Burma Chronicles

I'm a pretty easy sell on thoughtful graphic novels (see my star-blitzes on Y: The Last Man, or the Buddha series). As Woody Allen would say, I don't just love this genre. I loaf it. I lub it.

Anyway, The Burma Chronicles struck an extra-tender chord, since it realistically portrays the Expat Life (oh, expat life). Author Guy Delisle accompanies his wife, who works for Doctors Without Borders, to Burma. Along the way, he plays stay-at-home dad to their adorable, peanut-head-shaped baby son, he teaches an informal animation class to some Burmese comic artists, and we learn a LOT about the regime.

The book is divided into ultra-short vignettes, often not lasting more than a page or two. These vignettes illuminate one specific part of life there: the AC/heat, Aung Sun Suu Kyi (who pops up again and again), the Australian Club, and so on. Delisle's voice (and drawing style) is straightforward, honest, acerbic and deft. He brings out illuminating details, such as... well, I can't think of one right now (I'm not having a very deft moment!). But just trust me.

As such, it's a quick read that brings your blood to a low simmer from time to time. I already imagined Burma as a place whose beauty and charms were still masking a brutal regime, and Delisle confirms that. But he reminds us again and again that we can't forget about the regime because of the charms.