Marie-Aude Murail

Bellissimo, un libro che mi ha totalmente conquistato e che meriterebbe non 5 ma 10 stelle.
Una storia particolare, difficilissima e dura sotto tantissimi aspetti ma che nasconde tanta dolcezza, tanto amore incondizionato, tanta speranza.
Personaggi che colpiscono e si fanno amare con le loro "stramberie" - uno sicuramente molto meno anche se si riscatterà in buona parte nel finale - tutti comunque con qualcosa di importante da comunicare.
Tante le tematiche affrontate ma, per quanto alcune show more siano anche molto dolorose e difficili, vengono sempre trattate con un fondo di speranza, dolcezza e umanità.
Un racconto intelligente che mantiene nonostante tutto un tono leggero e quasi scanzonato, dolcemente ironico anche difronte a situazioni dolorosissime raccontate peraltro con verità e sentimento. E se anche la lettura può apparire a tratti dolorosa, comunque sei spinta ad andare avanti, sempre con la speranza che tutto si risolva, perché i fratelli Morlevent ti entrano nel cuore per restare lì, indimenticabili. show less

Có thể Oh boy! hơi quá đô đối với mình-hồi-11-tuổi (vì từ ngữ hơi mạnh và có nhắc đến chuyện tự tử) nhưng cũng vì thế ấn tượng của mình về câu chuyện rất mạnh. Tình cảm giữa các anh chị em nhà Morlevant đã làm mình thút thít khóc lúc nửa đêm (mình đọc truyện này lèo một đêm cố không ngủ ở nhà em họ :p). Về sau đọc lại thì tiếc là không còn cảm xúc mạnh như thế nữa, show more nhưng đây chắc chắn vẫn là một cuốn sách cực kì cực kì quan trọng trong tuổi thơ của mình show less

Barnaby or 'Simple' is not your average twenty-two year old. He and his toy, Mr Babbit, are inseparable. After his seventeen year old brother, Kleber, rescues him from Malicrox and agrees to take full responsibility for Simple they struggle to find somewhere to live. Kleber tries to inform people of Simple's learning difficulties but it doesn't stop people from being afraid. Eventually Kleber manages to convince a group of university students to take them in. Initially, Simple gets in the show more way but eventually he changes the dynamics of the friendship group and it becomes apparent that although he may not be the smartest academically, he is clever in other ways the others are not.

Marie-Aude Murail's 'My Brother Simple' explores the ups and downs of coping with learning difficulties. Simple will make your heart melt with his pure innocence and naivety while the others will make you laugh with their oblivious nature. This novel really makes the reader realise how ignorant they are when it comes to people's disabilities. A beautifully poignant book with a heart-warming plot and constantly developing characters. show less

Simple has learning difficulties...

I think I was expecting more from this book, given its popularity on GoodReads. For one thing it is written in a style suited to quite young children, yet the content is definitely too promiscuous for that age group. For another, the translation doesn't really work; it came across as if the main characters were speaking to French people in English. And I also wonder why the two boys, Kleber and Barnaby Maluri are chosen to be of Arabic descent, an extra show more complication that is never really dealt with.

Barnaby, known (rather insultingly) as Simple, is 21, but has a mental age of 3 1/2. He's been institutionalised for many years, but is very unhappy there, so his younger (17) brother has decided to remove him and find a place for them both in Paris.
They eventually find a shared house, with four students, and most of the story covers the interaction between themselves and this group.

The characterisations were good and the way the students learned life-lessons from Simple, and vise versa, kept my attention. My favourite character was the talking rabbit, Mr Babbit, Simple's life companion and soft toy, who voices many of Simple's worries and frustrations.

A quick, easy read, but not a book I would particularly recommend, unfortunately. show less