Like movies that are so bad they're good, Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, St Martin's Griffin, NY 2007 is a frustrating experience.
Based on one of France's most shameful episodes, which quite simply stripped the varnish off their long and deep streak of Antisemitism, the deportation, separation and slaughter of innocent French citizens, men, women and children, in 1942, who just happened to be Jewish, Ms. de Rosnay lurches between telling an exciting mystery story and (bear with this run on sentence) providing boring after boring page of rather meaningless descriptions of the heroine's sappy husband, the worst of French men and women's cultural prejudices and deathly slow descriptions of incredibly banal events.
According to news reports, the manuscript was turned down by almost two dozen publishing houses, and one can see why, before the hapless d'Ormesson/Cohen-Solal team took her on. They had gold in their hands - a horrible still-hidden and to-this-day-denied event, a suspenseful plot and interesting characters, but they forgot one thing; a good book needs a good editor.
We saw the film version, Sarah's Key, with Kristen Scott Thomas and certain parts were great, but the bit about the husband was not needed for the film. I also had read the book, in English, a while ago. I did like the story.
This film, The Round Up, is next on our to-see list. It was recommended by a friend living in France.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1382725/
So much for liberte, egalite, fraternite.
Posted by: Roz | August 20, 2011 at 12:58 PM