What do you think?
Rate this book
غداً كيف كيف
The residential Paradise projects are only a few metro stops from central Paris, but it’s a different world. Doria’s father, the Beard, has headed back to Morocco, leaving Doria and her mother to cope. It seems that mektoub – their fate – has it in for them them but Doria will prove that the ‘projects’ are about more than rap, soccer and religious tension.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
159 people are currently reading
2607 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 444 reviews
September 24, 2020
Tres magnifique! What a surprise!
I am headoverheels in love with this novel! Unputdownable, it is extremely hard to find fault with this wondrous tale by a 19 year-old writer. It will make you laugh like no other book in recent memory. No wonder the French went gaga over this new Sagan, this new Salinger. Her novel is worth finding, reading & sharing. I wanna thank an old friend whose favorite book was the French version of this unique novel. Definitely my favorite read of the year thus far!
I am headoverheels in love with this novel! Unputdownable, it is extremely hard to find fault with this wondrous tale by a 19 year-old writer. It will make you laugh like no other book in recent memory. No wonder the French went gaga over this new Sagan, this new Salinger. Her novel is worth finding, reading & sharing. I wanna thank an old friend whose favorite book was the French version of this unique novel. Definitely my favorite read of the year thus far!
April 20, 2012
The title of this book, Kiffe kiffe demain, must give translators nightmares. The problem is that it’s a play on words, and not just on any normal words, but ghetto slang. “Kif kif” is vernacular roughly meaning “same ‘ole, same ‘ole”; “kiffer” is vernacular meaning “to like/love”. The title has a bittersweet tang derived from the opposing feelings of despair (“same ‘ole shit tomorrow”) and hope (“loving tomorrow”). That title must also give those tight-arsed asshats at the French Academy nightmares. “But zis is ghetto Frrench! Quelle horreur!”
The book is set in the banlieues, which a dictionary will misleadingly translate as “suburbs”. This is not, however, Desperate Housewives territory: middle-class angst is more the preserve of the ill-de-la-cité. The banlieues are the French version of community housing with all the attendant connotations that entails. Its American equivalent is Harlem or the ghetto, and yes, the ambivalence (or just downright racism) of the French to these members of the population is their equivalent of the white-black divide in America. So much for liberté, égalité, et fraternité eh?
Call the book a French mash-up, if you will, of Catcher in the Rye and The Invisible Man. It’s got that perfectly realised adolescent tone of scorn and angst, and the well-aimed barbs at the system of racism. It’s not a one-sided polemic, however. Doria, the heroine, is as critical of her fellow residents with their sexism and narrow-mindedness as she is of French racism. It’s also more hopeful than that pairing of American classics would suggest. As much as Guène punctures French racism, she also acknowledges how the French social safety net can be helpful: for example, Doria’s mother is able to get a better job through free literacy classes provided by the state.
The comparison with Catcher in the Rye and The Invisible Man is as much to suggest that this work deserves to become a French classic. Not because it’s “Lit-ruh-chuh”, but almost precisely because it’s not. It’s a blast of fresh air through the self-satisfied, whiney navel-gazing going on in a lot of celebrated current French novels. For all the adolescent POV, the novel is refreshingly unself-centered. And in daring to put forth for the very first time in French literature a poor marginalised heroine like Doria front and centre of a literary work as a person wholly deserving of an equal place in the country of the bleu-blanc-rouge, Guène follows in the footsteps of Victor Hugo and Collette. And like her predecessors, she deserves as much to be called French as they are.
Check out the Guardian interview with Faïza Guène, and recent reportage by Al Jazeera on the problem of discrimination in France.
* Best line in the book for me: "En France, trois mots en "iste", ça suffit pour qu'on donne ton nom à un lycée, une rue, une bibliothèque ou une station de métro." (In France, [if you can be described with] three words with the suffix "ist" (e.g., journalist, socialist, unionist), that's all it takes for your name to be given to a school, a road, a library, or a subway station.)
The book is set in the banlieues, which a dictionary will misleadingly translate as “suburbs”. This is not, however, Desperate Housewives territory: middle-class angst is more the preserve of the ill-de-la-cité. The banlieues are the French version of community housing with all the attendant connotations that entails. Its American equivalent is Harlem or the ghetto, and yes, the ambivalence (or just downright racism) of the French to these members of the population is their equivalent of the white-black divide in America. So much for liberté, égalité, et fraternité eh?
Call the book a French mash-up, if you will, of Catcher in the Rye and The Invisible Man. It’s got that perfectly realised adolescent tone of scorn and angst, and the well-aimed barbs at the system of racism. It’s not a one-sided polemic, however. Doria, the heroine, is as critical of her fellow residents with their sexism and narrow-mindedness as she is of French racism. It’s also more hopeful than that pairing of American classics would suggest. As much as Guène punctures French racism, she also acknowledges how the French social safety net can be helpful: for example, Doria’s mother is able to get a better job through free literacy classes provided by the state.
The comparison with Catcher in the Rye and The Invisible Man is as much to suggest that this work deserves to become a French classic. Not because it’s “Lit-ruh-chuh”, but almost precisely because it’s not. It’s a blast of fresh air through the self-satisfied, whiney navel-gazing going on in a lot of celebrated current French novels. For all the adolescent POV, the novel is refreshingly unself-centered. And in daring to put forth for the very first time in French literature a poor marginalised heroine like Doria front and centre of a literary work as a person wholly deserving of an equal place in the country of the bleu-blanc-rouge, Guène follows in the footsteps of Victor Hugo and Collette. And like her predecessors, she deserves as much to be called French as they are.
Check out the Guardian interview with Faïza Guène, and recent reportage by Al Jazeera on the problem of discrimination in France.
* Best line in the book for me: "En France, trois mots en "iste", ça suffit pour qu'on donne ton nom à un lycée, une rue, une bibliothèque ou une station de métro." (In France, [if you can be described with] three words with the suffix "ist" (e.g., journalist, socialist, unionist), that's all it takes for your name to be given to a school, a road, a library, or a subway station.)
September 16, 2020
“‘Why would he give a shit about voting?’ The guy already has to fight daily just to survive, so you can forget about his duties as a citizen .. If his situation improved a little, maybe he would want to get out and vote.
I wonder if this is why these housing developments are left to decay, because few people around here vote. You have no political usefulness if you don’t vote.”
Our narrator, the very acerbic Doria, is surrounded by culturally ignorant people in her daily life while at home she lives among her “own people” you could say. Doria and her mother are living in France after immigrating from Morocco along with her awful, sexist father. He eventually moved back to have another family and finally has his own son just as he’s always dreamt. Good riddance I say, they are better off without him anyway.
“Dad, he wanted a son. For his pride, his reputation, his family honor, and I’m sure lots of other stupid reasons.”
See?
What a terrible waste of a ‘sperm donor’.
“Our generation’s lucky because you get to choose who you’re going to love for the rest of your life. Or the rest of the year. Depends on the couple.”
Doria, she gravitates toward thinking of her life in terms of movies, those thoughts are quite funny.
“It’s like a film script and we’re the actors. Trouble is, our scriptwriter’s got no talent. And he’s never heard of happily ever after.”
She’s moody at times like all teenagers are but she loves her mom and wants to better their lives and she got spunk to go with it - I’m sure both these women will do just fine on their own.
“Later when my breasts are bigger and I’m a little bit more intelligent, like when I’m adult, I’ll join up with a group that helps people...
Knowing there are people who need you and you can be useful to them, it’s really cool.
One of these days, if I don’t need my blood or one of my kidneys, I could donate them to the sick people who’ve had their names on the lists for forever. But still, I wouldn’t do it for a clear conscience or so I could look at myself in the mirror when I’m taking off my makeup after work, but because I really wanted to do it.”
May 1, 2020
i read this book in a french class in high school, and my fondest (and only) memory of it is that we convinced our friend who wasn't taking french that this was called "Chief Keef Demain," and was a memoir of Chief Keef's time married to his first wife, a french woman (pictured on the cover).
this was four years ago and i am still laughing just thinking of it.
(this is part of a project i pick up every year or so where i review books i read a million years ago because i am stubborn.)
this was four years ago and i am still laughing just thinking of it.
(this is part of a project i pick up every year or so where i review books i read a million years ago because i am stubborn.)
August 28, 2018
[3.5] I can see why this is taught in schools (as another reviewer notes, it's a French A-Level text in England), but am surprised, in a good way, that it was longlisted, back in 2007, for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (precursor to the current format of the Booker International).
Translated, it's a very easy read, basically YA, though for a reader of French around A-Level standard, the slang will take a bit of getting used to. Subject-wise, it technically has that realist 'worthiness' characteristic of the IFFP - it's about an impoverished French-Moroccan teenage girl living on a tough estate on the outskirts of Paris - but it's not in the least dry, so 'worthy' wasn't an adjective that occurred to me until afterwards. This book didn't exist when I was doing A-levels, but Kiffe Kiffe plus an older classic would be a better choice than two of the latter, and certainly gives a less rarefied view of France than the likes of Marcel Pagnol.
It's also potentially educational in that there's a lot to look up about French pop culture of the late 90s and early 00s, the sort of casual references you might get IRL: e.g. saying someone looks like a certain daytime TV presenter. (The book makes sense without knowing all these references, but I enjoy finding out this sort of stuff. If you like to look things up as you go, it means that this otherwise very straightforward book might not be the most convenient read for public transport.)
Narrator Doria's voice may grate for some readers (and the ending is perhaps a bit too neat in that YA way). I have never understood why so many older child and teenage narrators pepper their stories with "I wish [really bad thing] would happen to [so and so]". I don't remember thinking this about more than one or two people (and it's not like I was having a great time socially or at home), and I can't ever remember other kids saying it. In books I've read in adulthood, I've usually thought of it as lazy shorthand for a more inchoate childish and youthful dissatisfaction, but as Faïza Guène wrote this when she was still a teenager herself, and she grew up on an estate like Doria's, where many people have far greater material hardship than most of my old classmates, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt in the way that I wouldn't to a well-meaning middle-class 45 year old trying to write the same character.
Some contemporary readers may feel that a certain plot point needs more exploration and discussion, especially for teen readers: But to make it just about the character neglects changing general norms - which have possibly changed more among the young and among Anglo-American liberals than elsewhere. And I find it very interesting as an example of inner emotions changing rapidly - seeing in action the stuff covered by the scholarly field of the history of emotions I referred to the other day in reviewing Lucy Worsley's Jane Austen at Home. It was sad to see how often Doria referred to commercial women's magazines as ways she and others learned about life and relationships (and to shape their views of what was and was not appropriate to feel and do) but also sadly accurate for pre-www girls who had negligible useful support from people they knew. I was kind of glad magazines have waned, but on the consumerism and fashion front, they seemed quite benign compared with what you hear about Instagram and teens now.
I found Kiffe Kiffe really interesting. Contemporary fiction about immigrants, and about poorer people (who aren't struggling creatives) in other European countries is something I've long wanted to read more of, but not much is translated. (And when it is, it's rarely as approachable as this.)
Translated, it's a very easy read, basically YA, though for a reader of French around A-Level standard, the slang will take a bit of getting used to. Subject-wise, it technically has that realist 'worthiness' characteristic of the IFFP - it's about an impoverished French-Moroccan teenage girl living on a tough estate on the outskirts of Paris - but it's not in the least dry, so 'worthy' wasn't an adjective that occurred to me until afterwards. This book didn't exist when I was doing A-levels, but Kiffe Kiffe plus an older classic would be a better choice than two of the latter, and certainly gives a less rarefied view of France than the likes of Marcel Pagnol.
It's also potentially educational in that there's a lot to look up about French pop culture of the late 90s and early 00s, the sort of casual references you might get IRL: e.g. saying someone looks like a certain daytime TV presenter. (The book makes sense without knowing all these references, but I enjoy finding out this sort of stuff. If you like to look things up as you go, it means that this otherwise very straightforward book might not be the most convenient read for public transport.)
Narrator Doria's voice may grate for some readers (and the ending is perhaps a bit too neat in that YA way). I have never understood why so many older child and teenage narrators pepper their stories with "I wish [really bad thing] would happen to [so and so]". I don't remember thinking this about more than one or two people (and it's not like I was having a great time socially or at home), and I can't ever remember other kids saying it. In books I've read in adulthood, I've usually thought of it as lazy shorthand for a more inchoate childish and youthful dissatisfaction, but as Faïza Guène wrote this when she was still a teenager herself, and she grew up on an estate like Doria's, where many people have far greater material hardship than most of my old classmates, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt in the way that I wouldn't to a well-meaning middle-class 45 year old trying to write the same character.
Some contemporary readers may feel that a certain plot point needs more exploration and discussion, especially for teen readers: But to make it just about the character neglects changing general norms - which have possibly changed more among the young and among Anglo-American liberals than elsewhere. And I find it very interesting as an example of inner emotions changing rapidly - seeing in action the stuff covered by the scholarly field of the history of emotions I referred to the other day in reviewing Lucy Worsley's Jane Austen at Home. It was sad to see how often Doria referred to commercial women's magazines as ways she and others learned about life and relationships (and to shape their views of what was and was not appropriate to feel and do) but also sadly accurate for pre-www girls who had negligible useful support from people they knew. I was kind of glad magazines have waned, but on the consumerism and fashion front, they seemed quite benign compared with what you hear about Instagram and teens now.
I found Kiffe Kiffe really interesting. Contemporary fiction about immigrants, and about poorer people (who aren't struggling creatives) in other European countries is something I've long wanted to read more of, but not much is translated. (And when it is, it's rarely as approachable as this.)
June 12, 2011
رواية مسلية بشدة تتنهي في خفة
دون فلسفة
تناقش مشاكل المغتربين
او تظهرها بصورة بسيطة وساخرة
تخليك تقول يا سلام
يا اخي
ايه دا
مفيش الكلام الكبير المجعلص
رواية لطيفة بشدة
:)
دون فلسفة
تناقش مشاكل المغتربين
او تظهرها بصورة بسيطة وساخرة
تخليك تقول يا سلام
يا اخي
ايه دا
مفيش الكلام الكبير المجعلص
رواية لطيفة بشدة
:)
July 30, 2022
I read this in French and loved it!!
Faiza met en scène une adolescente d’origine algérienne nommée Doria qui vit en France. Cette dernière est détonnante. Elle ne trouve sa place ni dans la société française ni dans sa communauté algérienne. Elle est éblouissante de par la justesse de ses observations et elle n’épargne personne. Ce qui m’a séduite chez elle, c’est qu’on la voit au stade de l’adolescence et que même si elle dissimule sa tristesse et ses peines derrière ses remarques cinglantes, elle est pleine d’amour et d’humour. Elle dit les choses telles qu’elles les ressent. C’est beau, frais et honnête !
Faiza met en scène une adolescente d’origine algérienne nommée Doria qui vit en France. Cette dernière est détonnante. Elle ne trouve sa place ni dans la société française ni dans sa communauté algérienne. Elle est éblouissante de par la justesse de ses observations et elle n’épargne personne. Ce qui m’a séduite chez elle, c’est qu’on la voit au stade de l’adolescence et que même si elle dissimule sa tristesse et ses peines derrière ses remarques cinglantes, elle est pleine d’amour et d’humour. Elle dit les choses telles qu’elles les ressent. C’est beau, frais et honnête !
August 7, 2014
This coming of age novel was recommended to me by Rida and while I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped to, I did find it very stark and honest in its portrayal of life on the poor side in Paris, France. I don’t know about you guys but I have a very selective way of thinking about Paris. To me, it is the city of lights, romance and fluffy pastries. Before I read this book, I didn’t think about the people who populated the city, who breathe, live and animate this city. There’s this authenticity in the narrator’s voice, this matter of fact manner of relating facts that I could not help but respond to.
It did not surprise me when I read the author’s biography and found that the author experienced the same life she writes about. I don’t know whether it is the translation but this novel reads less like a fictional piece and more like documentary – raw, real and right there, in front of you. Doria’s observations about the hierarchy, the pain of being a girl when your father wanted a boy, wearing clothes that make other people smirk and laugh – these are just so on point. So on point that the line between reality and fictionality blurs significantly.
Some people have claimed this to be the French Catcher in the Rye and I don’t know if this comparison is apt. I do know that while the novel has no beginning, middle and end, there is no main narrative, it does give you a slice of the pie and ask that you taste it and make up your own mind about how much you like it. So yeah, while I didn’t love it unequivocally, it has merit and if you want to experience life in a very different pair of shoes, you should read this.
It did not surprise me when I read the author’s biography and found that the author experienced the same life she writes about. I don’t know whether it is the translation but this novel reads less like a fictional piece and more like documentary – raw, real and right there, in front of you. Doria’s observations about the hierarchy, the pain of being a girl when your father wanted a boy, wearing clothes that make other people smirk and laugh – these are just so on point. So on point that the line between reality and fictionality blurs significantly.
Some people have claimed this to be the French Catcher in the Rye and I don’t know if this comparison is apt. I do know that while the novel has no beginning, middle and end, there is no main narrative, it does give you a slice of the pie and ask that you taste it and make up your own mind about how much you like it. So yeah, while I didn’t love it unequivocally, it has merit and if you want to experience life in a very different pair of shoes, you should read this.
October 10, 2023
No one is better than the French to write about bullying.
For the acceptance part they still have time, I suppose.
↠ 3.5 stars
For the acceptance part they still have time, I suppose.
↠ 3.5 stars
September 2, 2017
سرد بغاية السلاسة، يحكي بصوت فتاة مغتربة مراهقة، فصول من حياتها مع أمها في الأحياء الفقيرة في فرنسا، بعد أن هجرهم والدها لأنه يريد ولدا ذكرا ولم يبد أن أمها قادرة على أن تمنحه.
تستعين الفتاة بلغة ساخرة في الحديث عن نفسها وحياتها، الاشخاص المحيطين بها، الاخصائية الاجتماعية، وتصف البيئة القاسية للمغتربين.
الفصول قصيرة، والسرد يندفع عبر الانعطافات العاطفية للفتاة والتقلبات التي تؤثر على حياة محيطها. كانت قراءة قصيرة وممتعة.
تستعين الفتاة بلغة ساخرة في الحديث عن نفسها وحياتها، الاشخاص المحيطين بها، الاخصائية الاجتماعية، وتصف البيئة القاسية للمغتربين.
الفصول قصيرة، والسرد يندفع عبر الانعطافات العاطفية للفتاة والتقلبات التي تؤثر على حياة محيطها. كانت قراءة قصيرة وممتعة.
May 17, 2007
I was going to write a review about this book, but then I remembered that I don't remember anything about it. I read it last month and it has already slipped from my mind.
I love coming of age novels, but this protagonist is barely memorable.
I love coming of age novels, but this protagonist is barely memorable.
August 6, 2012
رواية لذيذة. وهل تملك إلا أن تشغف بصوت الفتاة ذات الخمسة عشر ربيعاً .. والتي تسخر من العالم وتتهكم على غبائه طوال الوقت؟
لذييييذة تذوب في دمك بسهولة :)
لذييييذة تذوب في دمك بسهولة :)
April 12, 2022
why am i so emotional i kinda hated this book until now ! (thank u for the sweet ending i am so so so proud of all the characters #characterdevelopment🥲🥲🥲ok now time to analyze the shit out of this)
January 21, 2010
A very accurate representation of the life of Arabic Immigrants in France. Written in the no nonsense a bit rash style of a teenager the book grabs you from beginning to end. Reading about the conditions of life for some of these unfortunate women only makes you want to change things for the unfortunate immigrants.
A fresh look on immigration and on surviving even in difficult conditions.
The voice of the young girl is sometimes angry but it is an anger that is directed to the injustices that are commited around her, and to the people who treat her like an outsider and an unimportant entity, so the anger is very justifiable... And we see her at the end of the book change that attitude towards acceptance and love which is very refreshing.
Wonderful and fast read because the style is so engaging. I read it in English, I'm sure the french version is even better.
A fresh look on immigration and on surviving even in difficult conditions.
The voice of the young girl is sometimes angry but it is an anger that is directed to the injustices that are commited around her, and to the people who treat her like an outsider and an unimportant entity, so the anger is very justifiable... And we see her at the end of the book change that attitude towards acceptance and love which is very refreshing.
Wonderful and fast read because the style is so engaging. I read it in English, I'm sure the french version is even better.
March 4, 2016
This book is basically perfect. Doria (the teenaged narrator) is witty; sarcastic; cyncical, yet a dreamer; funny, in a primarily ironic way; insightful; tender; irreverent; and swears brilliantly. Like seriously, this book--ugh, I love it so much. Doria has an Eeyore soul but it so terribly endearing... Great perspective on class, gender and xenophobia in France, but given in a mostly humorous instead of tragic way. It's an easy read and a fresh voice--I guarantee it'll make you chuckle. RECOMMEND!
January 24, 2021
The author wrote this when she was 19 years old and it definitely has a YA simplicity and feel to it. I saw some comparisons to The Catcher in the Rye but I think it may more closely align with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, both from the standpoint of a young author and for characters who are existing on the margins of society.
My daughter read this early on in college, having a professor for a core class (where the book was read in English) who also happened to be a French professor for my daughter. The professor told my daughter that the French version is definitely better, there is quite a bit of slang and plays on words that just didn't come through very well in the English translation.
While the story is pretty simple and moves quickly (I easily read it in one sitting), it definitely touches on a lot of themes that could be more deeply explored: the plight of immigrants, especially of the youth that often serve as the divide/bridge for their parents and the new country, racism, low-income housing especially for immigrant groups, clashes between social/cultural/religious mores, classism, etc. So, it felt like a surface-level scratching of some deeper issues, which fits well with the 15-year-old protagonist, her teenage cynicism, and general comments about her life.
France prides itself on "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité", but this book punches some holes in that old facade.
I can't say it's a favorite, but I appreciated the fresh voice and a look at lives not normally examined (especially in French literature).
My daughter read this early on in college, having a professor for a core class (where the book was read in English) who also happened to be a French professor for my daughter. The professor told my daughter that the French version is definitely better, there is quite a bit of slang and plays on words that just didn't come through very well in the English translation.
While the story is pretty simple and moves quickly (I easily read it in one sitting), it definitely touches on a lot of themes that could be more deeply explored: the plight of immigrants, especially of the youth that often serve as the divide/bridge for their parents and the new country, racism, low-income housing especially for immigrant groups, clashes between social/cultural/religious mores, classism, etc. So, it felt like a surface-level scratching of some deeper issues, which fits well with the 15-year-old protagonist, her teenage cynicism, and general comments about her life.
France prides itself on "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité", but this book punches some holes in that old facade.
I can't say it's a favorite, but I appreciated the fresh voice and a look at lives not normally examined (especially in French literature).
May 24, 2024
Una storia per ragazzi che racconta la vita adolescenziale di Doria, la quale vive insieme alla mamma nella banlieue parigina. Entrambe sono state abbandonate dal padre, che è ritornato in Marocco, e si trovano a vivere dei momenti di difficoltà. Tra assistenti sociali, psicologi, personaggi del quartiere e compagni di scuola, si attraversa questo momento molto delicato della protagonista, fatto di delusioni, illusioni, rabbia e risentimento. Non mancano però la speranza, i sogni, il riscatto, tutti elementi che si fanno strada man mano che la storia si dispiega. La scrittura risulta semplice e scorrevole, con alcuni termini tipici sia degli adolescenti francesi sia della cultura araba di origine dei genitori di Doria. Una storia carina e di compagnia, in grado comunque di far riflettere sulla situazione di queste periferie difficili e apparentemente senza futuro.
May 28, 2023
De 15 jarige Doria is de dochter van een Marrokaanse vader en een Algerijnse moeder en woont in één van de Parijse banlieues. Als haar vader er op een dag vandoor gaat - naar Marokko en naar een nieuwe, jongere vrouw - blijft ze samen met haar moeder alleen achter.
Hartverwarmend boekje over het dagelijkse leven van een puber met allochtone roots in een cité.
Sommige scènes geven de typische problematiek de jongeren in de Parijse voorsteden weer, maar andere dingen zijn dan weer zo universeel en zo tijdloos dat ze ook voor mij heel herkenbaar waren.
Het debuut (2004) van de toen 19 jarige Faïza Guène, zelf van Frans-Algerijnse origine.
Heel graag gelezen.
Hartverwarmend boekje over het dagelijkse leven van een puber met allochtone roots in een cité.
Sommige scènes geven de typische problematiek de jongeren in de Parijse voorsteden weer, maar andere dingen zijn dan weer zo universeel en zo tijdloos dat ze ook voor mij heel herkenbaar waren.
Het debuut (2004) van de toen 19 jarige Faïza Guène, zelf van Frans-Algerijnse origine.
Heel graag gelezen.
March 30, 2022
i’m not sure if u can count what i did as reading so i probably have no right to rate this so badly but like what. the cover is the first red flag. doria is a good vibe though i guess. idk. ap french🤒
December 4, 2010
“I wonder why they call them wisdom teeth… The more they grow, the more you understand stuff? Personally, I’ve learned that learning hurts.”
It’s an understandable sentiment. Fifteen year old Doria’s life is far from perfect. She lives with her mother in a tower block on the outskirts of Paris.
Her father has returned to his Moroccan birthplace to find a new wife who will provide him with the son he so badly wants. And so mother and daughter are left to subsist on the meagre wages that a woman who doesn’t speak the language can earn as an office cleaner.
Understandably Doria is angry. With her father’s abandonment. With the casual racism that she and her mother regularly encounter. And with all the people who say they understand when they clearly don’t.
But this isn’t an angry book. It’s a slice of the life of a fifteen year old girl who doen’t stop for too long to think about hows and whys. She just gets on with things.
There are dark theme: poverty, opression, racism. But they are balanced by humour, emotional ties, and a wonderful sense of community.
Doria holds it all together. She has a black sense of humour, a strong moral compass, and wonderful powers of observation. I loved her and I believed in her completely.
I loved watching her interact with a broad cast. Mrs Burland, a counsellor who clearly cares but doesn’t quite understand. Hamoudi, her closest friend, Their lives are moving in different directions, but the bond between them remains. Shopkeepers, neighbours, aunties …
Yes, community is so important.
And there was plenty going on. This is one of those books you can open to any page and find a great one liner, a perfect observation or a memorable incident. Sometimes you’d find all three!
A little more plot, a little more structure wouldn’t have gone amiss though. The story dropped into Doria’s and Yasmina’s lives, and then it dropped out again with a little progress but no real conclusion.
But the rich content, beautifully balanced with a great authorial touch, did balance that.
And it was lovely to meet Doria and Yasmina. Their relationship was the best thing of all. Doria’s pride in her mother and how she was working to support them both. Yasmina’s confidence in her daughter, tempered with concern and uncertainly about what the future might hold.
That’s what is staying with me, and making me smile when I think about the book.
It’s an understandable sentiment. Fifteen year old Doria’s life is far from perfect. She lives with her mother in a tower block on the outskirts of Paris.
Her father has returned to his Moroccan birthplace to find a new wife who will provide him with the son he so badly wants. And so mother and daughter are left to subsist on the meagre wages that a woman who doesn’t speak the language can earn as an office cleaner.
Understandably Doria is angry. With her father’s abandonment. With the casual racism that she and her mother regularly encounter. And with all the people who say they understand when they clearly don’t.
But this isn’t an angry book. It’s a slice of the life of a fifteen year old girl who doen’t stop for too long to think about hows and whys. She just gets on with things.
There are dark theme: poverty, opression, racism. But they are balanced by humour, emotional ties, and a wonderful sense of community.
Doria holds it all together. She has a black sense of humour, a strong moral compass, and wonderful powers of observation. I loved her and I believed in her completely.
I loved watching her interact with a broad cast. Mrs Burland, a counsellor who clearly cares but doesn’t quite understand. Hamoudi, her closest friend, Their lives are moving in different directions, but the bond between them remains. Shopkeepers, neighbours, aunties …
Yes, community is so important.
And there was plenty going on. This is one of those books you can open to any page and find a great one liner, a perfect observation or a memorable incident. Sometimes you’d find all three!
A little more plot, a little more structure wouldn’t have gone amiss though. The story dropped into Doria’s and Yasmina’s lives, and then it dropped out again with a little progress but no real conclusion.
But the rich content, beautifully balanced with a great authorial touch, did balance that.
And it was lovely to meet Doria and Yasmina. Their relationship was the best thing of all. Doria’s pride in her mother and how she was working to support them both. Yasmina’s confidence in her daughter, tempered with concern and uncertainly about what the future might hold.
That’s what is staying with me, and making me smile when I think about the book.
December 4, 2006
Another copy I picked up at the office...turned out to be fascinating. This is the story of a young Algerian girl who lives in the slums surrounding Paris. I've never read a story about this group in France--preferring to focus on the artisan and historical stories--and I found the story to be full of rage, Americanisms and sadness. A compelling peek into a world that I knew nothing about. Sad really.
January 16, 2025
✧ l'écriture est grave vivante c'est délicieux, j'entendais vraiment sa voix dans ma tête, et puis elle est super drôle et n'épargne personne
✧ ça se lit hyper bien, j'ai adoré, trop hâte de lire le suivant, ça a du être dingue pour l'autrice de reprendre le fil d'une narration 20 ans après
✧ ça se lit hyper bien, j'ai adoré, trop hâte de lire le suivant, ça a du être dingue pour l'autrice de reprendre le fil d'une narration 20 ans après
August 31, 2024
C'est la deuxième fois que je lis pour me préparer à Kiffe Kiffe hier?, c'est encore plus drôle que la première lecture. J'ai hâte de savoir ce que Doria devient!
August 28, 2020
Bra ungdomsbok om livet på 2000 talet för en ung muslimsk flicka i en utsatt förort i Paris. Passar bra för högstadiet.
February 14, 2025
Lu par Lyna Khoudri = du miel dans mes oreilles
June 9, 2018
A book to kiffer, no kif.
Doria is a French teen, born to Moroccan immigrants. Her dad went back home because he wanted a son, and Doria's mom, Yasmina, couldn't have any more children. This leaves the mother and daughter on their own to cope with poverty, anti-immigrant sentiments, social workers, and job-hunting. For Doria there's all the usual teen stuff as well: school, boys, wearing the right clothes, or being mocked for lack thereof. It's a lot to cope with, but Doria's tough, and she and her mom will be okay. At least, she's gambling on it.
Guène, herself the child of Algerian immigrants, also grew up in the projects just outside Paris, lending Doria's experiences the ring of gritty truth. You don't have to know much about French history or culture, because Guène explains it all for you beautifully, but if you do know from the Algerian war and the current racism in the banlieues, there's an added layer here to savor.
The Arab immigrant community Doria lives in is rich with all the good and bad aspects of their culture: parties, foods, henna, yes, but also heavy restrictions on women and girls, and
homophobia to boot. Yasmina, who cannot read or write, seems helpless as things go on around her; luckily, the state pays for a lot of supports, like a therapist for Doria to talk to, and social workers who nudge Doria in directions she may not otherwise have taken, even if they are mostly phoning in their jobs. Doria rarely gets upset about anything, taking the drug dealing and carjacking that surrounds her as simply things people do to survive. She's pretty pissed at her father, though, and from time to time feels helpless in the face of her poverty.
The ending is positive and satisfying, while at the same time being realistic. The title is a wonderful play on the double meaning of some French slang, which I won't spoil for you, as it takes away from reading the book. Doria's voice is one that will resonate with many disaffected teens, and will perhaps give them perspective on their own relatively privileged situations. It's a good pick for adults who enjoy world fiction, too, though they may become a bit impatient with Doria's boy crushes after a while. All in all, Guène has delivered a great novel that makes for a quick and satisfying summer read. Recommended for medium-to-large YA collections, and adult collections where world fiction in translation is popular.
Doria is a French teen, born to Moroccan immigrants. Her dad went back home because he wanted a son, and Doria's mom, Yasmina, couldn't have any more children. This leaves the mother and daughter on their own to cope with poverty, anti-immigrant sentiments, social workers, and job-hunting. For Doria there's all the usual teen stuff as well: school, boys, wearing the right clothes, or being mocked for lack thereof. It's a lot to cope with, but Doria's tough, and she and her mom will be okay. At least, she's gambling on it.
Guène, herself the child of Algerian immigrants, also grew up in the projects just outside Paris, lending Doria's experiences the ring of gritty truth. You don't have to know much about French history or culture, because Guène explains it all for you beautifully, but if you do know from the Algerian war and the current racism in the banlieues, there's an added layer here to savor.
The Arab immigrant community Doria lives in is rich with all the good and bad aspects of their culture: parties, foods, henna, yes, but also heavy restrictions on women and girls, and
homophobia to boot. Yasmina, who cannot read or write, seems helpless as things go on around her; luckily, the state pays for a lot of supports, like a therapist for Doria to talk to, and social workers who nudge Doria in directions she may not otherwise have taken, even if they are mostly phoning in their jobs. Doria rarely gets upset about anything, taking the drug dealing and carjacking that surrounds her as simply things people do to survive. She's pretty pissed at her father, though, and from time to time feels helpless in the face of her poverty.
The ending is positive and satisfying, while at the same time being realistic. The title is a wonderful play on the double meaning of some French slang, which I won't spoil for you, as it takes away from reading the book. Doria's voice is one that will resonate with many disaffected teens, and will perhaps give them perspective on their own relatively privileged situations. It's a good pick for adults who enjoy world fiction, too, though they may become a bit impatient with Doria's boy crushes after a while. All in all, Guène has delivered a great novel that makes for a quick and satisfying summer read. Recommended for medium-to-large YA collections, and adult collections where world fiction in translation is popular.
December 24, 2019
Literature, by definition, has some wisdom, some meaning beneath the surface; we call it literature and put in on a different shelf because it contains a secret, a way to live as a better or happier human being. One example of such literature is Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow, by Faiza Guene.
Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow, translated from the original French by Sarah Adams, is a coming-of-age story written in the wickedly funny and toughly tender voice of Doria, a Moroccan immigrant living in a crumbling housing project in the slums of Paris. Her father, who she refers to as “The Beard,” abandoned her and her mother, returning to Morocco in hopes of having a male child with someone else. Doria is wry and smart and cynical, and it’s hard at first not to compare her to Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield. Once I fell in step with her sometimes sad, sometimes beautiful and sometimes hilarious view of the world and flights of fancy, though, it was clear that her voice was all her own, fresh and original with plenty to say. Read more at http://www.blueplanetjournal.com/revi...
Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow, translated from the original French by Sarah Adams, is a coming-of-age story written in the wickedly funny and toughly tender voice of Doria, a Moroccan immigrant living in a crumbling housing project in the slums of Paris. Her father, who she refers to as “The Beard,” abandoned her and her mother, returning to Morocco in hopes of having a male child with someone else. Doria is wry and smart and cynical, and it’s hard at first not to compare her to Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield. Once I fell in step with her sometimes sad, sometimes beautiful and sometimes hilarious view of the world and flights of fancy, though, it was clear that her voice was all her own, fresh and original with plenty to say. Read more at http://www.blueplanetjournal.com/revi...
November 26, 2008
Finished reading this book Friday morning on my metro ride in to work. This was a great book for the metro since you could pick it up and put it down without losing any train of thought or end during a critical piece of analysis. Not a great book at all. It was cool, since the perspective was intriguing: French-born Moroccan adolescent girl growing up in poor suburbs around Paris with her Moroccan mother and absent father.
The timing of this book was good, given the riots last year in the suburbs of a nation that bases its national identity on liberté, egalitie, and fraternitiem, but seems to turn a blind eye on its large immigrant communities surrounding its largest cities, e.g. Paris and Marseilles. The book is also interesting due to its young author, herself a child of Algerian immigrants who grew up in the projects outside Paris.
Overall, not a great book, maybe not even a good book, but perhaps a necessary book. And, as noted above, it’s a quick read.
The timing of this book was good, given the riots last year in the suburbs of a nation that bases its national identity on liberté, egalitie, and fraternitiem, but seems to turn a blind eye on its large immigrant communities surrounding its largest cities, e.g. Paris and Marseilles. The book is also interesting due to its young author, herself a child of Algerian immigrants who grew up in the projects outside Paris.
Overall, not a great book, maybe not even a good book, but perhaps a necessary book. And, as noted above, it’s a quick read.
April 23, 2015
A sweet confection of teenage angst by a Algerian descent teenager living in the projects outside of Paris. We all need to read it to understand the massacre at Charlie Hebdo. Amidst racism, poverty, and growing up with a single mom, Doria,, the main character, writes in a smart, snarky, sardonic voice, making fun but in an enjoyable way of teachers, neighbors, will focusing hate at her father who has abandoned her. There is love in her mother and friends, and she ends up with a teenage love.I liked it, but it certainly wasn’t great fiction, and gets just a tad boring.
February 6, 2015
Somewhat bleak but interesting story, doubly worth reading since the shootings at Charlie Hebdo
Displaying 1 - 30 of 444 reviews