to become one of France’s greatest literary and philosophical figures. He simultaneously refined and honed the rationalist disciplines of Phenomenology and Existentialism until they became arguably the major motivational forces of the era.

He also led a pretty racy and dangerous life…

Originally released in 2015 as Sartre – Une existence, des libertés, the introspective inspection of the man, his moments and his amazing fellows was lovingly crafted by lifelong friends Mathilde Ramadier (writer) and Anaïs Depommier (artist), and begins – after Introduction ‘A Philosopher’s Life’ by scholar Marc Crépon – with a detailed graphic genealogy all culminating in the arrival of the star of our piece: “A whole man, composed of all men and as good as all of them and no better than any”…

Sartre was an extraordinary mind in extraordinary times and ‘Part One: “I was never taught to be obedient”’ scrupulously traces – through small telling incidents and vignettes of conversation – his early years and relationships with fellow star academicians-in-waiting such as Simone de Beauvoir…

‘Part Two: “The Constellation of the Beaver”’ deconstructs the pre-war years and French occupation when Sartre and fellow writers such as Albert Camus turned their particular gifts into sustained acts of rebellion as publishers of Resistance newspapers and pamphlets, even as the shockingly open relationship with Simone pulled our unlikely hero in some very strange directions…

And all the while, Sartre’s ideas were crystallising, his works multiplied and his impact took him from Europe to all corners of the world. As social unrest and political iniquity became increasing important, a next generation matured in an increasingly totalitarian Gaullist France.

‘Part Three: “Passions and Impossibility”’ traces Sartre’s increasing global station and adherence to resistance of oppression – physical or intellectual – and culminates here with the how and why of his refusal of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964…

There’s an uncomfortable jump then to an ‘Epilogue’ set on Saturday, April 19th 1980 when all of Paris assembled to mourn his passing – which tempts me to believe a follow-up volume is in the offing – after which the bonus features start with text-essay ‘Summary of Events from 1964-1980′ before embellishing the overall learning experience with an illustrated list of the movers and shakers in ‘About those who stood alongside Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir’ and offering a ‘Selective Bibliography’ for further study…

Impassioned, engaging, sophisticate and perhaps just a little too intellectual in places (Yes; I Know! How can anything possibly be Too Intellectual?), Sartre is a superb entrée into the mind and world of an inveterate rebel. This enticing rendezvous with a singular creative individual is an unmissable treat for lovers of comics with more than mere flash and dazzle to recommend them.
© Dargaud 2015. © 2017 NBM for the English translation.
For more information and other great reads see http://www.nbmpub.com/