The world as seen through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Momo,
Discover the wondrous secrets of life through illustrations.

The controversial work that sent shockwaves around the world by winning the Prix Goncourt for the second time in history, and the representative work of Romain Gary or Émile Ajar, 『The Life Before Us』, is presented anew with illustrations.
The artist who added illustrations to this work, which has been consistently loved in Korea since its publication in 2003, is Manuele Fior, a young cartoonist and illustrator representing Europe today.

Manuele Fior, who emerged as a notable new talent in 2011 when he won the Golden Beast Award for Best Work at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for “5000 Kilometers Per Second,” has already proven his artistry by garnering rave reviews for his graphic novel adaptation of Austrian author Arthur Schnitzler’s novel “Féminine Else.”
The deep understanding of the original work and his unique delicacy are fully demonstrated in 『Illustration: Life Before Us』, and the fourteen-year-old boy Momo and the world reflected in his eyes are reborn with approximately 80 sepia-toned illustrations.
Momo's life in the slums of Paris, without knowing his mother's face or his own real age, is not at all beautiful, and those around the boy are also all marginalized from the center of society.
Aunt Rosa, who narrowly escaped death in Auschwitz and lived 'making a living by working her buttocks,' the children born to women in the same situation who have nowhere to go, Aunt Lola who has both male and female characteristics, Grandpa Hamil who has no friends or family and is forgotten by the world... ... They are all living lives at the bottom, but their appearances vividly brought to life by Manuele Fior's fingertips create a paradoxical beauty, and each scene, even the most desperate moments captured in yellow watercolors, harmonizes exquisitely with the voice of a precocious boy who has matured too soon, presenting a deep resonance.

Momo's appearance of giving and receiving love beyond race, age, and gender, even in a miserable life of having nothing and being ignored, deeply moved many people.
People cannot live without love.
Yes, we all must love.
It's time to revisit the wondrous secrets of life that Momo has discovered, now with illustrations.

People value life above all else.
But it's really funny when you think about all the beautiful things in the world.
--- p.74

The more I think about it, the more strange it is that tears are built into humans like a built-in closet.
So, humans are originally meant to cry.
You have to keep that in mind.
It is clear that the One who created humans has no regard for honor.
--- p.110

“There is nothing that is completely white or completely black.
White often hides black within itself, and black contains white within itself.” --- p.112

Since the old woman had no one, she had to at least have some flesh to live with.
When there is no one around to love you, people become fat.
--- p.113

The world turned upside down, this was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my fucking life.
I pictured Aunt Rosa, a lively woman standing on sturdy legs.
I went back in time a little further and made the lady into a beautiful maiden.
Then tears came to my eyes.
--- p.157

“Grandpa Hamilton, Grandpa Hamilton!”
I called my grandfather this way to remind him that there were still people who loved him and knew his name, and that he had such a name.
--- p.203

What Grandpa Hamilton said before he became senile seems to be true.
A person cannot live without someone to love.

--- p.343