Papa doit manger

by Marie NDiaye

Papa est parti depuis si longtemps que personne n'espère plus son retour. Mais voilà que Papa revient, voilà que Papa exige de rentrer, sûr de son bon droit, dans la vie qu'il a fuie dix ans auparavant. Qui aime encore Papa ? Qui peut prétendre avoir besoin de lui ? Il a les apparences de la richesse et d'une jeunesse improbable. Il resplendit d'un éclat peu commun à Courbevoie. Surtout, il sait ce qu'on lui doit, même si ce n'est pas justifié, et qu'on l'aime encore, qu'on l'aimera toujours.

Théâtre.

Genres: France, Theatre, Plays, Fiction, 21st Century, Drama, College

95 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 30, 2003

About the author

Marie NDiaye was born in Pithiviers, France, in 1967; spent her childhood with her French mother (her father was Senegalese); and studied linguistics at the Sorbonne. She started writing when she was twelve or thirteen years old and was only eighteen when her first work was published. In 2001 she was awarded the prestigious Prix Femina literary prize for her novel Rosie Carpe, and in 2009, she won the Prix Goncourt for Three Strong Women.

Reviews

[Seyed Mohammad Reza Mahdavi]

2.5

[miriam ⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ˚]

reading this book was like an acid trip - and not a good one

[H.A. Leuschel]

Le portrait d'un narcissique classique mais en forme de pièce de théâtre. J'imagine que c'est encore mieux sur scène!

[Lauren]

The play feels quite strange to read - at times the dialogue seems almost polyphonic, like the voices of characters are simply overlapping rather than speaking in relation to one another. I'm not sure whether I liked this effect or not... I also thought the way that the actual characters were portrayed was different: they seemed to announce their name often (e.g. Mina) as if they needed to reinforce their identity to the audience or the people that they were speaking to.

It was an interesting play though to read (hence the three stars) but difficult to visualise due to the lack of stage directions, though perhaps that is imaginatively liberating for some?

[Pascale L.]

non maman....

[Mathildewind]

papa a gâché la vie de maman. papa est un menteur. papa est un profiteur. papa rend malheureux tous les gens qui l'entourent. papa pose problème avec sa couleur de peau. papa revient en héros alors qu'il est loin d'en être un. Marie NDiaye, par cette écriture hybride qui lui est propre, entre le théâtre et le roman, nous livre un drame familial qui dérange, d'autant plus avec la mise à distance que produit ce ton presque léger, cynique. elle parvient malgré les apparences à faire de maman la grande gagnante de ce conte sans paillettes.

[Karlan]

Students of French would find this a quick read. Papa disappears for 10 years then returns to his wife and daughters asking for money before going away again. The play reads like a radio play with long jumps between scenes. I would like to read a longer work by this author.

[Chimene Bateman]

This play has the brutal satire of 'Hilda' but introduces a new element: the stubborn irrationality of love. All the characters are flawed, but some of them (notably Papa himself) are the more compelling for it. I also appreciated the Odysseus-like theme of the hero returning home after ten years, to find a new man in the house. And Maman is in her own way a kind of Penelope. I'm very pleased that this play is going to be on Oxford's first-year syllabus starting this year.

[Suzanne Ondrus]

Interesting story of unrequited love, salvation from a liar, and then return to the jerk! I didn't quite pick up easily that the family was white and the estranged husband was black. It was odd there were no settings or stage directions or character descriptions.

[Sophie]

Très court et accessible pour les apprenants de français comme moi-même.

Avertissement: Ndiaye aborde les thèmes provocateurs comme le racisme, l’abus des drogues, la violence et la situation familiale difficile.

[Monty]

(Paper 3 Prelims French Oxford)

[Harrison]

a creative and original story but a bit repetitive with a slow start but quite easy french to read and a few unexpected plot twists.

[Ruby]

(2003) best thing I read in first year, absolutely loved it. strange in the best way

[ms. bookworm]

DNF a la moitié. Histoire passionnante mais répétitive, les personnages m’ont soûlée. (Je me doute que c’est le but) mais j’irais bien le voir sur scène plutôt…

[Brooke]

Très difficile à lire mais très émouvant et important.

[Ema]

Sûrement plus accrocheur une fois mis en scène, mais intéressant, écriture fluide et intrigue qui parle à beaucoup... les 2nd vont kiffer !

Papa est méchant mais la France l'est aussi #gamberge

[Bee]

and manger he did

[Icarus]

3,5/5.

Après réflexion c’est un bon livre mais qui ne mérite pas 5 étoiles. Il manque quelque chose pour en faire plus qu’un simple bon livre.

[Izzy Jessop]

thought provoking, dreamlike, sharply observed

[Millie]

4.5/ 5 étoiles.
ce livre m’a tué- incroyable!!! au début je pensais que c’était un livre assez étrange ou sans but mais soudainement je l’ai aimé beaucoup. puissant, choquant et m’a fait réfléchir. lit dans une seule journée car j’étais accro !

[Cara]

The title should be Papa doit manger.

[eleanor]

ive read this play like a million times and each time i notice something different ! great social/political commentary on modern day france

[ada!!]

qu'est-ce que tu fais maman nooo