The Seine Was Red: Paris, October 1961

by Leïla Sebbar, Mildred Mortimer (Translator)

Leïla Sebbar's novel recounts an event in French history that has been hidden for many years.

Toward the end of the Algerian war, the FLN, an Algerian nationalist party, organized a demonstration in Paris to oppose a curfew imposed upon Algerians in France. About 30,000 Algerians gathered peacefully, but the protest was brutally suppressed by the Paris police. Between 50 and 200 Algerians were killed and their bodies were thrown into the Seine.

This incident provides the background for a more intimate look into the history of violence between France and Algeria.

Following three young protagonists―one French, one Algerian, and one French national of Algerian descent―Sebbar takes readers on a journey of discovery and comprehension.

Mildred Mortimer's impressive translation conveys the power of Sebbar's words in English and allows English-speaking readers an opportunity to understand the complex relationship between past and present, metropole and colony, immigrant and citizen, that lies at the heart of this acclaimed novel.

Genres: France, Historical Fiction, Fiction, School, Algeria, Historical, French Literature

145 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 1999

About the author

Leïla Sebbar is an Algerian author, the daughter of a French mother and an Algerian father. She spent her youth in colonial Algeria but now lives in Paris and writes in French. She writes about the relationship between France and Algeria and often juxtaposes the imagery of both countries to show the difference in cultures between the two.

Sebbar deals with a variety of topics, and either adopts a purely fictional approach or uses psychology to make her point. Many of Sebbar's novels express the frustrations of the Beur, the second generation of Maghribi youth who were born and raised in France and who have not yet integrated into French society. Her book Parle mon fils, parle à ta mère (1984; Talk son, talk to your mother), illustrates the absence of dialogue between two generations who do not speak the same language.

Reviews

[Hana · Rating 3 out of 5]

no guys i really dont know who any of the characters are. help!

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saw a video on tiktok on October 17th about this book and immediately went to the library to pick this up. It's a short novella, but it is rich and impactful. It's a book I wish I'd read in a class and will definitely read again as I know I didn't take it all in fully. But definitely worth your time even if you know very little about the events this is based on, I learned a lot and it made me want to learn more.

I will also say I did struggle with the structure a bit, it's told in vignettes that jump POV and time, and within POVs it's not really clear who is speaking, so it takes a bit to adjust to the style.

[ida · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 - Maybe it’s because I read a few exceptional books in a row at the start of summer that now mid books are really getting to me. A book written so confusingly its put me off translated French work for a while. Narrative style non-existent. Topic is interesting but I should’ve just watched a YouTube documentary or read a jstor paper on it. Best part of the book was the 3-page preface by another author.

[Zoe Forbdshsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, a traumatic eclipse
translation could have been better,

If the last page mentions
an altered Antigone- who is Amel
then why is the man its architect

[Kitty Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

haunting. fragmented and convoluted; a beautifully crafted polyphonic representation of trauma, intergenerational silence & the retelling of suppressed history.

[Lena Meister · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’avais vraiment envie de comprendre un peu mieux ce qu’il s’est passé ce 17 octobre 1961 à Paris. Le massacre qu’il y a eu lieu, mais pourtant laisse sous silence et très peu voir jamais évoqué lors des cours d’histoire.

Le livre est intéressant car ce n’est pas juste une récit historique, car on suit l’histoire de différents personnages en même temps.

Je suis scandalisée d’à quel point ces personnes ont souffert, une violence inouïe et un racisme banalisé. Ce qui est malheureusement encore d’actualité aujourd’hui.

Le livre m’a donné l’envie d’en savoir encore plus sur ce jour sombre ainsi que la guerre d’Algérie et le traitement des algériens en France pendant cette période.

[loïs · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[aimee!]

could not get into this At All and i feel like it's unfair to give it a rating because im not sure if it's down to my objectively quite poor french fluency... but I just found it repetitive and dull. the multiple perspectives of October 17th survivors was interesting but the main 3 characters just irritated me lol.. why is this sixteen year old girl being led around by these grown men . shame I've liked this module a lot apart from this but I'm buzzing to be finished this one

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

comment ne pas être séduite par la plume de Leïla Sebbar ? elle revient ici sur les événement du 17 octobre 1961, à travers la fille de ceux qu’ils l’ont vécu, et qui avaient jusqu’alors tue ce drame. elle le decouvre à travers plusieurs personnes qu’elle rencontre, par bribes, dans un voyage initiatique, du passage de l’enfance à l’âge adulte et en découvrant son héritage.

[Elze · Rating 3 out of 5]

It takes some getting used to, but with the short chapters and multiple perspectives you get drawn in very fast. It's about french-algerian history which was interesting

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I certainly would not have understood this book had I not been learning about the 17th of October 1961 and the Algerian War, but having that context I found this book very engaging. It's short, and the way the chapters are laid out allowed me to fly through it. There were some really chilling passages, and returning to different perspectives on the actual events of the 17th was, I thought, very effective in getting the message across. The mundane descriptions of a man in a café who was killed, for example. I also liked the return to the voice of the mother in the chapters called La Mère. My biggest issue was probably one of language - I found it hard to keep track of where or when I was, and I only worked out the Amel and Omer plot part way through. I found it impossible to keep track of who was who. However I don't think this detracted too much from my enjoyment, and I liked the track of the film going through the story.

[iris and her library · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

i really admire this book. Leïla Sebbar has such a unique way of writing, of formatting a story, that it makes it truly stand out. i really did appreciate the interweaving of the "transcript" from Louis' film with the characters' present day life and actions. the dialogue formatting may not be my favorite thing ever, but I understand its significance within the context of the story...

the novel may be short, but it packs such an undeniable emotional punch, that i doubt anyone can read it without feeling the awfulness of October 1961 settle in them. this unearthing of a collective buried memory is so so necessary and so so well done.

[Moushine Zahr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first time I ve read a book from Algerian author Leila Sebbar. The story is about the events of the October 16th 1961 throughout various French cities when French Police beat up Algerians living in France, who walked the streets asking for the end of the racist curview faced by them while France was fighting a war in Algeria.
The author gives readers a short and concise glimpse of the events as remembered by various people who had lived it 30 years before.

[Eilymay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really sure what to make of this book... yet. Will write a proper review when I actually think about what it means :)

[Jules Billings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intéressant.

[Travis Müller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leïla Sebbar succeeds in sparking intrigue concerning the somewhat unknown and wholly extreme case of police brutality against Algerian protestors in Paris in 1961. Unfortunately, her prose is so loose and difficult to follow (despite its simplicity) that it borders on poetry. For that reason, her rather abstract and frayed narrative does not completely do justice to the event.

Leïla Sebbar a réussi à me faire intéressé par cette histoire assez inconnue hors des communautés certains. Il s'agit du massacre du 17 octobre à Paris quand les policiers parisiens avaient matraqué pis tué centaines des manifestants pacifiques d'Algérie. Malheureusement la prose de Madame Sebbar est trop "relâché", tel que c'est trop difficile à comprendre ce qu'il se passe. Je regrette que ce livre n'est pas une bonne représentation de cet événement, seulement parce que ce n'est pas la peine de décoder le narration.

[Cody Straka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bien que j'aie pris beaucoup de temps de le finir, ce roman par Sebbar est pour moi une geniale demonstration de la societe humaine. Les themes sur l'islamophobie, l'histoire de la colonisation et l'identite personelle ont ete tres profond et m'ont vraiment touche le coeur. Cela exprime des verites sinceres concernant quelques des plus malveillant maux qui persistent aujourd'hui. Il est tres interessant comment Sebbar exprime la continuite des sentiments anti-musulmans comme quelque chose qui est soutenue par l'ignorance de l'histoire. Neanmoins, il parait que j'apprecierais ce livre en plus si je le lis encore une fois, a cause du fait que c'etait juste mon deuxieme roman que j'ai deja lu completement en francais. Un jour, absolumment.

[Kiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really excellent book examining the effects of decolonisation in France. The fact that there are so many voices to the book despite it being so short added so many layers to it and gave us a fuller understanding of what France was like as Algeria was fighting for its independence. The focus of memory in this book was great too as it does make you think about how the nation and the citizens of it can view historical events differently. A wonderful book which gives you a much fuller insight into France and Algeria.

[Stevie Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Works in translation are always an adventure, and this was no different. Deeply haunting and almost lyrical, I’m going to need to read this again several times to truly process everything happens in this tiny little book. I’d never heard of the event at the center of this novel, and I’m so glad this book was written about it! This is also a very cool way to explore such a horrific event.

rep: Algerian, muslim characters

spice: none

tw: deportation, riot, police brutality, state-sponsored murder, protest, drowning, mass murder

[Nawelle Nebbar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bien que j’ai eu du mal à comprendre qui étaient les personnages j’étais très captivé par la lecture, ca m’a tellement brisé le cœur à chaque témoignage surtout quand on sait a quel point les événements on été passé sous silence.
Toutes les atrocités que mon père me racontait sur cette guerre (plutôt colonisation et genocide…) m’ont toujours marqué et surtout à quel point c’était si peu représenté dans l’apprentissage à l’école etc…
Bref vive les algériens et gloire à nos martyrs.

[Therese Brink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book regarding the massacre of peaceful Algerians in Paris during October 1961.

Each chapter is short and deals with the memories of survivors of the massacre. At the time the murder of the Algerians, the French press did not cover the story at all.

I recommend this book to people who are interested in Algeria and/or liberation movements.

[Isobel Hallworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for a french class in french. think i lost a lot of the nuance due to not being 100% fluent in french, despite understanding most of it.
i found the constantly changing narratives deeply confusing, it was hard to differentiate between characters. i felt there was profound meaning in it but i didn't reach it

[amitai bernstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Learned a lot about French-Algerian relations. The writing style was simple & digestible, but the narrative arc was difficult for me to follow, & I didn’t love the constant shift of narrator / perspective here. Overall just didn’t do much for me.

[Rosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the horrible events which happened to the Algerians due to French colonisation. Sadly, I found this novel very hard to follow and vague in its character descriptions which made it incredibly difficult for me to emerge myself in the story.

[Mariana Costa · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Why is the truth a source of woe? Tell me, Lalla… When will I know? Do you and Mom always speak Arabic so that I’m still the little girl who doesn’t know the language of the homeland, her mother and father’s tongue?”

[Lew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for a class exploring Post Colonialism in places that are or have been occupied by the French. We dissected the book by examining how different forms of memory are involved in intergenerational trauma. Super interesting read, hard to look back at this history.

[Lo (kipepeo) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my kind of book, unfortunately! Was lost most of the way through and not really sure what the goal was beyond recalling the massacre. Some parts of that were interesting but the surrounding story was boring and did not catch my attention.

**2 stars**

[Naili · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un point à souligner quant à l'écriture de Leïla Sebbar, est qu'elle crée une certaine distance une certaine froideur dans son écrit. Le sujet reste poignant bien entendu, elle réussit à saisir son lectorat tout en donnant l'impression qu'elle ne donne pas d'elle même justement.

[Blake Vo · Rating 1 out of 5]

amateurish nonsense that is only praised for its apparently brave and much-needed exposé of the massacre of October 17 and not for any of its actual narrative, style, prose, characterization, technique

[Carolyn Cahalane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am still thinking of this, week’s for people interested in history, politics and France. If you are, read this.