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Friday, June 7, 2013

Book Review: Asterix in Belgium by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

Asterix in Belgium by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

This book is a quick preview for our trip to Belgium, which should start appearing in this blog in about a week!

Trouble is brewing in Gaul during the Roman occupation. Asterix, hero of a tribe living in Amorica, is hanging out in the village when some Roman soldiers come marching by. The Romans are happy. Happy because they have just return from their campaign in Belgium where they were beat up mercilessly. According to Caesar, the Belgians are the bravest of all the Gaulish peoples. Well, this gets the village chief, Vitalstatix, really mad, so he decides they must go to Belgium and prove that they, the Amoricans, are the bravest of all Gauls. Thus begins the adventure.

The comedy is non-stop in this book as Asterix, Obelix (his giant friend), Dogmatix (their faithful dog), and Vitalstatix head off to prove their mettle. Plenty of puns and other word play made me smile often. While the Romans look a little weak and silly, the authors make fun of everyone. The Belgians have a village and a chief almost exactly like the Amoricans' village and chief. They fight hard to prove their differences, but they trounce the Romans instead of each other.  The violence is highly comic and mostly off screen (or off-page, I suppose I should say). The story is a fun romp and I highly recommend this adventure of Asterix.


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