En attendant Babylone

by Amanda Boyden

Assis dans la caisse, Fearius regarde vers chez Stumps. Viande en barquette-Riz frit-Boissons fraîches, qu'ils ont peint sur la boutique. Fearius se ferait bien un soda à la fraise. À l'orange. Il aime mieux les sodas quand ils fument de l'hydropo, mais Alphonse est déjà dedans, en train d'acheter des bières, et Fearius est dans la dèche, sec comme un joint. La taule pour mineurs, sûr que ça paye pas.
Mais Fearius a la patience. Il a appris. Il a attendu d'avoir quinze ans et plus au trou, attendu quatre mois scotché là-dedans. Quand il a enfin eu l'âge d'avoir le permis, il était bouclé à Baby Angola sans rien à faire rouler. Maintenant, va falloir qu'il en taxe un jusqu'à l'examen. Peut-être même qu'il s'en payera un. Pourquoi faut qu'il passe son permis alors qu'il conduit depuis qu'il a douze ans, ça le dépasse. Il va reprendre sans tarder le boulot, retrouver la bande, et dans deux, trois semaines max, il se sera remplumé.
Fearius fait valser l'arbre en carton suspendu au rétro, qui sent la piña colada, essuie son crâne rasé avec son bandana. Il ouvre la boîte à gants et tâte le Glock d'Alphonse. Jolie prise, la classe. Sale odeur de pétards.
Alphonse sort de chez Stumps et file à Fearius une Colt 40 dans du papier brun, le cul humide, suant. Y a tout qui sue. La queue de Fearius sue dans son caleçon.
«Tu veux ?» lance Alphonse à propos du Glock. Ou de la bière.
«Pas pour rien», répond Fearius à propos des deux.
Alphonse bouge la tête, grimpe, prend le Glock et le fourre dans son froc.
Encore deux heures avant que Shandra sorte du taf. Shandra dit qu'elle a une copine. Fearius a besoin grave d'une copine. Il va se prendre vite fait une copine, qu'il a dit à Alphonse. «Sois patient», a répondu Alphonse. Fearius se souvient que la patience, il connaît. Et Alphonse a le Glock. N'empêche, la patience, c'est vachement plus facile avec un flingue.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Amanda Boyden grew up, the eldest of three daughters, in Chicago and St. Louis. Currently she teaches in the English department of the University of New Orleans. Previous positions include elderly companion, artist’s model, gutter cleaner, dishwasher, science lab assistant, cancan dancer, tutor, stuntwoman, and bit part actress. Until recently, Amanda worked as a contortionist and professional trapeze artist. She proudly lists hanging high over the heads of Galactic and 311 in her life accomplishments.

Her first novel, Pretty Little Dirty was published in 2006.

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not since Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible can I remember reading a book with five distinct voices. And not only distinct, but diverse. I could not put this book down. I also laughed, cried (bawled), and yelped out loud.

The story is set in New Orleans pre-Katrina. I felt as though I had been treated to a rare visit to the true heart of New Orleans, one a tourist would never be privy to.

Babylon (a Mardi Gras parade) Rolling (when the parade starts moving) is largely a story about racism, class differences, and marital relationships, as well as the story of a city that rocked, but may never be quite the same again. To quote the last lines of the Prologue: "We love a place that cannot be saved by levees. We are brilliant losers. But, of course, those of us living Uptown on Orchid Street do not know this yet. Katrina is a year away." The reader also knows very soon, that this novel is going to rock hard, and roll fast. For me, it did, for 14 straight hours.

Blacks, whites, and a new, East Indian family, live on Orchid Street: from the well-to-do to the less fortunate; at the extremes, an old, loving and wise couple, to two very young children with a stay-at-home Dad. I won't tell the extraordinary details of life within all these families, nor am I going to reveal their interrelationships. I will say that in this riveting story, nothing is predictable, except change, whether it be a quick act of violence, or a moment of joy.

Babylon Rolling rocked and rolled me to a place I have never been before. Story-telling at its best!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having been such a big fan of Boyden's previous work, Pretty Little Dirty, I was somewhat disappointed by this. The story takes place in New Orleans and spans the time period from right before Hurricane Ivan until a few months before Katrina. Boyden introduces several narrators who all live on Orchid Street. Though few are acquainted at the beginning, their lives will intertwine in unexpected ways. Ed & Ariel are a married couple who moved from Minnesota because Ariel was hired to run a hotel. Next door lives the Ganesh family from India. On the other side of them are Joe and Philomenia, who likes to call herself Prancie. Prancie is not a big fan of the other side of the street, but spends lots of time observing their goings on. Over there live Roy and Cerise, African Americans in their 60's who have been residents of Orchid street for many years. Next door to them are the Harrises, whose young sons are involved in the sale of illegal substances and whose daughters all have babies. On the other side of them a house has been converted to a bar called the Tokyo Rose, which plays a pivotal role in the lives of several of these folks.
Ed, Ariel, Prancie, Cerise and Daniel "Fearius" Harris are our narrators, to whose inner monologue we are treated. Boyden gives each narrator a distinct voice, so we are able to understand who it is we are listening to, but this is sometimes disconcerting, especially in the case of Fearius. I can deal with a regional dialect when it's limited to the dialogue, but whole passages of the book pertaining to Fearius are nearly incomprehensible. In fact, I had to read this sentence from the first chapter several times: "Fearius like cold drinks better than malt liquor when they smokin the hydroponic, but Alphonse be inside Stumps for Colt 40s, and Fearius, his bankroll thin as a spliff now." I got more used to it, though, as the book went on.
Something interesting to note though, and I only noticed it myself as I read an article recently regarding this phenomenon, is that the white people and the young people are the most messed up, while the older black folks seem very wise and all-knowing. We really don't get much more than a glimpse of the East Indians, which was disappointing to me. It seems their function was to inject some mysticism and incense, then return to their home.
It sounds more like I'm complaining than praising this book, but I don't mean to. I really enjoyed reading it and was very much enthralled by the lives of these people. It must be difficult for a writer to get inside each of their heads like that, and Boyden pulls it off reasonably well.

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something about self pity that that prompts the exact opposite reaction than the desired one. p210

Without self-reliance... you will only go where a leaf floats. p215
Look at the pictures and make up a story. p243

Vivid and confident writing alleviated the aversion that sequentially built as I came to dislike one character after another as Amanda Boyden peels away the facade concealing the residents of Orchid Street, in a respectable neighbourhood in New Orleans at a critical moment of it's history.

...people shove quite relentlessly on those who do not shove back. p217

The challenge for me in my edgy reading of this this book was not to let my judgment overtake my compassion. In particular there is one resident of Orchid Street who makes it easy to for us to react from the beginning with distaste, almost gleeful with hate whenever she manipulated the page. ABs great skill is bringing this batch of flawed characters, their deepest fears and ambitions exposed, within range of our empathy. As much as each person is given their idiosyncratic voice, their traits are subsumed in the archetypal role they play and their various reactions to the demands of the unexpected.

There was one old couple who were so brave and dear that they softened the experience for me, but this is a book that will have the reader wincing rather than bawling, which is a good thing, really.
AB does flavour and texture very well and her skilful sense of timing and momentum prompt me to up for GR from 3.5 to a 4. in a 7 p0int system 5/7

You can't undo one damn thing. p196

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this novel, believing that it would be a New Orleans hurricane story (of Ivan, not Katrina) and finding out that it isn't. It is bookended in the front by the threat of Ivan (which turns out to be nothing for the city, though Boyden subtly shows that experiences like this one are one reason many people stay put -- and did stay put for Katrina) and at the end with the reader knowing (but not the characters) that what it coming soon is Katrina. This is probably becoming a cliché thing to say about N.O. stories (and about the city itself), but with both the beauty and ugliness of Uptown N.O. being rendered pitch-perfectly, the story ultimately shows that the reason the city endures and will endure is because of its people, both the longtime residents and the newcomers.

Boyden is a wonderful writer and her characters (and their messy lives) are real -- I cared for them and worried about them, and ended up surprised by whom among them I cared about the most.

(I actually read an AR edition that I found in Washington state (!) and when Amanda signed it for me at an author event here in N.O., she told me the ending was slightly (though not significantly) different than in the 'official' version.) [P.S. I glanced through the 'official' version and I can't find any differences.:]

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amanda Boyden has a wonderful and varied voice, powerful in its own right and just as powerful when it's playing chameleon. She does that a lot in this novel, which is about the year leading up to Hurricane Katrina on one street in New Orleans. It's like she's trying to remember the intricacies of The Time Before, everyone's Time Before, good or bad or in between. There is an even mix of loathable and lovable characters, along with a section that's both.

One of the best prologues I've ever read. When I first read it, I had to stop, read it again, and then stop and read it aloud to Matt.

[Kate Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered Babylon Rolling (2008) at my local library branch book sale - they were selling unwanted books from the stacks and the novel appeared to be untouched and unread. Am I ever glad I spent the fiddy cents!

This tale of five families of different cultural and racial backgrounds living on the same block in 2004 New Orleans during the approach of a hurricane is superbly told in five unique character voices. I will definitely read Amanda Boyden's first novel, Pretty Little Dirty. Hope to see many more books from this author, who is also a creative writing professor.

[Scotchneat · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were parts of this book that were good - the characters were thoughtfully played out, but it was as if Boyden was trying to get a rhythm into the plotting that didn't quite work.

[Rachel B]

I finished Pretty Little Dirty (Boyden's first book) earlier this month and loved it. It was intense and beautiful, and all kinds of porny.

This is such a different book, but it shares the intensity, honesty, and immediacy of Pretty. Told in the voices of four wildly different, but always intersecting characters who live on the same block in New Orleans, it's a pre-Katrina tale bursting with violence, kindness, heroes, fear, and hope.

I just love how Boyden writes, and I love what she chooses to write about. . . it's 100% cliche, but I can't wait to see what she writes next.

[Amy:) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly sad and beautiful. Set in New Orleans before Katrina. This story weaves a thread through the lives of a neighborhood full of love and strife. Told by many voices, this is a book you can’t put down.

[Marie Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the different voices each if the characters had. Different, unique perspectives of lives intertwined. A good read.

[Gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roman qui m'a bien fait couler une larme, c'est pourtant une histoire banale mais si reelle qu'elle touche profondément les sentiments

[Cmorice · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nous aimons un lieu qui ne peut être sauvé par des digues. Nous sommes des losers de génie. Mais, bien sûr, ceux d’entre nous qui vivent à Uptown, sur Orchid Street, ne le savent pas encore. Nous n’avons rendez-vous avec Katrina que dans un an.

Placé sous le signe du chaos, le roman d’Amanda Boyden, traduite pour la première fois en français, restitue l’âme et l’atmosphère de la Nouvelle Orléans. À la manière d’un photographe, la romancière fixe son regard sur la rue d’un quartier populaire de la ville, Orchid Street, dont elle observe la vie pendant une année. À travers les voix de plusieurs habitants, c’est un paysage social et intime, mais aussi une Amérique fissurée par les différences de race et de classe qu’elle saisit. Cette étonnante capacité à s’emparer du réel tout en tissant une trame romanesque complexe est l’une des forces de ce magnifique roman dont la véritable héroïne demeure La Nouvelle-Orléans, à la fois superbe et décadente, débordante d’énergie et de sensualité.

"Les voix d’Amanda Boyden sont celles d’une Babylone américaine qui bataille et prend la vie à bras le corps, les délices comme les désastres."
Publishers Weekly

[Ice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent writing style!

A family from Minneapolis relocates to New Orleans one year before Katrina and settles on Orchard Street, partly because it offers a rich human gumbo of whites, blacks, Asians, and Tulane students.

The family members want to revel in the diversity, but they also recoil at some of the differences they encounter. At the same time, the marital stresses between husband and wife are deepening.

Babylon Rolling is a chronicle of life on Orchard Street during that year before disaster. It is an engaging and keenly observant book, a kind of literary block party in which the residents of Orchard Street come to life. Whether Boyden’s focus is on a black teenager who embarks on a career in the drug trade by dubbing himself Fearius, or on the Minnesota transplants’ reactions to their new home, or on the fierce heat and humidity, or the wondrous smells that waft from kitchens, or racial tensions, there is an honesty and bedrock reality to this novel that is never less than compelling.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am an equaly opportunity reader. I really will read just about anything. I also feel guilty when I want to quit a book. Maybe it will improve. What if it all comes together ina beautiful way in the lat paragraph? With this said, I could no finish this book. I made it two thirds of the way through and had to banish it to the returns bin at the library.

It is a multi-viewpoint book. The best "voice" was offered from the opinion of the women, but even then the characters were shallow and undeveloped. What gagged me was writing from the perspective of a troubled young man who sells drugs in the ghettos of New Orleans. It was just awkward and I felt embarrassed every time his story popped up.

Maybe I should have given this book a better chance, but I just didn't see it improving in any way.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really 3.5 stars, I really liked the book because it is an engrossing depiction of a New Orleans neighborhood pre-Katrina. I started it during my most recent service trip there, and that no doubt added to my enjoyment, it seemed very real. I recommend this book for Treme fans--it has a similar style, following five very different characters who (initially)have only their residence on the same street in common. I think Boyden writes very well, evoking the tone and moods of the central characters without slowing down the plot, and effectively builds suspense. The book is written in the third person, but from the viewpoints of the main characters. The reason I didn't give it 4 stars is that Boyden uses urban street dialect for the sections following a black teenage boy,and that's where she lost me--it seemed a bit over the top, and not a little distracting for the reader.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Babylon Rolling is an amazing novel. It is a great portrait of New Orleans but that is not the only reason to buy the book.

Race relations, class differences and marital relationships are also essential elements of this book. The author delves into each of these and allows you to see the same events through the eyes of different people. She is able to give the point of view of a wide variety of people: an African American drug dealer, an environmentalist whose wife is considering an affair and a nosy neighbor whose husband is dying of cancer.

The story is also a portrait of pre-Katrina New Orleans. It is the days of Hurricane Ivan and the characters buckle down while attending "hurricane parties." The citizens of New Orleans have yet to see the amazing damage and pain a hurricane can cause.

The story is addictive and very difficult to put down.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, although not as much as her other novel Pretty Little Dirty. Some of the characters and situations are dead on but others seem a little like stereotypes or caricatures. One of the characters is a young black guy and she attempts to write his portion of the narrative the way that black folks in N.O. speak. Honestly it was cringe-worthy.

However, she did a good job of tackling the confusing mix of cultures that made up pre-Katrina New Orleans. Her portrayal of what it is like for a semi-uptight northern yuppie couple to adjust to working class African American culture in New Orleans is amusing, frank, and fairly accurate I would say. I would be curious to see if someone who hadn't lived there would like the book because for me it had a lot of "you had to be there" moments.

[Kendra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but found myself struggling to finish it. None of the five narratives, each told from a different character's unique perspective and in their own voice, were fully fleshed enough for a great story.

Boyden does an incredible job with the voice of Fearius, a fifteen-year-old ensnared in the dark world of drug trafficking. I found it surprising that his was the story that tugged on my heartstrings the most; I could not identify or enjoy the stories of the three women (Cerise, Philomenia aka Prancie, and Ariel).

The heart of the matter is the book wasn't right for me, or my perspective. That doesn't mean it doesn't deserve the praise from other readers found here. I'm glad I gave it a try, even if I was left somewhat dissatisfied in the end.

[Taddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read was rather dragging. I had some problems with the language as every character speaks in his own colloquial - for not being mothertongue english speaker this was not as easy. But also I didnt really like any of the characters and this is always hard for me, then I am not as interested in the outcome of the story, but the story developed eventually and in the end it was getting easier to read and I got forward with the book.
I also dont really understand what was that book about - a neighbour hood in New Orleans before Katrina, obviously a city used to Hurricanes with a lot of social problems and I surely understand such a catastrophy changes things and is traumatising for the people, but what was this book for? Maybe I simply didnt understand it really.

[Marjanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a story about New Orleans, told through several, very different, characters. The characters are compelling and the author did a good job of distinguishing them from one another. On the down side, the story is very gritty. There is sex and violence, language, and drugs. It all adds to the story, but it doesn't make it a nice story. I think the biggest thing I got from this story is: don't move to New Orleans, it will corrupt your children and ruin your relationships. For an author who lives and teaches in New Orleans I thought there would be a little more redemption for the city.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an incredibly under-rated novel! Amanda Boyden's latest follows five families living on a New Orleans street. She manages to describe the activities and interactions of these people, using significantly different voices for each character. This novel doesn't deal with Hurricane Katrina, but with Hurricane Ivan and the events surrounding that storm. However, Boyden really taps into New Orleans' character and the racial dynamics of the city and families living on one street. I really enjoyed this book and felt it should have received more attention.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book a lot. The author did a excellent job of catching the spirit of New Orleans and some of its people. Others have mentioned the "cringe worthy" attempt by the author to capture the street dialect of one of the main characters but I thought she was very brave to try and she pulled it off 95% of the time. I felt like I got to know and understand most of the of the main characters. Plotting was good too. I was looking for a "real" book that was evocative of New Orleans and this one fit the bill. I will be trying out her first book now as I think she writes well.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new author for me and an excellent one. The novel is about four families, one white from Minnesota, one white and "old New Orleans", one black and elderly and the final family is black with teen age children. The novel is set in a one block section of New Orleans during the time of Ivan, the year before Katrina hit. It is a powerful and tragic novel of the interactions of the families within themselves and with each other.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who'd have thought it? Award-winning Canadian author Joseph Boyden's wife can also write. Very well. Her bio reads like something out of a John Irving novel -- former circus performer/contortionist now English Lit prof, etc. This novel takes place in a gritty neighborhood in pre-Katrina New Orleans (where the couple now reside part of the year). While not as strong on "sense of place" and atmosphere as her husband, her characterization is superb. Very good novel.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in New Orleans, I was not very fond of the book, but read it for a book club. I found the characters to be very unlikable and straight out of "central casting".

However, I did get the opportunity to meet the author and she said that she challenged herself to present unlikable characters and try to get the reader to like them before the end of the book.

After her talk and some additional information about where she was coming from it did leave me with a better feeling about the book.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, compelling from the start. I really enjoyed how she wrote the assemble set of characters, she interwove them in a manner that made sense contextually vs. how most books will devote an entire chapter to one characters voice. I was a little offended in her portrayal of the young black kid's English. Excessive and trite. However, she does capture the complexity of human emotion while painting a gorgeous picture of the city of New Orleans. Very good novel.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as part of my preparation for visiting New Orleans. I generally liked it but some of the characters didn't feel real--especially the MILF character. I just couldn't imagine a mother of two toddling around in Jimmy Choos, flirting with rappers, and generally being a prick when most people in her position would just be too busy to even bother. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't imagine her being real. For the most part I liked the other storylines and characters, though.

[Cate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Babylon Rolling is, simply, stunning. Amanda Boyden takes fistfuls of varied, intriguing, compelling characters, and weaves unimaginable narratives for them. I finished the book in four days, all the while wishing I could read it faster, know the ending sooner, see how it would all end up. Masterful and moving.

[Smarais · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told from the perspective of the diverse residents of a neighborhood in New Orleans, this book takes place during Hurricane Ivan. An interesting read while all the prep took place for the more recent Ike! I thought this was a great book once I got over the writing for the character "Fearius". You'll see what I mean if you read it, mo' fo'.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A moderately engrossing, character-driven novel about a bunch of very diverse people in a New Orleans neighborhood and their quirky interactions with each other. I like how the book captured how New Orleanians have a very strong and well-known culture in so many ways, yet everybody tends to still be an eccentric oddball as well.