At John Abbott College, we read the next Goncourt

If a teacher made his students read 16 novels in 8 weeks, he would probably be called a sadist. However, this is the challenge that around ten students from John Abbott College want to take on, and this, outside of their already busy classes, for the simple pleasure of participating in the Goncourt of high school students in France.

Already, young people who agree to read so much are a dream. But the particularity here is that these are students from an English-speaking CEGEP who will voluntarily read the 16 novels in French from the first list established by the Académie Goncourt.

Each year, the Goncourt for high school students is awarded after the famous Goncourt prize awarded by a jury, at the end of deliberations in November of representatives of around fifty classes in Rennes, some of whom are from abroad. Thus, John Abbott is the only college to represent North America in 2023, Daniel Rondeau, a French teacher for 30 years at this establishment, tells me.

With his colleague Ariane Bessette, Daniel Rondeau submitted this application which was accepted. I have known Daniel for around twenty years, he is passionate about his profession, like Ariane. They are already very involved in the Literary Prize for college students in Quebec, which is a bit like the cousin of the Goncourt for high school students. Why do they add this to their teaching schedule? For the magical moments, Daniel explains to me. “There are hidden gems in the mass of students who resist reading,” he says.

Good year, bad year, there are always three or four students per class who really like reading – almost always girls –, but rarely more, and we can guess that a teacher must constantly struggle to discuss novels, even more so when he is a French teacher in an English-speaking CEGEP. “It’s a bit like having the wind in your face,” describes Daniel, who explains to me that in this corner of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, you can live very well only in English.

An extracurricular activity like this basically allows you to bring together these “nuggets” into a teacher’s dream group. “The young people talk about their reading in such a lively way, my act of reading is renewed by that,” confides Ariane.

With the Goncourt for high school students, however, the task is more demanding than for the Literary Prize for middle school students. We had to read 16 novels rather than 5, and we had to find funding so that the ten participating students could go to France for the final deliberations. Daniel and Ariane are proud to tell them that they have managed to find the money that will cover plane tickets and accommodation for everyone for a week. This activity does not bring any additional advantage in the official academic career of these CEGEP students, no credits or exemptions, but at the end of the day, they will have taken a great literary journey, literally and figuratively. In addition to discovering, perhaps, that we are not alone in the world with a penchant which will become, I hope, a very good addiction.

Daniel invited me to their first meeting where the group was to discuss the novels May our joy remain by Kevin Lambert and The big fire by Léonor de Récondo.

In the old-fashioned charm of the John Abbott CEGEP, which is somewhat reminiscent of the college in the film Dead Poets Society, I find, I was able to listen, with my eyes in the fat of bine, this beautiful youth dissect with eloquence and conviction the first two novels read on the list. The group is made up of eight girls and one guy – one was absent due to the cursed COVID. Who study humanities, nursing, natural sciences, commerce. They are all perfectly bilingual, but most live their lives in English, with some speaking their parents’ language, such as Spanish or Mandarin.

The reasons why we want to participate in the Goncourt for high school students differ: there is of course an interest in reading, but for others, it is the desire to know more about today’s French culture. The books in French in their journey have often been Quebec books or classics from the 18th century.^e century.

I have always thought that having a choice is fundamental in the act of reading and many say they embark on the adventure precisely because of a taste for the challenge – one student even says she wants to take it up because her mother believes she is incapable of it. But Daniel wants to clarify this before the conversation: “It’s not the price of old teachers, it’s the Price of high school students. It’s your prize, you’re the one who’s going to defend the books. » That’s the beauty of it; Daniel and Ariane limit themselves to accompanying them in this, but in the end, it will be up to the students to speak out in front of others who, like them, want to win their favorite book.

First observation: it is clear that the books have been read. And very well read. The group understands that the interest of Lambert’s novel, which takes place in the world of architecture, has a lot to do with its structure. “At first, I felt like I had opened a book in the middle, it was difficult, but then I liked it,” says Jeremy Plante. It is believed that Lambert made a significant choice in creating a female character who embodies power, because it would have been too easy to judge him if he had been a man. “I love the character of Céline and I hate her, but it’s the system we have to be angry with, not her,” emphasizes Magali Shimotakahara. As for the novel The big fire, everyone somewhat agrees that the ending is disappointing for a heroine whose emancipation we hoped for. “I liked the book, but it’s not romantic at all, it’s just creepy ! “, says Alexa Bowers with a laugh.

The discussion lasts more than an hour, and the group will meet next week, to talk in particular about Sad Tiger of Snow Sinno. Ariane warns them that it is a difficult novel, which talks about incest, and that she herself had to take breaks from reading. A way of telling them that certain books cannot easily be read in one sitting to check off a list. This is something that fascinated me, the organization of their reading time. A strict regime of two hours a day for one, public transport or bed before sleeping for the other, everyone is looking for their own thing, or their own rhythm, after having overcome a small moment of panic before attacking the mountain of titles. But now, the ice is broken, there are 14 novels left to read, a trip to organize, and we feel excitement in the air. “We too wonder what we’re getting ourselves into,” Daniel told them, to reassure them. I understand your fear, but I also understand your excitement. »

Not only do I understand that, too, but I would even say that I am a little envious of this book club which will be going to France in November. Because it’s not just travel that educates young people, it’s also books.