Smoking Kills by Antoine Laurain

Smoking Kills Reviews

• 
  Claire

  Antoine Laurain is one of my go to author's when I'm in the mood for something short and light and of course, being a French author, there's going to be the inevitable addition of the little French quirks, the things that one recognises from living here in France for more than 10 years.
  
  Smoking Kills is a little more macabre than his other works I've read,
  The Red Notebook and
  The President's Hat, the latter are charming, uplifting novellas and Smoking Kills has been described as 'black comedy', a phrase that fits it well.
  

  At the beginning of his career, the smoker is generally intent on killing no one but himself. But forces beyond my control drove me to become a killer of others.

  
  The ban of smoking in public places took place in France later in than many other countries and I've seen how well it is respected for example in places like New Zealand, how in England people adapted, the pubs became gastro-pubs, how even Friday evening pint drinker on the footpaths of London, were pushed into the ashphalt of the street.
  
  In NZ it seemed like everyone gave up, in the UK, it appeared they just adapted, but here in France, they kind of reinvented or stretched the rules, in a restaurant in Paris, if your table at a cafe is beyond a certain imaginary line, you can still smoke, it's all about how you define a space, indoors versus outdoors, public versus private; I don't profess to know what the definitions are, but it amuses me to see how different cultures interpret them, how people find ways to protect their small pleasures and resist certain laws that infringe upon their personal liberties, despite the arguments.
  
  So Antoine Lauraine has created a character who is about to be affected by the change in the law, not because of the law itself, as his workplace has just refused to go along with it and he is senior enough not to have to kowtow to anyone above him, the owner of the company is a resolute cigar smoker, immune to much that affects those on the ground floor. However when a new chief is brought in, he starts to enforce the rules so Fabrice Valantine decides to make a hypnotherapy appointment to see if he can quit without the agony he's experienced in previous attempts.
  
  Although he doesn't believe it will work, it does but it leaves him a little disappointed in the deprivation of the familiar 'urge' to want to have a cigarette and nonplussed by the reaction of the cigar smoking gentleman who immediately takes him for one of those irritating non-smokers.
  
  After a series of stressful events overwhelm him, he takes up the habit once more, relieved to find that the 'urge' has returned, but shocked to discover that the subsequent 'pleasure' that should follow it when he does light up has gone. Angered and determined to have that aspect returned to him, he makes a follow up appointment with the hypnotist to reverse the procedure, which will lead him down a rocky road towards involvement in a worse crime, in pursuit of that elusive 'pleasure' he is determined to retrieve.
  
  It was just the mini escape I thought it would be, the perfect lakeside read, with its occasional humorous anecdotes, its portrayal of the addict whose therapy makes life worse for him, not better, and being a man of privilege, we're not inclined to feel sorry for him.
  
  Happy to know there's another one I haven't read
  French Rhapsody and no doubt
  more will be written and translated.
• 
  Laura McGee

  Loved this book!!! My first of Antoine Laurain’s, but I certainly plan to read more now!
• 
  SueKich

  Look who's croaking.
  
  Phyllobates terribilis. A tiny poisonous Ecuadorean frog and just one of the original murder weapons employed by Fabrice Valantine, the narrator of Antoine Lourain’s hugely entertaining new novel, as he seeks to restore his pleasure in smoking.
  
  M Lourain is something of a magician. On page one, he lures us in with a harangue against the nanny-state: “It was in 2007 that the heinous law took effect. The law that drove smokers to congregate outside office buildings in courtyards where smoking was soon also banned.” [As someone who launched their own grumpy website when this happened in Britain and called it Fume, I was of course immediately enthralled with the author’s initial proposition.] But very quickly, this becomes something else altogether.
  
  Smoking Kills is not just about the human need for ‘props’ and our addiction to them. This is also the story of the human need for fulfilment, for fathers, for love, for respect and recognition, and the fury that can overtake a man when these are removed from his life. In a mere 200-plus pages, Antoine Laurain serves up a fiendishly clever tale and Louise Rogers Lalaurie’s translation is faultless.
  
  Rivet, rivet…riveting!
  
  
• 
  Andy Weston

  I'm not a smoker. I tried when I was 13, but fortunately, I didn't like it. I can assure you that you don't need to be to enjoy this. Most of us know someone who does smoke, and rather than trying to quit, simply enjoys it. I suspect Laurain himself does.
  
  Fabrice Valantine, the protagonist and narrator here, is just such a person. We know from the outset that he is writing from prison, having killed several people, so its not a whodunnit, rather how and why, and is nonetheless, completely gripping.
  Valentine has given up, by seeing an hypnotist, who has removed the pleasure of smoking but neglected to remove the urge.
  Don't come to this expecting a fast-paced crime thriller, but it works extremely well in lots of other respects; a light and easy to read prose, very much its own thing, and saturated with irony.
  It has a Gallic noir stamp on it as well (à la Simenon / Garnier); from its Parisian setting, to that unfeeling and casual approach to murder, and the cynical and ironic voice of its characters.
  It's a novel that dwells on you after you finish. The immediate feeling is how much fun it was, especially after two very clever and humorous twists in the finale. After contemplation, Laurain has wittily brought attention to the anti-smoking campaign against those who push for a healthy lifestyle; his protagonist lauding the joy of smoking, but from prison, contrasted with those who have given up, in their own kind of prison. Its observations of freedom, and the interplay between personal and social, are relevant and satisfying.
  The stand-out feature though, that makes this novel a real treasure, is that it has one of the most fierce and delicously pleasing endings that I have read for a long time.
• 
  Kate Webb

  So fun, love this author and the twists are really great.
• 
  Jae

  Fiendishly clever and wickedly funny, this is a very entertaining novel by Antoine Laurain. Although the book is a parody of classic French noir, it is also a story about the human need for fulfilment and the 'props' we use to comfort ourselves throughout our lives. A highly addictive read!
  
• 
  Jill Elizabeth

  With a delicious droll French sensibility, Laurain's latest delivers the perfect blend of black comedy and social commentary. The story of an utterly unrepentant smoker who finds himself struggling after being hypnotized out of the enjoyment (but not the addiction) of smoking is in turns snarky, witty, and just a little bit tragic. With an excellent supporting cast that fleshes out the scenes perfectly, the book will make you smile with grim glee as you join Fabrice on his journey down the rabbit hole. This is a darker side of smoking you've NEVER seen before, and it was an exceedingly enjoyable ride from the first pages through the last!
  
  That's my review of the book - which is incredible. Now let me say a few words about the fact that it's a translation... I don't imagine translators get enough credit by half, so I want to make sure I acknowledge the magnificent job that Louise Rogers-Lalaurie at Gallic Books did with this novel. This is a story that depends almost entirely on mood setting - and that is accomplished by perfect language used throughout. Perfect language that was written by the original author in a language rich in idiom and descriptive words that don't directly translate into English. So not only is this a fabulous book, but it's a fabulous book that had to be recreated in a language with different idioms, customs, and phrasing. And it was done in such a fashion that it still felt perfectly French throughout. I am always so impressed when someone can manage that - it's no small feat and deserving of credit in its own right!
  
  My review copy was generously provided by Meryl Zegarek Public Relations. It's my first Antoine Laurain - but most definitely not my last.
• 
  Wendy

  A wonderfully weird, satirical tale harnessing the allure of a commonplace ‘vice’ and its extraordinary influence.
  
  Taking full advantage of this habitual diversion is head hunter Fabrice Valentine. That is until workplace legislation is inflicted upon all employees requiring them to curb their nonchalant attitudes toward the company’s ‘no smoking policy’.
  
  Being released from the spell of life-long dependence proves a psychologically complex affair for Monsieur Valentine. After he is cast adrift from the familiarity of ‘nicotine on demand’ he stumbles upon an unconventional strategy that enables him to rekindle the euphoric ‘hit’ he misses – perhaps giving up smoking should carry a health warning for those around him!
  
  There’s no denying it, Smoking Kills is refreshingly different. The flurry of (homicidal) creativity made it a highly addictive read that I inhaled in one sitting, and once again I’m left craving more work by this author who has a flair for transforming an ordinary situation into an entertainingly outlandish one.
• 
  Lisa

  das ist einfach ein wirklich tolles und witziges Buch über einen Mann, der einfach weiterhin Spaß am Rauchen habe möchte
• 
  Wendy

  To smoke or not to smoke, that is the question.
  
  And the moral of the story is:
  When life offers you your first cigarette, just say no!!!
  
  Our narrator/protagonist, Fabrice Valantine, tells his story from a prison cell.
  
  His story is a very tangled web. A very witty black comedy that I would highly recommend if you enjoy that type of thing.
  
  Without giving away too much, here are some favorite passages:
  
  …..’Hypnosis’…..
  At that, I let out a kind of high-pitched chuckle, that took even me by surprise. My wife shot me a furious look.
  ‘What’s got into you, Fabrice? You should listen, not mock.’
  Michel Vaucourt raised his hand in the manner of a Native American chief at a pipe ceremony who only wanted to make peace with the Palefaces.
  
  …..My wife was a saint, suffering the tyranny of a smoker, a kind of impossible house-dragon blasting everything in his path: curtains, velvet sofa covers, cushions, carpets, and not forgetting the colour of the net curtains - the water in the washing machine was completely yellow!
  ‘Yes, yes!’ chorused Michel Vaucourt’s wife, excitedly. And the ceiling! Yellow! As for the tiles….’
  I tried to distract them by humming ‘Yellow Submarine’.
  
  ….My workmate Jean Gold had tried Zyban a couple of years earlier in an effort to quit pipe-smoking, and the treatment had had some odd effects. He claimed he experienced the same dream every night, in which he found himself attending a conference in Dubai, where he was forced to share his hotel suite with Adolf Hitler. The dream began with him waking up to see the Fuhrer’s things placed on the bedroom chair, after which Gold followed the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. Pushing the door, he found Hitler in a foam bath, asking for toothpaste in German. Down in reception, the concierge would calmly explain that he couldn’t possibly occupy the suite on his own and that he would have to share it with Hitler, who was a valued customer, polite, tidy, with a fine sense of humour. Furthermore, the Fuhrer was perfectly happy with the arrangement.
  
  …..The ideas swirling in my head hit a solid wall of absurdity: in the eyes of all concerned, I would look like a harmless nutcase at best and, at worst, like someone in the grip of a full-blown manic episode. I faced these painful hours with no solace whatsoever, just the dusty taste of my cigarettes and the utter ineffectiveness of the nicotine.
  
  …..We stepped slowly into the water, pausing to shake the hands of a few colleagues splashing about in front of a pressure jet nearby. Shaking hands underwater is something you have to try in order to appreciate the full absurdity of the gesture.
  ‘Good evening, everyone! Welcome!’
  We jumped out of our skins. Franck Louvier’s voice resonated from every loudspeaker around the pool. He was standing on the diving board, microphone in hand. His athletic musculature gleamed, but not from pool water: he must have slathered himself in oil, like a bodybuilder. He delivered a short speech about the Piscine Pontoise, a gem of thirties architecture, with its thirty-three-metre pool, and about how we should all get to know one another better through the joy of sport, and other nonsense. He looked like an Aryan SS officer, glamorised in a film by Leni Riefenstahl. With his short blond slightly swept-back hair, a black-and-white photograph of him would easily pass for an old piece of Nazi propaganda.
• 
  Margaret McCulloch-Keeble

  I love Antoine Laurain's books. This one is perhaps the darkest. They're normally quite whimsical, but his one has a sort of Dahl-esque Tales of the Unexpected thing going on here and there. A bit of a guilty pleasure. Naughty but nice.
• 
  Gwen Cooper

  As a former smoker, I found a fairly obvious appeal in this book. It's described as "noir," although I think I'd classify it more as a dark comedy. The premise is pretty straightforward: A successful French business executive undergoes hypnosis in order to quit smoking. The treatment is successful for a while, but ultimately he relapses--except that now he can't get quite the same "high" from smoking. In an effort to recapture that feeling of exhilaration that he used to get from a cigarette, he turns to murder (as, I suppose, one does). Since his chosen victims are so thoroughly cretinous that we as readers are pretty psyched to see them dispatched, the tone is more "Heathers" (dark comedy) than "The Bride Wore Black" (true noir).
  
  This was a speedy and entertaining read. It didn't knock my socks off or anything, but it killed a few hours pleasantly enough and didn't once give me an urge to light up a cigarette myself--which was a relief!
• 
  Edward

  Not my favorite Laurain book by any means. I have read all his others and have enjoyed his quirkiness and writing immensely. However, this one just doesn't hold up for me. I found the protagonist to be too self absorbed with his habit and, even with having been a smoker myself (quit years ago), I found his obsession with smoking to be pitiful at best. With all his reflection on his habit, how could he ever manage to be present enough to work with clients or ever be present with his wife? I can't imagine why his apparently successful wife ever put up with him and his habit. If a book is not taking you anywhere, if it is not enjoyable, I have found out that I need to put it away and start another. I found this book not worth the effort and put it away.
• 
  Sabine

  Ich habe bisher alle Bücher des Autors gelesen, dieses aber ist anders – keine Liebesgeschichte, sondern eine bittere Satire und schwarze Komödie, auf jeden Fall böse und zynisch, voller spritziger Ideen und auf eine ganz eigene Weise unterhaltsam.
  
  Fabrice ist 48 Jahre alt, passionierter Raucher und entsetzt über das neue Rauchverbot an seinem Arbeitsplatz. Zwar ist eine Hypnosesitzung zur Entwöhnung erfolgreich, und ihm ist jeglicher Genuss beim Rauchen verlorengegangen, doch Fabrice vermisst dieses genussvolle Rauchen schmerzlich. Als er nach dem Tod eines Menschen seine Lust am Rauchen kurz wiedererlangt, kommt Fabrice eine wahnwitzige Idee.
  
  Die Geschichte ist skurril und böse, voller Zynismus und Ironie, Fabrice ein eher unsympathischer Protagonist, den ich aber dennoch gerne begleitet habe. Zwar braucht die Geschichte etwas Zeit, um in Schwung zu kommen, dafür besticht die erste Hälfte aber durch den charmanten und pointierten Schreibstil, so dass ich hier – obwohl gar nicht viel passierte – immer wieder schmunzeln musste. In der zweiten Hälfte des Buches geht es dann richtig zur Sache, und es ist nicht mehr der Schreibstil, der mich bei der Stange hält, sondern der bitterböse Verlauf der Geschichte. Das Ende setzt dem ganzen noch eins drauf – nicht nur, weil es überraschend ist und ich damit nicht gerechnet habe, sondern weil hier der Wortwitz einfach überzeugt.
  
  Fabrice ist nicht gerade ein Sympathieträger, dennoch aber ist seine Figur sehr gut gezeichnet. Die Art, wie er durchs Leben treibt, wie er von einem Fettnapf zum nächsten springt und was er über sich und die Menschen um ihn herum denkt, sind dafür aber sehr unterhaltsam, so dass ich ihm gerne gefolgt bin. Viele andere Charaktere gibt es in diesem Buch gar nicht und die braucht die Geschichte auch nicht; die aber, die noch vorkommen, sind in ihren Eigenheiten, ihren Ecken und Kanten wirklich überzeugend.
  
  Wer mit einer gehörigen Portion Zynismus umzugehen weiß und vor bitterbösem Humor nicht zurückschreckt, dem wird diese Geschichte wohl gefallen. Mir war sie an einigen Stellen zu langsam erzählt und zu weit hergeholt, daher gebe ich 3,5 von 5 Sternen.
  
  Mein Fazit
  Man sollte dem schwarzen Humor nicht abgeneigt sein, wenn man zu diesem Buch greift, dann aber gibt es eine wirklich böse und zynische Geschichte um einen passionierten Raucher, dem der Genuss des Rauchens verloren geht. Die Sprache ist wieder wunderbar, pointiert und auf den Punkt, dennoch charmant und gewinnend, die Geschichte selber braucht ein wenig, um in Fahrt zu kommen. Mir war sie gerade in der ersten Hälfte zu langsam erzählt, daher gebe ich 3,5 von 5 Sternen.
• 
  Tom Mooney

  SMOKING KILLS by Antoine Laurain. I wasn't sure about this after 30 pages but in the end I really quite liked it.
  
  About an executive who quits smoking and replaces the nicotine urge with a lust for murder, I was, I guess, hoping for something along the lines of American Psycho.
  
  What you actually get is nothing of the sort. Smoking Kills is, at heart, a satire of ageing and art, and an ode to nihilism. Despite a highly paid career as a headhunter, 49-year-old Fabrice derives most of his pleasure from cigarettes. Peer pressure makes him give them up, via a shoddy hypnotherapist. His addiction is cured, sort of, but it makes him miserable. But, after inadvertantly stumbling into a murder, he gets his lust for life back.
  
  This is light entertainment but is full of wry humour and the occasional genuinely funny moment. It is a book about finding - or rather lacking - meaning in middle age. It is essentially pushing the same buttons as Greer's Pulitzer-winning Less, only in a far different style and with much more success. Oh, and the ending is a killer!
• 
  LittleMissBookworm

  "Wenn man eine Laufbahn als Raucher einschlägt, begeht man im Normalfall nur Selbstmord."
  
  Eine erfolgreiche Hypnosesitzung lässt den langjährigen Raucher Fabrice jegliche Lust am Qualmen verlieren. Doch darüber freut er sich ganz und gar nicht. Dann findet er zufällig heraus, dass der Genuss wiederkehrt, nachdem er einen Mord begangen hat...
  
  Der Klappentext dieses Romans hat mich sofort angesprochen und zum Schmunzeln gebracht. Leider hat mich "Die Zigarette danach" letzten Endes aber relativ enttäuscht. Die Handlung ist definitiv äußerst originell und mit keinem Roman zu vergleichen, den ich bisher gelesen habe. Allerdings hat er mich weder amüsiert, was ich eigentlich erwartet hatte, noch gepackt, wie es ein guter Krimi getan hätte.
  
  Abschließend lässt sich also sagen, dass Antoine Laurain mit diesem Buch keinen Fan aus mir machen konnte. Ich bin mir aber sicher, dass diese skurrile Geschichte anderen durchaus gefallen wird.
• 
  David Scarborough

  I've read all of this author's books and really love the stories, however, this one just didn't grab me like the others have done.
  
  Usually I can read one of his books in a day or two, but this one took me closer to a week because I just found it a tad boring and went into too much explanation on minor details that had no big point to the larger storyline. I agree that it had funny storylines and entertaining characters, but I felt it was taking too long of an explanation sometimes to get to the point. Case in point, sometimes an entire page or two would be dedicated to the details of a brand of cigarettes, how he likes to light them, the colors of the packaging, etc. While he goes into great detail, it tends to just be run on thoughts that are not really contributing to the overall storyline.
  
  Out of all his books, I think this one is my least favorite, followed by The Portrait.
• 
  Kim

  Much like the rest of Antoine Laurain's works I absolutely adored this. Once again his writing shines beautifully while weaving such a complex and intriguing story.
  
  This book is not just about smoking or for smokers. I've never smoked a cigarette or cigar in my life but Laurain's style of writing made me feel as if I were right there smoking with Mr. Valantine.
  
  It's tough to write much in a review of this work without giving away any of the plot points. Let's just say I was very impressed with where the story went, even though the reader is told in the beginning of the book essentially what to expect the travel to the endpoint is as always one hell of a wild ride.
  
  If you like Modiano give Laurain a try. If you like Laurain and Modiano then give Andre Alexis a try.
  
  
• 
  Kathryn M

  This book was hilarious and I need to remember French so I can read the original. He refers to someone who quit smoking as a “vile traitor” and that is the term I will use from now on for all of my friends who won’t leave their apartments just because of a sober January. The descriptions are very strong and how far-fetched yet accurate they are makes for very entertaining reading. Example: “The strategies of war which bring about the great geopolitical upheavals of this world are ultimately based on nothing but murder on a grand scale as a powerful means of persuasion...The ability to make death abstract is a trick valued highly by the dictators of this world. Grand illusionists that they are , they can make entire populations disappear without anyone worrying about it.”
• 
  William Bentrim

  Smoking Kills by Antoine Laurain
  
  Cigarettes are now associated with death but not normally with murder. An infatuation with both lends the macabe to the story.
  
  This author dwells on character introspection.
  
  Fabrice Valantine is a head hunter of the job opportunity persuasion rather than the jungle dwelling type. However they both have an affinity for poisons.
  
  This book was a bit strange.
  
• 
  Maureen Grigsby

  Fabrice Valantine has a very comfortable life. He is an executive in an exclusive headhunting firm and can afford to collect expensive lighters and ashtrays to go with his enjoyment of smoking. When he decides to quit smoking, his life changes in ways he never anticipated. Another delightful satire from the always amusing Antoine Laurain.
• 
  Vivienne

  Another delightful short novel by Laurain
  
  This is the third book by Laurain selected by our reading group and they always prove to be popular with us due to their quintessential sense of Gallic whimsy.
  
  The comedy here is pitch black and he also takes a swipe at various social issues. Always a pleasure to read.
• 
  Andrew

  Another quirky tale from Antoine Laurain, set in the context of anti-smoking legislation which has a bizarre impact on the protagonist who visits a hypnotist and is then deprived of smoking’s pleasure until he pushes someone under a train. As usual, Laurain creates an engaging story from an unlikely premise.
• 
  Carolyn Fagan

  Laurain excels at dark humor and this is no exception. What happens when you lose the enjoyment of cigarette smoking, how far will you go to get it back? Definitely dark...unfortunately I got sidetracked with other books and didn't read it straight through but had to put it down and pick it up a few times, it needs to be read in one or two sittings to really appreciate it I think.
• 
  Nicola

  I really wanted to like this book - it's dreamy, languid and mildly amusing, but it just doesn't hang together well. It's...mediocre rather than incisive and it's not as witty as the plot would have you think. Would not recommend.