Peer Gynt, forward the music

The book opens with a monologue where Peer tries to explain to his mother why he returns from hunting without game and with torn clothes. The young man takes everything lightly by inventing a fight worthy of the twelve labors of Hercules but his mother no longer believes in it and is tired of the decline of the family. In addition, she knows that her son went to the village to have fun and hit the blacksmith. His mother worries but Peer is an eternal optimist who is convinced that fate will smile on him. He decides to leave to seek adventure elsewhere.

Is Peer a dreamer or a good-for-nothing? He imagines grandiose destinies of an imperial power or a marriage with a daughter of owners while, for the moment, he is the laughing stock of the village. His drunken father has squandered the family's money and Peer is ruining his reputation. He dreams of being powerful but his mind wanders and he is unable to complete his projects. In addition, the party and the girls constantly attract him although he does not cease to receive lessons of humility, including by a king.

In the introduction, the author tells the origin of the piece. Henryk Ibsen was paid by the Norwegian Parliament to collect Norwegian tales. It was during these trips that he heard about the peasant Peer. The context of creation is also that of the national affirmation of a recent country that is looking for founding myths but, even if the fantastic creatures of Scandinavian folklore are present, Peer is far from a William Tell or a Charlemagne. Peer Gynt is both the local attraction, making everyone laugh with crazy stories, and the shame of the village, with his escapades when he has drunk too much.

Through his oratorical talent, Peer Gynt is also a charmer that few villagers resist. While this pushes the whole village to resent him… The reader finds it fascinating because it rejects all social conventions in the human world or in the fantastic. Braggart, it makes the audience and the reader laugh but it always goes too far and becomes embarrassing. This ambivalence raises questions about Peer's soul: can God forgive him or is he condemned to hell? The question becomes even more burning when the story switches to the fantastic by following the wanderings of Peer Gynt in the forest. The text is just as charming by leaving room for tirades certainly beautiful but also sometimes complex to understand when the hero wanders in the forest. This is not a problem because it is a drawing that we can take the time to admire, so we take the time to understand the text.

This act one brilliantly opens a series in two volumes. Indeed, one of the greatest successes of this volume is the superb drawing, certainly in black and white, but with a multitude of shades of gray. The landscapes are beautiful and reminiscent of classical paintings. Indeed, even if the text is taken from Henrik ibsen's play, Antoine Carrion has made an adaptation inspired by romanticism. We find the atmosphere of the music of Grieg who composed a suite in tribute to Peer Grint. When Peer enters a cave, the pages are entirely in shades of black and the magnificent drawing opening on four pages hypnotizes and proves the quality of the Metamorphosis collection at Soleil éditions. The draftsman manages to be readable and obscure. Antoine Carrion chooses not to aim for the realism of the faces but the shapes and expressions can be reminiscent of a cartoon.