genre: graphic non-fiction, memoir
Didier Lefèvre was a French photographer who chose to accompany a Doctors Without Borders team into war-torn Afghanistan. He chose to go as to witness, to record the work these professionals do in the barest of circumstances. His journey is illustrated in a graphic-novel format, heavily interspersed with his original photographs and contact sheets. It is a harrowing experience, both the getting to the hospital as well as the way home and throughout Didier is frank about his choices as well as the mishaps that befall him. It's like another world, this Afghanistan, seen through our photographers eyes and lens.
It's long. It's eye-opening. It especially makes Afghanistan real, it puts a face on its people and reminds us of their humanity. We see the eyes of their children and grandpa's. We have to face the corruption of some and the innocence of others. It's a complicated place and Didier as a complicated experience but overall, what the book does is take us to a desert world that would otherwise be unknown. And even if it went on TOO long for me, I appreciate the important story this book tells.
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