Some Dream for Fools
Ahl猫me鈥檚 mother was the one who chose her name. It means 鈥渄ream鈥� in Arabic but these days that choice seems sadly ironic at best. Ahl猫me is an Algerian immigrant, living in the projects outside Paris. Her Paris, however, is far from the city of light.
Ahl猫me lives instead in a city of 鈥渟ad silhouettes, all looking for a little color,鈥� uncomfortable beings, lost among 鈥渟trange architecture鈥� and, lately, defined by burning cars and angry battles with police.
Faiza Gu猫ne, the daughter of Algerian immigrants, knows only too well about existence on the margins of French life. She, too, grew up in projects outside Paris and then in 2004 鈥� at the age of 22 鈥� stepped onto a global stage with the publication of her first novel 鈥淜iffe Kiffe Tomorrow.鈥�
Narrated in the wry, edgy voice of Doria, a teenager from an Algerian immigrant family, 鈥淜iffe Kiffe Tomorrow鈥� quickly became an international bestseller. Gu猫ne鈥檚 second novel, Some Dream for Fools, translated from French by Jenna Johnson, follows on the heels of that success.
Ahl猫me, the protagonist of 鈥淪ome Dream for Fools,鈥� could be Doria鈥檚 older cousin. At 22, she鈥檚 been living in France for a decade now but all she has to show for it is a marked sense of disorientation. The French are very precise, she notes, not like Africans, who mark time in generous minutes of more than 60 seconds. But as she tries to navigate the acronyms of the French social services (鈥淲e only have ten minutes left at the most to contact the SREP, because it won鈥檛 help at all to go through the AGPA.... We can try FAJ,鈥� explains a social worker trying to help her find a job), Ahl猫me has difficulty staving off despair. (鈥淲here do I find the box marked 鈥楳y life is a complete failure?鈥� 鈥� she wonders, as she sifts through official forms. 鈥淎t least with that I could just immediately check yes, and we wouldn鈥檛 have to talk about anything else.鈥�)
Like Doria, Ahl猫me鈥檚 worries are also tied to her family situation. It was her mother鈥檚 death during a massacre in Algeria that propelled the family to France. Her father (whom she affectionately calls The Boss) found work in construction, but he has since become disabled on the job, pushing her into the awkward role of head of family.
Most worrisome to her, however, is her 15-year-old brother Foued. Lately, he鈥檚 been running with a tough crowd. He now wears a diamond in his ear and begs for a blond rinse for his hair. He has become a 鈥淕鈥� 鈥� in other words, 鈥渁 fine thing, a tight guy,鈥� and the ethnic girls (or djoufs) make eyes at him when he walks by. He wants money for 鈥渃lothes and creams鈥� and Ahl猫me worries about where he will be tempted to find that cash.
She wonders if taking him home to their bled (village) in Algeria will save him 鈥� even though she knows that nothing waits for them there. When she receives letters from the relatives back home, they seem more like Christmas shopping lists than expressions of affection. Ahl猫me and her family are now seen as conduits for bundles of French consumer goods 鈥� even though they themselves feel only one step out of the slums.
Ahl猫me and Doria both inhabit an uncomfortable zone where two cultures overlap and yet somehow neither offers comfortable berth to those caught in-between. It may seem a nether world to those of us who don鈥檛 inhabit it but it is reality for so many of the world鈥檚 citizens today 鈥� making Gu猫ne鈥檚 novels all the more necessary. With a keen eye for detail and a sharp narrative tone, she gives voice to a hurt too long unrecognized.
鈥淪ome Dream for Fools,鈥� unfortunately, does not have the full charm of 鈥淜iffe Kiffe Tomorrow.鈥� Perhaps because of her youth, Doria makes a more appealing and humorous narrator than Ahl猫me. Also, the narrative arc of 鈥淪ome Dream for Fools鈥� satisfies less.
And yet, both these novels are books that very successfully take us into another world 鈥� a world that no nation today can afford to ignore. 鈥淚 always recognize them,鈥� says Ahl猫me of her fellow immigrants. 鈥淭hey have something in their eyes that isn鈥檛 the same as everybody else, like they want to be invisible, or be somewhere else.鈥� But the simple truth, she notes, remains unchanged: 鈥淸T]hey鈥檙e here.鈥�
Marjorie Kehe is the Monitor鈥檚 book editor.
