LEURS ENFANTS APRES EUX Nicolas Mathieu

    Nicolas Mathieu's second book is a moral novel, which takes place in a small town in the eastern part of France. The events take place over a period of 6 years - each chapter is a fragment of another year, in succession 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998. Each one of them also has the title of a song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or "I Will Survive".

    "Leurs enfants apres eux" is a story about a few teenagers (in 1992, the main character - Anthony - is 14 years old). They all come from poor families who are still struggling with financial problems; some are immigrant children. The characters enter into adolescence and all this turbulent process is described in detail. Teenagers are experimenting with drugs and alcohol. They experience the first love of elation, for some it is a time of sexual initiation. The book is about the collision of fantasies and dreams of young people with reality. The world presented by Matthieu is very brutal, vulgar. The language of the heroes is often primitive, rich in potocyzmy. However, the third person narrator draws events and space very accurately. He also describes the emotional states of the heroes, not limiting himself to Anthony's world. We observe changes in the lives of heroes, their transformation into adults.

    The first scene - when Anthony and her cousin steal a motor boat to meet the girls on the other side of the lake - shows what kind of events will be presented. We are witnessing many meetings of young people, parties and pub visits.

   In addition to the relationship between teenagers, the teenager-parent relationship is also extensively described. These young people often grew up in pathological environments, with alcohol addicted fathers, aggressive ones. Nevertheless, the author does not show them in a completely bad light, he also writes about good times (for example, when Anthony's mother wants to help him, save him from his father's wrath). It seems to me that the title of the novel refers to these relations. The characters, in a sense, follow their parents' footsteps, you can certainly talk about social determinism here. 

    This book, despite the fact that her language is very lively and full of humor, is not easy to read. The descriptions are dense, there are a lot of difficult words, but also potocisms that I did not know before (even drug-related nomenclature). The author uses the passe simple time, with which I have practically never encountered before. I must admit that - because of the time pressure and just the length of the book - I could not read it as accurately as I would like. Certainly I would like to return to this position for some time and devote enough time to it.

„DIX-SEPT ANS” ÉRIC FOTTORINO

    "Dix-sept ans" is an autobiographical novel. The author presents us the fate of his mother Lina, who at the age of 17 gives birth to her first son,  Éric Fottorino, that's the writer. However, it is not the story of Lina that is a key element here, but the path of the author to find in himself the love for his mother and his identity. It is for this purpose that the author goes to Nice, the city where his mother lived and where he was born, spending only three days there. Visiting the city, he tries to find his seventeen-year-old mother in it.

    It is worth adding a few words about the author himself. His biological father is a Moroccan Moshé who was a Jew. It was about him that Éric wrote "Questions à mon père" (2010). However, Moshé abandoned his son and Lina, in time associating with another woman. Over time, her mother meets the Tunisian, Michel Fottorino, who adopts Éric and gives him his last name. The second father is also devoted to the novel, which appears under the title "L'Homme qui m'aimait tout bas" (2009). "Dix-sept ans" is therefore a novel complementing the author's cycle, which revolves around the topic of searching for its identity.

    The narrator "Dix-sept ans" is the author himself. He leads his narratives in a very intimate way, honestly describing his feelings and thoughts, which allows the reader to thoroughly follow the process of discovering his love for his mother. An interesting element of the narrative are direct phrases to the mother, which emphasize the attempt to understand Lina's behavior towards her son.

    

    I positively appreciate showing the process of understanding and loving your mother who has been thoroughly presented. The reader can analyze the next stages of getting closer to his mother. The theme of the work is also very interesting. It seems that the love of a parent is something natural and undisputed. The author, however, shows us that sometimes it takes several decades to find this feeling. In my opinion, the downside of the novel is the monotony that sometimes appears, which distracts the subject from curiosity.