A quiet, gentle book about a sensitive boy growing up in 1960s France, a boy who isn’t quite “all there” but one who has his own distinctive voice and perspective on the world. He sees the world in his own unique way – a child not like other children. I wasn’t totally convinced by the voice, and that means I couldn’t fully engage with Edgar. I found the book interesting in its depiction of the life of a child who is sent away by his mother as she can’t cope with him, and how he relates to his caregivers. But overall the book didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Can’t quite put my finger on why, as it’s a brave attempt to give a voice to the usually voiceless, but I never quite believed in Edgar.

My Life as Edgar narrates the life of a 3-year-old boy who defines himself and his existence through the gaze of others. We are introduced to a character whose usually big ears haves become his gate into others' interior monologues. This is how the nivel starts and it follows Edgar through different steps of his childhood.

I find that the journalistic style of the novel perfectly illustrates the urgency and anxious existence and senseof loss Edgar experiences and, through his story, the existential unbalance of other characters in a France that is about to witness the upheaval of "Mai 68".

If Iam to describe the effect of the novel on me, I would choose the sord "uneasiness". from the very first page this is how it was. probably because the author gives voice to the marginalised and echoes it in a poignant somehow dry style (I find this to be a great combination!)

My Life as Edgar
by Dominique Fabre
Translated from the French by Anna Lehmann

This is an odd little story, told in first person narrative by Edgar, a little boy with an intellectual disability who is growing up in1960s Paris. This is very much a "voice" book and it is so unusual to hear the voice of a person with ID in literature. It is mostly internal dialogue, which begins with Edgar as a newborn baby. The author seems to be making the point that receptive language is much more developed than expressive language than most people assume, and although Edgar's language skills are quite basic, he shows a level of astuteness that we don't expect. As the story progresses, Edgar's language skills develop, but he still retains a simplistic speech structure, mono-labeling and he is fond of inserting idioms into his dialogue in unexpected places to sometimes hilarious effect, a common trait among the speech challenged.

This is a fairly linear story with a clear beginning, but I am slightly baffled at the ending and have so many questions about what the author hoped to achieve with this story. As a parent with a son with Down Syndrome I appreciate the voice that he has given to Edgar, I recognise so many characteristics and mannerisms, but I wanted more from the story. I can see why certain reviews on GR say they were bored. I enjoyed reading this, but I am not sure who to recommend this to .I would be happy to chat about it.

Publication Date: 16th May 2023
Thanks to #netgalley and #archipelago for access to the egalley

A sensitive portrayal of a singular mind, this book is beautifully written, with a lovingly rendered world that seems not far away from our own at all.

Narrated by Edgar, a child with big ears, a big head and self described ‘not all there’, it started off kinda charming. He’s 3-4 years living with his unmarried mother in 1960s France. But I got bored once his mother left the story and he got sent to school. I found myself skimming so decided not to finish. Skipping to the end, he’s only 11 so the child viewpoint wasnt going to change.

(One star only because I didn’t finish and I can’t leave a review without a star rating on netgalley)

An interesting story. Seems to be a good translation of this unusual tale. This one will stick with me for a while.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Thank you Net Galley and Archipelago for providing me with and ARC

This is my first Fabre novel and I had no prior knowledge of the style or the themes before starting, yet from the start, Edgar and his peculiar actions drew my attention. The way he describes himself and bends the lines between the retelling of his childhood and the imaginary additions he inputted were done very seamlessly. Though at points it felt as if the novel's plot was slow-paced and felt more of a short story stretched thin, Edgar's character always drew me back in and made the book stand out.

DNF @ 31% due to the translation and maybe the writing style, not sure about the latter because it might be just the translation.

This book discusses the life of people with disabilities in France in the last 60s, narrated by a child with Down syndrome named Edgar, talking about his life and the struggles he suffers due to the lack of understanding among the society and the lack of medical research and education about the said syndrome and lots of others.

One of the problems i had with the story that it seemed sometimes narrated by an adult and not just and 11 years old child. Also sometimes the narrative seems a little bit off, like he would be saying something and then suddenly would make note of something else, I believe it was intentional as to tell how a person with Down syndrome would react to what he see and recall, but sometimes it was really hard do understand where are we and what is happening, maybe that’s what the author wants, but I just thought I’d mention it.
Also, sometimes Edgar would say sentences he heard, those sentences don’t have a quote marks, which I would really appreciate because it’s hard to follow what is his words and what’s not.

There’s times where i felt the text needed punctuation like comma, or -like i said above- quote marks, but there weren’t ,which made it -in those given situations- hard to understand. And some names were left as it is in french that I thought needed to be translated or at least mentioned in the footnotes. Lastly, I’m not native English speaker so I might be wrong, but sometimes the translation seems kind of vague. But don’t quote me on that.

It’s an important book with a powerful message, it, perhaps, needs more editing, Still, I’d love to read more books that’ll open my eyes to other people’s lives, experiences, and struggles. Will search for books with protagonist with Down syndrome, and I’m already looking for educational books about it :).

Alas, I could not get past 45 pages of this. I'm not sure if it's the translation or not, but what I read was very off-putting, not the subject matter but the language used.

My thanks to Archipelago Books for an e-ARC of this title.
I really enjoy Fabre's other 2 books translated into English.
This less so.
While he does get the wandering mind of a 3-11 year old who is "not all there", I have to admit that interests me less than the wandering mind of an adult.
And, it ends suddenly. Just as it was getting good - being an 11 year old in a Catholic boarding school in a rural area.
This was just Fabre's second novel. I am not sure if he picked up the story of Edgar again later.
Hoping for more translations of his work.

In a new translation from the French, My Life as Edgar (originally released in 1998 as Ma vie d’Edgar) is a strange little book about a strange little boy and his strained efforts to understand the strange and seemingly unknowable world around him. The novel opens with Edgar describing himself as having the “features of a kid with Down syndrome – a kind of coldness around the eyes, pale lips, big cheeks, a big butt, though my chromosomes weren’t really to blame”; he also has enormous ears, a tongue that won’t stay in his mouth, and at three years old, he drools and moos and growls at people who conclude that Edgar is “not all there”. With a beautiful single mother who doesn’t know what to do with her unusual son, Edgar will be shipped off to a sort of foster home in the country (which he loves) for the next eight years, and when he is finally brought back home to Paris, he will be immediately sent off to a church-run boarding school (which he hates). Throughout, we are in Edgar’s mind as he circles through experiences, mashing up the past and present and the parts he makes up, and even if he thinks of himself as a “noodle” or “the village idiot”, he comes across to the reader as intelligent and self-aware and in need of his Maman. Edgar has no control over his situation, thinks more than he is able or willing to communicate, and the interior life that author Dominique Fabre paints is one of seeking and longing and unquestioned acceptance of a bad lot in life. This short work is more about what happens on the inside than on the out, and overall, it moved me.

This is my first book by Dominique Fabre and I am intrigued. Edgar the little character is unique in his own way. He listens to everything and perceives everything around himself. This is such a gentle novel that touches you deeply.