Un aller simple: Lektüren Französisch

by Didier van Cauwelaert

Zigeuner stehlen ein Auto aus Marseille, in dem ein kleiner Junge schläft. Sie nehmen das Kind in ihrem Clan auf, nennen es Aziz, verschaffen ihm einen falschen marokkanischen Pass und machen aus ihm einen Spezialisten für den Diebstahl von Autoradios. Doch mit 19 Jahren wird Aziz in seine vermeintliche Heimat Marokko ausgewiesen. Ein französischer Regierungsbeamter wird ihm zur Seite gestellt und soll ihm helfen, sein Heimatdorf wieder zu finden und sich in die Gesellschaft einzugliedern. Abiturthema in Nordrhein-Westfalen 2011 und 2012

Genres: France, Fiction, School, Roman, Read For School, French Literature, 20th Century

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Didier van Cauwelaert est un romancier et dramaturge français, né d'une famille d'origine belge.

Didier van Cauwelaert is a French novelist and playwright with Belgian roots.

Well-known French writer Didier van CAUWELAERT has some very big literary successes in his portfolio.

From the age of 8 he dreamed of taking up a pen to become independent and feed his family.

After devoting several years to theatre, to playing Sartre and directing Beckett, Anouilh, Ionesco, and after a brief career as a children's book critic, a chance meeting with a certain Greta GARBO got his foot in the door.

In 1982 he published (at last) his first book “Vingt ans et des poussières” with Editions du Seuil, just after his 22nd birthday. He would reach an ever wider public with every new book.

Awarded the Prix Goncourt in 1994 for “Un aller simple” (One way) this voracious writer let his imagination run rife and arrived at the pinnacle of his career.

An extraordinary author, Didier van CAUWELAERT has sold over 5 million copies and been translated into 30 different languages.

Films have been made of several of his books: “Un aller simple”, “Hors de moi” adapted for film as “Sans identité” and “J’ai perdu Albert” taken from his novel of the same name.

His latest work “La bienveillance est une arme absolue” (goodwill is the ultimate weapon) takes the mind to new horizons.

The ultimate weapon, a weapon to shock, to create joy, goodwill is the only answer to the moral crisis in which society finds itself.

Source : https://wtca-brussels.org/en/classes/...

Reviews

[د.سيد (نصر برشومي) · Rating 4 out of 5]

الرواية حكاية، سردية سلسة، ترجمتها مائية، أقصد تعبيرها العربي منساب رائق، عكس الترجمة الحجرية، تتعثر فيها متخبطا في وعورة الصياغة... أسلوب كوفلارت منحها جمال الحدوتة وضمير المتكلم مررها بسرعة وصدق...
الحكاية حدوتة بشرية عن الأصل والفصل والطريق...
ثلاث وجوه للشخصية في لوحة الغربة... ميلاد اجتماعي منزوع من الجذور... مهمة مهنية تضع الذات في قالب... وأخيرا الاختيار الحر... أن تمنح نفسك لأحبة تشعر بالفقد فتكون بديلا رمزيا جماليا... تكتفي بدور تاجر البسمة الأسرية... وتستخلص من المشوار روايتك الخاصة... فاسمك هو ما تكتبه

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely, my kind of book. It makes serious points with humour. While criticising the stupidly of the authorities it mocks them and makes the reader laugh.

Didier Van Cauwelaert starts with a clever idea. A child made parent less and brought up by gypsies, never knowing anything about his true parentage or heritage. His adopted family give him Moroccan papers because they are cheaper. So when he is framed for stealing the engagement ring which was to seal his marriage to Lila, and arrested by the immigration authorities, the only papers he has are Moroccan.

A new friendly 'be nice to immigrants' policy means that not only is he going to be repatriated to Morocco but he is to have is own attaché humanitaire. Jean-Paul accompanies him on to the plane in order to resettle Aziz back in his home town. But Aziz is from Marseille with an accent to match. When Jean-Pierre asks whereabouts in Morocco he's from, Aziz just points to place on the map at random. Somewhere which just happens to be in the middle of the Atlas Mountains. He embellishes his story, saying that it is in a lost valley run by a race of grey men.

As the story proceeds, it has strong hints of Lost Horizon, the 1933 novel of Shangrila by James Hilton, made into a film in 1937 by Franz Capra.

In Morocco, they are helped by Valerie who knows the area and conspires with Aziz to play his story. Both Aziz and Jean-Pierre have lost their roots and towards the end it is as if they become one, or perhaps as if they swop roles, with Aziz settling in Jean-Pierre’s home region.

Most certainly a book to read a second time, I think.

[Mirek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Émouvant, drôle, plein d’ironie et d’intelligence et magnifiquement écrit! Un régal...brillant!

[HALIMA Elyoussoufi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un bon livre. Une quête d'identité, une aventure émouvante touchante. Un style clair et fluide.

[queri queri · Rating 4 out of 5]

nomes li poso bona nota pqe esta be el final i les reflexions/comentaris de google sobre el llibre et fan entendre el significat. ara, sino 2 este elles

[Solange Janes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rythme soutenu pour une histoire triste racontée avec beaucoup d'humour. C'est plein de petites trouvailles. Bien aimé.

[lotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5⭐️
ik ben een paar updates vergeten geven maarrrrr heel leuk wel! ik vond het soms lastig om te verstaan maar denk wel dat ik het grote verhaal mee heb! 1ste franse boek van dit jaar is dan ook meteen uitgelezen en ik moet eerlijk zeggen ging minder vlot dan gedacht maar wel al vlotter dan de laatste van vorig jaar dus a win is a win denk ik dan!!

[Lena Put · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘Et je reste seul avec les levers de soleil rouge clair sur les déserts de pierres, et les couchers de soleil orange sur les sommets neigeux, mes pieds sur le tableau de bord, dans le silence le plus vide que je connaisse.’ (101)

[Emmanuelle Serret · Rating 4 out of 5]

La rencontre improbable d'un duo issu de deux mondes différents nous transporte dans leur univers entre imaginaire et réalité.
Un voyage entre France et Maroc, des personnages attachants qui nous racontent une très belle histoire.

[Gis:elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Igual son eu pero ben baixo está caendo o Goncourt. Para pasar o rato e mesmo facer unha peli así francesa, metade de risa, metade derisoria. Pero non da para traspasar fronteiras.

[Labyrinth · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[yasmin boleyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

enfin terminé

[Caroline Mendoza · Rating 3 out of 5]

cest pas grave mais mid

[Paula Koneazny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un Aller Simple is a slim novel(120 pages)that tracks a Marsaillais orphan of unknown origins, rescued and raised by a group of Roms after his parents are killed in a traffic accident. His new family gives him the name Aziz (after Ami 6, the model of auto from which he is rescued)and bequeath him with false identification papers that transform him into a non Arabic-speaking Moroccan immigrant. He makes a living stealing car radios and courts his childhood Rom sweetheart, Lila. His fondest memories (and the highpoint of his young life) are of the few years he spent in school, especially in the class of a M. Giraudy, who, when Aziz is forced to quit school, gives him an atlas called Legends of the World, which Aziz reads and rereads and which is the one possession that he regrets when, moments before his marriage to Lila, he is snatched by the police on a false charge of jewelry theft. Instead of jail, Aziz is deported to Morocco in the company of an attache named Jean-Pierre Schneider, himself a refugee of sorts from a family of displaced foundry workers in Lorraine, to be repatriated to and economically reinserted in his "home" country as a good-will gesture on the part of the French government. Aziz spins a tale for Jean-Pierre (and finds his true vocation as a storyteller)that sets them off on a quest for Irghiz and the Valley of the Grey Men in the Atlas mountains. Their guide is a young Moroccan-French woman named Valerie who is cynical and fatalistic about both love and life. Much (or not much really) ensues as this tragicomic fairytale brings Aziz finally to yet another adopted home, that of Jean Pierre's parents in a factory town in Lorraine. There Aziz moves into Jean Pierre's childhood room and into his childhood and sets about writing Jean Pierre's novel(titled Un Aller Simple) or the story of Aziz as written by Aziz as Jean Pierre's replacement. The first third of the novel which recounts Aziz's life in Marseille is arguably the most interesting. The subsequent adventure that begins in Morocco and ends in Lorraine is simply unconvincing, even when considered as a legend or fairy tale.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 1 out of 5]

Faute de pouvoir donner cinq étrons, je lui donne une étoile.
On commence avec un cliché d'opérette. Aziz le protagoniste est né à Marseille. Ses parents périssent dans un accident de route. Des gitanes le récupèrent, achètent pour lui un passeport marocain et l'enlèvent comme un de leurs enfants. Le lecteur a l'impression d'être plongé dans "Der Zigeunerbaron" (Le Baron tzigane) de Johann Strauss fils.
Ensuite, van Cauwelaert nous offre un analyse socio-économique. Aziz est piégé en bas de l'échelle société. Il se lance dans la criminalité. Il est arrêté et expulse au Maroc son faux pays. De cette manière Aziz perd à tout jamais la femme qu'il aime.
Un coup de théâtre se produit et Aziz trouve une porte pour rentrer en France. Ses perspectives d'avenir ne sont pas brillantes mais il semble être assuré d'un certain confort au bas de l'échelle sociale.
"Un aller simple" offre au lecteur portrait de la pauvreté en France des immigrants de l'Afrique du Nord et une intrigué bourrés d'invraisemblances. La thèse de l'auteur semble etre que la vie vous impose non seulement un statut économique et sociale mais une identité qui ne vous convient pas. La recette ne fonctionne pas du tout. Je n'en reviens pas du fait que ce roman a gagné le prix Goncourt.

[Janina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring, confusing and what in the name of God is the moral/meaning of this story?!

I have to admit I really disliked "Un aller simple" for countless reasons. None of the characters ever grew on me and I didn´t really care about what happend to them... If it weren´t for school, I don´t think I would have finished this novel.
Aside from the characters I also had a real issue with the plot. In the beginning I actually found it bearable and sometimes even fascinating - it´s not everyday that you get to read about the everyday life of gypsies and their struggles (at least for me it´s not something I´ve ever read about.) but after a while the story seemed to consist of nothing but WTF-moments. Some people might manage to come up with some deep interpretation with lots of social criticism in it but to me the novel was just a big mess. And that ending... Come on?!

And to anybody whose mother tongue isn´t French: the language is horrible! Usually my French is very good but in this case I basically spent more time looking into my dictionary than I spent reading "Un aller simple".

[Cindywho · Rating 2 out of 5]

In anticipation of next months vacation, I looked for fiction about Marrakesh. This one just had a little about Morocco. Aziz is a young Marseillais, orphaned at birth and brought up by gypsies. Having never gained French citizenship, he is caught up in a plan to repatriate him to Morocco due to the nationality on the fake passport he does have. Strange and sad relationships with the official who accompanies him, and the guide they hire are more what the story is about. Bizarre and a little boring, though my colloquial French wasn't totally up to the challenge. ( October 18, 2005)

[Grady Ormsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the translation by Mark Polizzotti. A rather wild tale about a Gypsy boy who is thought to be Arab,raised by an adoptive family in France and deported to his assumed native country, Morocco. A true jumble of boundaries, cultural, linguistic, economic and emotional. On the plane to Morocco he invents a fabulous tale of Irghiz, an Eldorado that he subsequently is forced to pursue. Funny, touching, with dashes of cruelty and madness.

[Eldarwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still not quite sure what the purpose of the plot was but it was nicely written and Aziz is a very interesting narrative voice.

Quick read with lots of material to think about.

Some of the passages regularly made me laugh out loud in the way things were phrased and following Aziz' thought process often made me grin, which was definitely a plus to the somewhat - in my eyes - missing plot.

[Imane Zerguit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bien mérité Le Prix Goncourt👍 vraiment c'est le meilleur roman que j'ai lu depuis longtemps. Bravo Didier Van:
1/ Bravo pour L'histoire pleine d'émotion du rapidité ...✔
2/ Bravo pour votre méthode suvie pour nous raconter l'histoire, pour nous décrire les différentes place et bravo car vous nous passez les événements d'une façon drôle agréable et amusante. ✔
3/ Bravo pour la fin du roman inattendue.✔

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai bien aime ce livre tout petit et bien vibrant. La voix d'Aziz le narrateur m'a fait pense parfois a La Vie Devant Soi de Romain Gary car il est tout aussi naif que Momo mais tout aussi aimable. J'ai beaucoup aime le personnage de l'attache humanitaire et cette idee que ces deux hommes si differents se ressemblaient autant. Une bonne petite lecture rapido-presto!

[Lacedo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionnel. Un garçon français élevé par des gitans mais avec des faux papiers marrocains qui se fait déporter dans un pays dont il ne sait rien. Rigolo et émotif à la fois.

[Antenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aziz has never been accepted fully by a Marseille gypsy community, having been salvaged from a car in which his French parents perished in an accident. So when he presumes to get engaged to a beautiful gypsy girl, he is framed for the theft of the ring which ironically he has in fact purchased, admittedly from the proceeds of other petty robberies for which he has never been caught. His punishment is deportation to Morocco , his “official” birthplace. The young policeman friend who cannot help him out of this fix explains that, desperate to be seen to implement a new policy against illegal immigrants who break the law, the authorities have seized on Aziz as the first foreigner to hand who actually has identity papers, the irony being that there are in fact cheap forgeries. This is the author’s sardonic take on a controversial French policy of clamping down on immigrants, which apparently inspired him to write the book in partial protest.

Aziz accepts the situation with what may seem like a disappointing degree of passivity, although of course, if able to prove his Frenchness, he would be liable to end up in gaol. He forms an unlikely bond with Jean-Pierre Schneider, the gullible probation officer tasked with escorting him back to he fictitious birthplace which he devises on the spur of the moment. As Aziz, with his love of story-telling, compounds his potential problems by continually embellishing tales of life in a remote mountain community which does not exist, Schneider becomes ever more fascinated by it, perhaps as a kind of escape from his own personal problems of just having been left by his wife.

This short novel is certainly imaginative, and has been described as an allegory for the nature of identity, which can be imposed upon us, or fabricated by us as a mixture of reality and fantasy. Farcical and ironically humorous from the outset, with poignant moments, the tale becomes a tragi-comedy. Once in Morocco, it takes a surreal turn, with a complex plot, involving many unexpected incidents. The humour remains, as when we discover Schneider’s view of events, with his surprise over Aziz’s remarkably good French and spark of rebellion against his faith by eating with his left hand, but the storyline becomes too aimless to maintain my interest. Neither could I relate to or feel moved by the characters as the story progressed. The prolific author writes as the fancy takes him, thinking up bizarre or amusing situations, but not developing them fully, so that they fail to “add up” to anything or lead to any meaningful conclusion. The abrupt ending felt as if the author had found a convenient spot to dump his hero, before moving on to the next writing project.

The novel is good for practising one’s French, but otherwise somewhat unsatisfying.

[Pablo E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los personajes más distantes de la sociedad francesa se encuentran. Por un lado, Aziz, un adulto que pese a haber nacido en Francia no tiene papeles que lo identifiquen como francés por haber sido criado, tras un confuso incidente, por gitanos en Marsella. Por otro, Jean-Pierre, un joven funcionario público con la misión de redirigirlo a Marruecos (su supuesto país de origen), en medio de una profunda crisis tras romper su matrimonio. Un verdadero road trip, donde la voz de Aziz (irónica, desafiante, incrédula) convive con las crónicas de Jean-Pierre (quien a medida que se adentran en Marruecos, empieza verdaderamente a descubrir sus dolores y traumas mientras escribe sus crónicas del mismo nombre del libro). Premio Goncourt del año 1994, se trata de una novela sobre la pertenencia, que se escribe ante nuestros ojos tal como la amistad de nuestros protagonistas.


El dolor de Jean-Pierre, en estas palabras, fueron mis líneas favoritas:


“La mano me tiembla demasiado. Lo he dicho todo. No podría quererlos sino después de su muerte. ¿Y si me voy yo antes? Llamé a Uckange por la noche. Lo siento mucho, estoy en el Líbano, misión urgente, imposible avisaros, os mandé a mi secretario, no os localizó, realmente lo siento, iré por Navidad. Jean-Pierre, no sigas. Tu padre lo sabe perfectamente, te averguenzas de nosotros. No valía la pena hacerle esto. Déjanos tranquilos, hale, será mejor, vive tu vida- Mi vida.
Haced que me lean”.

[Dina Batista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livro curto que se lê quase como uma poesia, acerca de pessoas que são mais do que o local onde nasceram e a sua cor de pele. Temos um jovem de Marselha, criado pelos ciganos com uma identidade falsa árabe que acaba por ser preso e o governo francês decide expatria-lo para a sua terra... o Marrocos, como um jovem de 18 anos nascido e criado em França, vê-se de repente enviado para uma terra que não é a sua e do qual não conhece nada. Entra um "adido humanitário" que vai acompanha-lo na sua reinserção à sua terra natal, um homem com problemas conjugais, com uma relação complicada com os pais, que abandonou há muitos anos quando saiu da sua terra natal. Pelo caminho conhecem e contratam uma guia francesa para os levar a suposta aldeia do jovem Aziz, uma jovem "free spirit", que trabalha como guia para ajudar na sua tese, com um pai, antigo médico que se transformou num alcoólico. Três personagens que tentam chegar a casa sem saber onde é que é exactamente... Um jovem que regressa a casa mas que não é a sua casa, um homem que fugiu de casa há anos mas que quer regressar e uma jovem que não pode voltar a casa por causa do pai que precisa dela, cada um com fios a prendê-los. Uma leitura ligeira como uma poesia.

[Joshua Taubman · Rating 4 out of 5]

'A simple going' or something like that, surely. The story follows Aziz, an autoradio merchant in Morocco whose financial ambitions are hindered by his lack of a vehicle. Equally, he is troubled by his upbringing: a man split between his French family and Morocco upbringing. Aziz's travels revived a boyhood wonder within me as it evinces images of Lawrence of Arabia bravely trekking across the Sahara to sell small electronic devices.

However, just after half-way through the book, any unaware and linguistically incompetent reader such as myself, finds that the book they are reading is of a very different nature.

Aziz is a psychosexual freak. His gallant pursuit of autoradio monopoly in North Africa turns to one of loose women. Yet, in this quest he is but met with his own impotence, and the incorporation of a mini-fridge in an act a poor level of French cruelly leaves to the imagination.

For a time Aziz's Freudian tribulations appear to abate, as he returns to his usual pottering around on Land Rovers and Air-France.

However, without warning his ide takes hold and the characters find themselves throwing their clothes at one another whilst mourning the loss of old lovers.

All-in-all: rather confusing, rather sordid, rather French
4/5

[Chiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

La narration est mon style préféré, c’etait pas depressif, plutôt réaliste, direct, pas de double sens, pas de mots inutiles.
D’un côté, Ok, le caractère principale utilise a plusieurs reprises des histoires refabriqué pour faire son trajet, sachant que sa naissance en elle même était une histoire fabriqué aussi. En revanche, ses pensées intimes sont loin de la fiction.
Je pense il y a un manque inaperçue a la surface d’espoirs, je ne peux pas me rappeler d’une instance où il s’attendait vraiment a des choses dans sa vie, sauf la certitude qu’il voulait marié la fille tsigane qui la lâché.
De l’autre côté, mr l’attaché (😉) avait pleins d’espoirs et pleins d’affections pour plusieurs choses. Mais je respecte bien qu’Aziz lui a permis de compléter son but de vie même posthume.
Enfin, les séquences du récit étaient très intéressantes, la réalité de Valérie, les voyages dans le Maroc, le retour du défunt avec Aziz, et ce dernier complétant l’histoire. C’était un beau livre.

[Thomas Singler · Rating 2 out of 5]

L’histoire de deux destins qui se croisent. Celui d’Aziz, orphelin tombé dans la petite délinquance après avoir été adopté par des tsiganes, et celui de Jean-Pierre, employé du ministère des affaires étrangères chargé de réinsérer Aziz au Maroc après son expulsion qui ponctue une suite de quiproquos. J’ai eu envie de lire ce livre pendant un voyage à Marseille mais j’ai été globalement déçu. Si le livre se lit facilement, je trouve que l’auteur peine à donner une véritable profondeur à son histoire. La langue est un peu monocorde et ne parvient pas à caractériser les personnages. L’histoire prend quelques raccourcis faciles qui frisent le cliché par moments. La lecture n’est pas désagréable mais manque d’ambition littéraire selon moi et je suis surpris que ce livre ait obtenu le Goncourt.

[Belu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Debo dividir mi impresión de este libro en dos partes. La primera, la disfruté con creces, estaba deseando poder conocer más a Aziz, su manera simple de ver las cosas que construye una crítica a la sociedad en la que le toca vivir en clave de humor y sarcasmo. Pero, Aziz deja de narrar su historia y es su agregado humanitario quien la continúa y, con él ,cambia el lenguaje pero también la mirada al mundo. Esta parte de la novela se me atragantó, puntualmente entendía las intervenciones de Jean-Pierre pero finalmente, Aziz queda totalmente relegado a un segundo puesto y creo, en mi opinión, que se pierde el mensaje, el hilo, me pregunto siquiera si he llegado a entenderlo. Ojalá pudiese seguir leyendo a Aziz, su vida y su manera de mirarla.

[Babsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

C‘est un roman intéressant écrit dans un style clair avec deux narrateurs distincts. Un c’est Aziz un garçon français élevé par des Roms, l’autre c’est son attaché humanitaire.
A cause d’un accident de voiture qui a tué ses parents, Aziz n’a pas de papiers, donc il s’organise des faux papiers marocains. Un jour il est donc déporté par un attaché humanitaire dans un pays dont il ne sait rien. Ensemble ils voyagent dans un monde entre l’imaginaire et la réalité. Tous deux sont à la quête identitaire. Et ils racontent une aventure touchante et bizarre.