For lovers of Martin Winckler, Franz in America is the sequel toAbraham and son (2016) and Stories of Franz (2017). However, it can be read independently of the two previous books. Not only can we, but we must! This novel is a gem. Of those who mark and remain in memory.
More than a book Franz in America is a real companion, an atmosphere that is hard to leave. Partly autobiographical, the story centers on Franz, an 18-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin, who goes to a host family in America for a year of study. The action takes place in San Francisco, in 1971-1972, but also in his French village, at the same time and in other periods, as well as in Montreal.
The book is constructed in a very original way. Its 107 chapters begin with the title of a song dating from the year in which the action takes place. You can thus regularly pause and listen to the songs before resuming playback. A break that does a lot of good when you read a brick of 912 pages! And listening that happily puts us back in the atmosphere of the 1970s. Baby-boomers welcome!
Brilliant, Martin Winckler addresses a large number of subjects in his novel with often overlooked information that puts into perspective our life today and the debates that accompany it and which obviously stem from the past.
Among the subjects evoked as the narration progresses, let us mention the very conservative France of the years 1960-1970 (with its 50 executions to death and its illegal abortions), the wars of Algeria and Vietnam, so costly in human lives , the fight of the FBI against the Black Panthers, sexual liberation and feminism which take more place, by dint of struggles and demonstrations, and of course the musical universe so rich and innovative of this time in the United States.
Franz in America is therefore a story about youth, its hopes, its challenges, but it is also a manifesto on humanist values. A feel-good romance. It is read slowly, for it inevitably brings up memories and food for thought all the time. A reading from which we leave moved and delighted.
Franz in America
Martin Winckler
POL
912 pages