The Life Before Us

I know, it's a must-read. I must have read it about four times during my school years. By the fourth, I was exasperated. "I know it's cute, but there are limits," I thought. I reread it anyway because I have a goldfish memory when it comes to stories. And I got my humility lesson. It's not just cute; it's wonderful.

Summary

Momo is a child of a whore. When he was three years old, his mother entrusted him to Madame Rosa, a Jewish woman, a former whore herself, who earns her living by taking care of children whose mothers defend themselves with their asses, as he does. (Note that I use the word "whore" because that is the word used in the novel.)

Momo is now ten years old. Life has never been easy, but now it's reaching new heights. Mrs. Rosa is less and less able to climb the six flights of stairs to her apartment. Momo's mother hasn't sent any money in months. The mothers don't want to entrust their children to Mrs. Rosa anymore, they can see that she is deteriorating and that she can barely take care of herself. Life falls on them, but Momo and Mrs. Rosa have each other. They will never let each other down.

Impressions

I was reluctant to read this book again, and I understood why: it annoys me a little when adult authors write as if they were a child. It's often not believable, and in the case of The Life Before Us, it really isn't. The syntax is all wrong, the words are sometimes used and pronounced funny and it's very well done, but the reflections are way too beautiful and poetic for a ten years old boy. For example:

Mr. Hamil says that humanity is only a comma in the great Book of Life and when an old man says such bullshit, I don't see what I can add to it. Mankind is not a comma because when Madame Rosa looks at me with her Jewish eyes, she is not a comma, she is the whole big Book of Life, and I don't want to see it.

When you read this, you find it beautiful, you are moved a little, but at the same time you tell yourself come on. Come on, nobody says that, especially not at 10 years old.

So I was in great resistance, until my lover, who is often good advice in these things, told me to relax. Ok, it's not necessarily hyper realistic, but it's not meant to be either. It's a work of art. You have to appreciate it as such.

For me, it changed everything. I completely fell in love with it. It's so incredibly beautiful. I cried. I laughed. I was in complete awe of Romain Gary's (Emile Ajar) writing style, which, as a reminder, won twice the Goncourt Prize, under two different names. The second Goncourt prize was for The Life Before Us.

So I am very happy to have read it again. This time it was the right one. I also hope you like it as it deserves.