Hey I'm Katy. Today I'm going to be
talking about some French books - hence
the title of the video. And all this
month I'm going to be reviewing either
French books or books about something
that has happened in France. OK so
today I'm going to be talking
specifically about At Night All Blood is
Black by David Diop, The Outsider by
Albert Camus, The Art of Losing by Alice
Zeniter and The Extraordinary Voyage
of the Fakir who got Trapped in an IKEA
Wardrobe by Romain Puértolas. OK
so first up is At Night All Blood is
Black by David Diop. This is the story of
Alfa Ndiaye, a Senegalese young man who
is fighting for France in World War 1. He
signed up with his best friend Mademba
Diop. It's narrated by Ndiaye in the
first person.
So you're inside his mind but you do not
identify with him because what he's
going through is too extreme. The story
begins with Ndiaye berating himself for
not having done something. He's like 'I
know, I understand, I shouldn't have ...' He's
filled with guilt, filled with remorse,
filled with fury that he didn't kill
Mademba when his best friend asked
him to, repeatedly, over an unspecified
length of time but presumably hours.
Mademba was gutted by an enemy
soldier. Alfa is laying with him on the
battlefield and he's begging Alfa to
slit his throat and Alfa Ndiaye doesn't
do this because all of his values, the
sense of duty that he was raised with it
says this is wrong. So instead he
helplessly watches his friend die a
horrible death. Not allowing his friend
die quickly seems like the real
inhumane act. This event breaks something
within Alfa Ndiaye. He becomes separated
from the morals and sense of duty that he
was raised with. The distinction
between what is humane and what
is not is no longer obvious to him. He's
a strong warrior physically. He describes
himself as kind of flawless. Ndiaye enacts
brutal revenge on the enemy taking
severed hands as trophies. When he first
brings these back to the trenches his
comrades are cheering him on. You know
he's on their side.
He's terrifying but he's on their side.
But as it continues - so I can't remember
by what number they're scared but
like by the fourth or fifth they're
starting to go 'okay there's something
wrong here', and they're getting quite
scared of him themselves.
He sees how two-faced the army machine
is. On the one hand he's expected to rush
out onto the battlefield and mercilessly
slaughter his enemies. He's supposed to
be a killing machine. And then on the
other, he's expected to come back to the
trenches and be this good-humoured, nice
boy, comrade down the god-awful mucky
trenches. The book highlights the many
hypocrisies present in World War 1. It
also paints a very different war
experience from the usual. Ndiaye isn't
buddy-buddy with his fellow soldiers.
He's isolated from them. Anyone he was
close to dies. He's so isolated. He's
fighting for a country he doesn't even
know. He doesn't even speak the language.
He doesn't speak French. His commanders
are foreign to him. And they don't look
like him. They resemble "the enemy". So like
with every WW1 story that I've
ever read or watched, there is a point
where the soldiers are like 'What is this
war about? What are we even doing here?'
With Alfa Ndiaye that question is so
strong and so strange that you know his
being there seems to feel more like some
sort of evil enchantment than just God
the craziness of war... So it's a very good
story.
It's very brutal. Shockingly so. The
language is very visceral but it also
uses many metaphors.
So it's like poetically
visceral - in a very blood-and-guts kind
of way. You distance yourself from Ndiaye
but you feel the mucky bloody world
that he is a part of - that he is
wriggling through on his belly. It's a
very visceral kind of experience reading
it. And it's also quite troubling reading
the thoughts of and reflections of a
young man whose mind is basically
descending into madness. You know you
can't trust his interpretation of things.
And that isn't actually just the madness.
Like when he is recounting details of
his life before the war, the innocence of
youth has caused him to misinterpret
things. So it's kind of
heartbreaking. And you do sympathise but
you fear what he's going to do next. If I
had to give a criticism it would be that
the story ends too soon. There is a
serious brutal episode at the end. And I
think this story would have been
stronger, for me at least, if we saw the
aftermath of that episode. Perhaps from
an outside source? The story remains
trapped in Ndiaye's broken mind at the
end. We don't get to see how the
environment that he's in reacts to the
monster that has been created by what
he's been through. You know which sort of
allows it escape a certain
responsibility - I felt. Also it's a very
brutal thing that's happened so I guess
I did want to know what happens after
that. It's very good. It's very brutal.
I've a couple of trigger warnings to
give, obviously it's very violent, there
is some sexual violence in it. And also
it is a story told through someone who's
mind is basically disintegrating. They're
losing themselves. So I would say yeah
this is definitely worth the read. But do
approach it with caution. 
It's due to be published in
English this October - which i think is a
very good time of year for this book.
OK so that was At Night All Blood is
Black by David Diop. Its original title is
Frère d'âme. L'Étranger, The Outsider, also
known as The Stranger by Albert Camus.
I love this book.
I don't interpret this as being some
work on existentialism or the absurdity
of existence. For me it's about how
hypocritical societies can be and about
how in such hypocritical societies it is
more important how you appear, how you
act, rather than what you actually do. So
this story is about Meursault. He is an
ethnically French man born and raised in
Algeria. And he is somebody who is very
distanced from himself emotionally. He
doesn't examine how he is feeling or
what he thinks of a situation. He doesn't
judge ... he doesn't judge full stop. He
lives from moment to moment. His level of
comfort or lack thereof is dependent on
his sensory experience of life moment to
moment. So his sensory experience can
greatly affect him. It can actually
overload him. This doesn't appear to be a
sensory processing disorder or anything.
It seems much more to be about refusing
to have anything more than a superficial
existence. Meursault doesn't examine
himself but we know that he used to. For
some reason he has stopped examining
himself. So the thing about him is he
doesn't put up any pretense.
He lives moment to moment
and he reacts very simply, very honestly
to what is happening. So in a way this
makes his character very honest because
he doesn't lie and he doesn't attempt to
deceive. In another way though it means
he's actually incapable of being honest
because he doesn't examine what is the
real truth within himself. And as I say
we know that he wasn't always this way
because at a certain point in the book
he says 'I've become accustomed to not
interrogating myself'. So at some point he
did. Why did he stop examining himself? Is
it because he wants to remain innocent?
He wants to avoid any culpability for
his actions and for what is happening in
his world? So quick summary of the plot
Meursault is informed by telegram from the
nursing home where his mother is that
she has passed away. His feelings about
this are never addressed or examined but
there are several indicators throughout
the book that he actually feels quite
guilty about this. His mother didn't want
to go to the home. It seems that he put
her there simply because she was
becoming inconvenient to have around. He
did visit her at first but when she dies
it's actually been a long time since he
has visited her. He goes to her funeral.
He's tired and restless.
He appears emotionless to the staff and
residents. He doesn't cry. He dozes off. He
smokes in front of the body.
He has a cafe au lait which suggests
that he isn't even bothered trying to stay
awake. His apparent callous lack of [adherence to]
social convention is not meant to shock
or offend. He behaves the way that it is
comfortable for him. The world he lives
in is very hypocritical. The problem is
not that he put the mother in a home.
It's that he doesn't behave as he should
at the funeral.
There are certain norms that one must
adhere to. Meursault does not adhere to
these norms. Not because he disagrees
with them.
He doesn't have any interior judge or
examiner. So he doesn't examine the
actions of others anymore and he would
examine the actions of himself.
This lack of examination leads to a lack
of awareness of what behavior is
required in any given situation. And at
the same time he's likable guy. He's
approachable. He doesn't judge and he is
inoffensive to all who approach him. When
he goes back to the city we see the kind
of life he leads and it's quite pleasant.
He hooks up with the girl, Marie, who he
used to work with. When she asks him if
he loves her he responds 'I don't think
it means anything ... but I think not'.
Because this is not said as a rejection
but simply as an honest response to her
question, it doesn't end things. Like
people like Meursault. He's odd
and he's on the outside because he
doesn't react the way he should, but
people like the fact that he is honest.
There is an easiness to that. We also
meet a couple of his neighbours. One is a
crusty old man who seriously abuses his
dog. The other one is 
Raymond Sintès. He is a
pimp who is very violent with women. He
beats them up regularly, just as a matter
of course. And he viciously beats up a
girlfriend because, with very little
evidence, he believes she's been
unfaithful to him. Meursault never condemns
these men. Not only does he not condemn
them though - because like he wouldn't
condemn them he doesn't judge anybody
or anything - but not only does he not
condemn them, he seems to acknowledge a
certain awareness of why they would
behave that way. And in the case of
Raymond Sintès he actually - like he
doesn't just listen to his troubles he
actually helps hime out and agrees to
like sort of stand up for him. One day
Raymond, a friend of his, and Meursault are
on the beach. They run into the brother
of
the girlfriend who Raymond has badly
beaten up. He is an Arabic Algerian - who
was there with a friend of his. A fight
ensues and Raymond is stabbed. The lads go
and tend to Raymond's wound. And afterwards
Raymond decides
to go back to the beach.
Meursault follows him. And Raymond is
considering shooting the Arab. Meursault
stops him and takes the gun off him.
Later Meursault is just walking sort of
aimlessly in the burning hot midday
sun. And he happens to
find himself in front of the brother
again. Who was just on the beach
reclining, in the shade of a rock, just
smoking taking it easy. He sees Meursault.
So he grabs a hold of his knife. He
ends up flashing it at Meursault. And then
Meursault without any real intention just
being reactive to his addled senses,
they're addled by the heat and by the
light and everything and just the tense
situation. He ends up shooting the
brother. And then he fires a further four
shots into the man's body. Meursault is
arrested. He isn't very concerned, he
considers the matter very simple. The
first lawyer he has isn't worried either -
at first - and then he speaks to Meursault. It
should be simple to get Meursault
acquitted. The justice system
doesn't seem to place any value on the
life of the Algerian. However in order
for his actions to be seen as acceptable
Meursault needs to follow the social norms
and express regret for the loss of life
and offer some kind of excuse for his
actions. You know he could say was in a
troubled state because he had recently
been bereaved. Meursault doesn't say
anything like that because it's not how
he feels and he doesn't put on pretenses.
The murder trial is a farce.
The prosecution's case hinges more on
the fact that at his mother's funeral he didn't
cry and that he smoked and that he drank
a cafe au lait, rather than the fact that
he senselessly killed a man.
His victim was armed with a simple knife.
So Meursault could have defended himself
very simply by just walking away. But the
life of the Algerian man, as far as the
justice system is concerned, is kind of a
side point. Meursault's lack of hypocrisy,
his lack of awareness of the need to add
expressions of hollow remorse for his
deadly actions shocks and offends the
state or the society that he's part of.
But the fact that this is why he is
condemned, his lack of pretense, the fact
that that is why he is condemned, and
not because he killed a man, shows that
the state, the society that he's in, is
complicit in the Algerian's murder. The
society acknowledges certain behavior is
wrong and will look unfavorably on those
who commit these wrongs but whether or
not they will actually act to stop the
wrongdoing depends on who is committing
the wrong and who is the victim of it.
If the wrongdoers are part of the
privileged part of society then all they
must do is express the right sort of
values. They do not actually need to act
in accordance with those values. And if
the victims are on the outside of
society because they are not part of the
privileged set, then the justice system
isn't really concerned with protecting
them. Society is concerned with
protecting its own, i.e. those in power, the
privileged set. So the neighborhood does
Meursault is in, they do not like Sintès
the violent pimp or the crusty old man
who mistreats the dog. They shake their
heads at them. They do not like them but
they do nothing to stop the abuse. They
feel it's sufficient to have the
appearance of condemning it without
actually stopping it. The society will
accept Meursault back among them if he
will just provide any excuse and some
expression of remorse.
It doesn't matter what he has done. It's
his lack of pratense that is the real
crime as far as they are concerned. The
society doesn't demand that people
behave in accordance with their values.
But does Meursault? Is this why he stopped
examining his behaviour?
I suspect that Meursault stopped examining
his feelings about his environment and
his own actions because they were not
reflective of his deeply held values. And
the way he isolates his actions from any
interrogation by his values means that
he leads a very superficial existence. He
reacts to the world moment-to-moment.
Meursault isn't condemned to death because
he killed a man. He's condemned because
he didn't cry at his mother's funeral.
While he is awaiting the outcome of his
appeal the prison chaplain comes to
speak with him. Meursault doesn't want the
chaplain visiting him because he's an
atheist and the chaplain also seems to
represent the society's invitation to
Meursault to welcome him back to the fold.
Meursault is an affable guy. They don't
want to execute him. They just want him
to express remorse, play by the rules of
the game, and we will grant you the
appeal and we can all move on. That's
really what they're saying to him. Meursault
who has accepted his execution as inevitable
at this stage is upset by the chaplain's
hollow-sounding words. He ends up losing
his temper and for the first time in the
novel - the first and only time in the
novel - we see strong emotion from him. He
rages at the chaplain, insulting him. The
novel ends with Meursault hoping that there
will be a large crowd at his execution
and that they will greet him with cries
of hatred. The society condemns Meursault
for the sole reason that he is not
playing the game. But maybe Meursault
condemns himself for what he has actually
done. He let his mother die abandoned in
an old folks home, and he senselessly
killed a man
he could simply have just walked away
from. I think it's a great book. I think
it shows the pernicious effect of not
living in accordance with your values.
I'm not sure how the novel is perceived
in Algeria. There is a book which is
a retelling of this story by an Algerian
writer Kamel Daoud. It's called The Meursault
Investigation. I haven't read it yet but
it's on my TBR list. I think I'll read
that sometime this year. So L'Étranger is
written in a very simple style and it's
a very short read. With secondary school
French or high school French you could
totally understand this book. You'd
understand most of it anyway. And there's
a reading of L'Étranger by Camus on
YouTube. I'll link to it below. I really
hope it doesn't disappear because it's
fantastic. Actually listening to it sort
of changed the way I interpreted the
story. Because when I was reading
myself I read Meursault as being just
totally flat effect, you know completely
emotionless. That's not how Camus reads
it. So it's great. It's also very easy to
find a copy of this novel in English,
online, for free. I think it's great. I
think it's thought-provoking and also
there are touches of humor in it as well.
It's a very short good read.
OK so the next one then 
The Extraordinary
Journey of the Fakir who got Trapped in
an Ikea Wardrobe. I picked this because I
thought it was going to be something fun
and I wanted something a bit sort of
fantastic and ridiculous because I knew
that the other stuff that I picked was
probably quite heavy. The Extraordinary
Journey did deliver this but what I
didn't expect was this screwball fantasy
it's a bit of a critique of our
attitudes towards immigrants and
refugees and how the processes and
structures in place both fail to address
problems and often make things worse by
being so inhumane. Is it an in-depth
look
these problems? No. Not at all. It's a fun
and ridiculous story that is filled with
heart and just every so often gently
reminds the reader that you know it's
not okay to treat human beings this way.
And also the kind of bravery of people
who try to get to another country, to get
to a better life, to get to a safer
life, and the kind of brave fantastic
adventure that is... That is just part of
the story it is this like fantastic madcap
adventure that makes you laugh. It's
kind of like - it's not a race - but it did
remind me a little bit of It's a Mad Mad
Mad World. So I actually picked it
because I thought it was going to be
like The 13 1/2 Lives of
Captain Blue Bear by Walter Moers. I love
that book. I read it just not knowing
what it was about. And it was perfect for
the mood I was in at the time. The
extraordinary journey is not like that
at all. Actually it's much more like It's
a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, you know that
film from like 60s or 70s? 
This is more of a screwball
comedy rather than a fantasy. And it's
got a lot of heart. It's very nice.
A screwball comedy fantasy with nice
romantic elements. It's very light. It's
very sweet. The Extraordinary Journey of
the Fakir who got Trapped in an Ikea
Wardrobe.
And then the last one is L'Art de
perdre which is The Art of Losing by Alice
Zeniter. Um I have not finished reading
this yet. This is not a book to read
quickly. It's rich in detail and feelings
and thoughts. It's thought-provoking
and it's very feeling inducing as well.
It is a book to savor. It is excellent.
I'm less than a third of the way through.
I'm on chapter 19 but I already feel
like I'm reading a classic. It's life.
It's specifically about the life of
three generations of a family, an
Algerian family who moved to France, so
they
are then French-Algerian. The prologue is
about Naima a young French Algerian
woman who is dealing with a hangover and
recurring thoughts that she remembers
the words of her uncle giving out about
the behavior of his nieces and he's
saying you know they've forgotten
themselves and this isn't proper Muslim
behavior, that kind of thing... And he's
rip-roaring drunk while he's giving this
rant. So this memory is like an
introduction into the history of the
family which starts with her grandfather
Ali who is a Kabylian - I hope I'm
pronouncing that right. They're a Berber
ethnic group. There is a part of Algeria,
Kabylia. And so that's where this family
is from. [Ali] fought with France during
World War 1. He has a pension from them.
He also has the awful memories of World
War 1. I'm not going to say anything
more about this other than it's
excellent. I'm really looking forward to
following this family's journey, even
though some of it is going to be brutal.
I'm at the point where the Algerian War
is starting and the violence, the way the
bodies are mutilated, it's ... it's really
shocking. It's tough to read - but like
that's not the whole story here. This is
an epic. It's a long full story of life.
It contains all of the things, the good
the bad, the indifferent, you know? This
is not available in English yet and it
really should be. Like I think this is
probably a classic. Like you know when
you're reading something and you're like
God this is really really good. It's
excellent. Yeah.
So next week I'm going to
be reading The Lover by Marguerite Duras,
The Lost Estate by Henri Alain Fournier,
I wish somebody were waiting for me
somewhere by Anna Gavalda,
The Return of  Martin guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis
and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.
So all romantic books for
Valentine's. I will probably be posting
it after Valentine's 
if this week is anything to
go by. But maybe I'll be on time who
knows? OK thanks very much for watching.
See you next week. Bye.
