Smile

Rating:
Summary: a beautiful novel
Review: I stumbled upon "Smile" by accident, intrigued by its unusual topic of a young Parisian man of Moroccan origins. Despite the fact that the main character is a fully acculturated Frenchman and a graduate student of literature at a university in Paris, he is a victim of traditional French prejudice and xenophobia. The depiction of racism against Arabs in France is alarming and vivid, urging readers to reevaluate racial stereotypes. The young student's racial alienation; however, is only a part of his isolation. The plot that ensues as he struggles to write of his life and to come to terms with his identity, family and future also confronts the predicament of being an artist in an insenstive world. I had some complaints with the translation, but the overall message of the novel was not lost. Smile is a beautiful, powerful and memorable story that I highly recommend.