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A review by frazzle
Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan
4.0
Extra points for extreme concision (107 pages) and for being written by an 18-year-old. Apparently many people in 1950s France refused to believe such a knowing and nuanced book could have come from a youth, and a woman at that.
Cécile enjoys a lifestyle of luxury with her widowed but fast-living father. We follow the pair's being tamed by a sophisticated woman who becomes engaged to the father. Stifled but fascinated by the woman's elegance and morals, Cécile effects a scheme to retake the upper hand, with tragic consequences.
This managed to stay on the right side of youthful self-indulgence for me. Cécile's complaining has a stylishness and world-weariness about it, that the French do so well. The story was fast-paced while managing to feel self-contained.
The beautiful prose and setting was definitely heightened for me by my nostalgia for European summer, and excitement at the prospect of sampling it myself in coming weeks!
Cécile enjoys a lifestyle of luxury with her widowed but fast-living father. We follow the pair's being tamed by a sophisticated woman who becomes engaged to the father. Stifled but fascinated by the woman's elegance and morals, Cécile effects a scheme to retake the upper hand, with tragic consequences.
This managed to stay on the right side of youthful self-indulgence for me. Cécile's complaining has a stylishness and world-weariness about it, that the French do so well. The story was fast-paced while managing to feel self-contained.
The beautiful prose and setting was definitely heightened for me by my nostalgia for European summer, and excitement at the prospect of sampling it myself in coming weeks!