We know almost nothing about him. He worked in the trade, but not in a hurry and he likes women but prefers to live alone and is a gourmet, but he appreciates above all simple cooking class neighborhoods ... This man, c is the gourmet solitaire. Designed by Masayuki Kusumi, this unusual character comes to life under the pen of Jiro Taniguchi, a story mode similar to the Walking Man: each story leads him to taste a dish so typically Japanese reviving buried memories in him, the emergence of new thoughts or arousing of furtive encounters. And a visit to a sushi bar in the middle of the afternoon makes one see the eye of another innocent housewives who frequent the place, or does he realize, at the game of Base- ball, toning of curry ... Le Gourmet Solitaire is a delicacy in the work of Taniguchi.
Notice Emmanuel
For this first critical Manga / Graphic Novel / Comics Jiro Taniguchi, one of the authors mangas "seriousness" of the most recognized in France since its prices in 2003 Quarter Faraway seemed a good choice. This is all that his comics are structurally very "literary" in their narrative and their organization (chapters, many voix-off/intérieures ...). But although it was published by an author consensual Le Gourmet Solitaire is a strange UFO that I enjoyed eating.
In practice, Le Gourmet Solitaire the form of short chapters (I want to tell stories), the culinary travels in Japan every day a salesman well known little state civilian, but throughout the book, a lot of food tastes and state of mind.
The title of each chapter consists of the name of the dish that serves as heroes, together with the conditions under which it will be tasted (traditional restaurant, market, baseball game ...). His conduct is not much more wanted: the Gourmet hungry, it reflects more or less time that his situation should encourage him to eat, buy / order, analyzes its food before, during and after tasting and often completes his thoughts on leaving the restaurant on a more general or philosophical thinking.
Both the substance and form, then one can not help but draw a parallel with the famous first sip of beer Philippe Delerm our country, everyone took pleasure in discovering and then to denigrate ( as befits a book written just around a simple idea that pleases the greatest number). And indeed, the first new offering the same impressions of pleasure and banality mixed. However, whether the design allows more show and less talk and describe, or that Taniguchi (and Kusumi, co-writer) are actually more talented than Delerm (or both), positive impressions are growing over the pages, finding more unexpected resonances in the fields of history, especially social and tourism (the neophyte that I learned a lot and understood by reading the footnotes to the page that abound in the book) so much so that I finished the book at the moment and so surreal seated alone in a buffet Sino-Vietnamese-Japanese-Correena!
To read or not?
Certainly if you are yourself gourmet (JB you validate my membership in this category?), For curiosities graphico-literary, or simply lovers Japan and Japanese literature.
It should be noted however that the French reader probably can not appreciate Le Gourmet Solitaire like a Japanese player, as the rules and traditions surrounding food there appear different from ours, although in least as ritualized. Not to mention the wider cultural dimension. Finally
and against all odds, is actually a tourist guide that Le Gourmet Solitaire could prove most valuable, lighting offered on certain neighborhoods in several cities and regions in Japanese and Japanese cuisine does certainly having nothing to par with a good old backpacker's guide!
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