Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt

 A young lady who told me about Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du coran put me onto Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt whose work is very popular in France at the moment and goes down very well here with young people.  Short, down-to-earth novellas written with good humour, the works combine a good story with a wealth of philosophical matter to discuss.  It has been a real pleasure to create the resources for www.alevelfrench.com to enable teachers to tackle these books in class.

In Monsieur Ibrahim, Moïse, Momo for short, is lacking affection in his life, living as he does with a depressed Jewish father who is unable to cope with his guilt at having survived the Holocaust.    An unlikely but ultimately magical relationship begins to develop between Momo and monsieur Ibrahim "l'arabe du coin" whose shop he frequents.   Amongst other things Momo is taught to use his smile to disarm other people in his life.  The statement,  "Je mitraille tout le monde avec mon sourire" characterizes the new attitude brought about in his behaviour by the older man.

Monsieur Ibrahim gradually takes a larger role in Momo's life for reasons I won't go into and the book culminates in a trip back to the older man's roots.    Life affirming and thought-provoking the story is a good introduction to Schmitt's work.    The film, starring Omar Sharif, provides a welcome accompaniment to the book and one which will help enrichen the overall student experience of the work.  More details on the book and the ALF materials are available here.  Go to alevelfrench.com page.

Another teacher recommended Oscar et la dame rose also by Schmitt, although this time I wasn't keen on tackling the subject, that of a young boy dyng in  hospital.  When I was reminded of the book again  I thought I'd at least read the book which is very short.   What a good decision as it would not be going too far to say that the humanity and inventiveness of the book change one's attitude  towards mortality and death.

La dame rose, Mamie-Rose, comes in to cheer up young Oscar who has very little time to live.  The old lady regales Oscar with stories of her career as an all-in wrestler and the weird and wonderful opponents she supposedly fought.   She uses them to illustrate various qualities needed to face life-and indeed death.

When it becomes clear that Oscar's days are literally numbered, Mamie-Rose comes up with a wonderful strategy to help the boy live an entire life before the new year when he is expected to lose his fight for survival.   The way in which Schmitt builds such a sequence of events into the story is remarkable and by the end we are at the same time satisfied and moved that the boy has met his maker with dignity and satisfaction.

The book is written in the form of 14 letters to God in whom at the start of the book, Oscar makes it clear that he doesn't believe.    The accompanying film is charming in its own right changing the identity of Mamie-Rose into a self-interested pizza delivery woman who is completely won over by Oscar's charm and humanity.

Both Monsieur Ibrahim and Oscar are short novellas and the language is reasonably straightforward with no use of the past historic.    I believe they would be very popular with A level/IB groups anywhere and also for ambitious year 11 students to foster their interest in French.    More information on Oscar et la dame rose resources on ALF are available here.