Smile

New Internationalist, April, 2000

Smile by Paul Smail translated by Simon Pleasance and Fronza Woods (Serpent's Tail, ISBN 1 85242 630 6)

This astonishingly direct and fresh novel caused a sensation in France when it was first published -- under a pseudonym -- in 1997. The narrative, which is structured as a series of diary entries, concerns Paul Smail, a young man of Arab origin as he tries to make his way in the seedy and down-at-heel suburbs of Paris. Although he is a literature graduate (who peppers his story with references to his heroes Conrad, Melville and Stevenson) the casual, everyday racism of society means that Paul is trapped in menial, low-paid jobs: night-watchman and pizza delivery-boy. When he does get a job slightly more suited to his education -- as a bookshop assistant -- he clashes with the bigotry underlying polite society and is able to keep neither the job nor his new-found girlfriend, Myriam.

For a first novel Smile is a strikingly mature work. The author shapes his story with economy and precision, showing how the two cultures -- white and Arab -- live side by side in mutual incomprehension and fear. Smail's personal life, from his doomed affair with Myriam to his touching relationship with his gay brother, is seamlessly interwoven with the political situation in France. The hero's ultimate decision -- that life for an Arab in France is impossible and he must begin afresh in Morocco -- is a bitter but honest conclusion to a work that is raw, angry, committed and a thoroughly triumphant debut from a writer of rare talent.

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STAR RATING

EXCELLENT * * * * *
VERY GOOD * * * *
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FAIR      * *

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