Shivering, Inelegant, Shocked

*

Feeling alone and bereft with only James Redfield
and Frances Hodgson Burnett for company, I turned
to Goscinny and Uderzo for light relief, what a joy,
Asterix and Obelix on their adventures

Yet I felt aloof until one of Uderzo’s masterpieces
awakened the old deep-seated sense of wonder with
his depiction of a Greek slave posing as the ‘Discus
Thrower’ until he is attacked by Asterix

In the next picture he joins the rest of humanity as a
shivering, inelegant, shocked human being, toes and
fingers splayed, face contorted, neck and body deformed,
hair standing on end

We read Asterix as children and the same sense of fun
lightened my heart, time rolled back and I laughed till tears
streamed down my face, how hilarious when classical grace
is replaced by existential emotions like shock and fear

I hold these Asterix books very dear, a saviour whenever life
becomes overwhelming, a tonic, a total delight!


“Les Lauriers de César – Une Aventure d’Asterix le Gaulois”
Text de Goscinny, Dessins de Uderzo, Dargaud Editeur 1972
Pictures on p 16
*