The Sexual Life of an Islamist in Paris

Complete coincidence saw me reading this directly after Old Masters. There are odd points of comparison. Firstly, they are both related by others. 'Reger told me...' and, in this one, 'It came over me all of a sudden, he said.' So, in both we are aware of an interpretation going on, a reporting of the story even though 'he said' immediately becomes 'I'.

Secondly, both main characters are deeply unhappy and find the world an entirely unsatisfactory place. But whereas Reger is a completely detestable odious old crank, Mohamed is wonderful, the reader is in his corner. Reger has no particular cause for unhappiness, it is like he seeks it out by turning the world into a place at which to rage. Mohamed is an Algerian Muslim in Paris - or show more rather in a Muslim slum outside Paris. He is trapped there with an overbearing mother who is the type to control those around her by pointing out interminably what she has done for them, the sacrifices made.

rest here:

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This book was my first foray into Algerian fiction and the writing of Leila Marouane. I’ve been reading a lot of literature in translation, trying to get my personal reading of world literature above the appalling and paltry 3% that actually gets translated. Maybe then publishers in English will translate more of the great world literature. Maybe not. But at least I can try to read as much of the 3% as possible. So I grabbed this book along with a bunch of other translated titles in the firesale when Borders went under.

The protagonist, Mohamad or Momo or “Basile Tocquard”, is a first-born Algerian living in France. While a devout Islamist at home with his mother in the Paris slums, he has frenchified his name and manners away from show more home to help him assimilate and be successful in the finance world. Before deciding whether to succumb to his religion and his mother’s plans for him, he decides to get a bachelor pad in a posh section of Paris, sow some wild oats, and cut the apron strings. The story is narrated by a woman to whom Momo has apparently told everything, possibly his realtor Mademoiselle Papinot, but leaves out enough that we are not always sure what is going on. This is especially true as the adventure winds down to the end and the final battle of his native and adopted culture.

While I didn’t love the book as a whole, I definitely loved parts it. In particular, the passages where the Marouane describes the difference between what Momo thought his sexual liberation was going to look like and the reality of it. Some of the dialogue between the mother and son and other family members was quite amusing as well. It was also nice to read a book from and Islamic-centric point of view. I would definitely recommend this book. show less

Complete coincidence saw me reading this directly after Old Masters. There are odd points of comparison. Firstly, they are both related by others. 'Reger told me...' and, in this one, 'It came over me all of a sudden, he said.' So, in both we are aware of an interpretation going on, a reporting of the story even though 'he said' immediately becomes 'I'.

Secondly, both main characters are deeply unhappy and find the world an entirely unsatisfactory place. But whereas Reger is a completely detestable odious old crank, Mohamed is wonderful, the reader is in his corner. Reger has no particular cause for unhappiness, it is like he seeks it out by turning the world into a place at which to rage. Mohamed is an Algerian Muslim in Paris - or show more rather in a Muslim slum outside Paris. He is trapped there with an overbearing mother who is the type to control those around her by pointing out interminably what she has done for them, the sacrifices made.

rest here:

https://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/the-sexual-life-of-an-isl... show less

I loved the details of this book (there are a lot of parallels between the Mormon and Muslim communities), but the twist frustrated me.

Un musulman perd les pédales dans ses fantasmes.

Un peu confus …

… et répétitif. Il boit un whisky et il dort.

Bof, bof

> Harzoune Mustapha. Lëila Marouane, La Vie sexuelle d'un islamiste à Paris, 2007.
In: Hommes et Migrations, n°1271, Janvier-février 2008. La Convention des Nations unies sur les droits des travailleurs migrants. Enjeux et Perspectives. pp. 172-173. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/homig_1142-852x_2008_num_1271_1_4706_t1_0172_0000_3