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Bande de Français
Juliette, c'est le genre de femme pour qui les hommes font des folies. Une Barbie agrégée d'histoire de l'art et capitaine dans l'armée israélienne, elle quitte Jérusalem pour rejoindre Elias à Tel-Aviv, la ville des fêtes et des plaisirs. Elle va même échapper de peu à un attentat au couteau, en allant le retrouver.
Seulement Elias n'est pas amoureux de Juliette. Lui, il aime Olga. Or, Olga ne compte pas passer plus de deux mois à Tel-Aviv avant de rentrer en France. Elle n'est là que pour faire un stage de journaliste à H24, la chaîne française locale, et elle ne veut pas se lier à un garçon.
Le destin va en décider autrement, parce qu'Elias se trouve aux prises avec la justice pour un délit qu'il n'a pas commis. Olga se met alors en tête de le sauver. La jeune stagiaire devient justicière. Mais pour sauver Elias, il faudra qu'elle s'allie à Juliette alors qu'elles sont rivales.
Deux filles peuvent-elles aimer le même garçon et devenir les meilleures amies du monde? Complices et proches comme deux soeurs?
Sur ce thème éternel de l'amour à trois, Bande de Français est à la fois une romance, un polar et une comédie de moeurs. C'est aussi un livre-miracle, car refusé par tous les éditeurs français, il a néanmoins été sélectionné pour le Prix Renaudot et traduit en américain sous le titre de Goodbye Paris, Shalom Tel-Aviv .
Seulement Elias n'est pas amoureux de Juliette. Lui, il aime Olga. Or, Olga ne compte pas passer plus de deux mois à Tel-Aviv avant de rentrer en France. Elle n'est là que pour faire un stage de journaliste à H24, la chaîne française locale, et elle ne veut pas se lier à un garçon.
Le destin va en décider autrement, parce qu'Elias se trouve aux prises avec la justice pour un délit qu'il n'a pas commis. Olga se met alors en tête de le sauver. La jeune stagiaire devient justicière. Mais pour sauver Elias, il faudra qu'elle s'allie à Juliette alors qu'elles sont rivales.
Deux filles peuvent-elles aimer le même garçon et devenir les meilleures amies du monde? Complices et proches comme deux soeurs?
Sur ce thème éternel de l'amour à trois, Bande de Français est à la fois une romance, un polar et une comédie de moeurs. C'est aussi un livre-miracle, car refusé par tous les éditeurs français, il a néanmoins été sélectionné pour le Prix Renaudot et traduit en américain sous le titre de Goodbye Paris, Shalom Tel-Aviv .
- GenresFiction
181 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 4, 2020
112 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 13, 2018
I'm writing this review in English because my written French is full of mistakes.
This novel is written by a French Jewish writer who repatriated to Israel. It describes the trials and tribulations of a group of French Jewish repatriants living in Tel Aviv. I wanted to like this book but at the end I had to give it 2 stars (which on goodreads means "it was ok") because I couldn't force myself to like it.
I didn't particularly like how the omnipresent narration worked in this book -- we constantly jump from the head of one character into the head of another, and at least in the Kindle version the jumps between different locations and different groups of characters are so abrupt that sometimes it takes a while to understand what's going on. Maybe in a printed book there is at least an additional space between the paragraphs in this case, but in the Kindle version this jumping is often quite bewildering.
Also I am not sure if the story benefits from all the numerous mentions of what Tel Aviv street the characters took and where they turned and what street they took next. Clearly the author wanted to root the book in Tel Aviv's atmosphere, but do the extensive topographic details recreate the atmosphere or detract from the story and annoy the reader? It's a bit hard for me to judge because I know what Tel Aviv's atmosphere is without reading this book, but I did have an impression the author overdid it with the endless descriptions of what street led the characters to what street and so on and so forth.
I think the male characters were quite convincing, but I wasn't always convinced by what went in the female characters' heads.
My main problem though is with the ending. I had an impression the author ran out of paper, time or electric power and had to write "Fin" (End) at the middle of the story. Or maybe he didn't know how to extricate his characters out of the mess he got them into (I doubt this, of course). Or he reached the target word count and left them dangling. Anyway, the ending felt very unsatisfying to me.
Of course other readers might have different opinions of this novel and might enjoy it more than I did. Anyway, nobody can form an opinion of it unless they read it. So if you are interested in a novel about the life of French Jews in Israel, give it a try.
This novel is written by a French Jewish writer who repatriated to Israel. It describes the trials and tribulations of a group of French Jewish repatriants living in Tel Aviv. I wanted to like this book but at the end I had to give it 2 stars (which on goodreads means "it was ok") because I couldn't force myself to like it.
I didn't particularly like how the omnipresent narration worked in this book -- we constantly jump from the head of one character into the head of another, and at least in the Kindle version the jumps between different locations and different groups of characters are so abrupt that sometimes it takes a while to understand what's going on. Maybe in a printed book there is at least an additional space between the paragraphs in this case, but in the Kindle version this jumping is often quite bewildering.
Also I am not sure if the story benefits from all the numerous mentions of what Tel Aviv street the characters took and where they turned and what street they took next. Clearly the author wanted to root the book in Tel Aviv's atmosphere, but do the extensive topographic details recreate the atmosphere or detract from the story and annoy the reader? It's a bit hard for me to judge because I know what Tel Aviv's atmosphere is without reading this book, but I did have an impression the author overdid it with the endless descriptions of what street led the characters to what street and so on and so forth.
I think the male characters were quite convincing, but I wasn't always convinced by what went in the female characters' heads.
My main problem though is with the ending. I had an impression the author ran out of paper, time or electric power and had to write "Fin" (End) at the middle of the story. Or maybe he didn't know how to extricate his characters out of the mess he got them into (I doubt this, of course). Or he reached the target word count and left them dangling. Anyway, the ending felt very unsatisfying to me.
Of course other readers might have different opinions of this novel and might enjoy it more than I did. Anyway, nobody can form an opinion of it unless they read it. So if you are interested in a novel about the life of French Jews in Israel, give it a try.
March 5, 2020
Thank you NetGalley for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Goodbye Paris, Shalom Tel Aviv
By: Marco Koskas
*REVIEW* ☆☆☆
I was uncertain about requesting Goodbye Paris, Shalom Tel Aviv, but I decided to take a chance on it. I should have trusted my first instinct because I didn't connect with this book. It's weird, bizarre, strange, but I don't mind strange. There was something about the story that was off putting for me. Regardless, I didn't love this one, but with the right type of reader, this book will present much better I'm sure.
Goodbye Paris, Shalom Tel Aviv
By: Marco Koskas
*REVIEW* ☆☆☆
I was uncertain about requesting Goodbye Paris, Shalom Tel Aviv, but I decided to take a chance on it. I should have trusted my first instinct because I didn't connect with this book. It's weird, bizarre, strange, but I don't mind strange. There was something about the story that was off putting for me. Regardless, I didn't love this one, but with the right type of reader, this book will present much better I'm sure.
February 17, 2020
Great title...horrible execution. This was just a ramble, with not much lucid storytelling but a lot of misogynist's' exploits. I couldn't finish it!
March 3, 2020
I didn’t really care for this book. I felt it was not well written, there was no depth to the story line and little character development. This is one book to skip.
February 15, 2020
I received this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Oh dear, I hate that I can’t be more positive but oh dear.
The story starts well with our main female character Juliette leaving Jerusalem for Tel Aviv (a classic Israeli trope). The writing is not spectacular but we have a pleasant narrative until it comes to a juddering stop when a terrorist gets on the bus and tries to stab her.
While Juliette is recovering in hospital we meet the reason she is moving to Tel Aviv – her feckless boyfriend Elias. Elias is part of a French immigrant community who seem to have little contact with the wider Israeli society; their world revolves around their favourite cafes and the French-language news channel they are trying to establish.
On our first encounter with Elias he is in the company of close friends, such a misogynist group of leering males it made my skin-crawl. They spend most of their time ogling young women and trying to get them into bed.
Worst of all, the author fulfils this male fantasy by making all but the most ‘difficult’ of the women fall for these lechers’ ‘charms’. Also despite the terrible way Elias has treated Juilette, he plagues her thoughts and whenever they are alone together she is unable to resist falling into his arms and then, of course, his bed.
Cheating on girlfriends, coarse remarks and even sexual assault (more than once) are par for the course for these delightful ‘gentlemen’. And then, in order to obtain money, Elias commits a criminal act which occupies the rest of the story.
Except the problem is never resolved! The narrative gets more and more entangled also implicating Elias’ friends but it seems that having written himself into a corner the author got bored and just left the story mid-way.
One reviewer remarked on the author frequently referring to street names. As I know this area of Tel Aviv quite well these were all familiar but I imagine for someone less familiar with the area it could become irritating and a little repetitive.
More problematic was the translation. There is no question that most bi-lingual Israelis use a lot of Hebrew words when speaking another language, especially to other Israelis, but to leave so many words completed untranslated crossed the line from ‘adding local flavour’ to being incredibly confusing for non-Hebrew speakers.
About 30% in I wanted to DNF and by the time I got to the end I wished I had.
Oh dear, I hate that I can’t be more positive but oh dear.
The story starts well with our main female character Juliette leaving Jerusalem for Tel Aviv (a classic Israeli trope). The writing is not spectacular but we have a pleasant narrative until it comes to a juddering stop when a terrorist gets on the bus and tries to stab her.
While Juliette is recovering in hospital we meet the reason she is moving to Tel Aviv – her feckless boyfriend Elias. Elias is part of a French immigrant community who seem to have little contact with the wider Israeli society; their world revolves around their favourite cafes and the French-language news channel they are trying to establish.
On our first encounter with Elias he is in the company of close friends, such a misogynist group of leering males it made my skin-crawl. They spend most of their time ogling young women and trying to get them into bed.
Worst of all, the author fulfils this male fantasy by making all but the most ‘difficult’ of the women fall for these lechers’ ‘charms’. Also despite the terrible way Elias has treated Juilette, he plagues her thoughts and whenever they are alone together she is unable to resist falling into his arms and then, of course, his bed.
Cheating on girlfriends, coarse remarks and even sexual assault (more than once) are par for the course for these delightful ‘gentlemen’. And then, in order to obtain money, Elias commits a criminal act which occupies the rest of the story.
Except the problem is never resolved! The narrative gets more and more entangled also implicating Elias’ friends but it seems that having written himself into a corner the author got bored and just left the story mid-way.
One reviewer remarked on the author frequently referring to street names. As I know this area of Tel Aviv quite well these were all familiar but I imagine for someone less familiar with the area it could become irritating and a little repetitive.
More problematic was the translation. There is no question that most bi-lingual Israelis use a lot of Hebrew words when speaking another language, especially to other Israelis, but to leave so many words completed untranslated crossed the line from ‘adding local flavour’ to being incredibly confusing for non-Hebrew speakers.
About 30% in I wanted to DNF and by the time I got to the end I wished I had.
June 18, 2020
Dear reader friends, here is my first novel translated into English. It is a great honor and a joy to present it to you. This book has had such a turbulent history, and my English is so bad that I prefer to let you read in your language, the article that The Guardian devoted to it when it was released in France. Hope to read your comments soon. Marco KOSKAS
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
March 9, 2020
2.5/5 stars 💥💥
Quick synopsis: The book follows a group of friends who are French expats living in Tel Aviv and the messes they put themselves in. In particular, Elias, a journalist, comes up with a scheme to be able to afford expensive jewelry for his new girlfriend, Olga, which inadvertently lands Olga and Elias's ex, Juliette, in jail.
The first half of the book was a bit slow moving and it was hard for me to get invested initially. In the second half of the story, things pick up and I was much more interested.
A few things prevented me from loving this book; although, in fairness that could either be the format (ebook on my Kindle) or the fact that this was a translated work. Specifically, characters would be in a scene and then all of a sudden we'd either be at a different scene or someone else would suddenly be in the scene that hadn't been before. Or, the characters would be on the phone, and we wouldn't know that until the text says, so and so hung up the phone. I also felt that most of the characters were rather unlikable and selfish. I think (or hope) this was by design, at least for the male characters-- they were pretty sleazy.
Quick synopsis: The book follows a group of friends who are French expats living in Tel Aviv and the messes they put themselves in. In particular, Elias, a journalist, comes up with a scheme to be able to afford expensive jewelry for his new girlfriend, Olga, which inadvertently lands Olga and Elias's ex, Juliette, in jail.
The first half of the book was a bit slow moving and it was hard for me to get invested initially. In the second half of the story, things pick up and I was much more interested.
A few things prevented me from loving this book; although, in fairness that could either be the format (ebook on my Kindle) or the fact that this was a translated work. Specifically, characters would be in a scene and then all of a sudden we'd either be at a different scene or someone else would suddenly be in the scene that hadn't been before. Or, the characters would be on the phone, and we wouldn't know that until the text says, so and so hung up the phone. I also felt that most of the characters were rather unlikable and selfish. I think (or hope) this was by design, at least for the male characters-- they were pretty sleazy.
May 9, 2020
Quirky and atmospheric. I read it because I love Tel Aviv and wanted to experience the city through the eyes of the author. The story is all over the place and the characters are full of faults, which makes them quite realistic. However I struggle to like any new f them and feel any empathy. I have found it strange that as you read about someone suddenly the text jumps to the next character but this is not gradual and it takes you a few seconds to adapt. I am not sure of the English translation either. I guess there are some idioms used by Marco but they didn’t work well in English for me. I would say it was a different experience readying Goodbye Paris, Shalom Israel.
Read
July 22, 2020Hated the entire book!
November 4, 2020
DNF. Couldn't get traction with this book. Not for me.
February 9, 2020
This is a WEIRD book. It’s not bad, but it’s just weird and at times a little hard to get into. There were moments that could have been cut out, and there were also some characters who were added in just to be there, and they weren’t particularly necessary. The writing style isn’t great, but I hesitate to rag on that too hard since it’s a translated novel, and English might not capture its literary merits as well as its original language does. Overall, this isn’t a bad novel. Just weird as hell.
February 3, 2020
So much horror is heard about the Middle East, but this book brings real relief! These French people living in Tel-aviv fall in love every day. They seem to have made alyah on a dance floor, and it's very nice. They have parties on rooftops, go to trendy café terraces ,spend time on beaches,enjoy the sun,move around on bikes. . A dream life, a beautiful eternal youth.
But at some point a very difficult moral issue arises. Elias is a young overgraduate in love with Olga, a head-turning blond journalist. to impress her, he offers her a very expensive piece of jewelry. The money for the purchase was stolen from two Bedouins.
By an incredible combination of circumstances, these two Bedouins are wrongfully accused of the theft,and find themselves in prison. The injustice is such that we wait to know how truth will be restored. It is the great suspens of this skillfully constructed book.
But justice will come in a way the reader doesn’t Expect. Justice will not be made by the courts. It will come from heaven.
But at some point a very difficult moral issue arises. Elias is a young overgraduate in love with Olga, a head-turning blond journalist. to impress her, he offers her a very expensive piece of jewelry. The money for the purchase was stolen from two Bedouins.
By an incredible combination of circumstances, these two Bedouins are wrongfully accused of the theft,and find themselves in prison. The injustice is such that we wait to know how truth will be restored. It is the great suspens of this skillfully constructed book.
But justice will come in a way the reader doesn’t Expect. Justice will not be made by the courts. It will come from heaven.
Read
February 3, 2020Good bye Paris Shalom Tel Aviv.
I used to like Tel Aviv, After reading this book: I Love It!
After few pages, i had the strange and interesting feeling to belong to this group .
This group could have been mine anyway, after all i am French and in a recurrent way, i asked myself if i should make my Alyah .
Those guys did it.
Their adventures, their feelings, the way they intermingled one another is just fascinating.
Back in the eighties, i was lucky enough to discover a great author : Marko Koskas , who wrote then
“ Balace Bounel”.
My very positive opinion about Koskas,got bigger and stronger with
“ Good bye Paris , Shalom Tel Aviv”.
An excellent novel, written with passion , on a fantastic rhythm.
I warmly recommend to discover this book.
I am also hungry to soon discover the new adventures of all those guys.
Keep us posted about them
Mr Koskas .
Patricia Mamou
North Miami Beach.
I used to like Tel Aviv, After reading this book: I Love It!
After few pages, i had the strange and interesting feeling to belong to this group .
This group could have been mine anyway, after all i am French and in a recurrent way, i asked myself if i should make my Alyah .
Those guys did it.
Their adventures, their feelings, the way they intermingled one another is just fascinating.
Back in the eighties, i was lucky enough to discover a great author : Marko Koskas , who wrote then
“ Balace Bounel”.
My very positive opinion about Koskas,got bigger and stronger with
“ Good bye Paris , Shalom Tel Aviv”.
An excellent novel, written with passion , on a fantastic rhythm.
I warmly recommend to discover this book.
I am also hungry to soon discover the new adventures of all those guys.
Keep us posted about them
Mr Koskas .
Patricia Mamou
North Miami Beach.
February 10, 2020
Loved this book by French Israeli author Marco Koskas. I would say it’s the next best thing, if hopping on a plane ✈️ to Israel 🇮🇱 is not a possibility for you. Meet a bunch of French expats in Tel Aviv, who get mixed up with the wrong side of the law. I loved it! Thank you 🙏🏻 #netgalley for the e-ARC of #goodbyeparisshalomtelaviv.
@marcokoskas #jeru #telaviv #tayelet #expats
Translated from French by David Ball.
@marcokoskas #jeru #telaviv #tayelet #expats
Translated from French by David Ball.
April 29, 2020
A nice, light read
This slightly crazy portrait of French emigree bohemian life in Tel Aviv is an easy two-hour read. Good characterization, decent (albeit insane) plot. Worth a look!
This slightly crazy portrait of French emigree bohemian life in Tel Aviv is an easy two-hour read. Good characterization, decent (albeit insane) plot. Worth a look!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews