A Year in the Merde - Stephen Clarke

Did you notice that when Will Smith asked the people in Paris to greet the people watching the concert in London during Saturday's GB gig, our friends in France booed vociferously? The old Anglo-French rivalry reared its head again and it doesn't look likely to disappear anytime soon. Personally I think the British give as good as they get and I find that some of the most opinionated views I hear about other countries are directed towards the French.

When Stephen Clarke, author of "A Year in the Merde" was offered a job in Paris some of his friends tried to dissuade him, using the age-old gibes against our friends across the Channel. Unperturbed he took up the offer and used the experience to write this, his first novel.

Paul West ventures to Paris to act as a consultant to a French food company who are planning to open a chain of British style "tea rooms" in the French capital. He is contracted for a year which actually means from September to May - since there are so many holidays in June and July the French consider May to be the end of the working year - if you haven't finished everything you need to by May you're in the "merde". Paul finds out quickly that his colleagues on the project are aloof and disinterested, his boss is having an affair with his PA and that the pavements of Paris are paved with something other than gold. With the help of one of his more forthcoming colleagues he slowly begins to learn how to cope with the day to day challenges of living in Paris - how to keep your shoes clean, how to order a decent coffee and how to work round the French national hobby - striking.

Before the final page our unlikely hero finds himself at the mercy of a string of amorous French girlfriends determined to thaw out the "freezing" English lover, making a midnight dash to help his boss's daughter empty the contents of her dressing room and embroiled in local right-wing politics when he tries to buy a country retreat.

"A Year in the Merde" is written in the first person in a very thinly veiled chronicle of the author's own experiences although he admitted that he had to write the book as a novel and change the names because he feared the backlash might be unpleasant. The book was published independently in France first where it proved so popular with both French and English readers that it was subsequently re-issued and became an international best -seller, now translated into eleven languages. Why has it been so popular and is it's popularity justified? Is there any need for an urban "A Year in Provence"?

I found this to be an easy-to-read, enjoyable novel. Its brisk pace keeps the reader engaged although I did find the course of events to be a little predictable. However I liked the idea of tying in the "travelogue" elements and thought that Clarke did well to introduce factual information by having the hero ask French people about the things he didn't understand about French life. In this way he avoided "preaching" and the information flowed easily. I think this is especially worthy of mention because in choosing to use the novel as the medium for his story, he has chosen a style in which it is more difficult to be subtle about imparting facts than in a straight auto-biographical account, for example.

I think that " A Year in the Merde" proved popular with both French and English readers is that the French get the chance to answer back. This is not the kind of one-sided verbal assault you might expect from someone like Bill Bryson in which he delivers his invective with impunity. Clarke at least allows his targets the dignity of a response. Admittedly the response is sometimes poppycock, but at least he permits it! The book is also evenly balanced; sometimes the French have the last laugh, sometimes the English.

Stephen Clarke may not have the comic skills of Bill Bryson or the acerbic wit of Tim Moore but he is very funny. He writes with such economy that he keeps the plot moving at an agreeable pace without skimping on scene-setting and characterisation. My favourite scene is when Paul tries to explain to his colleagues that their suggestion of "My Tea is Rich" is not a good one for a chain of English tea-rooms. The French congratulate each other heartily for coming up with such a fantastic name and react in stony silence when Paul dismisses it; several hundred pages on the French have the last laugh…

I would certainly recommend the book to anyone planning a longer stay in Paris. It by no means covers everything you would want to know but it certainly sheds light on a few grey areas. The book is an up-dated urban "Year in Provence" with sharp edges and a fiercer tongue.

My only gripe - I felt that some episodes were of no particular consequence to the story and could have been omitted though they were few.

Stephen Clarke's follow-up "Merde Actually" (honestly!!) is due next year and I am looking forward to it. I expect his writing to progress but if it is as good as "A Year in the Merde" I shall not be disappointed.

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