Goodbye, friend

by Sébastien Japrisot, Patricia Allen Dreyfus (Translator)

English, French (translation)

Genres: Fiction, France, Crime

185 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Sébastien Japrisot was a French author, screenwriter and film director, born in Marseille. His pseudonym was an anagram of Jean-Baptiste Rossi, his real name. Japrisot has been nicknamed "the Graham Greene of France".
Famous in the Francophony, he was little known in the English-speaking world, though a number of his novels have been translated into English and have been made into films.
His first novel, Les mal partis was written at the age of 16 and published under his real name (see also author profile of Jean-Baptiste Rossi).

Reviews

[Frédéric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another film script Japrisot wrote- directed by Jean Herman with Alain Delon and Charles Bronson in 1967.

I love this film, which I've seen countless times, and of course this book is a faithful retranscription.
The scenario is undoubtedly dated - mucho macho, silent men who strike up an indefectible friendship during a botched burglary. Cheesy? I don't care, I love it! I can't read it without hearing the voices of Delon and Bronson delivering their incisive punchlines. Yeaaah!

Propp (Bronson). - You still haven't told me why there's a bullet missing, doc... Barran comes back to him, counting a few bills. Propp (with an insinuating smile). -... But that too I'll find. Barran (Delon). - Then there'll be two missing.

It's old school as hell, but it's only 150 pages read in a few hours. At worst, watch the movie!

[Alla · Rating 3 out of 5]

this author pisses me off so much it makes me wanna endure being a woman in the french 60s just to have the opportunity to kick him in the balls

[grundoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 As opaque as they generally were, this 1969 screenplay-novel is still a bit of a departure from his earlier psychological mysteries. Told in very short scenes of visual set and dialogue, it takes a while to pierce and begin piecing a story together, which when combined with dated mores didn't make for a promising start. And I'm still not sure I'd want to tackle nearly 2 hours of this in movie form ("Farewell, Friend" with Charles Bronson), but remain impressed at how much he did draw me in and ever-increasingly held my interest. Not a noteworthy entry from him, but keep in mind he sets a high bar.

[Sam Reaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Or in English, Farewell Friend. Japrisot was an innovative and prolific French novelist and screenwriter active from the sixties through the eighties; his L'Été meurtrier (One Deadly Summer in translation), which was made into a 1983 film with Isabelle Adjani, is one of my favorite books.
This short novel is a lesser work; it reads more like a screenplay, down to the dialogue with the speaker's name followed by a colon. I was not surprised to learn that it is actually Japrisot's novelization of his screenplay for the 1968 movie that made Charles Bronson a star in Europe.
Two Foreign Legion veterans just back from Algeria attempt to break into a vault in the headquarters of a big French corporation, taking advantage of the absence of staff during the Christmas holiday. They actually have competing agendas, which complicates matters; there are a couple of femmes involved who are possibly fatales.
That's really about it; there's about enough plot for a movie, less than we expect in a novel. A quick read and not the best introduction to Japrisot; try his original novels, particularly One Deadly Summer, which is superb.

[Caterina · Rating 3 out of 5]

ufff això de llegir el guio d´una pel·lícula, o d'una obra de teatre costa una mica però la Història esta be

[Keith Currie · Rating 3 out of 5]

We have all read novels which aspire to be film scripts (a depressing phenomenon), but here is one which actually is a film script. At a mere 122 pages of pared back scene setting and dialogue, the book becomes an intensely visual and auditory experience. The story of two veterans of the Algerian War establishing a sort of honour amongst thieves in the wake of a failed heist is ingenious (which is to be expected from Japrisot), but somewhat slight and perhaps dated too. Not, I am afraid, one of his best, but pretty good by most other standards.

[Carles · Rating 3 out of 5]

El format és guió cinematogràfic. M'ha passat com quan he llegit teatre. Trobo a faltar l’embolcall de la novel·la.
La trama és enginyosa.
Em sembla una oda a la lleialtat. A no delatar-se sota cap circumstància. Honor entre lladres.
Hem vist el film del 1968
L’àudio era dolent. La direcció no ens ha agradat. En certs moments, l’encadenat de situacions, el muntatge, els canvis de pla, ens han semblat inconnexos.
Les baralles mal simulades, quasi còmiques.

[femcel fatale · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolute firecracker of an adapted screenplay; practically rewatched the entire film in real time while blasting through this.

yeah...you gotta be a real friendless individual to hate this one. shit fuckin' rules!