Bashir Lazhar

by Évelyne de la Chenelière

Un professeur remplaçant monologue, révélant les vices de l'Éducation, et les drames de sa vie.

Genres: School, Plays, Theatre, France, Canada, Read For School, Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jeanne (Étoile littéraire) · Rating 4 out of 5]

C'était très bon, mais très court, j'en aurais pris plus!

[Benjamin Martel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une pièce incroyablement puissante et réfléchie. J'en aurai probablement plus long à dire à ma deuxième lecture mais là j'en suis resté sans mots. Une ode à l'école aussi sincère et honnête, ça vient me chercher.


Edit: C'est encore bon mais c'est bin trop court. Le personnage de Bashir est tellement intéressant et profond que j'en aurais pris au moins le double.

[Laurence · Rating 4 out of 5]

très belle histoire qui fait réfléchir sur des sujets qu'on ne pense pas!

[titiareviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tellement touchant je dois l’avoir lu au moins 5 fois et à chaque fois je suis plus émue. C’est une pièce surprenante qui nous en apprend sur l’exil et ses défis, le personnage de Bashir Lazhar est adorable et fascinant. J’en aurais pris plus.

[Raymundo Vázquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a short and reflexive play about the dilemma of the children's education. Bashir is an Algerian immigrant that replace a recent teacher that kill herself. He has to deal with his own family memories and the conflict of cultures. He not only wants children to learn but also to question and form a judgment. Of course, that is not easy.

It becomes a critique of the prevailing educational model in several schools today.

[ZainGetsIt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short play completely encapsulates the feeling of "being on the outside looking in" as a foreigner in a new country. To all those in cegep students that have to read this for their French class I'll give you a brief rundown.

NOTE: THE MOVIE MONSIEUR LAZHAR IS NOT THE SAME AT ALL AND CONTAINS MANY MAJOR DIFFERENCES

Brief Summary:
Bashir Lazhar is an Algerian migrant who fled his country due to political instability. His wife (Fatema) and kids (Abdel, Alice, Aicha), remained back home as she, a school teacher decided to finish the scholarship year as she did not wish to leave any children behind in pursuit of her own safety. The story starts with an elementary school where a 6th grade classroom needs a new teacher. Bashir Lahzar, having heard of the tragedy over the news, decides to try and apply for a job there bringing nothing (no documentation) other than a few corrected copies of student's work that he helped his wife with back home. He gets the job and the rest of the novel depicts how his way of teaching differs from the methods presented in class. He sees that the children are not being properly educated and are behind in topics of grammar and etc, so he focuses on teaching them these things whereas other teachers such as Claire focus on "having fun". One of Bashir's students, Alice who has the same name as his youngest daughter back home writes out her feelings about the tragedy that took place at the school for her assignment against violence. Her writing was so powerful that Bashir attempts to convince the principle to promote it, but she chooses not to in order to privilege the respect of the preceding teacher Miss Martine Lachance. There are many flashbacks to his past, as well as context regarding his legal status in the country.

WARNING SPOILERS ‼️‼️‼️:
Martine Lachance commits suicide in her classroom with a blue scarf.
Bashir's whole family died in a fire.
Bashir's immigration status was rejected and he was no longer considered a refugee or protected class.
Bashir gets fired from the school becuase he decided to send the parents Alice's writing about her old-teacher committing suicide.
SPOILERS END ‼️‼️‼️

Overall Thoughts:
I loved how this was a continuous monologue of Bashir's thoughts (we do not hear any dialogue from other characters). It felt like we were disassociating with him, as if it were one whole stream of consciousness. It could be trick deciphering whether Bashir was thinking something or actually speaking but it added to the intrigue as a whole. Although the way everything around Bashir's life crumbled (losing his family, his job, his legal status) he always remained a positive figure especially to children.

Principle Themes:
Immigration/Immersion into new cultures/Education/Miscommunication/Childhood/Nostalgia/Family/Curiosity/Suffering/Dehumanization/Alienation/Loneliness/Exlusion/Confusion/Imagination/Dreams

Overall Thoughts:
Absolutely loved this, and I feel like most people would too. Watch the movie AND read the book, there's a reason the movie was nominated for the Oscars and definitely a reason why the book got the Prix du Governor General in Canada.

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.7

[Steven G · Rating 3 out of 5]

7.5/10 - A original screenplay that later turned into a movie, Bashir Lazhar is a story beginning with a teacher committing suicide in her classroom in the province of Quebec. The protagonist, Bashir, is a refugee seeking political asylum who manages to find his way to replace the teacher. The story is fascinating as Bashir attempts both to obtain refugee status, cope with the loss of his family, adopt to an entirely new environment, and become a teacher.

[Kelsey-Lynn Blais · Rating 5 out of 5]

une merveilleuse lecture cérébrale. l'auteur met en lumière des questions qui ne sont pas souvent abordées dans la littérature québécoise. je pense qu'il est important de regarder le film (que l'on peut trouver sur amazon prime) après la lecture parce qu'ils sont très différents mais cela permet au consommateur de voir la situation et les personnages d'une manière différente de ce qu'il aurait pu faire auparavant. parfait pour une utilisation dans une classe de lycée.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quelle pièce merveilleuse! Bien qu’elle soit courte et que j’aurais aimé qu’elle soit plus longue, cette pièce aborde des thèmes contemporains comme l’éducation et les enfants, l’immigration et le choc culturel ainsi que la mort et l’injustice. Une pièce réfléchie et lourde de sens. Selon moi, le fait qu’elle soit courte force le lecteur à continuer d’y penser et de vivre les émotions qu’elle suscite.

[Valérie Montour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agréablement surprise! L'autrice est excellente, je me pencherai sur ces autres oeuvres. Le personnage principal est complexe, un peu incompris. Je trouve juste dommage que ça soit si court, je n'ai pas tellement pu m'attacher ou ressentir des émotions, alors que c'est tout à fait le genre d'histoire qui aurait pu...

[Juliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

[Emery Lightwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of content packed into a small book.

[amichai · Rating 4 out of 5]

i need to reread this at some point

[Sarit]

read this just cause my sister ordered me to, although did I really read it, cuz I remember absolutely nothing about it

[Marwa B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bon livre, mais superficiel.

En 30 pages tu ne peux pas construire quoi que ce soit…

[Sheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick book to read

[Ethar Abuhashish · Rating 4 out of 5]

So compassionate!

[Micah · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh. ce livre a été lu à la dernière minute pour mon cours de litt. je connaissais un peu l'histoire parce que j'avais vu le film

[Marianne Boulanger · Rating 3 out of 5]

J’ai bien aimé, mais pour tout comprendre il me faudrait une relecture. Ce long monologue est plus compliqué à décortiquer et à jouer dans ma tête.

[Bisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

It registers how one can be taken for being so wrong when he's being so right. Besides, prejudice and its side effects.

[linda ixchel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess this book was ok... it has an interesting format but I still find it lacking. I can't seem to make up my mind about it yet.

Feeling: Unresolved.