Some Dream for Fools

by Faïza Guène

Book Overview

Ahl?me, a young woman living on the outskirts of Paris, is trying to make a life out of the dreams she brought with her from Algeria and the reality she faces every day. Her father lost his job after an accident at his construction site. Her mother was lost to a massacre in Algeria. And her brother, Foued, boils with adolescent energy and teeters dangerously close to choosing a life of crime.

As she wanders the streets of Paris looking...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156032929
• ISBN13: 9780156032926
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Life, love, the right to dream

While I did wonder about the verity of translation of Some Dream for Fools, I still felt the author's authentic voice rang clear and true. With both humor and depth, in this short volume she captures Ahleme's spirit in dealing with dilemmas unique to her class and situation, and more universal themes of being a young adult in search of satisfying relationships (with family, friends, and lovers) and employment/career opportunities. The book consists of 19 vignette style chapters, and the conclusion, like life, is not really a conclusion at all, simply a description of the queue in which Ahleme finds herself standing, again. A reader who wants their stories neatly tied up and easily stored will be dissatisfied, but the rest will nod and smile ruefully. The Algerian glossary at the beginning was great!

A Little Lost in Translation

Ahleme, a 25 year old Algerian immigrant in Paris, narrates this novel in the first person. Her narrative feels a little awkward in English; no doubt the original novel was written in a colloquial French that gave the book more wit and impact. But nonetheless, Ahleme gives us a vivid portrait what it means to grow up in a kind of cultural netherworld. Alheme and her family are at home in neither France nor their native Algeria. She, her father and brother (her mother was murdered in Algeria when she was nine years old) can't become French citizens and live at the mercy of bureaucrats in the visa office; they are in constant danger of deportation. And to return to Algeria is culturally unacceptable to Alheme. There's no future there for her as a woman and her brother never learned to speak Arabic. Alheme works at temp jobs to support her disabled father and rebellious younger brother. She sits in a cafe and tries to shape her experiences into fiction; she dreams of being a writer, but doesn't know how to go about it. She's forced to live from day to day, but she's a smart and resilient young woman who never looses her sense of humor and works hard to support her vulnerable family. As another reviewer has noted, this novel shows us a Paris we tourists never see. But it's probably reads better in French.

And in the original French ...?

There is one flaw in this translation. There is sufficient subtle humor to make you wonder what you might be missing reading the English rather than the French - you never forget that you're reading a translation. That mild flaw does not, however, interfere with one's enjoyment. Guene, the author, has you "in the palm of her hand" as you follow Ahleme's troubles as an Algerian immigrant in France, her responsibilities and "tom boyishness", her struggle to support a father and brother while hoping for an easier life. One feels her sense of total dependence on the immigration officials who may capaciously revoke her right to stay in France, the powerlessness against discrimination that spurns her brother's dream, the pull of the lawless gangs of the housing projects ... But in all the troubles, there are glimmers of hope - an "auntie" who provides sage advice, a former classmate showing loyality to their friendship, a sense of Algerian beauty not needing to play to French beauty ... If you are interested in literature that makes a political statement or that exhibits great skill in delineating characters, you should enjoy this short book.

Fascinating, vivid account of modern French life

"Some Dream For Fools" is the second novel of Faiza Guene, and, like her debut novel, "Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow," involves the lives of immigrants and their children in modern France. Ahleme is a young woman who is attempting to hold her family together by taking care of her ill father and trying to keep her teenaged brother in school and out of trouble, while navigating her own life and attempts to find love (maybe) and a job, meeting every challenge with a fierce wit and an unflinching eye. Guene's genius is her ability to flesh out the smallest details that bring characters and situations to life -- both the tragedies and joys. Ahleme reports that she was driven to quit a job on a phone chat line after one man asked her to imitate a hen. After an appointment with a school bureaucrat, she describes the "creepy office covered in public-service posters and photos of domestic animals" and how the bureaucrat has mourned the death of a pampered goldfish named Ambroise. She mentions how all her drinking glasses have come from various containers of jam or pickles. Further, she paints a vivid picture of life for immigrants and their children, and how her father and his friends, no matter how awful their lives, remain grateful to France, while she and others of her generation perceive acutely the discrimination on the part of larger society against those not of French origin, both the small humiliations and the active efforts to exclude that leave them isolated and bitter. She also reflects upon her feelings towards Algeria, how she feels rooted there but no longer completely at home there, awkward when dealing with financial disparities, while understanding the problems and political violence that have plagued her parents' villages. As a result, by the end of the novel, we are fully aware of the just how much it means to Ahleme to take care of her father, her brother, and herself. Her strength is inspiring. Guene has managed to convey in 150 pages the condition of one young woman with fantastic clarity, bringing to life the conditions of North African immigrants to France -- caught between two worlds.

The Paris tourists never see

Ahleme is an Algerian-born 25 year old living in the outer ring suburb of Ivry in an ugly housing project, the likes of which can be found in many cities. Her world consists of North Africans, Eastern Europeans, Chinese and West Indians. There is organized crime. There are illegal aliens trying to dodge deportation. Ahleme is a high-school dropout, unable to find a permanent job. She does temping to support her father, permanently disabled from a work accident, and her younger brother, whom she strives to keep in school and away from criminal gangs. She goes out to clubs with her two best friends. Ahleme is tough and street smart and had to learn to be worldly wise in childhood when her mother was killed in a massacre and her father brought them to France. You have to admire her. One thing that struck me was her reference to a middle-aged French waitress, Josiane, who reminded her of "the old, bygone France." She meant the 1960s! This book is a real eye-opener about a part of the city we only see occasionally on the news if there is rioting or disturbances. It's the Paris tourists are told to avoid. The author herself grew up in similar circumstances and I think she gives a realistic portrayal. I loved this book and would like to read her other novel.