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Chien Blanc
Alternate cover edition of 2070360504 (ISBN13: 9782070360505)
«C'était un chien gris avec une verrue comme un grain de beauté sur le côté droit du museau et du poil roussi autour de la truffe qui le faisait ressembler au fumeur invétéré sur l'enseigne du Chien-qui-fume, un bar-tabac à Nice, non loin du lycée de mon enfance.
Il m'observait, la tête légèrement penchée de côté, d'un regard intense et fixe, ce regard des chiens de fourrière qui vous guettent au passage avec un espoir angoissé et insupportable.
Il entra dans mon existence le 17 février 1968 à Beverly Hills, où je venais de rejoindre ma femme Jean Seberg, pendant le tournage d'un film.»
«C'était un chien gris avec une verrue comme un grain de beauté sur le côté droit du museau et du poil roussi autour de la truffe qui le faisait ressembler au fumeur invétéré sur l'enseigne du Chien-qui-fume, un bar-tabac à Nice, non loin du lycée de mon enfance.
Il m'observait, la tête légèrement penchée de côté, d'un regard intense et fixe, ce regard des chiens de fourrière qui vous guettent au passage avec un espoir angoissé et insupportable.
Il entra dans mon existence le 17 février 1968 à Beverly Hills, où je venais de rejoindre ma femme Jean Seberg, pendant le tournage d'un film.»
220 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 20, 1970
96 people are currently reading
2479 people want to read
About the author
Romain Gary
170 books1,938 followersRomain Gary was a Jewish-French novelist, film director, World War II aviator and diplomat. He also wrote under the pen name
Émile Ajar
.
Born Roman Kacew (Yiddish: קצב, Russian: Кацев), Romain Gary grew up in Vilnius to a family of Lithuanian Jews. He changed his name to Romain Gary when he escaped occupied France to fight with Great Britain against Germany in WWII. His father, Arieh-Leib Kacew, abandoned his family in 1925 and remarried. From this time Gary was raised by his mother, Nina Owczinski. When he was fourteen, he and his mother moved to Nice, France. In his books and interviews, he presented many different versions of his father's origin, parents, occupation and childhood.
He later studied law, first in Aix-en-Provence and then in Paris. He learned to pilot an aircraft in the French Air Force in Salon-de-Provence and in Avord Air Base, near Bourges. Following the Nazi occupation of France in World War II, he fled to England and under Charles de Gaulle served with the Free French Forces in Europe and North Africa. As a pilot, he took part in over 25 successful offensives logging over 65 hours of air time.
He was greatly decorated for his bravery in the war, receiving many medals and honors.
After the war, he worked in the French diplomatic service and in 1945 published his first novel. He would become one of France's most popular and prolific writers, authoring more than thirty novels, essays and memoirs, some of which he wrote under the pseudonym of Émile Ajar. He also wrote one novel under the pseudonym of Fosco Sinibaldi and another as Shatan Bogat.
In 1952, he became secretary of the French Delegation to the United Nations in New York, and later in London (in 1955).
In 1956, he became Consul General of France in Los Angeles.
He is the only person to win the Prix Goncourt twice. This prize for French language literature is awarded only once to an author. Gary, who had already received the prize in 1956 for Les racines du ciel , published La vie devant soi under the pseudonym of Émile Ajar in 1975. The Académie Goncourt awarded the prize to the author of this book without knowing his real identity. A period of literary intrigue followed. Gary's little cousin Paul Pavlowitch posed as the author for a time. Gary later revealed the truth in his posthumous book Vie et mort d'Émile Ajar .
Gary's first wife was the British writer, journalist, and Vogue editor Lesley Blanch (author of The Wilder Shores of Love ). They married in 1944 and divorced in 1961. From 1962 to 1970, Gary was married to the American actress Jean Seberg, with whom he had a son, Alexandre Diego Gary.
He also co-wrote the screenplay for the motion picture, The Longest Day and co-wrote and directed the 1971 film Kill! , starring his now ex-wife Seberg.
Suffering from depression after Seberg's 1979 suicide, Gary died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on December 2, 1980 in Paris, France though he left a note which said specifically that his death had no relation with Seberg's suicide.
Born Roman Kacew (Yiddish: קצב, Russian: Кацев), Romain Gary grew up in Vilnius to a family of Lithuanian Jews. He changed his name to Romain Gary when he escaped occupied France to fight with Great Britain against Germany in WWII. His father, Arieh-Leib Kacew, abandoned his family in 1925 and remarried. From this time Gary was raised by his mother, Nina Owczinski. When he was fourteen, he and his mother moved to Nice, France. In his books and interviews, he presented many different versions of his father's origin, parents, occupation and childhood.
He later studied law, first in Aix-en-Provence and then in Paris. He learned to pilot an aircraft in the French Air Force in Salon-de-Provence and in Avord Air Base, near Bourges. Following the Nazi occupation of France in World War II, he fled to England and under Charles de Gaulle served with the Free French Forces in Europe and North Africa. As a pilot, he took part in over 25 successful offensives logging over 65 hours of air time.
He was greatly decorated for his bravery in the war, receiving many medals and honors.
After the war, he worked in the French diplomatic service and in 1945 published his first novel. He would become one of France's most popular and prolific writers, authoring more than thirty novels, essays and memoirs, some of which he wrote under the pseudonym of Émile Ajar. He also wrote one novel under the pseudonym of Fosco Sinibaldi and another as Shatan Bogat.
In 1952, he became secretary of the French Delegation to the United Nations in New York, and later in London (in 1955).
In 1956, he became Consul General of France in Los Angeles.
He is the only person to win the Prix Goncourt twice. This prize for French language literature is awarded only once to an author. Gary, who had already received the prize in 1956 for Les racines du ciel , published La vie devant soi under the pseudonym of Émile Ajar in 1975. The Académie Goncourt awarded the prize to the author of this book without knowing his real identity. A period of literary intrigue followed. Gary's little cousin Paul Pavlowitch posed as the author for a time. Gary later revealed the truth in his posthumous book Vie et mort d'Émile Ajar .
Gary's first wife was the British writer, journalist, and Vogue editor Lesley Blanch (author of The Wilder Shores of Love ). They married in 1944 and divorced in 1961. From 1962 to 1970, Gary was married to the American actress Jean Seberg, with whom he had a son, Alexandre Diego Gary.
He also co-wrote the screenplay for the motion picture, The Longest Day and co-wrote and directed the 1971 film Kill! , starring his now ex-wife Seberg.
Suffering from depression after Seberg's 1979 suicide, Gary died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on December 2, 1980 in Paris, France though he left a note which said specifically that his death had no relation with Seberg's suicide.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 248 reviews
December 8, 2023
"You try to wipe out injustice, but all you succeed in is wiping out people."
This brilliantly written story deals with racism, attachment, and the importance of context. The book is considered a fictional non-fiction account that reworks certain events from Romain Gary's life.
It is set in the United States in the 1960s. The context is the fight against segregation and for equal rights.
One day a dog, a german shepherd, "a beautiful animal whose strength and air of intelligence were striking," strays into the narrator's house and into his life. The narrator is a charming in a particular manner man, but at times I felt like he could give a headache to an aspirin. He decides to name the animal Batka. The dog easily endears himself to the narrator and his wife. But an unpleasant revelation awaits them.
The dog, albeit overall kind to strangers, displays aggressive behavior from time to time. It is soon discovered that black people, especially men, trigger a reflex of violence in the "white" dog.
The animal cannot be blamed for this aggressive behavioral pattern. He was trained to react like that by his previous owners.
The dog is forced to go through a lot seemingly only to indulge the feeling of guilt of the narrator. He is not a racist. He is used to thinking of himself as progressive. He cannot allow a canine to display racist behavior, as if dogs could know what racism means. The narrator hires a trainer to reprogram Batka and make him a 'normal' dog. The fact that the dog is above the age when once obtained traits can be unlearned does not reduce the determination of the author.
That said trainer turns out to be a racist himself, only his rage and prejudices are directed toward white people. The trainer's perseverance in his dealing with the poor animal equals the determination of the narrator to 'cure' the dog.
Our narrator is going to regret his wish to 'redress' the dog.
The story speaks to the role of context in the way we interpret factual evidence and make sense of events. The reactions of the dog and the narrator cannot be understood without knowing the context behind them.
Although truth and context are highly important, some situations in life may require prioritizing friendship and attachment over righteousness and accurate context.
The narrator struggles to reconcile compassion for the living creature with doing the right thing (as he sees it).
In the end, he cannot put his attachment to the animal that trusted him above his ideas, correct as they may be. A ‘white’ dog as a symbol of racism and suprematism won over a dog of flesh and blood in his imagination.
I cannot sympathize with this.
The dog becomes a tool, not to say a victim, of the rage directed not against an individual who may have done something wrong but against a whole group consisting of abstract members. The inversion of racism is still racism.
The story demonstrates how racial hatred and divisions fueled by deeply embedded xenophobia work and how absurd racism is in nature.
Batka is friendly with white people and aggressive with black people. One face for "our" group and another for the "other." Prejudiced people despise the other no matter what they do or do not do.
Perhaps we can say that one has the right to hate people whose ancestors destroyed the lives of their parents and grandparents. However, it goes both ways. Hate can be and often is self-destructive but simply admitting that does not change the sentiments.
Ultimately this is an ineffably tragic story about "a dog who was becoming human through a typically human dehumanizing process" that comments upon the crisis of humanity and divides that are difficult to bridge.
While the dog can and should be viewed as a metaphor for racism, his ordeal is quite real. It probably illustrates man's inhumanity to man and man's inhumanity to animals, often explained by political or some other 'necessity'.
Some quotes to end this review:
“Half the things that happen aren’t possible.”
“If evil things were only done by evil men, the world would be an admirable place.”
'Camus said: “You condemn to the shootings quad a guilty man, but you always shoot an innocent one.” That old dilemma again: love for the beast and a hatred of beastliness.'
4.25 stars
This brilliantly written story deals with racism, attachment, and the importance of context. The book is considered a fictional non-fiction account that reworks certain events from Romain Gary's life.
It is set in the United States in the 1960s. The context is the fight against segregation and for equal rights.
One day a dog, a german shepherd, "a beautiful animal whose strength and air of intelligence were striking," strays into the narrator's house and into his life. The narrator is a charming in a particular manner man, but at times I felt like he could give a headache to an aspirin. He decides to name the animal Batka. The dog easily endears himself to the narrator and his wife. But an unpleasant revelation awaits them.
The dog, albeit overall kind to strangers, displays aggressive behavior from time to time. It is soon discovered that black people, especially men, trigger a reflex of violence in the "white" dog.
The animal cannot be blamed for this aggressive behavioral pattern. He was trained to react like that by his previous owners.
The dog is forced to go through a lot seemingly only to indulge the feeling of guilt of the narrator. He is not a racist. He is used to thinking of himself as progressive. He cannot allow a canine to display racist behavior, as if dogs could know what racism means. The narrator hires a trainer to reprogram Batka and make him a 'normal' dog. The fact that the dog is above the age when once obtained traits can be unlearned does not reduce the determination of the author.
That said trainer turns out to be a racist himself, only his rage and prejudices are directed toward white people. The trainer's perseverance in his dealing with the poor animal equals the determination of the narrator to 'cure' the dog.
Our narrator is going to regret his wish to 'redress' the dog.
The story speaks to the role of context in the way we interpret factual evidence and make sense of events. The reactions of the dog and the narrator cannot be understood without knowing the context behind them.
Although truth and context are highly important, some situations in life may require prioritizing friendship and attachment over righteousness and accurate context.
The narrator struggles to reconcile compassion for the living creature with doing the right thing (as he sees it).
In the end, he cannot put his attachment to the animal that trusted him above his ideas, correct as they may be. A ‘white’ dog as a symbol of racism and suprematism won over a dog of flesh and blood in his imagination.
I cannot sympathize with this.
The dog becomes a tool, not to say a victim, of the rage directed not against an individual who may have done something wrong but against a whole group consisting of abstract members. The inversion of racism is still racism.
The story demonstrates how racial hatred and divisions fueled by deeply embedded xenophobia work and how absurd racism is in nature.
Batka is friendly with white people and aggressive with black people. One face for "our" group and another for the "other." Prejudiced people despise the other no matter what they do or do not do.
Perhaps we can say that one has the right to hate people whose ancestors destroyed the lives of their parents and grandparents. However, it goes both ways. Hate can be and often is self-destructive but simply admitting that does not change the sentiments.
Ultimately this is an ineffably tragic story about "a dog who was becoming human through a typically human dehumanizing process" that comments upon the crisis of humanity and divides that are difficult to bridge.
While the dog can and should be viewed as a metaphor for racism, his ordeal is quite real. It probably illustrates man's inhumanity to man and man's inhumanity to animals, often explained by political or some other 'necessity'.
Some quotes to end this review:
“Half the things that happen aren’t possible.”
“If evil things were only done by evil men, the world would be an admirable place.”
'Camus said: “You condemn to the shootings quad a guilty man, but you always shoot an innocent one.” That old dilemma again: love for the beast and a hatred of beastliness.'
4.25 stars
Read
July 19, 2025One day in February 1968, a German Shepherd dog turned up at author Romain Gary's house in Beverly Hills. The author could never have dreamed at that moment that the dripping-wet dog on his doorstep was going to provide him with the perfect metaphor for an account of living in the US during the race riots that were to follow the assassination of Martin Luther King two months later.
Romain Gary, a pilot in WWII, had become a French diplomat in the mid 1940s. By 1960 he had retired from diplomatic life to become a full-time writer. In 1968, he was dividing his time between his apartment in Paris and Beverly Hills, where his then wife, actress Jean Seberg, was making a movie based on one of his screenplays. He describes how, alongside her acting career, his wife was very active in the civil rights movement, and was constantly hosting fund raisers for all sorts of campaigns, one of which was aimed at education initiatives to combat hatred in divided communities. He suspects that many of the causes she supports are neither realistic nor even genuine, and worries that she is too generous and too naive.
But back to the Chien Blanc/White Dog of the title. The grey German Shepherd that walked into the couple's home earned that name fairly quickly. The dog was docile with anyone who visited until one day he attacked a man by leaping at his throat. The man was Black. Romain Gary realised that the dog must have been a police dog who'd been trained by White dog handlers to attack only Black people. He relinquished him to an acquaintance who ran a shelter for abandoned/dangerous pets in the San Fernando valley, and who'd already taken his pet python off his hands.
That might have been the end of Chien Blanc/White Dog's story except that one of the men who worked at the shelter decided to re-educate him. Romain Gary tells the tale of that experiment side by side with accounts of the riots in various American cities after Martin Luther King's death in April 1968, and the student demonstrations in Paris in May of the same year.
The book reads very much like journalism. Romain Gary visits Chicago and Washington—riots were happening in both cities—and gives us testimony from his many Black friends both in the US and in Paris. One of the most telling episodes is when a young Black American, a deserter from the Vietnam war who has been living in the author's Paris apartment, expresses his incomprehension at the French students' dissatisfactions. He simply cannot grasp why these young people are demonstrating. If it's not about color, what can it possibly be about? He feels that his life growing up in the US was much more difficult than anything they would ever have to deal with. But the paradox is that the US is his longed-for place—"La France? C'est trop...pas américan ici" (France is too un-American)—and he is determined to go back even though he faces a prison sentence.
On the other hand, Romain Gary sees the French students' revolt as a struggle not only for their own causes but also for the causes of the whole world, including the civil rights movement in the US.
But he himself, unlike the French students or indeed his idealistic wife, Jean Seberg, has his own take on struggles for justice. He reminds us that he is a minoritaire-né, born into a minority. As he had described in his earlier memoir, La promesse de l'aube, he was born a Russian Jew, and therefore he has the sensibilities that go with that heritage. Basically you don't fight, you just try to survive. He mentions Palestine in that context and his incomprehension of the Israeli oppression of the Palestinian population. And remember he was writing this in 1968 and had relatives and acquaintances who had died in the holocaust.
In between his trips to France, and to Chicago and Washington, Romain Gary still finds time to visit the animal shelter where his dog is housed, and he witnesses how Chien Blanc's re-education has progressed to the point where he can tolerate his Black handler without jumping at his throat. But as things worsen in the US during the months of riots, Romain Gary finds his own tolerance for injustice and hypocrisy deteriorating, and often goes for the jugular in arguments concerning police brutality and other repressions. It's as if there's a reverse progression between his own and Chien Blanc's situations in the middle section of the book. One becoming more docile while the other comes up against his own baser instincts again and again. Romain Gary feels rage in particular for any form of la Bêtise (Stupidity), whether it's displayed in individuals or in governments. As he says himself, sometimes he simply loses his leash.
When he's particularly overcome with rage, he identifies with Don Quixote. He believes the Don saw better than anyone the dragons and the demons hiding in the drains of civilization. For Romain Gary, one of those demons is McCarthy. Another is paranoia. A third is the proliferation of the handgun in American life—and he blames Hemingway for glorifying the gun and the machismo associated with using one.
The word 'rage' in French has two meanings. One is the same as the English meaning, the other is the term for rabies, the virus that turns a dog savage.
As you might have guessed, Chien Blanc's re-education turns full circle. His handler has succeeded in making him savage again, but now he attacks White people instead of Black people.
Romain Gary's ultimate point in this book is that the kind of 'rage' fostered by hatred and oppression has no vaccine.
Romain Gary, a pilot in WWII, had become a French diplomat in the mid 1940s. By 1960 he had retired from diplomatic life to become a full-time writer. In 1968, he was dividing his time between his apartment in Paris and Beverly Hills, where his then wife, actress Jean Seberg, was making a movie based on one of his screenplays. He describes how, alongside her acting career, his wife was very active in the civil rights movement, and was constantly hosting fund raisers for all sorts of campaigns, one of which was aimed at education initiatives to combat hatred in divided communities. He suspects that many of the causes she supports are neither realistic nor even genuine, and worries that she is too generous and too naive.
But back to the Chien Blanc/White Dog of the title. The grey German Shepherd that walked into the couple's home earned that name fairly quickly. The dog was docile with anyone who visited until one day he attacked a man by leaping at his throat. The man was Black. Romain Gary realised that the dog must have been a police dog who'd been trained by White dog handlers to attack only Black people. He relinquished him to an acquaintance who ran a shelter for abandoned/dangerous pets in the San Fernando valley, and who'd already taken his pet python off his hands.
That might have been the end of Chien Blanc/White Dog's story except that one of the men who worked at the shelter decided to re-educate him. Romain Gary tells the tale of that experiment side by side with accounts of the riots in various American cities after Martin Luther King's death in April 1968, and the student demonstrations in Paris in May of the same year.
The book reads very much like journalism. Romain Gary visits Chicago and Washington—riots were happening in both cities—and gives us testimony from his many Black friends both in the US and in Paris. One of the most telling episodes is when a young Black American, a deserter from the Vietnam war who has been living in the author's Paris apartment, expresses his incomprehension at the French students' dissatisfactions. He simply cannot grasp why these young people are demonstrating. If it's not about color, what can it possibly be about? He feels that his life growing up in the US was much more difficult than anything they would ever have to deal with. But the paradox is that the US is his longed-for place—"La France? C'est trop...pas américan ici" (France is too un-American)—and he is determined to go back even though he faces a prison sentence.
On the other hand, Romain Gary sees the French students' revolt as a struggle not only for their own causes but also for the causes of the whole world, including the civil rights movement in the US.
But he himself, unlike the French students or indeed his idealistic wife, Jean Seberg, has his own take on struggles for justice. He reminds us that he is a minoritaire-né, born into a minority. As he had described in his earlier memoir, La promesse de l'aube, he was born a Russian Jew, and therefore he has the sensibilities that go with that heritage. Basically you don't fight, you just try to survive. He mentions Palestine in that context and his incomprehension of the Israeli oppression of the Palestinian population. And remember he was writing this in 1968 and had relatives and acquaintances who had died in the holocaust.
In between his trips to France, and to Chicago and Washington, Romain Gary still finds time to visit the animal shelter where his dog is housed, and he witnesses how Chien Blanc's re-education has progressed to the point where he can tolerate his Black handler without jumping at his throat. But as things worsen in the US during the months of riots, Romain Gary finds his own tolerance for injustice and hypocrisy deteriorating, and often goes for the jugular in arguments concerning police brutality and other repressions. It's as if there's a reverse progression between his own and Chien Blanc's situations in the middle section of the book. One becoming more docile while the other comes up against his own baser instincts again and again. Romain Gary feels rage in particular for any form of la Bêtise (Stupidity), whether it's displayed in individuals or in governments. As he says himself, sometimes he simply loses his leash.
When he's particularly overcome with rage, he identifies with Don Quixote. He believes the Don saw better than anyone the dragons and the demons hiding in the drains of civilization. For Romain Gary, one of those demons is McCarthy. Another is paranoia. A third is the proliferation of the handgun in American life—and he blames Hemingway for glorifying the gun and the machismo associated with using one.
The word 'rage' in French has two meanings. One is the same as the English meaning, the other is the term for rabies, the virus that turns a dog savage.
As you might have guessed, Chien Blanc's re-education turns full circle. His handler has succeeded in making him savage again, but now he attacks White people instead of Black people.
Romain Gary's ultimate point in this book is that the kind of 'rage' fostered by hatred and oppression has no vaccine.
March 23, 2019
- Manny, excuse me for dropping in on you like this, but I've got an offer you really need to listen to.
- Not interested.
- Don't you even want to know what it is first?
- No.
- You're sure?
- I'm sure. Who are you anyway?
- Ah, just call me Meph.
- Meph?
- Meph. It's short for--
- Meph. So what do you want?
- Well, your immortal soul. Basically.
- And what will I get in return?
- Anything you like. You name it.
- Anything?
- You heard what I said. Money, women, whatever.
- Not buying.
- Okay, not money or women. What do you want then?
- I know this might sound crazy--
- Manny, I've heard everything. You can't surprise me. Shoot.
- I - I want to make a difference. I want to create a better world.
- Well, why didn't you say so at once? That's pretty common. How would you like to do it?
- Ah--
- I notice you spend a lot of time hanging out on Goodreads telling people what they ought to think. That's working out?
- I have a few thousand followers.
- I can give you a million more.
- Not enough.
- Ten million.
- Still not enough. Goodreads just isn't serious.
- Twitter?
- Not Twitter either.
- Okay, how would you like to do it?
- I'd, ah, I'd like to be a successful author.
- Successful author. No problem. You'll be on the New York Times bestseller list before you know it.
- But I want the critics to like my books too!
- Critical success. Mm-hm. You could win the Man Booker perhaps?
- Too downmarket.
- The Nobel?
- Irrevocably tarnished.
- The Goncourt? That's still kind of classy.
- Okay, I'll take the Goncourt...
- Done.
- ... twice.
- But the rules say you can only win it once.
- You told me anything I wanted.
- Yeah, yeah. No problem. We'll work something out. So, are we finished?
- No way! We're just getting started. Look, I've changed my mind about the money and women. I mean, it's not so much that I want them for themselves, but people take you more seriously when you're rich and--
- It's okay. You don't need to explain. So, you'll be rich. Easy. How about the women?
- I'd like to be married to an A-list movie star.
- Any particular kind?
- Well, smart of course. And, ah, it's not that I'm ageist or lookist or anything, but I'd like her to be about twenty-five years younger than me. It's just that I want people to--
- I keep telling you, you really don't need to explain.
- Uh, yes. Of course. So, er, someone like Reese Witherspoon. If she's available.
- Mm-hm. Reese Witherspoon, check availability. Fine. Is that it?
- Ah, well, yes... no, wait! It won't work. It's already too late. The world is too fucked up. I'd really need to have done this fifty years ago.
- No problem. Fifty years ago. So, shall we say 1968?
- What? That's possible?
- Time travel is one of our specialities.
- I need contacts too.
- Any particular kind of contacts?
- I want a broad range. Top-level politicians of course. Intellectuals, show-business, goes without saying. But also underground organisers.
- How about guys in the Black Power movement? Just a suggestion.
- I like it! If only that had come out better, everything could have been different.
- I'm glad we're finding common ground here. We take pride in giving our clients exactly what they want, no more, no less.
- Look, this is just a random thought, but if I'm going back to 1968 I'd like to stop Bobby Kennedy from being assassinated.
- And how would you do that?
- All I need to do is give him a clear warning. He'd listen.
- Mm-hm, warning to Bobby Kennedy. Check.
- This is all on the level, right? Some people--
- Manny, don't believe them. I always tell the truth. As Dustin Hoffman says in Hook, it's much more fun. Now, let me see: best-selling author, Prix Goncourt twice, money, married to smart, sexy young movie star, time travel to 1968, contacts with high-level politicians, intellectuals, Hollywood and Black Power organisers, warning to Bobby Kennedy. Anything else?
- Heck, if it's 1968, why not give me a distinguished war record too?
- Battle of Britain fighter pilot?
- Perfect!
- Done?
- Done.
- Great. Now just sign here. I recommend using a pin rather than a knife.
- Uh--
- Look, are we agreed or not? If there's anything else you want, just name it.
- Uh, we're agreed. Okay. Right, there you are.
- In triplicate, if you don't mind.
- Okay, okay. Two... three... finished.
- It's been a pleasure. So, in a moment I'm going to snap my fingers, and when you wake up it'll be 1968 and you'll be Romain Gary.
- Who?
- Bwa-ha-ha-ha. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...
- Not interested.
- Don't you even want to know what it is first?
- No.
- You're sure?
- I'm sure. Who are you anyway?
- Ah, just call me Meph.
- Meph?
- Meph. It's short for--
- Meph. So what do you want?
- Well, your immortal soul. Basically.
- And what will I get in return?
- Anything you like. You name it.
- Anything?
- You heard what I said. Money, women, whatever.
- Not buying.
- Okay, not money or women. What do you want then?
- I know this might sound crazy--
- Manny, I've heard everything. You can't surprise me. Shoot.
- I - I want to make a difference. I want to create a better world.
- Well, why didn't you say so at once? That's pretty common. How would you like to do it?
- Ah--
- I notice you spend a lot of time hanging out on Goodreads telling people what they ought to think. That's working out?
- I have a few thousand followers.
- I can give you a million more.
- Not enough.
- Ten million.
- Still not enough. Goodreads just isn't serious.
- Twitter?
- Not Twitter either.
- Okay, how would you like to do it?
- I'd, ah, I'd like to be a successful author.
- Successful author. No problem. You'll be on the New York Times bestseller list before you know it.
- But I want the critics to like my books too!
- Critical success. Mm-hm. You could win the Man Booker perhaps?
- Too downmarket.
- The Nobel?
- Irrevocably tarnished.
- The Goncourt? That's still kind of classy.
- Okay, I'll take the Goncourt...
- Done.
- ... twice.
- But the rules say you can only win it once.
- You told me anything I wanted.
- Yeah, yeah. No problem. We'll work something out. So, are we finished?
- No way! We're just getting started. Look, I've changed my mind about the money and women. I mean, it's not so much that I want them for themselves, but people take you more seriously when you're rich and--
- It's okay. You don't need to explain. So, you'll be rich. Easy. How about the women?
- I'd like to be married to an A-list movie star.
- Any particular kind?
- Well, smart of course. And, ah, it's not that I'm ageist or lookist or anything, but I'd like her to be about twenty-five years younger than me. It's just that I want people to--
- I keep telling you, you really don't need to explain.
- Uh, yes. Of course. So, er, someone like Reese Witherspoon. If she's available.
- Mm-hm. Reese Witherspoon, check availability. Fine. Is that it?
- Ah, well, yes... no, wait! It won't work. It's already too late. The world is too fucked up. I'd really need to have done this fifty years ago.
- No problem. Fifty years ago. So, shall we say 1968?
- What? That's possible?
- Time travel is one of our specialities.
- I need contacts too.
- Any particular kind of contacts?
- I want a broad range. Top-level politicians of course. Intellectuals, show-business, goes without saying. But also underground organisers.
- How about guys in the Black Power movement? Just a suggestion.
- I like it! If only that had come out better, everything could have been different.
- I'm glad we're finding common ground here. We take pride in giving our clients exactly what they want, no more, no less.
- Look, this is just a random thought, but if I'm going back to 1968 I'd like to stop Bobby Kennedy from being assassinated.
- And how would you do that?
- All I need to do is give him a clear warning. He'd listen.
- Mm-hm, warning to Bobby Kennedy. Check.
- This is all on the level, right? Some people--
- Manny, don't believe them. I always tell the truth. As Dustin Hoffman says in Hook, it's much more fun. Now, let me see: best-selling author, Prix Goncourt twice, money, married to smart, sexy young movie star, time travel to 1968, contacts with high-level politicians, intellectuals, Hollywood and Black Power organisers, warning to Bobby Kennedy. Anything else?
- Heck, if it's 1968, why not give me a distinguished war record too?
- Battle of Britain fighter pilot?
- Perfect!
- Done?
- Done.
- Great. Now just sign here. I recommend using a pin rather than a knife.
- Uh--
- Look, are we agreed or not? If there's anything else you want, just name it.
- Uh, we're agreed. Okay. Right, there you are.
- In triplicate, if you don't mind.
- Okay, okay. Two... three... finished.
- It's been a pleasure. So, in a moment I'm going to snap my fingers, and when you wake up it'll be 1968 and you'll be Romain Gary.
- Who?
- Bwa-ha-ha-ha. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...
Read
May 26, 2022یکی از بهترین کتابهای رومن گاری بود واقعا از خوندنش لذت بردم چقدر عمیق بود و چقدر شیرین به بررسی تاریخ پرداخته بود. تاریخی دربارهی دوران تاریک بعد از مرگ مارتین لوتر کینگه. اوج درگیری سیاهپوستها و سفیدپوستها!
August 23, 2018
L'ultimo dei romantici
Strabordante, debordante, straripante, ironico, caustico, istrionico, aristocratico, umano, talmente egocentrico da essere capace di far diventare romanzo e analisi sociale allo stesso tempo un avvenimento della sua vita - l'irrompere nella sua residenza dorata di Beverly Hills, dove vive insieme alla moglie, l'attrice Jean Seberg, di Batka, Cane Bianco, un white dog - cani che venivano addestrati per inseguire in caso di fuga i neri nelle piantagioni all'epoca della schiavitù, e per aggredirli verso la fine degli anni Sessanta - fino a eleggerlo simbolo degli avvenimenti che nel 1968 stanno mettendo a ferro e fuoco gran parte degli Stati Uniti.
Le rivolte razziali, l'assassino di Martin Luther King, il Vietnam, gli hippie e le Black Panter, l'impegno dello star system hollywoodiano e le sue contraddizioni (ehm… ma come ne esce male Marlon Brando!), il gaming whitey - lo sfruttamento, anche sessuale, da parte degli attivisti, dei simpatizzanti bianchi -, la presa di distanza sia dalla destra razzista che dai sensi di colpa, politically correct, dei liberal, tutto passa per il ringhio e il sorriso di Batka, il cane che ride - «Questo cane sta sorridendo. In vita mia ho conosciuto due o tre cani che sorridevano, e Batka è uno di loro» - e per l'incommensurabile capacità narrativa e l'umano disincanto di Romain Gary, uno dei pochi autori fra i tanti che ho letto, in grado di trasformare in romanzo la sua stessa esistenza, uno dei pochi capace di trasmettere, con le sue parole, tutta l'indignazione e l'amore che nutre per la vita e per il genere umano. Strano e contraddittorio a dirsi, riferito a un uomo che dieci anni dopo morirà suicida, eppure credo sia anche questo a farne, e lo dico non senza un malinconico senso di rimpianto, l'ultimo dei romantici.
Questo è Romain Gary:
Il militante
Voi ebrei avete messo le mani sul ghetto. Tutti gli immobili, tutti i negozi sono vostri. I prestatori su pegno siete voi. Ci vendete le vostre merci schifose al venti percento in più che nei quartieri bianchi. Vi taglieremo le orecchie.
Katzenelenbogen [padrone, ebreo, di casa amico di Gary, ebreo]
Prenda ancora un po' di pollo
Il militante (si serve)
Grazie. Ci dissanguate.
Io (in francese)
Il tuo amico comincia a darmi la nausea.
Katzenelenbogen (in francese)
Non capisci. Li abbiamo oppressi per due secoli. Hanno bisogno di affermarsi. Chiudi il becco.
Il militante
Non c'è niente di personale in ciò che sto dicendo, sono in grado di distinguere. SO bene che lei, Lloyd, non c'entra per niente.
Io
È così, Lloyd, lei è un buon ebreo.
Il militante
Prenda le soul stations, le famose stazioni radio per i neri… Appartengono quasi tutte agli ebrei.
Io
Per caso lei è antisemita?
Il militante
Lei non è americano, non può capire.
Io
Perché lei, invece, lei si sente americano?
Katzenelenbogen
Ma dimmi, stai diventando razzista?
Io
Trovo comunque seducente l'idea di un nero antisemita. Sono felice di constatare che i neri hanno bisogno degli ebrei come tutti.
Strabordante, debordante, straripante, ironico, caustico, istrionico, aristocratico, umano, talmente egocentrico da essere capace di far diventare romanzo e analisi sociale allo stesso tempo un avvenimento della sua vita - l'irrompere nella sua residenza dorata di Beverly Hills, dove vive insieme alla moglie, l'attrice Jean Seberg, di Batka, Cane Bianco, un white dog - cani che venivano addestrati per inseguire in caso di fuga i neri nelle piantagioni all'epoca della schiavitù, e per aggredirli verso la fine degli anni Sessanta - fino a eleggerlo simbolo degli avvenimenti che nel 1968 stanno mettendo a ferro e fuoco gran parte degli Stati Uniti.
Le rivolte razziali, l'assassino di Martin Luther King, il Vietnam, gli hippie e le Black Panter, l'impegno dello star system hollywoodiano e le sue contraddizioni (ehm… ma come ne esce male Marlon Brando!), il gaming whitey - lo sfruttamento, anche sessuale, da parte degli attivisti, dei simpatizzanti bianchi -, la presa di distanza sia dalla destra razzista che dai sensi di colpa, politically correct, dei liberal, tutto passa per il ringhio e il sorriso di Batka, il cane che ride - «Questo cane sta sorridendo. In vita mia ho conosciuto due o tre cani che sorridevano, e Batka è uno di loro» - e per l'incommensurabile capacità narrativa e l'umano disincanto di Romain Gary, uno dei pochi autori fra i tanti che ho letto, in grado di trasformare in romanzo la sua stessa esistenza, uno dei pochi capace di trasmettere, con le sue parole, tutta l'indignazione e l'amore che nutre per la vita e per il genere umano. Strano e contraddittorio a dirsi, riferito a un uomo che dieci anni dopo morirà suicida, eppure credo sia anche questo a farne, e lo dico non senza un malinconico senso di rimpianto, l'ultimo dei romantici.
Questo è Romain Gary:
Il militante
Voi ebrei avete messo le mani sul ghetto. Tutti gli immobili, tutti i negozi sono vostri. I prestatori su pegno siete voi. Ci vendete le vostre merci schifose al venti percento in più che nei quartieri bianchi. Vi taglieremo le orecchie.
Katzenelenbogen [padrone, ebreo, di casa amico di Gary, ebreo]
Prenda ancora un po' di pollo
Il militante (si serve)
Grazie. Ci dissanguate.
Io (in francese)
Il tuo amico comincia a darmi la nausea.
Katzenelenbogen (in francese)
Non capisci. Li abbiamo oppressi per due secoli. Hanno bisogno di affermarsi. Chiudi il becco.
Il militante
Non c'è niente di personale in ciò che sto dicendo, sono in grado di distinguere. SO bene che lei, Lloyd, non c'entra per niente.
Io
È così, Lloyd, lei è un buon ebreo.
Il militante
Prenda le soul stations, le famose stazioni radio per i neri… Appartengono quasi tutte agli ebrei.
Io
Per caso lei è antisemita?
Il militante
Lei non è americano, non può capire.
Io
Perché lei, invece, lei si sente americano?
Katzenelenbogen
Ma dimmi, stai diventando razzista?
Io
Trovo comunque seducente l'idea di un nero antisemita. Sono felice di constatare che i neri hanno bisogno degli ebrei come tutti.
October 18, 2021
ben tarihi romanlardan öğrendim diye bir denemem vardı zamanında. işte beyaz köpek de tarih öğreten bir anlatı.
roman değil. romain gary’nin yolda bir köpek bulup eve alması ve köpeğin aslında güney eyaletlerinde siyahlara saldırması için eğitilen bir polis köpeği olduğunun ortaya çıkmasıyla başlıyor roman.
nasıl ortaya çıkıyor? romain gary ve karısı jean seberg her tür siyahlara yardım işlerinin içindeler o sırada. ve tabii eve gelen siyahlara saldıran köpekteki arıza hemen fark ediliyor.
köpeği bir çiftliğe götürüp düzeltilebilmesini umuyor gary ve çok yaşlı olduğunu yapılamayacağını söylüyorlar. ama siyah bakıcı keys yavaş yavaş kendine alıştırıyor köpeği.
köpeğin hikayesi değil bu anlatı, işte bu köpekle başlayan martin luther king’in öldürülmesiyle devam eden, sokakların ateşe verildiği, siyahların fraksiyonlara bölündüğü, hollywood yıldızlarının yaralı parmağa işemeden parayla düzeltmeye çalıştığı, liberallerin saçma hayaller kurduğu ama her şeyin yavaşça boka sardığı günlerin anlatısı.
beyazların para vererek kurduğu müslüman kara panterler’in gerçek siyah savaşçılara zarar verdiği, liberallerin ve ılımlıların her gün öldürülen siyah gençlere rağmen her tür şiddeti tu kaka haline getirmeleri ve herhangi bir eylemcinin teröriste dönüşmesinin de anlatısı bu.
ben 2013 sonrası yaşadıklarımıza ve barış sürecinin dağıtılmasına o kadar benzettim ki. aslında devlet politikaları, savaşı sürdürme taktikleri o kadar aynı ki… romalılardan tutun bugüne dek. her şey birbirinin tekrarı. piyonlar hep aynı, kazananlar ve kaybedenler de…
bir yerden sonra birbirini öldürmeye başlıyor siyahlar. birileri gülümseyerek izliyor.
beyaz köpeğin eğitim sonucu ne hale geldiği ise ağızları açık bırakıyor.
romain gary’nin inançsızlığı, kimliksizliği ve olacakları öngörüsü tüm satırlara sinmiş. seberg’se öyle iyi niyetli ve saf ki… teni siyah olan herkes bir aziz gözünde. netekim bu kitabın bitmesinden on yıl sonra karısı kara panterler ve arkasında kim varsa onlar tarafından öldürülecek, gary de intihar edecek.
çok acı her şey. ve siyahlara dair düzelen hiçbir şeyin olmadığını görmek, 2021’de bile, berbat. seçilmiş devlet başkanını filan geçiniz, hepsi aynı 💩 un soyu.
alev er’in çevirisi çok başarılı, dipnotlar da öyle.
roman değil. romain gary’nin yolda bir köpek bulup eve alması ve köpeğin aslında güney eyaletlerinde siyahlara saldırması için eğitilen bir polis köpeği olduğunun ortaya çıkmasıyla başlıyor roman.
nasıl ortaya çıkıyor? romain gary ve karısı jean seberg her tür siyahlara yardım işlerinin içindeler o sırada. ve tabii eve gelen siyahlara saldıran köpekteki arıza hemen fark ediliyor.
köpeği bir çiftliğe götürüp düzeltilebilmesini umuyor gary ve çok yaşlı olduğunu yapılamayacağını söylüyorlar. ama siyah bakıcı keys yavaş yavaş kendine alıştırıyor köpeği.
köpeğin hikayesi değil bu anlatı, işte bu köpekle başlayan martin luther king’in öldürülmesiyle devam eden, sokakların ateşe verildiği, siyahların fraksiyonlara bölündüğü, hollywood yıldızlarının yaralı parmağa işemeden parayla düzeltmeye çalıştığı, liberallerin saçma hayaller kurduğu ama her şeyin yavaşça boka sardığı günlerin anlatısı.
beyazların para vererek kurduğu müslüman kara panterler’in gerçek siyah savaşçılara zarar verdiği, liberallerin ve ılımlıların her gün öldürülen siyah gençlere rağmen her tür şiddeti tu kaka haline getirmeleri ve herhangi bir eylemcinin teröriste dönüşmesinin de anlatısı bu.
ben 2013 sonrası yaşadıklarımıza ve barış sürecinin dağıtılmasına o kadar benzettim ki. aslında devlet politikaları, savaşı sürdürme taktikleri o kadar aynı ki… romalılardan tutun bugüne dek. her şey birbirinin tekrarı. piyonlar hep aynı, kazananlar ve kaybedenler de…
bir yerden sonra birbirini öldürmeye başlıyor siyahlar. birileri gülümseyerek izliyor.
beyaz köpeğin eğitim sonucu ne hale geldiği ise ağızları açık bırakıyor.
romain gary’nin inançsızlığı, kimliksizliği ve olacakları öngörüsü tüm satırlara sinmiş. seberg’se öyle iyi niyetli ve saf ki… teni siyah olan herkes bir aziz gözünde. netekim bu kitabın bitmesinden on yıl sonra karısı kara panterler ve arkasında kim varsa onlar tarafından öldürülecek, gary de intihar edecek.
çok acı her şey. ve siyahlara dair düzelen hiçbir şeyin olmadığını görmek, 2021’de bile, berbat. seçilmiş devlet başkanını filan geçiniz, hepsi aynı 💩 un soyu.
alev er’in çevirisi çok başarılı, dipnotlar da öyle.
November 3, 2016
ابراز عقیده هنرمندانه رومن گاری در مورد نژادپرستی، سیاست و روابط بین انسانها. گاری کسیه که در جنگ دوم برای متفقین جنگیده و باعث مرگ خیلیها شده، به عنوان سیاستمدار در سفارت فرانسه در آمریکا کار کرده، خبرنگار بوده و گزارش خبری تهیه کرده، نویسنده معروف و شناخته شده ای بوده و دست آخر همسر یکی از زیباترین و معروفترین بازیگران زن هالیوود بوده برای همین خودش خونریزی و جنگ، سیاست و کثافتکاریهاش، بودن در صحنه خبر و دچار احساسات نشدن، اونچه در مخ میگذره به زیبایی روی کاغذ آوردن و نهایتا فساد و سوء استفاده هالیوود رو خوب میفهمه. پس میتونیم حدس بزنیم اگر یه همچین کسی راجع به تبعیض نژادی در آمریکا و قیام سیاهان و احساس گناه بی اساس سفیدها راجع به اونچه اجدادشون کردن، بنویسه چقدر اثر خوبی از آب در میاد. در واقع وقتی یک نفر خارج از یک سیستم و بدون تعصب نظر میده اطلاعات بهتری به ما میرسه. چرا نود درصد تخلفات و جنایات آمریکا توسط سیاهان انجام میشه؟ جواب ساده ش اینه که چون سفیدها اونها رو مورد ظلم قرار دادن و پایین نگه داشتن. همین؟ دیگه هیچ جواب و دلیل دیگه ای نداره؟
November 7, 2021
Beyaz Köpek bitti. Nasıl haz aldım okurken, anlatması zor. Bazı kitaplar edebiyatı niye bunca sevdiğimi iliklerime dek hissettiriyor, bu da onlardan oldu. Önce şunu söyleyeyim, bu herif, Romain Gary yani, düpedüz manyak. Ama nasıl tatlı bir manyak, nasıl çok seviyorum. (Jean Seberg gibi Fuentes ve Gary arasında bir tercih yapmak zorunda olmadığım için mutluyum çünkü biliyorum ki mümkünü yok seçemem; ikisi de benim olsun işte ya.) Neyse, kitaba döneyim, sadece siyahlara saldırmak için eğitilmiş bir köpeğin öyküsü üzerinden bir sürü sorgulamaya girişiyor Gary. Irk ve ırkçılık, kültür, medeniyet, devrim, sosyal adalet, ezberlerimiz, vicdan… Hep etrafında dolaştığı, sevdiği konular yani. Bu bir roman değil, hayatının bir dönemine (1968-69) otobiyografik bir bakış. Seberg’le ilişkisine dair de çok fazla ipucu var kitapta. Romain Gary’nin en sevdiğim kitabı değil belki ama Romain Gary’i en çok sevdiğim kitap oldu - çok ama çok sevdim. Lütfen okuyun, okurken “Black Lives Matter” meselesini de zihninizin bir köşesinde tutun. 50 sene önceye bakınca alamadığımız bir arpa yola şaşıracaksınız. Alıntılamak istediğim çok ama çok fazla yer var, ama yalnızca birini ekleyip susuyorum, çünkü ah o son cümle: “Seberg’le tanıştıktan sonra ondaki saflık bana da bulaştı; kaybedeceğini bile bile kazanmak için bu şart çünkü. O günden beri insanlara hep güvenirim, çünkü inanıp güvenmek insanların seni hayal kırıklığına uğratmasından, ihanetinden, onların alay konusu olmaktan çok daha önemlidir. Kendini kaybetmek, kaybetmekten daha vahim.”
February 26, 2013
دیشب کتاب سگ سفید تموم شد .در حقیقت یه دوره تموم شد . و به طرز وحشتناکی تاریخ رو از هر نژادی که باشی چنان به تصویر کشید که هرلحظه اش خودم و دیدم و واقعا افسوس خوردم از اینکه رومن گری این روز ها نیست تا شاهد همون مدینه ی فاضله ای باشه که در تمام کتاب همه ارزوی اونو دارن از یک طرف و از طرف دیگه لذت بردم از همه ی منطق ها و همه ی باور های کتاب . بعد از این کتاب دوباره خواستم چندین سال از زندیگمو امریکا باشم . برام کتاب اون جایی تمومم میشه که من دارم خیابون های بورلی هیلز رو میبینم و به همه ی اتفاق هایی فکر میکنم که سال 1969 اتفاق افتاده . برای رومن . برای باتکای عزیزم . برای جین سبرگ . و برای جیم برای پم .
February 4, 2016
شاید تبعیض و اختلاف سیاهها و سفیدها برایم دغدغه نباشد. گو اینکه در کشوری هستم که «رنگ» مطرح نیست (چیزهای دیگر، بله. رنگ اما؟ فکر نمیکنم.) و در زمانی که کشوری که رومن گاری اینطور بر او میتازد، حالا رییسجمهوری نیمهسیاه دارد (این دلیل نمیشود که در آن کشور همه چیز برای سیاهها گل و بلبل باشد؟ میدانم!). شاید از روند مبارزهی سیاهها هیچ چیز ندانم و «سگ سفید» هم هیچ کمکی به بیشتر دانستنام، نکرده باشد. شاید جاهایی با گاری مخالف باشم و روایت کتاب هم، آن انسجامی را که آرزو داشتم داشته باشد، نداشت: در حقیقت انسجامی که نیاز داشتم. و نشر نیماژ بهتر بود کمی به خودش زحمت میداد و قبل چاپ، دستی به سر و روی کتاب میکشید و ویرایشی میکرد که بیتقصتر شود. با همهی اینها از خواندن «سگ سفید» پشیمان که نه، خیلی هم خرسندم و راضی. بیشتر بابت شیوهی طرح مسئلهاش و وادارکردنام به فکر کردن. هم فکر به همین «سیاهها و سفیدها» و هم به مسائل مشابه.
کتاب را که میخواندم:
یک. در این فکر بودم که من تا حالا سیاهپوست دیدهام؟ حالا که این ر��ویو را مینویسم به یاد میآورم که دیدهام؛ حج رفتهام! نمیشود که حج رفته باشید و سیاهپوست ندیده باشید! از ندیدن کعبه، عجیبتر است.
دو. به «جانگوی رهاشده»ی تارانتینوی عزیز فکر میکردم. به ویژه به سکانسی که دیکاپریو جمجمهیسیاهپوستیبهدست، نطق میکند.
کتاب را که میخواندم:
یک. در این فکر بودم که من تا حالا سیاهپوست دیدهام؟ حالا که این ر��ویو را مینویسم به یاد میآورم که دیدهام؛ حج رفتهام! نمیشود که حج رفته باشید و سیاهپوست ندیده باشید! از ندیدن کعبه، عجیبتر است.
دو. به «جانگوی رهاشده»ی تارانتینوی عزیز فکر میکردم. به ویژه به سکانسی که دیکاپریو جمجمهیسیاهپوستیبهدست، نطق میکند.
October 8, 2017
رومن گاری در بسیاری از رمانهایش، در کنار داستان، درس تاریخ، میدهد. شخصا نکات تاریخی بسیاری را درباره جنگ جهانی دوم، از خلال کتابهای رمان گاری، آموختم. از خلال داستانهای عاشقانه، دوست داشتنهای پر سوز و گداز، روایتهای خردِ آدمهای فراموش شده را خواندم و خیلی وقتها اشک ریختم. در این میان، شاید بتوان گفت "سگ سفید"، بیش از همه ماهیت تاریخی دارد. روایت نژادپرستی و چرخه خشونت، که فارغ از سفید یا سیاه، خود را بازتولید میکند. اگرچه، به لحاظ کشش داستانی، شاید آنقدرها خوب نباشد، اما خواندنش، خوبیهای خودش را دارد. افکار رومن گاری، درباره مسئله نژادپرستی و سیاهپوستان آمریکا جالب و خواندنی است و در نهایت، نحوه تمام شدن کتاب، به شدت تکان دهنده است.
May 29, 2016
Bouleversant. Il est rare de devoir retenir ses larmes à la fin d'un livre. Merci à Astrid et Lili pour ce conseil de lecture. Une plongée dans les années 60 aux USA et en France et une déchirante histoire.
June 24, 2017
بدونه شک ضعیف ترین کتابی که از این نویسنده خوندم.
شاید عدم برقراری ارتباط با کتاب را بتونم بگم فضای داستان و مخاطرات شخصت های کتاب نسبت امریکا و سیاه پوستان امریکاییه
شاید عدم برقراری ارتباط با کتاب را بتونم بگم فضای داستان و مخاطرات شخصت های کتاب نسبت امریکا و سیاه پوستان امریکاییه
November 27, 2015
پر از غلط املایی... ناشر این کتاب امیر کبیر بوده اما چاپ پنجاهم که من خوندم از نشر گردون بود در پایان کتاب هم تبلیغ کتابهای انتشارات امیر کبیر بود.
یه جاهایی احساس میکردم ناشر خواسته حضور ذهن ما رو برای حدس کلمات امتحان کنه فاصله دادن ها اشتباه بود اینتر اشتباهی زده بود و در هر صفحه حداقل ۷ غلط املایی وجود داشت.
خود کتاب رو هم خیلی دوست نداشتم کسل کننده بود... البته کتاب داستانی نبود و بیشتر تحلیل رومن گاری نسبت به مبارزات سیاهان بود.
یه جاهایی احساس میکردم ناشر خواسته حضور ذهن ما رو برای حدس کلمات امتحان کنه فاصله دادن ها اشتباه بود اینتر اشتباهی زده بود و در هر صفحه حداقل ۷ غلط املایی وجود داشت.
خود کتاب رو هم خیلی دوست نداشتم کسل کننده بود... البته کتاب داستانی نبود و بیشتر تحلیل رومن گاری نسبت به مبارزات سیاهان بود.
July 13, 2014
« Le seul endroit au monde où l'on peut rencontrer un homme digne de ce nom, c'est le regard d'un chien. »
Voilà une oeuvre extraordinaire qui entremêle avec tant de finesse et de complexité l'histoire tragique de ce « chien blanc », dressé pour attaquer les Noirs, et celle de la lutte des Noirs dans les États-Unis des années 60. Romain Gary, que je n'avais jamais eu vraiment envie de lire avant d'entendre parler de ce livre, y parle avec une lucidité implacable des mouvements sociaux, du sentiment de culpabilité, du rapport de l'humain à l'animal. évidemment, et de tant de questions qui m'habitent depuis longtemps.
Un roman-essai admirable tant par sa forme que la richesse de sa réflexion.
Voilà une oeuvre extraordinaire qui entremêle avec tant de finesse et de complexité l'histoire tragique de ce « chien blanc », dressé pour attaquer les Noirs, et celle de la lutte des Noirs dans les États-Unis des années 60. Romain Gary, que je n'avais jamais eu vraiment envie de lire avant d'entendre parler de ce livre, y parle avec une lucidité implacable des mouvements sociaux, du sentiment de culpabilité, du rapport de l'humain à l'animal. évidemment, et de tant de questions qui m'habitent depuis longtemps.
Un roman-essai admirable tant par sa forme que la richesse de sa réflexion.
October 24, 2019
"Είναι τρομερό το να αγαπάς τα ζώα. Όταν βλέπεις στο πρόσωπο ενός σκύλου ένα ανθρώπινο πλάσμα, δεν μπορείς πάρα να δεις στο πρόσωπο του ανθρώπου έναν σκύλο, και να τον αγαπήσεις.
Κι έτσι δεν καταφέρνεις ποτέ να γίνεις μισάνθρωπος, να φτάσεις στην απελπισία. Δεν βρίσκεις πουθενά ησυχία."
Κι έτσι δεν καταφέρνεις ποτέ να γίνεις μισάνθρωπος, να φτάσεις στην απελπισία. Δεν βρίσκεις πουθενά ησυχία."
October 2, 2009
كشف عشق و محبت در چشمان يك سگ، كار دشواري نيست. اين همه عشق و وفا مرا به ياد مادرم مي اندازد- ولي چشمان او سبز بود...
October 15, 2022
نژادپرست نیستم ولی از همون اولی که شخصیت کیز وارد شد حس خوبی بهش نداشتم با توجه به اینکه نویسنده فکر میکرد اون هم شخصیتی مشابه خودش داره که نمیخواد تسلیم بشه و سعی در نجات سگ داره در آخر معلوم شد حق داشتم که ازش بدم میاومد 😒😒 دشمنی نژادپرستانه همیشه منفوره چه از طرف سفیدپوستها باشه چه برعکسش از طرف سیاهپوستها
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2014
داستان بیانگر روابط سیاهان و سفیدپوستان امریکا و در واقع نوعی ریشه یابی اعمال انهاست . کتاب فوق العاده قشنگی بود . خیلی زیبا و دقیق به تجزیه و تحلیل مطالب پرداخته و اینکه معنی کرده هر عملی چه مفهومی پشتش داره
سگ سفید هم نوعی سگ هست که سفیدپوست ها تربیت می کنند تا فقط به سیاهان حمله کنه
سگ سفید هم نوعی سگ هست که سفیدپوست ها تربیت می کنند تا فقط به سیاهان حمله کنه
September 14, 2018
زیبا بود، ورود به دنیای نویسنده همراه با اتفاقات آمریکا و شلوغی های فرانسه در سال ۱۹۶۸ انگیزه ای بود برای هرچه عمیق تر و بهتر خواندن این کتاب جذاب. به دوستداران رومن گاری تبریک میگویم که این کتاب را قبلتر خوانده اند !
January 14, 2022
ترجمه پاکیزه سروش حبیبی خواندن کتاب را روان و دلپسند کرده بود. ماجرای کتاب را بقیه نوشتهاند. شما در تمام صفحات در همصحبتی با رومن گاری پیش میروید و فضای ذهنی روشنفکری نویسنده پس از جنگ دوم و جنبش های سیاهان در امریکا و جنگ ویتنام و شلوغیهای پاریس را تجربه میکنید
May 2, 2024
Bah franchement note un peu au hasard parce que je sais pas trop quoi en penser ? L’écriture est super intéressante, le sujet très riche, émouvant etc mais y’a tellement de passages / remarques qui m’ont mise hyper mal à l’aise jsp
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January 16, 2016من چاپ پنجاهم این کتاب از نشر گردون رو میخونم. کتاب پر از غلطهای تایپی و نگارشیست. واقعا جای تاسف داره که فصل اول کتاب که ۴ صفحه است ۱۶ غلط تایپی و نگارشی داشته باشه.
November 25, 2021
"هرگاه میخواهید بی عدالتی را ازبین ببرید،فقط مشتی آدم کشته اید."
"برانگیختن احساسات زیباترین شیوه ی دفاع از حقیقته"
"برانگیختن احساسات زیباترین شیوه ی دفاع از حقیقته"
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October 13, 2021E, ovo je knjiga! A ne neka tamo nova Sali Runi koja me muči i iritira već danima.
Nakon odlične knjige „Obećanje u zoru“ ovo je druga knjiga Romena Garija koju sam pročitao. Povod za nastanak ove knjige je pronalazak psa koji je dresiran da napada i ubija samo crnce. Prema ostalima je predivan, umiljat, maca jedna. Nezgodacija je što je Romenova supruga, glumica Džin Siberg, u samom centru borbe za prava Afroamerikanaca. Belaj!
Romen Gari je prvo napisao članak za magazin „Life“, da bi tek potom napisao i knjigu. Pronalazak psa je samo povod da progovori o tada, šezdesete godine minulog veka, aktuelnim pokretima i borbama za emancipaciju, sa akcentom na afroameričke grupe, ali i o protest studenata u Parizu 1968. godine.
Izrazito pronicljv i neverovatno zajedljiv, ciničan i duhovit kakav je Gari, čine ovu knjigu i njeno čitanje izuzetnim iskustvom. Mnogo je dobra. Tera čoveka da se zamisli. I (gorko) nasmeje na autorove žaoke. Posebno je dobro što matori cinik ne propušta da ispriča koliko je gomila ljudskopravaških grupa i pojedinaca koji se bore za tamo neka prava i ideale, zapravo licemerna. Šiba Gari po svima (ovaj Gari može). Stigao je čak da prozove i Marlona Branda i Džona Kenedija, ali i afroameričke borce za „našu stvar“. Nikome nije ostao dužan. Crni panteri udruženi sa Huverovim FBI su i doveli do tragičnog kraja života njegove supruge. Ima pravo da bude besan.
Odlična knjiga. Velika preporuka.
E, da. Sada moram da pogledam i film „Seberg“, a ako nađem (u Kinoteci, dakako… nikako nešto ilegalno… pu-pu… daleko bilo) i film „Pas belac“ snimljen na osnovu ove knjige. Vidim da najavljuju i neku seriju…
Više o knjizi možete pročitati u malo dužem tekstu na ovom linku: http://www.bookvar.rs/da-li-je-rasiza...
Nakon odlične knjige „Obećanje u zoru“ ovo je druga knjiga Romena Garija koju sam pročitao. Povod za nastanak ove knjige je pronalazak psa koji je dresiran da napada i ubija samo crnce. Prema ostalima je predivan, umiljat, maca jedna. Nezgodacija je što je Romenova supruga, glumica Džin Siberg, u samom centru borbe za prava Afroamerikanaca. Belaj!
Romen Gari je prvo napisao članak za magazin „Life“, da bi tek potom napisao i knjigu. Pronalazak psa je samo povod da progovori o tada, šezdesete godine minulog veka, aktuelnim pokretima i borbama za emancipaciju, sa akcentom na afroameričke grupe, ali i o protest studenata u Parizu 1968. godine.
Izrazito pronicljv i neverovatno zajedljiv, ciničan i duhovit kakav je Gari, čine ovu knjigu i njeno čitanje izuzetnim iskustvom. Mnogo je dobra. Tera čoveka da se zamisli. I (gorko) nasmeje na autorove žaoke. Posebno je dobro što matori cinik ne propušta da ispriča koliko je gomila ljudskopravaških grupa i pojedinaca koji se bore za tamo neka prava i ideale, zapravo licemerna. Šiba Gari po svima (ovaj Gari može). Stigao je čak da prozove i Marlona Branda i Džona Kenedija, ali i afroameričke borce za „našu stvar“. Nikome nije ostao dužan. Crni panteri udruženi sa Huverovim FBI su i doveli do tragičnog kraja života njegove supruge. Ima pravo da bude besan.
Odlična knjiga. Velika preporuka.
E, da. Sada moram da pogledam i film „Seberg“, a ako nađem (u Kinoteci, dakako… nikako nešto ilegalno… pu-pu… daleko bilo) i film „Pas belac“ snimljen na osnovu ove knjige. Vidim da najavljuju i neku seriju…
Više o knjizi možete pročitati u malo dužem tekstu na ovom linku: http://www.bookvar.rs/da-li-je-rasiza...
September 19, 2020
Cuốn sách này chứa đựng quá nhiều thứ lớn lao. Trong nó là toàn bộ lịch sử chế độ nô lệ, lịch sử người da đen tại Mỹ, và những thứ ấy càng phức tạp thêm lên khi nó được diễn giải bởi ngôn từ của một nhà văn nhiều suy tư triết lý.
Và sự phức tạp đâu chỉ dừng ở đó, tác giả còn mang hết cả cuộc chiến tranh Việt Nam, những phong trào cách mạng trên thế giới, và những cuộc chiến trên chính trường Mỹ để điểm tô cho câu chuyện của mình.
Đọc Romain Gary vẫn luôn là một công việc tốn nhiều sức lực. Tôi cố căng não mình ra để hiểu những phân tích và suy tưởng của ông. Nhưng, tôi thiếu quá nhiều kiến thức về lịch sử người da đen, về Mỹ, về thế giới, nên dẫu có cố tới đâu tôi cũng không hiểu hết nổi.
Nhưng dù những thiếu hụt vẫn đầy rẫy ra đó, thì câu chuyện về con Chó Trắng biến thành Chó Đen trong cuốn sách này cũng đủ ghi dấu trong tôi. Một dấu ấn trần trụi về cách con người nuôi dưỡng những thế hệ người tiếp sau và cách con người phát triển xã hội "văn minh" của mình.
Ôi con chó Batka. Cuối cùng nó là nạn nhân của sự thù ghét 2 màu da. Nó là nạn nhân của xã hội người, cũng như tất cả những con người kia là nạn nhân của chính xã hội mình!
Và sự phức tạp đâu chỉ dừng ở đó, tác giả còn mang hết cả cuộc chiến tranh Việt Nam, những phong trào cách mạng trên thế giới, và những cuộc chiến trên chính trường Mỹ để điểm tô cho câu chuyện của mình.
Đọc Romain Gary vẫn luôn là một công việc tốn nhiều sức lực. Tôi cố căng não mình ra để hiểu những phân tích và suy tưởng của ông. Nhưng, tôi thiếu quá nhiều kiến thức về lịch sử người da đen, về Mỹ, về thế giới, nên dẫu có cố tới đâu tôi cũng không hiểu hết nổi.
Nhưng dù những thiếu hụt vẫn đầy rẫy ra đó, thì câu chuyện về con Chó Trắng biến thành Chó Đen trong cuốn sách này cũng đủ ghi dấu trong tôi. Một dấu ấn trần trụi về cách con người nuôi dưỡng những thế hệ người tiếp sau và cách con người phát triển xã hội "văn minh" của mình.
Ôi con chó Batka. Cuối cùng nó là nạn nhân của sự thù ghét 2 màu da. Nó là nạn nhân của xã hội người, cũng như tất cả những con người kia là nạn nhân của chính xã hội mình!
January 6, 2026
Peut être mon livre préféré de 2025, merci @Constance pour la recommandation. J’adore le style d’écriture de Romain Gary et sa manière de penser d’un sujet si grave et important.
August 25, 2017
Ho scelto di stare con le bestie
Non posso non notare come Romain Gary sia stato un grandissimo uomo, prima ancora che un grande scrittore; in questo libro, un po' autobiografia, un po' romanzo e un po' saggio, ci costringe a suo modo a riflettere sul razzismo e sui pregiudizi.
Tutto parte dalla storia di un cane, un pastore tedesco adulto trovato davanti alla porta della casa della sua compagna in California. Gary si accorge presto che il cane è dolcissimo con i bianchi, ma feroce con i neri; è un “cane bianco”, uno dei cani addestrati dalle forze di Polizia dell'Alabama per dare la caccia ai neri.
L'episodio del cane consente a Gary di parlare ed approfondire molti argomenti, in vario modo interconnessi, quali la questione razziale negli USA, l'assassinio di Martin Luther King, la lotta per i diritti civili, i movimenti antirazziali che basavano sulla violenza la loro azione, i movimenti di protesta contro la guerra in Vietnam, il maggio francese del 1968.
Alla fine quella di Gary risulta essere, oltre ad una riflessione sul razzismo di tutti i tipi, una riflessione sulle persone, sulla razza umana nella sua globalità
"Io sono razzista, ma non come voi, bianchi o neri. Sono razzista perché quella puttana della razza umana mi fa schifo da molto tempo, che si tratti di gialli, verdi, blu o color cioccolato. Sono trent’anni che ho scelto di stare con le bestie"
Romain Gary è schietto, ironico, lucido, generoso, affascinante, anticonformista, provocatorio, individualista e mai incasellabile in un definito schema ideologico. Per lui anche i bianchi sono schiavi,
"Hanno alle spalle secoli di schiavitù. Non parlo dei neri. Parlo dei bianchi. Sono due secoli che sono schiavi di idee preconcette, pregiudizi sacrosanti religiosamente tramandati di padre in figlio, e legati mani e piedi al grande cerimoniale delle idee preconcette, morse che stringono il cervello, simili a quegli arnesi che fin dall'infanzia deformavano i piedi delle donne cinesi."
Molto, troppo facile prendersela con i bianchi che hanno messo in schiavitù i neri, o con i tedeschi che hanno perseguitato gli ebrei, o con gli ebrei che ce l'hanno coi palestinesi, o con gli arabi che fanno la guerra agli ebrei. La cosa peggiore è assistere alle vendette, ossia osservare che secoli di barbarie sono serviti solo a insegnare a tutti a restituire ai propri aguzzini pan per focaccia, occhio per occhio.
L'uomo impara dal passato solo le cose negative. Sono stato perseguitato? Allora perseguito. Sono stato picchiato? Allora picchio. I miei parenti sono stati uccisi? Allora mi vendico.
In altre parole l'opposto del motto "non fare al prossimo tuo quello che non vorresti fosse fatto a te stesso"
Come andare oltre? Come riuscire a fare un passo avanti? Difficile dirlo, anche per Gary....
July 20, 2019
این کتاب راجب زندگیِ خود رومن گاری و همسرش جین سیبرگ در آمریکا و روایت های رومن گاری از نژادپرستی و کشمکش ها و درگیری های نژادی آمریکاست. ترجمه سیلویا بجانیان تا جایی که داستان جریان داشت بد نبود و خوب بود، ولی متاسفانه وقتی صحبت از ایدئولوژی های گاری و حرف های سنگین تر میشد لنگ میزد و نامفهوم میشد. چه بسا اگه ترجمه ی سروش حبیبی رو میخوندم لذت میبردم از اون قسمتاش.
این کتاب رو نباید در دسته ی رمان قرار داد بنظرم. در کل برای علاقه مندای گاری، کتاب نسبتا جذابی میتونه باشه. قلمِ رومن گاری گیراست.
این کتاب رو نباید در دسته ی رمان قرار داد بنظرم. در کل برای علاقه مندای گاری، کتاب نسبتا جذابی میتونه باشه. قلمِ رومن گاری گیراست.
July 17, 2020
رومن گری به طرز نگاه طنزآمیز و گاه بدبینانه و با رنگهای تیره و تار و بسیار هوشمندانه و طعنه آمیز این کتاب را رغم میزند. وی علی رغم تمام انزجار خود از جهان ، از ناامیدی امتناع می ورزد ، اواز افتادن در تنفر امتناع می ورزد.
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