Good Intentions

by agn-s-desarthe

a sly, wry novel about how hard it is to do good Sonia is finally settling down. With her husband Julian, she buys a flat in an apartment block in an up-and-coming quarter of the city. And she is pregnant with her first child. Family life begins and it feels good. Yet her new apartment, it is soon obvious, is not the haven she had hoped. And Sonia's beliefs in a decent, peaceful world, her disgust over racism, over poverty, soon make life very difficult for her as she allows herself to be drawn into a vicious and deeply unpleasant war between the odious apartment caretakers and a sad, lost widower who reaches out to her for help. When the threats and bullying slide beyond her control, Sonia is forced to realise that the cruelty of the world cannot simply be covered up with good intentions. With sly wit and a misleadingly light touch, Agnes Desarthe has created an unsettling picture of the world through an apartment building and shown how, with the best will in the world, it can sometimes be the hardest thing of all to tell the good guys from the bad guys.

Genres: Fiction, France

Paperback

First published August 22, 2000

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well that was a quick read -- a little too quick, I think. Sonia's was an interesting perspective from which to view the various relationships of her fellow tenants, but because the story was so short I felt her true feelings weren't made clear. Did she like or grow to love Monsieur Dupotier? Was she merely annoyed with him at the end, or was she still feeling sympathetic to his situation?

It was a good book, but the end came too soon -- I wanted more than Agnes Desarthe gave.

[Audrey Martel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quel sens de l’humour ! Un livre très particulier qui me donne envie de découvrir autre chose de cette auteure.

[Myriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess no one really reviewed this book yet.
I read it in French so I cannot vouch for the translation.
That said, as a Parisian, this book set itself in the mundane. It talked about neighborhoods I know, buildings and tenants everybody in Paris has encountered at least once. But there was something surreal in all this. Through this book, you try to make sense of nonsensical events. Yet it all remains within the realm of the possible.

The premise is simple, a young couple with a young child and a baby on the way buy a Parisian apartment in an old building and are confronted with some of its tenants.

[Emily Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely little read, it was a fairly heavy topic concerning the neglect of an elderly gentleman, set in Paris and I loved the writing style, managed to read it very quickly and became absorbed into the story immediately.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short novel set in an apartment building in Paris. The narrator helps an elderly neighbour who is being ill-treated by his daughter-in-law and a pair of odious caretakers. Sadly she achieves nothing by her attempts to do good, and becomes disillusioned by legal definitions of 'justice'.

[Josie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read by Agnes Desarthe, and I didn't enjoy this one either!
Her first book 'Five Photos of my wife' I described as lacking in scene setting, whereas this book accomplished this, it still didn't exactly dazzle me.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

short, quick, light, but pretty damn fun and well written, with characters that are whole and living within a sentence on introduction. a great break from longer, heavier books.

[Marca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Romaani kohta kuidagi liiga lühike ja pealiskaudne. Tegelased ei tekita erilist huvi ega sümpaatiat, lugu ise on samuti tavaline. Loed ja unustad-tüüpi meelelahutus.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well-observed but somewhat irritating.