Monsieur Ibrahim and the flowers of the Koran

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Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran (original title: Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran ) is a play by the French writer Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt that has been reworked into a story and was published in 2001 as the second of four books in the Cycle de l'invisible series. The German first edition was published in 2003 by Ammann Verlag , Zurich. It was number 1 on the Spiegel bestseller list for 2 weeks in the same year . Since this story has many parallels to the novel You have life before you (original title: La vie devant soi ) by Romain Gary , plagiarism allegations were made against Schmitt . The book quickly established itself as reading material for French lessons in schools.

The book

Momo: Momo (actually Moses, he will be renamed Momo by Monsieur Ibrahim later in the book) is an eleven year old Jewish boy who lives with his father, who is a lawyer “without cases”, in an apartment in Paris, on Rue Bleue lives. He never met his mother and, as it turned out later, his imaginary brother Popol, who was invented by his father. He also does not get along with his stingy and aloof father, who in a repeated act of mental cruelty compares him to his apparently perfect brother Popol, who allegedly lives with his mother. Momo is responsible for all housework and as a result he feels overwhelmed and exploited like a slave. The father-son relationship, which is characterized by coldness, mistrust and secrecy, drives Momo into the arms of the prostitutes in the district at the age of eleven. With them, Momo tries to find the love that his father denies him. He feels made a “man” by them.

In Monsieur Ibrahim, the owner of a small grocer's shop , where Moses initially steals canned goods, he finds a friend and later a father, as his birth father finds himself in desperation over the death of his own parents, who were once murdered by the National Socialists throws a train. After the death of Monsieur Ibrahim, Momo openly professed to Islam, he took over the shop of the deceased in order to start a modest existence and followed in his footsteps with full conviction as Arabe du coin ("Arab from the corner"). In addition, he later finds peace with his mother, who left him not because of him but because of his father.

Monsieur Ibrahim: He has been the “Arab (on the corner)” in the Jewish environment of Rue Bleue for 40 years, although he is actually not an Arab, but a Turkish Muslim from the Golden Crescent of eastern Anatolia. He also owns a small grocery store on the same street. Because Monsieur Ibrahim smiles a lot, but speaks little, because he seems to draw great strength from stoic calm, because he is at the same time a fixture and anchor in a hectic environment, he is considered a wise man not only with Momo, but in the entire district. He becomes the central figure in Momo's life as his reliable, kind advisor and far-sighted, sometimes mischievous, shrewd mentor.

For his young protégé, Momo, he fulfills a kind of bridge function to the adult world. He strengthens his self-confidence, which has been damaged by his father, by giving him the feeling of being accepted and loved despite all weaknesses and inadequacies. After Momo's unemployed father's suicide, Monsieur Ibrahim adopts the boy and becomes the father he never had for Momo. In the days and months that followed, Monsieur Ibrahim, Momo tried to bring the beauties and values ​​of the world, the path to happiness and the sense of the “right” life closer, as the guiding principles of the Koran taught him .

After showing him Paris before, the journey leads first to Normandy and finally to the Golden Crescent, where they land after an adventurous drive. Here, in the area where Monsieur Ibrahim was born, the circle of life closes for him. He dies in a car accident, without bitterness, with the feeling of a fulfilled life and with the knowledge that he has completed his educational mission for Momo. With foresight, Monsieur Ibrahim made provisions for Momo: he leaves him all the money, his shop and his Koran.

Awards

The film

In 2003 the book was made into a film by François Dupeyron (see Monsieur Ibrahim and the flowers of the Koran (film) ). For his role as Monsieur Ibrahim , Omar Sharif received the César for best leading actor in 2004 .

literature

Expenses (selection)

Audio books

  • Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt: Monsieur Ibrahim and the flowers of the Koran (read by Matthias Ponnier , directed by Ulrich Biermann) The Audio Verlag , Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89813-278-1 (1 audio CD, 80 minutes).
  • Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt: Monsieur Ibrahim and the flowers of the Koran (read by Jean Yves), digital publishing, Berlin 2004, ISBN 978-3-89747-347-8 (CD-ROM, audio CD approx. 70 min. With 52 See booklet as a combination of media for learning French).

radio play

Secondary literature

  • Wolfhard Keizer: Text analysis and interpretation of "Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran." Series Königs Explanations and Materials 487, Bange, Hollfeld 1st edition 2012 ISBN 978-3-8044-1984-1 .
  • Ernst Kemmner: Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, "Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran" , Reclam, Stuttgart 2007, Reclam's Universal Library , 15393, ISBN 978-3-15-015393-2 .
  • Laure Soccard: Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt: "Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran" [Dossier pédagogique, French reading for the advanced level], Klett, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-12-597248-3 .
  • Manfred Lauffs: Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt: Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran , 4th edition, Schöningh, Paderborn 2018, ISBN 978-3-14-046251-8 (Simple French - teaching model).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nicole Müller: Literature - Abgeschritten. In: Die Weltwoche. October 8, 2003, issue 41/2003. On Weltwoche.ch, accessed on October 29, 2019.
  2. ↑ NDR: Monsieur Ibrahim and the flowers of the Koran. Retrieved May 14, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Reading key for pupils; see also web links