The Fairy Gunmother

La fée carabine is the second book in the Malaussène saga - Benjamin finds himself mixed up in another criminal investigation, and more than likely to be wrongly accused, with a serial-killer cutting the throats of old ladies in Belleville. Meanwhile, Benjamin's girlfriend the investigative reporter Julia is on the trail of a gang of drug-dealers who specialise in supplying elderly addicts. And it's not at all clear whose side the police are on...

Pennac avoids the trap of repeating all the jokes from the first book by putting a lot less weight on Benjamin's family and his job as a professional scapegoat, although both are still there, of course, and still very funny. A lot of the story focusses on a couple of new characters, Inspector show more Pastor, a pullover-knitting policeman of almost Adamsbergish vagueness, and his cunning - but possibly schizophrenic - old colleague, Inspector Van Thian (alias the widow Ho). And there's also a new Malaussène sibling, a baby named - with good reason - after a First World War battle...

Lots of sharp comments about modern French society, a strong message about our common need for humanity, tolerance, love and storytelling, and plenty of jokes. Very enjoyable, but you shouldn't come looking for a technically perfect detective story - for that, Pennac would have to overcome his fondness for taking us by surprise by breaking the rules at inappropriate moments. show less

This is a murder mystery set in Paris in 1982, but it is much more than that. As well as being humorous it is a social commentary on life in the French capital and it portrays racism and corruption at various levels. To go into plot detail for a murder mystery would be a bit silly as it would destroy much of the point of anyone’s reading the book. Suffice it to say the murder mystery element of the story is sophisticated enough to satisfy any fan of such stories, but if that was the only thing said about the book it would not do justice to the richness of the story and the multiple levels at which it operates.
I read this book with no prior knowledge of Daniel Pennac or his work. I found it in the Books Upstairs bookshop in Dublin, a show more small, quirky place which stocks a wonderful selection of books that excludes best sellers and other trivia. In this bookshop I discovered many authors whose work I now love and I picked up The Fairy Gunmother on spec based on my previous experience of trying new authors discovered in this establishment.
I have not been disappointed.
The story is unconventional in many ways and the plot takes the reader in many unexpected directions. I turned to this book to give me some light relief after reading several serious World War II volumes and it did the job in an intelligent and thoughtful fashion.
I will be reading more Daniel Pennac novels.
In relation to the translation, Ian Monk did an admirable job in that his translation did not hinder the telling of the story. He had to contend with translating slang which must be a nightmare for any translator. He took the approach of translating such slang into equivalent words and expressions found in England, e.g. in referring to the police he used the term, “The Old Bill”. This is very English but given that the French original would be meaningless to someone reading the book in English it is a fair enough convention to adopt and it is a small price to pay as a reader to gain access to this wonderful story. show less

Silahlı Peri'de neler yok ki? Yaşlı kadınlara musallat olan bir katil, sert görünmeye çalışan polisler, uyuşturucu ticareti, Paris'in banliyösü Belleville ve dünyanın dört bir yanından gelen insanlar... Bu arada bir polis şefi, kenti parselleyen bir mimar-müteahhit ve bir müsteşar hiç de tekin olmayan işlerle uğraşıyorlar. Hikâye bir yerlerden tanıdık geliyor, ama acaba nereden?
Pennac'ın kitaplarında anlatılanlar bugünün dünyasının küçük bir modeli gibi. Yazar çocukların, yaşlıların, Arapların, yoksulların ve Afrikalıların, kendilerine sorulmadan içine atıldıkları bu dünyadan çıkarak başka bir hayat aramalarını anlatıyor; üstelik kahramanlarının her şeye rağmen süren show more canlılığını ve neşesini kitabına başarıyla taşıyarak. show less

Qui donc à Paris égorge les vieilles dames de Belleville et transforme les papys en junkies ? Tous les soupçons convergent vers Benjamin Malaussène, bouc émissaire de son état, dont la sympathique famille s'est enrichie de quelques membres. Les héros du précédent épisode, Au bonheur des ogres, sont là, avec quelques nouveaux venus : le doux inspecteur Pastor, la petite Verdun, l'inquiétant commissaire Coudrier, etc. Plus on est de fous... On retrouve avec bonheur la petite tribu de papier, dont Daniel Pennac développe à plaisir les personnages. Les intrigues et les destins se croisent au fil d'un récit dont la trame policière offre prétexte à s'attarder sur l'atmosphère du quartier, à épingler les méchants, les show more sans scrupules, les pas humains, toujours sur le mode de l'humour léger. Un délice qui a fait l'objet d'une sympathique adaptation télévisée en 1988, réalisée par Yves Boisset avec Tom Novembre. --Bruno Ménard show less

See my review of "La petite marchande de prose" for a general opinion on the series.
But I must add that this particular one is my favourite of the series so far. It might however just be because some time passed between the others I already read (all in a row) and this one. And someone I cherish could be absolutely right saying she prefers to read them spaced out. There is also something peculiar with this series: you can read it in any order, it doesn’t matter. You will still understand and won’t spoil any surprise. In fact it’s kind of a mental puzzle: when you are reading a piece happening before one you already read, you’re just taking pleasure from trying to reconstitute the whole story, especially family-wise.
And I show more confirmed with this one that this is definitely a holiday reading. Not only because it's fresh and rather light (without being dumb, should I recall) but above all because it's highly addictive. And you end up crossing roads and walking steps reading. And reading at work.
Last thing: I spoke about the craziness of the story before. Mental-ness appears more appropriate. This kind of sweet mental-ness when improbable conjunctions of events happen: it’s fiction at its climax. show less

Ogni tanto torno a Belleville, ed è sempre una visita piacevolissima! Alcuni di questi libri li ho già letti e li rileggo con piacere, questo era una prima lettura, ma in ogni caso devo dire che non ricordo moltissimo anche di quelli letti. Non la ritengo una pecca: questo libro, come gli altri della saga, è stato una goduria da leggere, e mi ha lasciato con una sensazione molto piacevole, e se ne ricorderò poco significa solo che potrò un giorno rileggerlo e riprovare di nuovo lo stesso piacere. La fata carabina riesce a parlare di cose serie e tragiche senza angosciare o deprimere, diverte, intrattiene, è un libro che non vorresti mai mettere già e quando lo fai non vedi l’ora di riprendere. Insomma, proprio una bella show more lettura!
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodileggere/22766

I go back to Belleville every now and then, and it's always a delightful visit! The Fairy Gunmother manages to talk about serious and tragic things without causing distress or sadness, it amuses and entertains, it's a book that you would never want to put away and when you do you can't wait to read it again! In short, a very pleasant read! :D show less

Deuxième tome dans ma relecture de la saga Malaussène: il fallait s'y attendre, c'est moins bien que le premier. Que voulez-vous, on a des espoirs, des attentes, et tout ça c'est trop haut, quoi.
Pourtant, quand je l'avais lu la première fois (il y a moultes années), j'avais commencé par ce deuxième tome, c'est ce deuxième qui m'avait donné envie de lire le reste.
Enfin, n'exagérons rien, c'est quand même un bien chouette livre, juste un peu moins planant décalé que le premier, mais ça se défend tout de même pas mal. Et puis le décalé est remplacé par un suspens un peu plus présent, qui m'a donné envie de ne plus lâcher le livre (ça faisait longtemps que cela m'était arrivé). Et puis j'ai eu plus souvent que dans show more le premier tome des instants "ah mais oui, il va se passer ça", de gros retours de mémoire qui ne gâchent rien à la lecture, au contraire, qui me font savourer d'avance la suite à venir... Et les personnages me plaisent toujours autant, voire même toujours plus, les nouveaux personnages comme les anciens, je les kiffe. Et puis c'est marrant, maintenant que je suis une (vieille) parisienne, de reconnaître certains lieux qui étaient totalement inconnus à la provinciale que j'étais.
Bref, hop, dévoré le Malaussène. show less