Yet, draw the parallel between the fall of the Roman world as narrated by St. Augustine Bishop of Hippo and the inexorable, our successive worlds or evoke the human destiny bearing the seeds of its destruction were a priori ideas strong and interesting.
Unfortunately, reading this link seems very fragile and sometimes brilliant treatment is also quite frustrating and annoying.
The lives of these young people disoriented, idealistic part time and seeking to accomplish by putting a bar in a small Corsican village, seems so cowardly that it is futile to seek a resonance, except that of the hollow.
The story of Matthew and Libero, these two childhood friends, refugees in the small world of Alta Rocca is mostly an excuse to dump the now customary "French touch" outraged characters (the waitress Annie welcomes all customers scraping them balls!), caricatured situations eternal writing tics looking for originality at all costs.
This bar must be supplied by David Foenkinos as it serves pounce at any time.
Moreover, style well suits this time converted tavern pretentiously in "lounge". Whenever the story could take off when appear beautiful turnings (yes, there) or an interesting idea, inevitably arises a trivial consideration charged to "do like", which comes fade.
As if to apologize to leave repeatedly break the beautiful writer he could be, Ferrari seems hell-bent by such ridiculous episodes that digital insights of Gratas or the assassination of Italian fascists by a naive shepherd escape any lyrical temptation.
Added to that, the little affectation to punctuation, with insertions of dialogues or extending sentences. Look at the sentence beginning p 146 ("Time ...) and ends 23 lines later at the foot of another whom she (" Jacques ... "), spans 32 lines (!)
If at least, one attached to the characters. If, as knew how Pagnol, emotion could arise rounds of pastis ...
But here we are far from the Bar de la Marine.
Matthew and Libero, 2 semi-pimps tenants are so unlovable, their fall is so predictable that we are surprised to watch the arrival of the Vandals to open their doors to get it over quickly.
The secondary characters could arouse more interest especially Aurélie, the sister of Matthew, lucid and resigned. But they are approached too superficial to draw attention they would have deserved.
There or St Augustine freed his audience and despaired frightened by the Visigoths under Alaric approach remembering that God never promised us "death and resurrection", Ferrari delivers -sometimes with talent, a tasteless sermon populated Deli tourists, 4X4 and coaches bitches. (By the way: poor Corsica where fantasies for spicing broths of St Germain des Prés seem to grow more thickly than Nepita ...)
Ferrari: the revision is needed.
