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theliteraryteapot's Reviews (314)
I believe this book is part of the French school curriculum for high school (junior or senior?) students. Truthfully, I'm afraid this mandatory classic may be seen as simply boring to them, I don't know. But one thing I'm happy about is that the French school curriculum finally features more women writers, a bisexual woman originally from outside of Paris.
Just a note on the 2022 preface; It is written by a man from the Académie française (I have some beef with them, as a former language student). This man not only used the n-word to describe the way Colette was used by her first husband (who would force her to write non-stop in order to make more money) when the word 'slave' could've been used or literally any other word instead of a racial slur (reminder this is a version aimed at highschoolers), but the writing was also so messy I felt bad for Colette.
Setting this awful preface aside, this was my very first Colette book, which is a shame as she's THE famous author in my home region. Colette came from the countryside in Burgundy, just like me. My grandma's first name is Colette and she remembers studying the Claudine series. In Colette's (the author) natal village, there's a museum dedicated to her.
A collection of short stories, starting with Colette's literary portrayals of her mother, then her father and then her siblings. The second part is made of several other very short short stories. Colette's work is mostly autobiographical or at least fictionalised autobiography. She depicts little scenes from everyday life: fishing, tea with a friend, leaving after a night spent with a lover, her family, her natal Burgundy, her cat, dog, being an introvert, ... This is not a book filled with lots of actions nor lots of dialogue. It's descriptive, it's simple.
Colette's writing took me a while to adjust to. For some reason, she uses so many (useless?) commas (even for the French language). There were also repetitions: words used several times in the same sentence. This made the writing a bit dense and redundant and could have benefited from cleaner editing. But I guess that's the Colette style.
I liked some stories and I'm so glad an author from my little Burgundy countryside was a successful writer, in particular a sapphic woman, in her time and still today. I can appreciate reading about cats, dogs or even just contemplating the sky but it was nothing astounding either. Besides, this book put me into a reading slump. I recommand if you want to get more into French-speaking literature and if you like slice of life books and autofiction.
Just a note on the 2022 preface; It is written by a man from the Académie française (I have some beef with them, as a former language student). This man not only used the n-word to describe the way Colette was used by her first husband (who would force her to write non-stop in order to make more money) when the word 'slave' could've been used or literally any other word instead of a racial slur (reminder this is a version aimed at highschoolers), but the writing was also so messy I felt bad for Colette.
Setting this awful preface aside, this was my very first Colette book, which is a shame as she's THE famous author in my home region. Colette came from the countryside in Burgundy, just like me. My grandma's first name is Colette and she remembers studying the Claudine series. In Colette's (the author) natal village, there's a museum dedicated to her.
A collection of short stories, starting with Colette's literary portrayals of her mother, then her father and then her siblings. The second part is made of several other very short short stories. Colette's work is mostly autobiographical or at least fictionalised autobiography. She depicts little scenes from everyday life: fishing, tea with a friend, leaving after a night spent with a lover, her family, her natal Burgundy, her cat, dog, being an introvert, ... This is not a book filled with lots of actions nor lots of dialogue. It's descriptive, it's simple.
Colette's writing took me a while to adjust to. For some reason, she uses so many (useless?) commas (even for the French language). There were also repetitions: words used several times in the same sentence. This made the writing a bit dense and redundant and could have benefited from cleaner editing. But I guess that's the Colette style.
I liked some stories and I'm so glad an author from my little Burgundy countryside was a successful writer, in particular a sapphic woman, in her time and still today. I can appreciate reading about cats, dogs or even just contemplating the sky but it was nothing astounding either. Besides, this book put me into a reading slump. I recommand if you want to get more into French-speaking literature and if you like slice of life books and autofiction.
It lacks inclusion of bisexual and trans perspective but have to keep in mind it's theory from the 1980s, otherwise interesting and important conversation.
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Interesting essay about poetry being political.
This is the book that made me realise I'm getting older and growing out of teenage stories (except for middle grade) and their dramas, particularly if they're US-centric. This is definitely an important queer story. One about a teen girl exploring her sexuality and finding out she also likes girls. And a story about friendships in high school. The love triangle amongst Ophelia's friends was annoying to me as it took so much space in the book. But in the end, these characters are really just teenagers about to graduate high school, they don't know why they're even friends and don't communicate properly. A teen story being relatable to many teenage readers for sure.
This book was an easy read, the language was simple and the pace felt right. But there was so much dialogue. Except for the last few chapters, the story was told through dialogues, as if this story was meant from the beginning to be adapted as a tv show.
Overall, I know this book is important and means a lot to many people. As a bisexual woman, this is the type of book I wish I could have read when I was a teenager. It would have greatly helped me. And this is one of the most gorgeous covers I have ever seen.
This book was an easy read, the language was simple and the pace felt right. But there was so much dialogue. Except for the last few chapters, the story was told through dialogues, as if this story was meant from the beginning to be adapted as a tv show.
Overall, I know this book is important and means a lot to many people. As a bisexual woman, this is the type of book I wish I could have read when I was a teenager. It would have greatly helped me. And this is one of the most gorgeous covers I have ever seen.
