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Line of Fire: Diary of an Unknown Soldier
A graphic adaptation of a 100-year-old diary brings World War I history to life
One winter morning, Barroux was walking down a street in Paris when he made an extraordinary find: the real diary of a soldier in World War I. Barroux rescued the diary from the trash and illustrated the soldier's words. In this striking black and white graphic novel adaptation of a 100-year-old diary, the events of the first two months of World War I are given fresh meaning and relevance to modern audiences. This is living history that has the power to engage new generations through one man's story that is silhouetted against the historical events that formed and transformed the world we live in today.
One winter morning, Barroux was walking down a street in Paris when he made an extraordinary find: the real diary of a soldier in World War I. Barroux rescued the diary from the trash and illustrated the soldier's words. In this striking black and white graphic novel adaptation of a 100-year-old diary, the events of the first two months of World War I are given fresh meaning and relevance to modern audiences. This is living history that has the power to engage new generations through one man's story that is silhouetted against the historical events that formed and transformed the world we live in today.
96 pages, Paperback
First published September 11, 2011
About the author
Barroux
186 books33 followersBarroux is a Paris-based illustrator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
March 30, 2021
Paris’te bir kaldırım satışında bulunan, bir askerin 1914’e uzanan günlüğünden oluşturulmuş bir çizgi roman. Eylül 1914’te hastane ile son bulduğundan askerin akibetine dair bir bilgimiz yok. Bütün dünyayı etkileyen bir savaşın kanlı sahnelerinden uzakta, daha kişisel bir tarihe tanıklık ediyoruz. Çizimler ve konu açısından Ubisoft’un Valiant Hearts’ına oldukça benziyor. Hoş bir okumaydı ama beklentiniz savaşsa çok hoşunuza gitmeyebilir.
May 24, 2021
Grafik romandan ziyade görsel senaryo taslağı okuyormuşum gibi geldi. Ayrıca, dört yıl sürmüş bir savaşın sadece ilk iki ayının anlatılıyor olması biraz tatminsizlik yaratıyor. Tabii ki gerçek bir günlüğün resimlendirilmesi hoş bir fikir ama yetti mi? Hayır.
2/5
2/5
October 11, 2014
Apparently the artist Barroux found this diary of an unknown French soldier from WW1 as he was walking past a house having a clear out - the diary was amid the junk headed for a landfill! He took it home, illustrated the diary and this is the book: Line of FIre: Diary of an Unknown Soldier.
The diary covers the first two months of the conflict from France’s declaration of war to September 1914. The diary is sparse with only a line or two to describe the soldier’s day but, as Michael Morpurgo (author of War Horse) points out in his introduction, the soldier was no Sassoon or Owens, trying to make art from his experiences, he was simply describing his everyday lot. As a result we get a very clear-cut view of his day to day life.
The first half of the book reads a bit like a description of the world’s worst package holiday. The soldier signs up, is transported near the front to fight the Prussians, but spends most of the time doing exercises, digging trenches, and looking for food and a decent place to spend the night. He occasionally mentions his family and that he receives bad news and then good news from them but we never know exactly what that means.
Gradually he mentions scenes of bombed out towns, empty shells littering fields, impromptu graves, and the sounds and lights of explosions keeping him up at night, so we experience his progress getting closer to the front at the same pace that he does.
There’s a very humanistic scene when he finally sees battle and discovers he’s been shot in the arm. He holds out a bandage pack out to a fellow soldier he doesn’t know, who’s also not a medic, who immediately sees to his arm, even with shells and mortars flying around them. And yet its told in a very matter of fact tone which makes it all the more touching.
The diary ends abruptly in September 1914 with the soldier recovering from his wounds and feeling depressed that the German army has gotten so close to his home town. Did he die shortly after? Did he lose interest in keeping a diary? Did he see out the war and live happily ever after? We’ll never know. Barroux does mention that accompanying the diary was a notebook of songs that continues until May 1917 so, assuming it also belonged to the same soldier, perhaps the soldier made it that long.
Barroux’s art is quite child-like - triangles for noses, a dot and a line for eyes, blanks for mouths - and the pencil and ink sepia tone adds a poignant sense of time to it. I’ve never seen Barroux’s art before so I don’t know if he’s intentionally keeping things as spare as the writing but the style perfectly suits the material.
It’s 100 years ago this year that WW1 began and yet forgotten mementos from that war still pop up and its unknown ghosts continue to speak to us in voices as fresh and human as any you’d hear today. I wouldn’t say Line of Fire is an amazing first hand account of the war, mostly because of the brevity of the writing, but it is a good example of living history and it does remind us of the mundanity of war as much as its horrors. Line of Fire is a brief but insightful look into the day-to-day life of a WW1 soldier.
The diary covers the first two months of the conflict from France’s declaration of war to September 1914. The diary is sparse with only a line or two to describe the soldier’s day but, as Michael Morpurgo (author of War Horse) points out in his introduction, the soldier was no Sassoon or Owens, trying to make art from his experiences, he was simply describing his everyday lot. As a result we get a very clear-cut view of his day to day life.
The first half of the book reads a bit like a description of the world’s worst package holiday. The soldier signs up, is transported near the front to fight the Prussians, but spends most of the time doing exercises, digging trenches, and looking for food and a decent place to spend the night. He occasionally mentions his family and that he receives bad news and then good news from them but we never know exactly what that means.
Gradually he mentions scenes of bombed out towns, empty shells littering fields, impromptu graves, and the sounds and lights of explosions keeping him up at night, so we experience his progress getting closer to the front at the same pace that he does.
There’s a very humanistic scene when he finally sees battle and discovers he’s been shot in the arm. He holds out a bandage pack out to a fellow soldier he doesn’t know, who’s also not a medic, who immediately sees to his arm, even with shells and mortars flying around them. And yet its told in a very matter of fact tone which makes it all the more touching.
The diary ends abruptly in September 1914 with the soldier recovering from his wounds and feeling depressed that the German army has gotten so close to his home town. Did he die shortly after? Did he lose interest in keeping a diary? Did he see out the war and live happily ever after? We’ll never know. Barroux does mention that accompanying the diary was a notebook of songs that continues until May 1917 so, assuming it also belonged to the same soldier, perhaps the soldier made it that long.
Barroux’s art is quite child-like - triangles for noses, a dot and a line for eyes, blanks for mouths - and the pencil and ink sepia tone adds a poignant sense of time to it. I’ve never seen Barroux’s art before so I don’t know if he’s intentionally keeping things as spare as the writing but the style perfectly suits the material.
It’s 100 years ago this year that WW1 began and yet forgotten mementos from that war still pop up and its unknown ghosts continue to speak to us in voices as fresh and human as any you’d hear today. I wouldn’t say Line of Fire is an amazing first hand account of the war, mostly because of the brevity of the writing, but it is a good example of living history and it does remind us of the mundanity of war as much as its horrors. Line of Fire is a brief but insightful look into the day-to-day life of a WW1 soldier.
March 17, 2022
Au début j'ai été grave perturbée par les dessins mais je trouve que c'est vraiment dans l'ambiance du livre qui parle de la vie d'un soldat
C'était intéressant, ça l'est toujours de lire des histoires réelles sur des soldats C'était très enrichissant, j'ai bien aimé bien qu'il y a pas de fin ! Je suis vachement intriguée par le point final de la BD
C'était intéressant, ça l'est toujours de lire des histoires réelles sur des soldats C'était très enrichissant, j'ai bien aimé bien qu'il y a pas de fin ! Je suis vachement intriguée par le point final de la BD
December 11, 2019
2.5 Stars!
“At dawn, we set off in the direction of Dun-sur-Meuse. Skirting the forest, I notice a soldier’s leg hanging from a branch. This is where a powerful shell landed on a platoon of the 6th company, which was partially destroyed.”
I thought I recognised this art work and it turns out that I’ve read this guy before. The art work in here would be regarded as “quite good!” if it had been done by an 8 year old child. This is not a style I am fond of at all, but then there are times when it seems to serve the subject fairly well and what the technique does do is infuse a real ominous and looming feel to the soldier’s bleak experience.
Perhaps the most haunting and memorable aspect of this account is the soldier’s hope and naivety on the build up to his first encounter with the reality of mechanised warfare in the 20th century. Without doubt this book reeks of cynical cash in, and the idea of this and the back story behind it is more impressive than the actual book itself.
Either way although this is a fragmented account and the art work borders on childish scrawling, the mystery and horror of the true events embellishes this story and elevates it to something which has a deeper impact and captures the horror of war with an authentic ear.
November 12, 2023
Barroux’yu çocuk kitaplarıyla tanıdım ve sanatını çok sevdim. Şanseseri bulduğu bir günlük üzerinden yola çıkarak çizdiği birinci Dünya Savaşı’nın ilk aylarına ait bu çizgi romandaki tekniğine bayıldım. Siyah beyaz paneller savaş anlatımına çok uygun düşmüş. Hikaye zaten fazlasıyla dokunaklı…
July 16, 2020
3.5 ⭐️
December 26, 2020
tesadüfen bulunan bir günlüğün güzel çizimlerle beraber bizi savaşın ilk yıllarına götürdüğü başarılı bir kitap. keşke meçhul askerimiz daha fazla yazsaymış, keşke kim olduğunu, akıbetini bilebilseydik...
October 4, 2014
A discussion about Line of Fire: Diary of an Unknown Soldier must be told in the context of its conception. While walking down the street in Paris, Barroux, a French author and illustrator of children's books comes upon a diary that has been discarded. Upon opening it, he discovers that this diary was written almost 100 years ago by a French solider in the beginning of World War I. The entries cover a two month period in which the soldier leaves his family and travels with his company east to the front where he moves from town to town until he is injured by artillery and finds himself in hospital. Make no mistake, this is a first person account of a soldier's war experience. Originally written in French, the text was unedited to preserve the authenticity of the writer’s words. One can forget that the text was born from a handwritten document and I wonder why Barroux chose to have the words typed instead of handwritten.
The illustration format, in the simple colors of black and tan, attempt to preserve the age of the book by mimicking the way paper ages. The people and setting are drawn with in with a sketch like quality. Barroux expertly conveys the blazing sun with concentric circles beating down on the marching soldiers. His panoramic sketches of the countryside draw the reader into the setting and scanning the horizon for the enemy. Barroux wants the readers to experience the story through the soldier’s eyes and uses changing perspectives to bring the reader up close as he says goodbyes to friends and squinting as he looks through the darkness when on post.
Line of Fire: Diary of an Unknown Solider, which is a Booklist online recommendation, is appropriate for upper elementary and middle school students who are interested in a soldier's experience or World War I. The book would be best used to explore primary sources and is not designed to provide a story with a beginning, middle, or end. It is a great choice for readers who want to see war through the eyes of a humble soldier.
The illustration format, in the simple colors of black and tan, attempt to preserve the age of the book by mimicking the way paper ages. The people and setting are drawn with in with a sketch like quality. Barroux expertly conveys the blazing sun with concentric circles beating down on the marching soldiers. His panoramic sketches of the countryside draw the reader into the setting and scanning the horizon for the enemy. Barroux wants the readers to experience the story through the soldier’s eyes and uses changing perspectives to bring the reader up close as he says goodbyes to friends and squinting as he looks through the darkness when on post.
Line of Fire: Diary of an Unknown Solider, which is a Booklist online recommendation, is appropriate for upper elementary and middle school students who are interested in a soldier's experience or World War I. The book would be best used to explore primary sources and is not designed to provide a story with a beginning, middle, or end. It is a great choice for readers who want to see war through the eyes of a humble soldier.
July 20, 2019
Fransız bir askerin, Paris sokaklarında yapılan satışlardan birinde çıkan günlüğünü bir grafik roman çizeri bulursa ne olur? İşte bu kitap olur. Çizgi roman demek ne kadar doğru bilemiyorum ama sanki foto roman tarzında grafik roman gibi.
Ne olduğu ya da nasıl çizildiğinden ziyade, içeriği yani günlüğün satırları dikkat çekici oluyor. Tabi bu asker savaşı ne kadar yaşamış? Hangi aşamalarında bulunmuş? Dört yılın her bir yılını dolu dolu mu geçirmiş? Bunlar önemli sorular.
Desen Yayınları güzel çalışmaları bizlere kazandırıyor. Bu çizgi roman da böyle bir eser. Evet, belki çizimler tatmin etmeyebilir ama hikaye hem de gerçek olan bu hikaye sizi içine çekecektir diye düşünüyorum.
Ne olduğu ya da nasıl çizildiğinden ziyade, içeriği yani günlüğün satırları dikkat çekici oluyor. Tabi bu asker savaşı ne kadar yaşamış? Hangi aşamalarında bulunmuş? Dört yılın her bir yılını dolu dolu mu geçirmiş? Bunlar önemli sorular.
Desen Yayınları güzel çalışmaları bizlere kazandırıyor. Bu çizgi roman da böyle bir eser. Evet, belki çizimler tatmin etmeyebilir ama hikaye hem de gerçek olan bu hikaye sizi içine çekecektir diye düşünüyorum.
April 19, 2014
I held high hopes for this book but alas I was dissapointed. For me the story of how the diary was discovered was more intersting than the diary itself. Yes it does provide a brief snaphot into the life of a French soldier at the opening of the Great War. But for me it lacked details and this left me with not feeling connected to soldier. The artwork that accompanyies the diary in my opinion is drab and unisnpiring. I am sorry to say that the book to me felt like it was trying to cash in on the centenary of World War I.
December 5, 2017
This diary was found in Paris by illustrator Barroux, who hasn’t changed the words, but has brought them to life with simple but effective drawings.
The soldier in question has never been identified, but his story would be one shared by many. The most striking thing for me was the physicality of WW1 - the relentlessness of the march-dig-sleep-repeat cycle must have been an ordeal in itself, and that’s before the actual warfare is taken into account.
A stark reminder of the misery of war.
The soldier in question has never been identified, but his story would be one shared by many. The most striking thing for me was the physicality of WW1 - the relentlessness of the march-dig-sleep-repeat cycle must have been an ordeal in itself, and that’s before the actual warfare is taken into account.
A stark reminder of the misery of war.
January 9, 2014
What a story behind this book! An old diary written by a French 1WW soldier discovered by Barroux being thrown out during a house clearance. Barroux has illustrated the text (translated in full), which is simple, and almost mundane, but in that plain language with the writer's focus on his exhaustion, and worry about his family, you sense an honest, unfiltered direct link back 100 years.
December 28, 2014
Interesting read. The story behind the book is fascinating. I wish I would know more about France's geography. It would help me understand the story more. Overall interesting book into a soldiers life during the war.
August 21, 2019
Bir kış sabahı, Barroux kaldırımda bir defter bulur. Defterde, 1914 yazında seferberlikle silah altına alınmış bir Fransız askerinin savaşta geçirdiği ilk haftaların anlatısı yer alır. Meçhul asker deftere ismini yazmış olsa da zamanla silinmiş ve okunmaz hâle gelmiş. Güncenin sahibi, savaşın ilk günlerini, ayrılığı, varış noktası belirsiz yolculukları, mektup yolu gözlemeyi, bitmek bilmez geceleri, topların kulakları sağır eden sesini ve korkuyu anlatır... Özgün metin, Barroux’nun resimleriyle.
Savaşa dair bir günlük olmasına rağmen savaşın sıkça ele alınan kanlı yüzünden çok, sıradan bir askerin (nerede uyuyacağı, ne yiyeceği, bilmediği bir yere doğru ne kadar yürüyeceği vs.) savaş esnasındaki gündelik yaşantısını farklı bir perspektiften bizlerle paylaşıyor. Kitabın en önemli yanı I. Dünya Savaşı’nda bizzat bulunmuş bir askerin gerçek deneyimlerini aktarıyor olması.
Sepya tonundaki siyah-beyaz desenler anlatının sade ve naif tarzıyla uyumlu; okura şimdiki zamanda profesyonel bir çizerin elinden çıktığını unutturuyor, böylece not defterinin gerçek bir parçası gibi görünüyor.
Savaşa dair bir günlük olmasına rağmen savaşın sıkça ele alınan kanlı yüzünden çok, sıradan bir askerin (nerede uyuyacağı, ne yiyeceği, bilmediği bir yere doğru ne kadar yürüyeceği vs.) savaş esnasındaki gündelik yaşantısını farklı bir perspektiften bizlerle paylaşıyor. Kitabın en önemli yanı I. Dünya Savaşı’nda bizzat bulunmuş bir askerin gerçek deneyimlerini aktarıyor olması.
Sepya tonundaki siyah-beyaz desenler anlatının sade ve naif tarzıyla uyumlu; okura şimdiki zamanda profesyonel bir çizerin elinden çıktığını unutturuyor, böylece not defterinin gerçek bir parçası gibi görünüyor.
May 10, 2022
Bir sahafın elden çıkarmak istediği ıvır zıvırın içinde, yoldan geçen biri bir günlük görür, alır ve Meçhul Askerin anılarının bize ulaşmasına aracı olur.
.
Herkes Alman işgalinin çok uzamadan, Noel'e kalmadan biteceğini düşünüyordu ama savaş tam 4 yıl sürdü.
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İşte biz meçhul askerin seferberlik emri ile katıldığı birliğindeki anılarına tanıklık ederken bir yandan da 1.Dünya Savaşı'nın ilk iki ayında yaşananları okuyoruz, çok güzel karakalem çizimler eşliğinde.
.
Tanıdık bir gerçeklik, aradan 100 yıl geçse de bir yerlerde uzun yıllar sürecek savaşlar yaşanmaya devam ediyor.
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Notum; 4. Çünkü; günlük bir yerde bitiyor ama meçhul asker cephede söylenen şarkılarla ilgili notları, deftere not düştüğü notalar ve şarkı sözlerinin kaydı 1917 yılına kadar devam ediyor, kim bilir o şarkılarda hangi acılar, özlemler, yorgunluklar ve kayıtsızlıklar var...
.
Bir kahve molasında okunur diyeceğim ama keyifle değil, sıkı bir yumruk oturuyor insanın tam boğazına, sözlerin kiyafetsiz kalmasını istercesine....
.
Herkes Alman işgalinin çok uzamadan, Noel'e kalmadan biteceğini düşünüyordu ama savaş tam 4 yıl sürdü.
.
İşte biz meçhul askerin seferberlik emri ile katıldığı birliğindeki anılarına tanıklık ederken bir yandan da 1.Dünya Savaşı'nın ilk iki ayında yaşananları okuyoruz, çok güzel karakalem çizimler eşliğinde.
.
Tanıdık bir gerçeklik, aradan 100 yıl geçse de bir yerlerde uzun yıllar sürecek savaşlar yaşanmaya devam ediyor.
.
Notum; 4. Çünkü; günlük bir yerde bitiyor ama meçhul asker cephede söylenen şarkılarla ilgili notları, deftere not düştüğü notalar ve şarkı sözlerinin kaydı 1917 yılına kadar devam ediyor, kim bilir o şarkılarda hangi acılar, özlemler, yorgunluklar ve kayıtsızlıklar var...
.
Bir kahve molasında okunur diyeceğim ama keyifle değil, sıkı bir yumruk oturuyor insanın tam boğazına, sözlerin kiyafetsiz kalmasını istercesine....
June 24, 2015
One winter’s morning, Barroux was walking down the streets of Paris when he passed a house which was being emptied of rubbish; piles of old belongings, wrappers and refuse had been placed in the street. ‘We are emptying the basement. Help yourself if you like’ he was told by one of the people ferrying rubbish onto the street. It was at this point that Barroux picked up an ageing yellow diary from amongst the rubbish. A diary which belonged to an unknown soldier serving during world war one. Barroux took the diary and from it created Line of Fire, a graphic novel depicting the words written by an unknown French soldier…may his words never be forgotten.
This book was such a find! I’m over the moon to have discovered it, read it, and to have a copy of my own.
The illustration style fits so perfectly with the subject; you can almost imagine the soldier himself drawing them. They are simple, almost childish, yet graphic, as though they have been scratched with a piece of charcoal salvaged from the embers of long extinguished fire. They remind me, in some ways, of images I have seen drawn by soldiers on the front line. Although the sketches undoubtedly carry Barroux’s distinctive style, there is much in the way of reality present in the scenes. I am reminded of the images in A Soldier's Sketches Under Fire by Harold Harvey – real images sketched by a soldier on the front line.
It feels strange to review the words of a man when I know nothing about him. Although Barroux is listed as the author of the book, the words belong to the Unknown Soldier. They are exactly as they were found, although in the case of my copy they have been translated into English from their native French. They are powerful words, and although it does not take long to read the book, the effect of the story is far reaching and potent.
The Unknown Soldier speaks of the things which are sure to have plagued any man on the front line of WWI. His fatigue, it is crippling, and he feels dead on his feet – ‘My feet are bleeding, My legs can no longer hold me up. This isn’t a man who’s walking but a sheep following the flock.’ He is never able to rest for more than a few hours before being aroused, often in the dead of night, to move on to the next place. He takes to sleeping on piles of straw, where they are available, next to his companion Fernand, sleeping close together for warmth, and, I expect, comfort.
Our Soldier worries about those he has left behind. He is so worried, plagued by worry each time he receives no word from home. It is moving to see the worry from the other side. It is well known that those that are left behind will worry about their father, brother, son, or husband who has gone away to fight, but the soldiers words show that the worry tortures him equally. ‘The women weep. It’s up to us to show that we’re stronger than they are and convince them that we will return.’ When he does hear news his release is evident, as though he has let out a deep breath of relief; ‘at last I receive some postcards from my dear wife’.
The horror of war is also painted on the pages of the diary, not so much in Barroux’s drawings, but in the soldier’s words. The words are not complicated or flowing, but to the point, and powerful – you can smell the gunpowder, hear the crackle of artillery fire, and see the horrors that the Unknown Soldier scrawls within the pages of his diary. ‘This is where a powerful shell landed on a platoon of the 6th company, which was partially destroyed’ he writes, having seen the remains of a soldiers leg hanging from a tree branch.
The Unknown Soldier seems to have made a narrow escape from the horrors of war, although no one knows now anything about the man who kept this diary. He writes of being injured while forced to advance under the eruption of overhead shrapnel, and of the bravery of a fellow soldier, without whom he may not have survived. ‘While he’s bandaging my arm, the shells continue to rain down on us. I shall never forget the devotion of this soldier who didn’t think twice about risking his life, staying close in order to tend to me.’
Once out of the line of fire, he is faced with a lengthy journey to a hospital, all the while in indescribable pain, and with a raging fever which forbids him rest and sustenance. It is once he arrives at hospital, and his fever begins to subside that he is faced with another, unimagined issue – boredom. For a week we hear nothing of the Unknown Soldier, and then, he writes of his boredom, the slowness of the days, his heavy heart, and his feeling that life is carrying on all the same outside of the hospital walls.
‘Sometimes I’m sorry I didn’t stay in the line of fire’ – and with these words the Unknown Soldier’s story ends.
Line of Fire has left me feeling such a strange mix of emotions, with so many questions running through my mind. The power of the Unknown Soldier’s last words are incredible, and only made more so by the fact that he, undoubtedly, never expected anyone to read his diary. Who was this man? And why did he stop writing? Questions I will find myself often asking, and will never know the answer to.
I would recommend this book to almost anyone. Even if you don’t feel drawn to Barroux’s illustrations the power of the Unknown Soldier’s words will not fail to captivate. History students, WWI fanatics, children and adults alike, this is a lesson in history, and an important one at that. Read it and pass on the recommendation.
Originally posted on Jade the Obscure
This book was such a find! I’m over the moon to have discovered it, read it, and to have a copy of my own.
The illustration style fits so perfectly with the subject; you can almost imagine the soldier himself drawing them. They are simple, almost childish, yet graphic, as though they have been scratched with a piece of charcoal salvaged from the embers of long extinguished fire. They remind me, in some ways, of images I have seen drawn by soldiers on the front line. Although the sketches undoubtedly carry Barroux’s distinctive style, there is much in the way of reality present in the scenes. I am reminded of the images in A Soldier's Sketches Under Fire by Harold Harvey – real images sketched by a soldier on the front line.
It feels strange to review the words of a man when I know nothing about him. Although Barroux is listed as the author of the book, the words belong to the Unknown Soldier. They are exactly as they were found, although in the case of my copy they have been translated into English from their native French. They are powerful words, and although it does not take long to read the book, the effect of the story is far reaching and potent.
The Unknown Soldier speaks of the things which are sure to have plagued any man on the front line of WWI. His fatigue, it is crippling, and he feels dead on his feet – ‘My feet are bleeding, My legs can no longer hold me up. This isn’t a man who’s walking but a sheep following the flock.’ He is never able to rest for more than a few hours before being aroused, often in the dead of night, to move on to the next place. He takes to sleeping on piles of straw, where they are available, next to his companion Fernand, sleeping close together for warmth, and, I expect, comfort.
Our Soldier worries about those he has left behind. He is so worried, plagued by worry each time he receives no word from home. It is moving to see the worry from the other side. It is well known that those that are left behind will worry about their father, brother, son, or husband who has gone away to fight, but the soldiers words show that the worry tortures him equally. ‘The women weep. It’s up to us to show that we’re stronger than they are and convince them that we will return.’ When he does hear news his release is evident, as though he has let out a deep breath of relief; ‘at last I receive some postcards from my dear wife’.
The horror of war is also painted on the pages of the diary, not so much in Barroux’s drawings, but in the soldier’s words. The words are not complicated or flowing, but to the point, and powerful – you can smell the gunpowder, hear the crackle of artillery fire, and see the horrors that the Unknown Soldier scrawls within the pages of his diary. ‘This is where a powerful shell landed on a platoon of the 6th company, which was partially destroyed’ he writes, having seen the remains of a soldiers leg hanging from a tree branch.
The Unknown Soldier seems to have made a narrow escape from the horrors of war, although no one knows now anything about the man who kept this diary. He writes of being injured while forced to advance under the eruption of overhead shrapnel, and of the bravery of a fellow soldier, without whom he may not have survived. ‘While he’s bandaging my arm, the shells continue to rain down on us. I shall never forget the devotion of this soldier who didn’t think twice about risking his life, staying close in order to tend to me.’
Once out of the line of fire, he is faced with a lengthy journey to a hospital, all the while in indescribable pain, and with a raging fever which forbids him rest and sustenance. It is once he arrives at hospital, and his fever begins to subside that he is faced with another, unimagined issue – boredom. For a week we hear nothing of the Unknown Soldier, and then, he writes of his boredom, the slowness of the days, his heavy heart, and his feeling that life is carrying on all the same outside of the hospital walls.
‘Sometimes I’m sorry I didn’t stay in the line of fire’ – and with these words the Unknown Soldier’s story ends.
Line of Fire has left me feeling such a strange mix of emotions, with so many questions running through my mind. The power of the Unknown Soldier’s last words are incredible, and only made more so by the fact that he, undoubtedly, never expected anyone to read his diary. Who was this man? And why did he stop writing? Questions I will find myself often asking, and will never know the answer to.
I would recommend this book to almost anyone. Even if you don’t feel drawn to Barroux’s illustrations the power of the Unknown Soldier’s words will not fail to captivate. History students, WWI fanatics, children and adults alike, this is a lesson in history, and an important one at that. Read it and pass on the recommendation.
Originally posted on Jade the Obscure
April 22, 2019
Fransız yazar ve illüstratör Barroux, bir sokaktan geçerken boşaltılan bir deponun önündeki yığında birinci dünya savaşına katılmış Fransız bir meçhul askerin günlüğünü bulur. Bu günlük de bu grafik roman halinde yayımlanır. Ağustos- Eylül 1914' te askere alınan, trenle cepheye giden, daha sonra günde 40 kilometre civarında yürümekten ayakları parçalanırken bir yandan da top atışları altında savaşan ve hayatta kalmaya çalışan isimsiz bir askerin öyküsü. Bu arada günlüğün fotoğrafında yazısının son derece düzgün oluşu da dikkat çekici. Yine desenyayinlari baskısı ....
November 6, 2017
Intriguing project--the artist rescued the diary of an anonymous French WWI soldier from the trash, and illustrated it. The entries are brief capsules, without a lot of detail, but the illustrations somewhat flesh out the context. It all evokes the soldiers' walking, waiting, digging, waiting, restlessness, waiting, and fear. I would have liked to see more of the original pages--I know it's all just handwriting, but the glimpses that are shown are so evocative.
August 7, 2022
Fascinating if unsatisfying... I love the story behind this story being realized and how not knowing who the diarist was allows him to be anyone and everyone and no one. The tragedy of WWI is clear even from the short record of the beginning, though I suppose you wouldve had to have had prior knowledge of WWI because they don't provide context. I also love Barroux's illustrations. They were deceptively simply, while packing a lot of power.
August 28, 2018
A very interesting book describing the seemingly random or unplanned first few months of the First World War for a french soldier. The art work is simple but effective. The fact that this story was a random find by the artist adds a level of poignance - how many similar stories have been lost over the years?!
November 25, 2018
The diary of a Parisian father scratching around for food and shelter whilst dodging bullets and shells in The Great War. Barroux's charcoal drawings portray humble and vulnerable people lost in a shadowy nightmare of drudgery and violent horror, where displaced souls tramp empty eyed and human limbs hang from blackened trees.
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November 23, 2019I enjoyed reading this graphic novel. I don't feel comfortable rating this just because it is a diary someone found from a WW1 soldier and published that diary with illustrations that this creator made. This is a journal/diary of sorts so I don't feel comfortable rating it because it is someone's private thoughts and something they probably didn't intend for anyone else to see. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it. It was interesting to read a first hand account about the early months of World War 1. The illustrations were also charming to look at. This is a great resource if you want to learn a bit more about World War 1.
September 15, 2022
A chance find of a WWI French soldier’s diary inspired the illustrator to creat a graphic novel using the diary entries. His charcoal illustrations do a beautiful job of portraying the loneliness, uncertainty and hardship of the French soldiers as they go into retreat at the start of a long gruelling war.
September 16, 2022
This book broke my heart. There’s something about the tragedy of the First World War that affects me emotionally - particularly the individual stories - and this true story, accompanied by beautiful illustrations, is a moving example of how the graphic novel can explore so many aspects of history, humanity and feeling.
July 9, 2024
I really enjoyed the way this book was straight from the diary of an unnamed French soldier. It follows him at the beginning of WW1 and follows his day to day activities. This is a thought provoking book, and the illustrations make this book a real gem. I loved the illustrations & thought the way the book was put together was great.
April 12, 2021
While this wasn’t the most exciting book, it gave a curt description of WWI in 1914. I thought more detail could be added but the authors wanted to keep to the original source. Adding the pictures, the book became more descriptive and interesting.
June 9, 2023
La Primera Guerra Mundial contada por un soldado francés, corto y sangrante, te hace vivir la angustia, el miedo, el cansancio y la tristeza que sintió esos meses. Una pena que no se sepa nada de aquel soldado que decidió dejar a medio este diario.
June 10, 2018
Cool concept with how the book came about. Quick, easy and enjoyable read.
September 16, 2019
Very good book using illustrations to engage the reader of this diary about the war. Would be useful for year 5 class when discussing historical events
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