Margins
Bar Balto book cover
Bar Balto
2008
First Published
3.16
Average Rating
160
Number of Pages
Bar Balto is a whodunit set in a dead end town near Paris. Joel, aka 'The Rink' because of his bald pate, the very unpopular owner of the only bar in town, has been murdered. When he is found dead in his flat, naked, covered with multiple stab wounds and surrounded by rivers of blood, it's not so much a question of who killed him but who didn't kill him, and it seems that most of his customers have strong motives. In a series of talking heads, they tell us their stories in their own, very different voices (from Magalie, the teenaged girl obsessed with Paris Hilton who talks in mobile phone speak, to a local mother whose only escape in life is her regular visits to the bar where she has to endure Joel's lecherous gaze). As the tension mounts and we're still none the wiser, the ending - in the form of Joel's final confession - is as shocking and tragic as it is unexpected. This novel is many a gripping whodunit, a shaggy dog story, a series of hilarious monologues and an insight into the human stories that lie behind banal, blind, unthinking, everyday racism. Handled with her hallmark provocative wit and delightful levity, this is a departure from Faiza's first two hugely successful novels which shows her flexing her literary muscles and extending her range as a writer of supreme talent. But, in her own words, this novel is a continuation of her ongoing theme of 'the invisible people in society'. Darkly disturbing, staggeringly impressive, "Bar Balto" is also a blast - showing off Guene's brilliance as a ventriloquist and her growing skill as a storyteller and social observer who can not be ignored.
Avg Rating
3.16
Number of Ratings
246
5 STARS
9%
4 STARS
24%
3 STARS
45%
2 STARS
20%
1 STARS
3%
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Author

Faïza Guène
Faïza Guène
Author · 8 books

Faïza Guène is a French writer and director. Born to parents of Algerian origin, she grew up in Pantin, in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris. She attended Collège Jean Jaurès followed by Lycée Marcelin Berthelot in Pantin. She began studies in sociology at Université Paris VIII, in St-Denis, before abandoning them to pursue writing and directing full-time. Her first novel, "Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow" was published in 2004 when Guène was nineteen years old. The novel has sold over 200,000 copies and been translated into twenty-two different languages, and paved the way for her following work, "Some Dream for Fools" (2006) and "Les gens du Balto" (2008). Guène has also written for "Respect" magazine since 2005 and directed several short films, including "Rien que des mots" (2004).

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