Ailefroide : a life lesson

 Hi Charlie, 

today I wanted to tell you about a comic book called Aile Froide by Marc Rochette. 

This comic book tells the story of Marc Rochette, a young man whose dream is to become a mountain guide. L'Ailefroide is one of the highest, if not the highest summit of the Ecrins mountain. In this story, Ailefroide is the protagonists ultimate goal. It almost becomes an obsession.

I think this story is important to read because there is a constant parallel between climbing and accessing your goals in life. It is indeed a very metaphorical book, with a strong sense of symbolism. The first thing Rochette teaches us is to accept failing. Indeed, he tells the story of a man, himself, who has not reached his biggest ambition. But in the end he accepts it, as if it was part of the game. He even makes failing a beautiful moment, or at least something enriching.

The second thing I liked in Rochette's writing is his innocence. Indeed, he relates simple but utterly comforting childhood scenes, with his best friend when they were missing class to climb around Grenoble. A scene that particularly affected me is when Rochette goes to the museum and meets Soutine's painting "Le Boeuf écorché" (picture below). This image is present all along the story through flashbacks, as something that led him to start drawing and writing comics. This shows how a work of art can affect an entire life. There is also a strong sense of echoing when Rochette is injured because of climbing and when he thinks about the boeuf écorché's redness. 

 

A metaphor I also liked is the shopping list : Marc Rochette has a shopping list of its own, that is a list of climbing routes he has to achieve before become a guide. But in the end, sorry for spoiling you, Rochette never completes his shopping list. This led me to question the link between dreams and happiness, as Rochette doesn't achieve his dreams but finds a lot of happiness in comic books writing. 

It's also a book about nature : indeed, the mountain is the central element of this comic book, it is almost the protagonist. The mountain is described as great, impressive, suffocating, reassuring... It is an ongoing personification of natural elements. Even the wind, the sun, the sky are genuine characters. 

The drawings are also very interesting. They are simple but they convey a real emotion, they are elaborated enough to transmit the atmosphere to the reader and allow him or her to feel the same as the protagonist does. The black lines, very present, also give a sharp impression, which recalls the sharp aspect of the mountain. The colors are very vivid, which emphasizes our emotion. There is a lot of red and blue, which is in my opinion a reference to Soutine. 

Finally, I recommend this book to anyone who loves climbing. To anyone who's afraid of not achieving his or her dreams. Finally, I would like to recommend this book to everyone...

Bye Charlie