Reviews

5 stars for Chéri, 3 for The End of Chéri. I’m sure it deserves to be read in the original French (I wish I could) but I think the new translation does as good a job as possible.

“‘I look like a gardener,’ she judged bluntly. ‘A vegetable farmer. A Norman vegetable farmer who goes out in the potato fields wearing a necklace. It looks about as good on me as an ostrich plume stuck up my nose, and I’m being polite.’”

carol8's review against another edition

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4.0

"... mistress of metaphor and sparkling detail... Oh, how I like Colette's way of writing!"

"A hope, as senseless as the hope that can strike people mid-descent as they fall from a tower, shimmered between them and disappeared."

"You were unique only... for a time."

taviamorgan's review against another edition

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3.0

definitely one of the better books i’ve read for school. i thought cheri was interesting though annoying. lea was great. i though cheri was probably a 4 but the last of cheri was a lot more boring which makes sense and i get why but i just didn’t enjoy it as much. overall it was interesting and definitely brings up interesting issues especially of the time period but i nothing that blew my mind. i did the like the ending and i felt like it made a lot of sense.

igru23's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

emilybryk's review against another edition

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4.0

So maudlin as to cross over into genuinely heartbreaking.

If I read French, I imagine this would be 5 stars -- I feel like something got lost in the translation, but I can't be sure.

katsala's review

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3.0

Individually, I’d rate Chéri at 4 stars and The Last of Chéri at 2 stars.

peachiisun1111's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i'm quite torn tbh. i read it in a very stilted way - i read the first two thirds towards the start of the year, and finished the remaining part just recently. i enjoyed the last part much more (i don't really have any reason why). i found the characters and their relationships interesting, and i enjoyed the writing a lot too, but i could definitely understand if someone found it boring. the ending is quite abrupt too (a deliberate choice for sure, given the way it did end). i am thinking about reading more from this author.

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