Reviews

Zazie nel metró by Raymond Queneau, Roland Barthes, Franco Fortini, Louis Malle, Giacomo Magrini

nicola_dileva's review

2.0

Penso proprio di non averlo capito. Vedo che è una sperimentazione letteraria, sul linguaggio e la struttura, ma non credo di essere in grado di capirla appieno. E purtroppo nemmeno la lettura "ingenua" mi ha soddisfatto: a tratti mi ha fatto ridere, spesso mi ha solo lasciato perplesso. Evidentemente è un tipo di comicità che non fa per me (ammesso che sia un romanzo comico: non ne sono sicuro).

baconpng's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

ugh omg par où commencer….

au début j’étais pas très sure que j’allais aimer ce livre, j’ai du relire plusieurs passages au début. mais j’ai vraiment commencé à l’apprécier lorsque le registre de langue est réellement devenu familier. des centaines de mots de ce livre s’écrivent de la même façon qu’ils se disent et je trouve ça génial. ça rend le bouquin un peu plus spécial, les personnes qui ne comprennent pas les expressions français (ou bien l’accent) ne pourraient apprécier ce livre. 

voici quelques exemples de mots que j’ai trouvé drôles, avec leur équivalent en bon français à côté en ()

-pour moi zossi (pour moi aussi)
-egzemple (exemple)
-espliquer (expliquer)
-sketadittaleur (ce que tu as dit tout à l’heure)
-claqueson (klaxon)
-vzêtes (vous êtes) 
-bloudjinzes (blue jeans)
-artisses (artistes)
-ottchose (autre chose)
-ffransouèze (française)
-st’année (cette année)
-biftèque (bifteck)
-dmande (demande)
-passque (parce que)
-egzistence (existence)
-tôste (toast)
-zoizo (oiseau)
-upu (eu pu)

et le meilleur pour la fin : 
apibeursdètouillou (happy birthday to you)

je tiens aussi à rajouter que ce roman était très “ahead of its time”, il traitait sur des sujets comme : l’homosexualité. un des personnages (Gabriel) était même une drag queen de métier. sans parler du style d’écriture qui est du jamais vu pour les années cinquante.

thecommonswings's review against another edition

5.0

A freewheeling, madcap work of subversive brilliance. I’ve not seen the film but the book most reminds me of Rivette’s masterpiece, Celine and Julie Go Boating in as much as there’s a thriller/ caper element to it that the book quickly bores of and decides to send up. It’s beautifully written and has as much fun tearing up language (as with Exercises In Style, Barbara Wright deserves a medal for this) as it does plot conventions. At times you think “is all this through Zazie’s eyes?”, especially the chameleon like “chap” and the “gunning down” of Widow Mouaque, but that is still too literal for what I think Queneau is doing here: basically writing a joyous, incredibly accessible and utterly impossible to keep track of novel that intends on every level to confound your expectations. It’s high farce, it’s joy in language, it’s satire and parody, it’s incredibly touching, it’s all a huge game: and it’s one of the most absolutely joyous books I can ever remember reading

katebush5ever's review against another edition

4.0

I wish I read french.

:(

i_sane's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

clarablu's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

carola's review against another edition

3.0

Leuk boek, heel vermakelijk. Taalkundig is het ook leuk, soms is hardop uitspreken even nodig om te begrijpen wat er staat. Kleurrijke personages, grappig plot. Maar het bleef gewoon 'leuk' voor mij, het riep geen diepere emoties op. En ook al geef ik 3 sterren, ik zou het boek toch aanraden :)

yes_i_read's review against another edition

funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

deedeedee's review

challenging funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

mtillstaff's review against another edition

2.0

I found reading this French popular classic pretty difficult. I assume the original includes a lot of French slang, and the translator aimed to capture that. The result is a weird version of English. Words were slurred together and there were lots of strange phonetic spellings, for example 'explained' was 'iksplained'. It was distracting and hard to read. Beyond that, I very much felt like an outsider to this book. I suspect references, characters, and humour would make A LOT more sense if you are French.
The story is set in the 1950s. A potty-mouth, sassy, street-smart girl Zazie (maybe 9?) comes to Paris to stay with her uncle. Alone, and with others, Zazie traverses the city meeting a range of strange characters and having bizarre experiences. This is not Paris, city of love and light -- but one of dive bars, street markets, and gay clubs. It sounds like it could be fun, but it really wasn't.
Louis Malle did a film adaptation of this book that I would like to see. I think, for an non-Francophone like me, it might work better in that format.