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G229
« C’est bizarre, des fois, comme c’est. On croirait pas quand on arrive qu’on va rester si longtemps. Et puis le temps passe et voilà. » Voilà le constat que dresse la concierge du lycée où « monsieur Blondel » enseigne. Non seulement il est resté vingt ans dans le même lycée, mais dans la même salle aussi, la « G229 », qui lui a été attribuée de manière permanente, tandis que les autres profs changent de salle à chaque cours. Alors, on s’attache à cette salle de classe... Loin des discours catastrophiques sur l’école et l’enseignement, Jean-Philippe Blondel parle de son métier avec passion et en brosse un très joli portrait. Le lecteur retrouvera les thèmes chers à l’auteur : les rapports entre générations, le fait que nous partageons tous un domaine commun, que nous tissons des liens ― que nous le voulions ou pas. L’enseignement nourrit la littérature, et la littérature nourrit l’enseignement. Dans les deux cas, on est dans la vie. C’est le message quasi militant et optimiste que l’auteur du Baby-sitter transmet à ceux qui doutent de l’école d’aujourd’hui. Lettre ouverte d’un professeur qui y croit encore !
239 pages, Paperback
First published January 6, 2011
3 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Jean-Philippe Blondel
42 books83 followersJean-Philippe Blondel was born in Troyes, France, in 1964. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father worked for the National Railways. Jean-Philippe still lives in Troyes today after attending university in Paris and travelling around the world, including South and Central America, Nepal, India, and most of Europe.
Writing has always been Jean-Philippe’s way of expressing himself. He started writing poems when he was seven, then moved on to short stories as a teen. He wrote his first novel when he was 19. One book that had a profound effect on him as a child was Alice in Wonderland: he tended to identify with the White Rabbit…
Jean-Philippe’s favorite subjects at school were languages: French, English, and Spanish. He remembers telling his parents, at the age of 12, that he wanted to be an English teacher, which he’s been for the last 20 years in a high school.
Since no one in his family was particularly interested in literature, Jean-Philippe often wonders how reading and writing took on so much importance in his life—and at such an early age. However, books became his life-support when, at the age of 17, he lost his mother and brother in a car crash, and his father in another crash four years later.
His novels—for adults, young adults, or teenagers—are always based on everyday life. He writes in the first person because he wants readers to identify closely with the narrator, whom he tries to portray as the person next door. His novella, A Place to Live (2010), takes place in a high school. It is a very special text for him and reading it aloud always evokes strong emotions. He dedicated it to a class which he taught for three years: he had so enjoyed watching his students grow up and evolve that he wanted to offer them something special when they graduated. He read it to them during their last period together, and even now, several years later, thinking about the moment moves him deeply.
Jean-Philippe writes with the earplugs of his MP3 player in. He carefully selects one song before writing, and it becomes the original soundtrack of the novel. He listens to it over and over, sometimes forgetting everything else, including where he is and what he’s doing there. It gives him the opportunity to live two lives at the same time—a fictitious one (because he so identifies with his narrators) and a real-life one. In the latter, he is married to a primary school teacher and has two daughters, aged 8 and 11. His favorite activities are teaching, writing, reading, and rock music. He is working on his eighth novel for adults, which also explores the boundaries between teenagers and “so-called” grown-ups.
Writing has always been Jean-Philippe’s way of expressing himself. He started writing poems when he was seven, then moved on to short stories as a teen. He wrote his first novel when he was 19. One book that had a profound effect on him as a child was Alice in Wonderland: he tended to identify with the White Rabbit…
Jean-Philippe’s favorite subjects at school were languages: French, English, and Spanish. He remembers telling his parents, at the age of 12, that he wanted to be an English teacher, which he’s been for the last 20 years in a high school.
Since no one in his family was particularly interested in literature, Jean-Philippe often wonders how reading and writing took on so much importance in his life—and at such an early age. However, books became his life-support when, at the age of 17, he lost his mother and brother in a car crash, and his father in another crash four years later.
His novels—for adults, young adults, or teenagers—are always based on everyday life. He writes in the first person because he wants readers to identify closely with the narrator, whom he tries to portray as the person next door. His novella, A Place to Live (2010), takes place in a high school. It is a very special text for him and reading it aloud always evokes strong emotions. He dedicated it to a class which he taught for three years: he had so enjoyed watching his students grow up and evolve that he wanted to offer them something special when they graduated. He read it to them during their last period together, and even now, several years later, thinking about the moment moves him deeply.
Jean-Philippe writes with the earplugs of his MP3 player in. He carefully selects one song before writing, and it becomes the original soundtrack of the novel. He listens to it over and over, sometimes forgetting everything else, including where he is and what he’s doing there. It gives him the opportunity to live two lives at the same time—a fictitious one (because he so identifies with his narrators) and a real-life one. In the latter, he is married to a primary school teacher and has two daughters, aged 8 and 11. His favorite activities are teaching, writing, reading, and rock music. He is working on his eighth novel for adults, which also explores the boundaries between teenagers and “so-called” grown-ups.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 14, 2018
il m'a beaucoup touchée. notamment des phrases auxquelles je me suis identifiée, dans lesquelles je me suis reconnue. j'ai souri, j'ai revécu mes années lycée, et du point de vue des profs. j'ai reconnu mon prof de philo, l'atmosphère de classe, les relations. c'est une narration très facile à suivre, et malgré le fait qu'il m'ait happée, j'ai dû reposer le livre à certains moments tant j'étais prise dedans. c'est un roman qui m'a fait du bien. moi qui ai tant de mal à accepter que le lycée est derrière moi maintenant et que j'ai tout en main, ce roman a remué le couteau dans la plaie mais pour mieux la cicatriser.
September 15, 2020
Bref , dans la tête d’un prof..
September 11, 2023
De belles reflexions sur le temps qui passe, son propre chemin parcouru, la vie avec les autres, la vie enseignante, la vie tout court.
October 18, 2024
Récit qui parle beaucoup à un prof
Marque le temps qui passe à travers les différentes générations de collégiens / lycéens
Marque le temps qui passe à travers les différentes générations de collégiens / lycéens
September 26, 2016
Lecture agréable parce que certains passages font écho au métier d'enseignant. Ce n'est pas un livre qui change une vie mais il est touchant à certains moments. Pour ceux qui ne s'intéressent pas aux sciences de l'éducation ce n'est pas une lecture complètement indispensable.
August 19, 2025
On sourit, on a la larme à l’œil, on repense au lycée et on comprend mieux
July 10, 2011
Le 4e de couverture ne décrit pas bien du tout ce roman. À un point tel qu'au début j'étais déçue de ce que je lisais. Ensuite, le charme a opéré et au final j'ai beaucoup aimé. Un beau livre sur le temps qui passe.
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May 13, 2015Une série de remarques très pertinentes d'un prof par rapport à ses élèves. Très bonne analyse d ela relation professeur / élèves, mais il n'y a rien de vraiment romanesque dans cet ouvrage. On a très vite l'impression de lire un essai sur le métier de prof.
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February 5, 2011Vu sur Incoldblog 04/02/11
January 21, 2013
Purée, ce type a écrit ma vie de prof d'anglais !
July 22, 2013
La relation d'un professeur avec ses élèves et sa salle de classe décrit à la perfection dans ce livre.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews