The interpreter by Alice Kaplan

forgive me for writing this post with such poor words...but that book touched me so deeply...it's very difficult to talk about it...It's the story of a young GI hung in Brittany during the war...the story of French people too...the story of a great writer Louis Guilloux...and the story of my part of France...it just shows us also how wars are stupid, how stereotypes are crual...

the small brown photo on the right is the cover of a book written by Louis Guilloux and translated by A. Kaplan...it tells the same story...

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I'm reading a book "The interpreter" by Alice Kaplan...the story takes place in Saint Brieuc where I live and in the neighbourhood...I wanted to give you some excerpts but my translation won't be to good...anyway, it gives you an idea ...

let's meditate this also :""""from an American Journalist:When the Americans helped to free Brittany in the summer of 1944, they were determined to treat the French differently than had the Nazi occupiers of the previous four years.(very nice of them ...thank you so much...?!!?)

From the official documents given to GI's before they went to France:"Breton man is introvert, he's not a latin...is not joyful...he's peaceful, introvert, taciturn...in Brittany even jy is a bit sad...sometimes he may enjoy himself but alcohol makes him irritable...

he doesn't like foreigners...as for Breton women: don't pay to much attention to their having love affairs with german soldiers...this race is naturally sensual...don't say anything about houing and hygiena...very often men and animals shared the same places...""""that's a bad translation, but it gives you an idea...take the book, it's in the second chapter...""""""""""""""""""of course that was a long time ago...in 1943...today things have changed...the marshall plan went through this...Russia and Bush are quarreling over our heads...Bush wants to built some radar-system in Tchequie

and I cried and cried when reading this book...

the way black soldiers were considered...the way Breton of low classes were considered...that has nothing to do with you personnaly of course...but it's just to illustrate how such prejudices can hurt people deeply.

we are said not to understand American people...as well as american people are supposed not to understand europeans...stupid indeed...

when somebody tells me: I don't like parisians...i ask: ah, yes, which one? give me a name...you are allowed not to like Mr so and so, but you can say you don't like people if you don't know them...

.yesterday I watched a very interesting program on Tv: it was about Virginia city in Nevada...the story of the town...how film-makers talked about westerns, saloons, full of violence, so rough...and how they were taking out of the ground they were digging, beautiful plates, delicate glasses...stereotypes........................................................

read "the solace of open spaces" by Gretel Ehrlich...you'll see such a powerful image of cow-boys far from the old stereotypes.

a French singer made a song:"I would love olympic games, if there were no flags, no hymns...just men and women trying to do their best, trying to improve human race, trying to know and love each others"

let me dream of such a world...