World Without End has been something of a publishing phenomenon. It was the bestselling book in France in 2022, a surprise hit even in a country with a thriving culture of ‘bande dessinées’. A couple of years later the English speaking world is catching up with this engaging graphic novel about climate change, and it will be interesting to see if it can capture imaginations here too.
The book is the work of graphic novelist Christophe Blain, in conversation with the prominent French environmentalist Jean-Marc Jancovici. Though it’s being described as a graphic novel for lack of a better term, it’s not remotely a novel. It’s an illustrated conversation between the concerned but uninformed Blain, and the patient expert Jancovici.
Both authors appear as characters throughout, asking questions, pointing things out. They talk about energy, history, climate change, consumerism. There are all kinds of explainers, from how the global economy got addicted to fossil fuels to where emissions come from, to the oil crisis. Sometimes this gets quite deep into the science, often beginning with a technical statement from Jancovici that Blain doesn’t understand, and then it gets unpacked over the following pages, using creative analogies.
For example, a section looks at oil depletion and unconventional fuels. “Prospecting for oil is like hunting for Easter eggs,” we read as a cartoon of early oilman Edwin Drake runs away with a giant chocolate egg. “You find the biggest, least well-hidden ones first.” Then we see deepwater oil, shale and tar sands as little eggs hidden in the long grass, and Texas oilmen searching in the background on their hands and knees. It’s a simple and intuitive way of introducing something that is often couched in technical language, and the book is full of moments like that.
A cast of recurring characters step in and out to help explain. There’s an Iron Man type figure who runs on fossil fuels, a long-haired mother nature figure, cavemen and cowboys, and a troublesome human brain. Blue-skinned economists run around shouting “growth!” There are random cameos from Indiana Jones, Mad Max, Doc from Back to the Future. It’s entertaining, more wry than laugh out loud funny, and serious when it needs to be. It packs in a lot of learning without ever getting heavy, and I can see how it has prompted new conversations among French readers.
Not everyone has appreciated the book. It looks at total energy consumption rather than just electricity use, and shows how small a contribution renewable energy is making. The solution lies with nuclear, Jancovici suggests. The book then devotes many pages to correcting misunderstandings about nuclear power and its safety, waste problems and fuel availability. How you feel about this is likely to reflect how you feel about nuclear power generally, though I have no problem with this myself. France is building a low carbon economy on nuclear foundations and Jancovici is worth hearing out on the subject.
World Without End is an unusual book then, a coffee table hardback that is beautifully presented in its visuals and its content. It’ll make you smile and make you think. Have a browse, and I expect you’ll want to talk about it too.
The Earthbound Report 