Daniel Pennac

I wondered a long time who could be a role model for me. I didn't know who could give me an example of a way of life. I don't admire or respect most people enough to consider them as heroes. I want to have my own point of view and don't want to be like anyone else. But there is someone who changed a part of my life, this person gave me again the desire to read. In fact the school made me lose this desire because of several books I had to read which I found uninteresting. The book which really made me love Daniel Pennac is Comme un roman (The rights of the reader). This book tells about reading and the way we read. I find it is a pleasure to read Daniel Pennac because of his writing style. It is often ironic and sarcastic. He tells a truth that not everyone wants to hear and I like it. I read other books of him like Au Bonheur des ogres (Happiness of the ogres, or, The Scapegoat), La Petite Marchande de proses (Write to Kill) and Messieurs les enfants. I don't finish often the books I begin but I read Messieurs les enfants in 5 days.

Daniel Pennacchioni was born in Morocco, in Casablanca, in 1944. His father was an officer of the Colonial section. He grew up in Africa and in South Asia. He passed his French degree in Nice and became a teacher in a school of Soissons. He settled in Belleville, a city that he described in his novels many years later. In 1973 he wrote his first book, Le service militaire au service de qui? (Military service for who?) a satirical tract about the French national service. It was because of this book that he had to take a nickname to not injure his father who was an officer. Then he wrote for children.

In 1985, the Malaussne family was born in Au Bonheur des ogres. He imposed his mischievous style. What became the series of Malaussne (La fï carabine, La Petite Marchande de proses, Monsieur Malaussne and Aux fruits de la passion ) had a very big success and was translated in 18 languages. In 1992 he wrote Comme un roman where he defined the right of the reader.

In 1997, Daniel Pennac wrote another novel, Messieurs les enfants, for all the children we are. A movie was made from this story by Pierre Boutron. Merci was publishing in 2004 and in 2006, Daniel Pennac wrote Nemo par Pennac, a book to describe the life of the drawer Nemo who painted in Belleville for several years.

Comme un Roman

I chose to describe to you Daniel Pennac as my hero because I hope you will try to read his books and find like me the pleasure of reading.