Reviews

Suite Francaise by Irène Némirovsky

shanhautman's review

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3.0

Got about halfway through and wasn’t motivated to continue. I was so intrigued by the premise but it was hard to stay engaged.

brodway's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

michelle_mcmaster's review

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3.0

I struggled keeping interest in the first half of the book.

jess_jingsi's review

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emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

jrabbit12's review

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4.0

An amazing, amazing, novel. Every generation picks an author to voice its life, emotions and events. This position was stolen from Nemirovsky by her death in Auschwitz, but she makes an outstanding posthumous come back. She has become one of my favorite all time authors (Fire in the Blood, David Golder) and should be taught in class rooms next to Hemingway, Dos Pasos, and other WWII "classic novelists".

book_concierge's review

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5.0

It is hard to separate my response to the author's tragic story from my response to this novel.

What an extraordinary work. We want so to keep reading. The author's own tragic story is even more compelling than this too-short novel.

This is an epic story of WW II and the occupation (by Germany) of France. The author, who was Jewish, was killed at Auschwitz after completing only the first two parts of a planned 5-part novel.
Her writing is sensual - full of sights, sounds, tastes, texture, smells. She tells of the mundane everyday struggle for normalcy against a backdrop of war.

It's an extraordinary work - the abrupt ending left me hungry for more!How sad that the world lost such a great talent.

mariugonza's review against another edition

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5.0

Una historia conmovedora, que me hizo reír, sufrir y que me llenó de esperanza en partes iguales

anpu325's review

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5.0

Beautiful, poignant and heartrending. Némirovsky finds beauty and irony in the worst of times-while she was living through them no less! I couldn't put this book down and walked around in a daze after finishing it. I was so moved by the way that Némirovsky saw the humanity in the Nazi soldiers who denied her own. Her compassion and insight into the selfishness and generosity of human nature at revealed in times of crisis will stay with me for a lifetime.

mrs_bonaventure's review against another edition

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5.0

So, so sad. Beautifully written - I now want to read her other books. But so sad.

giada_herondale's review against another edition

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Visto il periodo storico in cui ci troviamo, la lettura mi stava angosciando e portando alla mente molte paure. Ho preferito smettere.