First Second will release the English-language version of Alan’s War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope, by French artist Emmanuel Guibert, in October. The 336-page black and white work, a success in France, is based on the memoirs of an American soldier’s experiences during World War II and his life, and disillusionment with his country, in the conflict’s wake. Alan’s War will have an initial print run of approximately 30,000 copies.
Alan’s War came about after Guibert and Cope struck up a friendship in France, where the veteran moved in 1948. After taping Cope’s reminiscences, Guibert arranged his words into a coherent chronology. “My job is to make an illustrated book out of a conversation, possibly as good and vivid as the conversation was,” the artist explained. Lapin, the in-house magazine of comics publisher L’Association, serialized the work, and, in 2000, a year after Cope died, the first of the three volumes of Alan’s War appeared. The volumes have since been translated into Spanish, Italy and German; First Second is publishing the series in one book.
It was important to Guibert that the book in appear in Cope’s native language, and the artist sees its publication in America as the closing of a circle. Cope recorded his memoirs in what the artist describes as “a truly wonderful French, the literary and poetic French the strangers speak.” In the translation, “the language had to appear as natural as it would have been if Alan had spoken directly in English.” He worked closely with the translator Kathryn Pulver, noting “It certainly wasn't an easy job for the translator, whom I salute with much gratitude.”
According to Guibert, “French or European readers of Alan's War, whatever their ages, always talk or write to me about themselves. Being a personal story, the book only attracts very intimate reactions.” In America, however, the book will likely spark political conversation as the country debates the war in Iraq and the treatment of veterans, especially with a release date that is close to the U.S. presidential elections. Mark Seigel, editorial director of First Second, noted that Cope’s story “is handled in such a different way than Brokaw’s Greatest Generation—this is a meditative, inner journey.” In the course of the book Cope describes the day-to-day dreariness of army life, moments of fear and horror, military incompetence, romantic interludes, his return to the United States, his changing relationship with religion, and, frustrated by his experiences in post-war America, his eventual decision to live abroad. Reproductions of pictures and letters add to the poignancy to the work. “It is an important book, part of America’s conversation with itself,” Seigel concluded.
The publisher sees the book as a vital part of his vision for First Second. Noting that it might not seem an obvious choice, he told PWCW that “it does fit into a line of books we have been pursuing, going back to [George O’Connor’s historically based] Journey into Mohawk Country, of politically and socially minded books, books about world affairs.” He also notes he wanted First Second to be a “home for authors.” The imprint has already published several of Guibert’s works—including the Sardine series, which he co creates with Joann Sfar—and will release the English-language version of his The Photographer in Spring 2009. That book, which centers on the experiences of the late photojournalist Didier Lefèvre on a Doctors Without Borders mission in Afghanistan in the 1980s, sold over 240,000 copies in France.
Guibert will be available for radio interviews, but may not travel to the United States until the release of The Photographer. In addition to promoting the book to librarians and educators, First Second will reach out to veterans and authors of World War II books. A lesson plan may be developed as well.
Guibert is currently working on two more projects about Cope. Alan’s Youth, which First Second also plans to publish, covers Cope’s childhood in Pasadena during the Depression. The other book addresses the years of the men’s friendship. The artist explained, “I've started all of this, but I'm far from the end. I don't really care about time, except that, making books about memory, it is my subject.”
