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kbuchanan's review against another edition
4.0
Leaving behind her school days, Claudine is thrust into the whirlwind of Paris and all of its temptations and delights. Though still pining for her rural retreat at Montingy, she still finds time to make conquests and experience city life to the full. As in the first novel, the main driving force here is Claudine's voice - assured and exuberant. Though the story here is small, confined mostly to the claustrophobic flat Claudine shares with her disinterested father, the energy hums along to make this an enjoyable read and keep us with Claudine as her story continues in the next volume.
bluefortheroses's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
aggieags17's review against another edition
4.0
Writing: lovely. Claudine: my fave. Gay cousin: iconic. Weird maid obsessed with sex: hilarious. 17 year old marrying her best friend's 40 year old dad after establishing him as a father figure? YIIIIIIIIKES!
Okay so I have to give it some leeway because it was from 1901, and for a woman who adamantly said she hated feminism, it contained a lot of ground-breaking content and gave French women a voice in literature. I adored "Claudine at School," and I also adored this one, up until the last couple chapters, where it all made me very uncomfortable and even included the phrase "Free women are not women at all." Even stranger, she wrote the beginning of their romance in a really cute way--if he was an entirely different person, it'd be sweet. But this...no. My sister told me that I can appreciate the work as a whole while still sustaining that that one part sucked. So that's what I'm going to go with, because that's how I feel about it, but that ending, though written as a happy one, left me with a gross taste in my mouth. Yikes. Delete that, and it's great! Okay. I guess I just read that....just...father and lover should not be used in the same sentence. No. ✌️
Okay so I have to give it some leeway because it was from 1901, and for a woman who adamantly said she hated feminism, it contained a lot of ground-breaking content and gave French women a voice in literature. I adored "Claudine at School," and I also adored this one, up until the last couple chapters, where it all made me very uncomfortable and even included the phrase "Free women are not women at all." Even stranger, she wrote the beginning of their romance in a really cute way--if he was an entirely different person, it'd be sweet. But this...no. My sister told me that I can appreciate the work as a whole while still sustaining that that one part sucked. So that's what I'm going to go with, because that's how I feel about it, but that ending, though written as a happy one, left me with a gross taste in my mouth. Yikes. Delete that, and it's great! Okay. I guess I just read that....just...father and lover should not be used in the same sentence. No. ✌️
extemporalli's review against another edition
3.0
You really can see the dreaded Hand of Willy in here, what with all the nonsensical Sapphic titillations (I say, as a nonsensical Sapphic myself) and the in some ways really rather excellent sulky gay dude getting turned on by said titillations. And, you know, identifying the characters in Claudine fully with their real-life counterparts - I loathed Renaud (loathed!) and so objectively any ending that shoves Claudine and Renaud together is a terrible ending. Can't wait for her to kill him off, etc.
I quite liked Claudine's canny descriptions of loathsome Paris, which gives you black boogers and is never as beautiful as beloved Montigny. This novel and the next really leans into the contrast between country and city landscapes and manners, and I loved all the scenes where Claudine and Melie speak in dialect.
I quite liked Claudine's canny descriptions of loathsome Paris, which gives you black boogers and is never as beautiful as beloved Montigny. This novel and the next really leans into the contrast between country and city landscapes and manners, and I loved all the scenes where Claudine and Melie speak in dialect.
piia's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
veryliterary's review against another edition
3.0
Not quite as charming as the previous book but still enjoyed it!
-Read in 2020-
-Read in 2020-
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