Warning! Spoilers ahead, eh, below.

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'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' (or in its French version, 'L'Étrange Histoire de Benjamin Button', is one of various short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who's famous for 'The Great Gatsby' and more. I have never read anything by Mr Fitzgerald, but I have seen the film (IMDB-entry) based on this short story.

As I liked the film a lot, and Éditions ActuSF having decided to republish this story for the Francophone market ànd particularly in a graphical novel version, it was an ideal occasion to read the story. This new edition doubles the number of pages (to +/- 130 pages), but you get beautiful and vivid illustrations in return, created by Naïky (Artstation, Facebook).

What's the story about? About Mr and Mrs Roger Button who are to have a baby. However, to make it more special, they will want it to be born in a hospital. It was, after all, custom to give birth in one's own home back in the 19th century. Until about 1860, so written by the author. All took place in Baltimore and before the Spanish-American War, which happened about thirty years later.

Little Benjamin, however, would not be your ordinary delivery. The hospital's personnel would get anxious and even angry when the father came to see his newborn child and its mother at the hospital. Benjamin... was born an old man, with grey hair and a beard. But very polite and obedient, despite Mr Button's angry reaction, thinking it's a joke, a candid camera "avant la lettre". While the story revolves around Benjamin, the focus lies on the relationships with his father, grandfather, wife and son. His mother has somehow been relayed to the background, if not completely out of the picture. As the story was published originally in 1922...

Since Benjamin had the anatomy and sizes of an adult, and his father not wanting to be ashamed, it would be a difficult task to find suited clothing. Benjamin was a baby, after all. Clothing is one thing, making Benjamin behave like other children is another, especially when born an old man. Toys, playing with other children, ... would not facilitate the process of integration or adaptation.

Benjamin aged like everyone else, except in the opposite direction: He became younger, which is interestingly represented through a clock (of which the arrows thus move counterclockwise) at the beginning of each chapter. This getting younger resulted in his grey hair being replaced by darker, fuller hair. He would also feel more energetic as the years passed by, logically acquire new or other interests. While he could go to college and even the army (leading troops in the Spanish-American War), people wouldn't believe him (physical appearance vs the facts). He would be successful (marry a young girl who fancies older men), lead an army in a war, lead his father's company (and then hand over ownership to his own son), ... All that would be reversed as he grew older in the opposite direction. His wife and son would forsake him. His wife also thought that Benjamin was playing a game at getting younger. Unfortunately, he never revealed the truth of his condition. She told him to behave properly and change to meet society's standards, be like everyone else, especially as she was then older than him. Everyone had an opinion about Benjamin, not necessarily a correct one, of course.

It was disheartening to read how Benjamin Button was not wanted after birth. Who wants an old(er) man as a first child, right? Not that Benjamin's situation would majorly improve as he got older, eh, younger. He would be successful during a certain period, though, be it as a student, as a leader of troops, as a athlete, as a husband. Nevertheless, the love and support he received and enjoyed would soon turn around.

'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' is a story that goes straight to/through the heart (also a very good song by the late Ronnie James Dio and his band DIO). It's a story about acceptance (of yourself and of or by the other), about trying to find your place in society and hoping all will end well. The different characters also show how each of us is conditioned to see someone old as an adult, while maybe mentally he/she is a child. Or the other way around, children not being taken seriously when they express themselves on certain topics. Because... they're supposedly too young to know anything, let alone to have experienced anything or even have something interesting to say. Of course, there are exceptions... that confirm the rule.

Even if this story can be read in one sitting and could have been a bit longer, as it is, it hits home; both the text and the film. Did I mention the illustrations that make the story more vivid?

Just for reference reasons, a few similar stories or events: 'Flowers for Algernon' by Daniel Keyes (my review), 'La Fille aux mains magiques' by Nnedi Okorafor (my review) and 'Hyperion Cantos' by Dan Simmons (Sol Weintraub's daughter Rachel, in this case).

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I was sent this book by Éditions ActuSF for review. Many thanks to them for the trust. ( )