Much of the action takes place in dark rooms and on unlit streets. The high-quality printing by publisher Drawn & Quarterly enhances the effect. Through carefully sequencing subtly shifting panels, Delisle evokes the incremental changes in André’s sur-roundings and the looping monologues that trace his battle to stay sane. The graphic novel format lends itself beautifully to the pacing of this story. Particularly when he is suddenly confronted with a real-time strategic dilemma and must quickly calculate which course of action is most likely to ensure his freedom and survival. He hides it under his blanket so that he can eat it sparingly and extend its pleasures.Īs the story unfolds, André’s military reenactments achieve a greater resonance. After weeks of a diet of weak broth and tea, biting into the garlic is an explosion of ecstasy. The handcuffed André desperately stretches so that one of his toes can grasp a clove. On the floor, he glimpses a sheet covered with drying garlic. His guards move André to a new location - a dimly lit storeroom filled with boxes and junk. One of the most poignant scenes in the book revolves around a clove of garlic. He learns that his captors want a million-dollar ransom, and during a phone call arranged by the kidnappers to establish that he is still alive André pleads with his colleagues to refuse to hand over money that should go to completing the humanitarian organization’s mission. He worries his kidnapping will prompt his sister to postpone her scheduled wedding.

He fantasizes about overpowering his captors during the few moments his handcuffs are unlocked. Knowing that he did survive does not diminish the suspense or power of the reader’s identification with André’s agony and courage. To quell his anxiety, he mentally retraces famous military encounters, including Napoleon’s victory at Austerlitz and Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg. His other resource is his memory, particularly his long-time fascination with military history.

Even as his captivity stretches on and fills him with despair about his possible fate, that he can keep track of days and weeks and months grounds him in a sense of self and a world beyond his enclosure.

Hostage by Guy Delisle