«Le barman du Ritz», ambiguity at the bottom of the cocktail

After reading Le Barman du Ritz by Philippe Collin, passing by this Parisian hotel will no longer be trivial. During the Occupation, Frank Meier, «the best bartender in the world», served under the laughter of the Nazis, in a contrasting theater of champagne and war.

This is the theater of the hypocrisy of the world's great and good. One of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century.^th The Ritz's luxurious walls are the perfect setting for a twisted game of masks, lies, low voices and shifty glances. Gabrielle Chanel schemes with the SS, while Sacha Guitry jokes with vermouth-drunk German generals. It's a strange spectacle played out in one of the world's most prestigious hotels. The Ritz and its bar, that lavishly decorated bar, porous to conspiracies and hypocritical smiles. In dated chapters, Philippe Collin sketches an unbalanced, unsettling world, revealed through Frank Meier's rimmed eyes.

A bitter cocktail

It's all happening in Frank Meier's bar. Under the sound of his shaker, a disturbing atmosphere takes shape: the perfumes of richly-dressed ladies, the bright lights of chandeliers and champagne floating with fresh raspberries, are mixed with the atrocities of war and spine-chilling Germanic orders. Fitzgerald and Hemingway, whose portraits are all that remain on the walls, have given way to dark uniforms stained red on the shoulder. And the reader, lurking behind Meier's imposing body, but also behind his heavy secret - the worst a man can have in these dark times - observes this disturbing tableau that plunges him into an ambiguous position.

Intoxicated by the eccentric cocktails and disgusted by the venomous exchanges, the reader no longer knows. He no longer knows what's good, what's bad, what's ultimately true. But despite this ambivalent feeling, it's malaise that overwhelms him. A gray, cold, hard malaise. Like the climate behind the hotel windows. That's the essence of this novel, of the story Philippe Collin tells us. He brings us face to face with something that has been perpetuated in society since the dawn of time: pretending, burying certain thoughts, certain impulses, that we may have when faced with power, the executioner, and situations where we must keep silent, lie, hide.

Frank Meier, ambiguity incarnate

Frank Meier carries this ambiguity through his profession and his condition as a Jewish man. Professionalism and a good face under all circumstances. But if the devil has occupied the premises and is doing a macabre dance, he doesn't take up residence inside the bartender's soul. For love and integrity reign there, and to honor them, he'll do anything. To falsify documents, shave walls and risk his skin. To put his friendliness at the service of the enemy and break the rules. And thus, to embody ambiguity and duality.

Philippe Collin achieves a master stroke with this first novel. A tribute to Frank Meier, it is also a tribute to the victims of war. All their sufferings are revealed before our very eyes, and the reader of the 21st century will be able to appreciate them.^th The full extent of this can be felt as you read: tears well up, your breath is taken away, the book is put down for a few moments. Those little moments that make the novel good. And then, what this book is really about is relationships with others, feelings, hate and love, awareness of one's neighbor's existence, and ultimately, humanity. This is the taste that remains at the close of the Barman at the Ritz. A novel that stands out.

Write to the author: sofia.frosio@leregardlibre.com

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Phillipe Collin
Le Barman du Ritz
Albin Michel
April 2024
416 pages

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