Group Read, June 2019: Bonjour Tristesse

Our June group read is Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan. Please join in the read and post any comments on this thread.

I will be reading this but I but I have two other books to finish first. Probably will start by mid month.

I have this from the library, ready to go.

The world-weary voice of the totally privileged teen-ager is so 50s! We'll see how it goes.

This is a short and readable story that I sailed through in less than a day. I thought it was well written and it sucked me in. Not quite sure I've met any seventeen year old who would be capable of putting a plan in to operation like this, but apart from that quibble I found this entertaining. 3.5/5

It's entertaining enough, although when she asks herself (and I paraphrase) if she is just a silly spoiled selfish girl, my answer was a resounding "yes". Not sure I see what makes it worthy of inclusion in the list.

I’ve just started and can see it won’t take long. I’m guessing part of its appeal is that it was written by an 18 year old.

>6 Helenliz: I agree. Apparently controversial/scandalous in its day but I can't really see why. I had mixed feelings about the girl - yes it references the emotional overreactions of teenagers but I also felt she was a bit too cunning and knowing of the ways of the world for someone that age.

I finished this. I sort of liked it - there was something about the tone and description that struck me as spot on. Like her experimenting with alcohol, enjoying the sun, and being lazy. It's definitely a teenager writing about being a teenager. I think I would have liked it even more if I'd been a teenager the first time I read it!

>9 japaul22: I see what you mean -- there really is something that rings true about how proud she is of her hedonistic lifestyle, the "I was born for pleasure" kind of thing. What's actually unusual is that she shares that hedonism with her father, so it's not an act of rebellion. Until Anne comes along. The narrator's relationship with Anne is also really convincing, wavering back and forth between resentment and admiration.

It's a choppy book and one that shows its genesis (written very fast by a teen-ager) yet it's been worth reading.

>9 japaul22: I think that's a fair point. I'm of an age with Anne, and it was her point of view I had the most sympathy with, not Celine. Had I read it when I was of an age with her, I'm sire I may have found her more sympathetic.

>11 Helenliz: I'm also the same age as Anne and I identified with her as well. It occurs to me that for an 18 year old author, that says something as well. Writing a believable character that is at a phase of life that you haven't yet experienced is impressive.

I read the book last year and I really enjoyed it. What Cécile does is obviously the (too?) cunning plan of a teenager who doesn't want Anne to limit her lifestyle and act like the mother she doesn't know she needs, but the story is told by the slightly older woman who knows how terrible it all ends.

SHE doesn't feel any triumph but mostly the pain of growing up and being responsible for other people's misery. Having her way means losing her innocence and facing the muddy waters of adulthood. Hello sadness, indeed.