‘Gandhi: My Life is My Message, a 200 pages book by Campfire Graphic N
ovels, which is a graphic re-telling of Gandhi’s life and times, is nominated for The People’s Book prize in Non Fiction Category. Last month, the book grabbed Best Graphic Novel, Best colorist, and Best Writer Awards at 4th Comic Con Delhi Edition. Vote here
Excited with this news, Jason Quinn, Writer of this book, shares his thoughts with AnimationXpress.com by saying, “Well, I think the subject of the book is of course the main aspect of the book to grab nomination. There is a huge interest in the life of Gandhi, right across the world and as nations face off against each other in these uncertain times, be it in the Ukraine or the Middle East, we would do well to remember that violence is not always the best way.”
I would like to think also that the fact that this is a serious graphic novelization of Gandhi’s life also helps. We are doing something new. We’re telling the story in a way that is accessible for everyone, without dumbing things down. We’ve got a respect for the intelligence of our audience no matter how old or young they are and I really believe that telling this epic story in this format gives the reader something different.”
The book was launched in November last year at Gandhi Smriti. “We were very lucky to have Rajmohan Gandhi, Gandhiji’s own grandson came along to launch the book for us. He has read the book and really enjoyed it.” Adds more
Voting for the book is open until 20th May for the Spring Collection. Then if the book comes in the top three in its category it will go through to the final. Voting will then begin again from the 21st May till the 29th May to vote on the overall winner of each category.
Explaining more about the look and feel, Jason, says, “Well, we wanted something traditional and yet contemporary at the same time. The last thing we wanted was to come out with something that looks like a government pamphlet from the 1970s and yet we wanted a classic feel to the book too. Lots of earthy tones. I think we got it just right.
“We see not just the big political moments but we see him at home, bickering with his wife, laughing, arguing, doing all the things that most of us do. I felt it was important to do this, to show him as a human being rather than an icon, because these days people want their heroes to be human, they want to be able to identify with them. Hopefully, we’ve done that and we’ve presented a character that you could sit and have a chat with, a laugh with and even an argument with.” Adds more
This book is available for INR 399 at Campfire website, other online retailers and all good bookstores. Upcoming books from Campfire are ‘They Changed the World’: Edison, Tesla & Bell, set to release this week.
Concluding the conversation with us, Jason informs about the research done for Gandhi: My Life is My Message, “ Well, first I think I’ve read just about everything there is to read on Gandhi, then Sachin has gone over every bit of footage and image too from throughout his life. The book’s got a cast of thousands too and we had to try and get everyone just right too.