Customer Reviews

Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First off, may I just say how happy I was to learn the author was 19 when she wrote this, after Kaavya Viswanathan's plagiarism was excused because of her age, as if it's impossible for a young writer to write an original story without "internalizing" half a dozen other (better) books. This is patronizing and untrue.

Anyway, (getting off my soapbox) the book is a coming of age novel about a Moroccan teenager whose father has left her and her mother, and who lives in a low income part of France. The heroine's economic situation is the polar opposite of Holden Caulfield's so her cynicism about her future doesn't come across as a pose. Things are bleak all around, but eventually, they improve for her and her mother. To tell more would be giving away too much for the book is fairly short.

The book is compulsively readable, and Doria, the heroine, is an engaging and perceptive narrator. However, there were a few flaws. When I read a novel, I expect the scenes to eventually build up to a climax, rather than just be strung together. With this book, it felt like things improved a bit, the narrator told us (rather than the author showing) that she was now more optimistic and then it ended, just like that. It felt like the author got called away for dinner mid-scene and never went back to wrap things up in a more cohesive manner. The heroine seemed to jump from pessimism to optimism rather abruptly, rather than growing progressively happier. But the reader won't begrudge her, her better fortune.

This book is captivating and very interesting both for its topic and timing. The book illustrates what it means to be a Muslim immigrant living in Europe from the perspective of a teenager. It is funny and sad at times. I recommend this to anyone who wants to understand the complex relationships between religions and cultures in today's world.

I am both an English teacher and an international traveler. During my travels, I have visited France six times with the intentions of not only seeing the magnificent historical landmarks, but also to interact intimately with the various communities and cultures that I encounter there. Based on my experiences and relationships with people of North African Arab descent in Paris, Guene's "Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow" honestly examines the stark, painful reality of being broke, Arab, and a girl in a society that alienates people of color (unless you are an American - that's a whole different story, though), and within a male-dominated culture that sometimes regards females as inferior beings. The amount of hopelessness born of a scenario like this one can be bone-crushing, and yet Guene's protagonist - neglected by her father, ridiculed by some of the neighbors because she wears thrift shop clothes, and who resides directly outside of Paris, but doesn't feel any rays from the City of Light shining on her - struggles to clutch on to some slivers of joy that most people would probably just take for granted.

Overall, the beauty of Guene's story, though, is that it transcends the limitations placed on her life as a poor Arab girl in France. We feel Doria's angst over getting her first kiss, which definitely wasn't scripted in some Hollywood fairytale. We can also feel her father's abandonment - and underneath it, the searing rage - that she strives to overcome as she encourages her mother to get an education, and tries to do the same herself. These ideas are so universal, and most young people can relate (heck, as a 30 year-old woman, I can still relate! :) In an age of Arab-bashing, it's nice to see the perspective of a young Arab woman receive positive international attention. Bravo to Guene! She wrote this bestseller at 19...that fact alone inspires me to really encourage my students to write, write, write. Reaching out through writing opens so many doors, and Guene is a living witness.

I am a believer that all of our humanity is closely linked. From Paris to Parris Island, the concepts of hope, dreams, family, identity, first love, alienation, emotional hunger, and longing for something more from life resonate within us all and inextricably bind us together.

In my professional and personal opinion, I would definitely advocate for this novel to be included in school curricula. Not only is it a current treatise on the state of growing up in today's mind-boggling world, but it also deals with that issue from a fresh, diverse, and international perspective. I think that "Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow" CAN and WILL teach young people to see for themselves just how much we all really have in common instead of high-lighting our differences.

Fifteen-year-old Doria lives with her mother in the Paradise Estate projects in France, facing mektoub (destiny) together after her father returns to Morocco to remarry and have children with a woman who can give him sons. For awhile, Doria's mother works in a hotel, cleaning rooms, but a strike forces her out of work, mother and daughter trolling the used clothing shops for their wardrobes, depending on the system for support. Doria is forced to see a counselor for her adolescent angst and has a few street friends who enlarge her perspective on the world, but claims, "there are only two guilty parties in this story: my dad and fate." Her youthful bitterness is understandable, but it is her personality that allows this young to overcome the most daunting hurdles with equanimity.

Doria says what others are afraid to say, addressing poverty with a blunt honesty, righteously angry over the inequities and shame that is parceled out with food stamps and cheap housing. Those who live in the projects grapple with daily survival, with no voice or political weight, intimately familiar with powerlessness. Trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair, it is Doria's wry humor that enables her to navigate a childhood that offers little in the way of encouragement, viewing life exactly as it is, with no frills and no expectations, blunting the pain of her life with wry humor and a facile sarcasm that keeps her tribulations in perspective. It is, after all, this youth that saves Doria from despair, an inevitable relief that surfaces after a difficult year and culminates on her sixteenth birthday, stronger for her experiences. Unflappable, she faces an unknowable future and the promise of romance with a hopeful heart. Luan Gaines/ 2006.

Not very much "beur" literature has made its way to the U.S. in English translation, so it's nice to see that Guene's French bestseller made the voyage since originally appearing in 2004 (and in 25 other languages since). The term "beur" is a French slang term referring to Arab North African (Algerian, Moroccan, and Tunisian) immigrants living in France, and generally includes those who've been born in France. Like most immigrant populations, it's one that's been largely marginalized, with all the attendant social problems that leads to (witness the widespread riots of late 2005). Here, the beur experience is voiced by a 15-year-old Moroccan girl, Doria, who lives with her mother in a large tower block in suburban Paris projects. Abandoned by their father/husband, who moved back to Morocco to wed a woman who would produce a son, the two women live an impoverished life of thrift store clothes, shiny social workers, food vouchers, school counselors, and minimum wage jobs.

In very brief (generally 3-6 page) chapters, Doria rambles on about her day to day life, which she spends largely isolated from her peers and fairly bitter about the die fate has cast for her. However, she's not a shallow teenybopper griping about her wardrobe (although that is a significant problem), rather, she's aware enough to understand the long-term hopelessness of her and her mother's situation and righteous enough to be angry about it. There's not a lot of plot, the book follows more of a journal format as a series of small scenes. The main topics are her running crush on an older local ex-dealer, interludes with various social workers, tutoring by a nerdish boy, watching TV, her first kiss, a job babysitting, and the start of hairdressing school. Interwoven with all this is the to-be-expected critique of the traditional Arab patriarchy, which comes out not only through her own story, but that of her mother's best friend, as well as that of a neighborhood girl kept imprisoned by her father and brother. While valid, it gets a little too heavy handed at times, as do some of the book's symbolism. For example, the projects they live in are called "Paradise Estates" and when the daughter and mother visit the Eiffel Tower, they can't afford the tickets to ride up it. One somewhat surprising conclusion one can draw from the book is that despite the general structural deficiencies of modern French society, some of the social safeguards actually do help (such as the welfare assistance delivered by various grating women, or the free job training offered to the mother).

Somewhat unfairly, various critics have compared this debut to White Teeth, The Catcher in the Rye, and (oddly) Bridget Jones's Diary, which is somewhat overselling it. Guene is not nearly the stylistic talent Zadie Smith is, nor is the book as comic (or navelgazing) as the Bridget Jones' series, and thankfully, it's not as lame as the Salinger's vastly overrated book. Instead, this is a quick-reading worthwhile portrait of a side of French society that needs more visibility, and a story which ends on a somewhat hopeful note. It seems like perhaps a good book to use with teenagers to discuss issues of multiculturalism and class, as it is quite short and easily digested.

I am not one of those snobs who argues that you can only read a book in it's original language to fully appreciate it. However, if you can, I would definitely recommend that you read in French. While I agree that the story is heartwarming and reveals a side of life in the French suburbs which is rarely exposed, what gives the book the substantial part of its unique flavor is the language. That's what is the most important for me. I feel like a lot of the praise for this novel focuses on the content, whereas the style and language plays an enormous role in the book. She's still developing her pen, but she has a graceful way of describing her experiences, even though her language may described as belonging to rogues (voyous). She has a way of integrating that language into literary language, transforming it in the process. If you look at this novel in this way, you'll see why I award it a 5.

Written in the first person,I was about midway when it occurred to me this is fiction, not a personal journal! This young author,whom I'm certain is a woman between two cultures,opens a window and allows us comfortable,middle-aged,white ladies to peer into her life. With the knowledge that we women are more alike than different comes empathy .I'd definitely recommend this for all ages.

That s the perfect book to read through on holiday. you ll be stunned by the way it s written!

The book was delivered in a timely fashion, and it arrived as it was described. Just what I wanted. Can't beat the price!

I am a student trying to learn about french lit to prepare for a planned study abroad trip in Paris. The book sounded like it was written by a 13 year old. Rambling and lacking in layers makes me wonder if subtleties were missed in the translated version. The vocabulary seemed simple enough that with my basic french knowledge i make be able to read the original version. Long story short, may be pre-teen reading for the french but not worth the buy.