Christophe Blain

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This is a brilliant comic book about being at the sharp edge of diplomacy. Arthur Vlaminck is plucked from his almost-completed PhD to become speech-writer for the French Foreign Minister (the original title of the series is Quai d'Orsay, the location of the foreign ministry in Paris). The set-up is a very thinly disguised version of the 2002-04 period when the (barely pseudonymous) author was in fact speech-writer to the then French foreign show more minister Dominique de Villepin. There are a couple of characters who I think I recognise from their real-life counterparts.

The fictional Alexandre Taillard de Vorms is a monstrous figure, convinced of his own greatness (and convincing to those around him as well), and perpetually reaching for meaningless phrases from ancient Greek philosophers to buttress his jumbled but passionate rhetoric. Vlaminck must rewrite every speech at least twice in response to ministerial whim, and the rest of his life gets put on hold. My sense is that de Villepin is much less monstrous, but I have met enough people of that seniority to recognise that Taillard de Vorms is a credible amalgam of the extremes of personality who gravitate to the political top. And even putting that aside, the depiction of a group of different individuals, including both bureaucrats and political appointees, reacting to crisis after crisis (sometimes self-inflicted) is very realistic. The drumbeat of politics is leavened by references to Tolkien, Star Wars and Metallica, and the whole thing is carried off very well. I am recommending it to senior diplomatic contacts. show less

Really excellent and accessible book that explains our worldwide addiction to cheap energy, and how the use of oil has transformed our society in the last 2 centuries.

For those who are energy blind (and most people are), this book is eye-opening. It also looks critically at so-called renewable energy. The conclusion is that fighting climate change will not be possible without reducing consumption significantly, and without organizing things more locally again.

Why not 5 stars? Because the show more ending is - implicitly - way too optimistic, and by way of solution Jean-Marc Jancovici has not much more to say than nuclear will help, and your individual consumer choices are important. How to achieve this politically isn't tackled, as reducing consumption will not happen voluntarily on any meaningful scale. As for the nuclear card, Jancovici remains silent on how to electrify the remaining 80% of our global energy use. Even if we consume way less, he probably knows that electrifying everything is practically not feasible. He shows he understands that doing so would emit huge amounts of green house gasses too.

I think the book would have hit harder if they had cut its last pages, and just stuck to the diagnosis: cheap energy has allowed us to get into a situation of overpopulation and overconsumption, which is quickly destroying our own ecological niche.

Be that as it may, it is mandatory reading for anybody with an interest in climate change, and also available in French, Dutch, Polish and German.

More non-fiction reviews on Weighing A Pig show less

What a delightful confection! A book by Christophe Blain about the working life of Alain Passard, chef-owner of the 3* Parisian restaurant, L'Arpège.

Envy Christophe Blain, getting to work closely with Passard for 3 years - observing the inner workings of the kitchen, visiting the country gardens, questioning the great man, and, of course, getting to eat phenomenal food.

The book is a series of vignettes, mostly revolving around a recipe or two, but sometimes there'll be a depiction of a show more discussion, or an incident. There's little narrative, little drama. But I found it a very satisfying and interesting book.

The thing that really carries it for me is that you get a good insight into Passard's character and philosophy. It may just be a tossed off aside at the end of a recipe, but I really felt like I got a sense of the man and his cooking.

Blain's art is lighter, and more spacious than it normally is (few panel borders, for example) and it works well for this book.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend buying this book purely for the recipes - unless this kinda stuff is really your thing (i.e., mostly very showy vegetable dishes) - for anyone with an interest in food, restaurants and comics it's a great read. show less

This book is likely as close as many of us will ever get to dining at Alain Passard's Arpège in Paris, France where the lunch is €175 and the tasting menus range from €320 to €390 (prices as of March 2018). The book does provide recipes for a selection of Arpège menu items though, so you can always attempt to recreate the experience in your own home. Of course you won't have the benefit of an army of chefs and gardeners to support you but you can always use your imagination!

The most show more charming part of this graphic novel was actually the visit to the Arpège garden in the Sarthe and the extensive tour and history provided by the gardener Sylvain. It was a portrait of work even further behind the scenes than the kitchen itself. There is a nice running gag over the 8 pages where artist Blain tries to recall which American actor's appearance is similar to Sylvain's.

The drawings by Christophe Blain were entertaining and often humorous and gave a good sense of the entire operation. I found out about this unique graphic novel/recipe book from reading Christophe Ribbat's "In the Restaurant: Society in Four Courses" from Shakespeare and Company's 2018 Year of Reading subscription. show less