Bonjour Tristesse

The cover of this translation of Françoise Sagan's classic coming of age tale has a quote that calls it thoroughly immoral. The back of the book tells me that it scandalised 1950s France with the main character's rejection of conventional notions of love.

What was love like in 1950s France, then? What's immoral about finding pleasure in desire and enjoyment in sex?

Sagan was 18 when she wrote the book, and her eye for the transition from youth to adulthood is precise. There is nothing flowery or romantic about her writing, but the book is more beautiful for that. Her style made me think of Fitzgerald, but I liked Sagan more. She brought some Flannery O'Connor to the mix.

Although only a short book, it drew me in completely. I really show more enjoyed it. show less

The love affairs of adults through the eyes of spoiled, smart and wily Cecile as she embarks upon her first affair. Her playboy father inexplicably decides to settle down with a woman his own age, a friend of Cecile's late mother. Anne is elegant, sophisticated, reserved and a bit of a control freak. Cecile and her father live a life of carefree pleasure that Anne threatens, and Anne's efforts to mold Cecile into a more serious young woman are ill-advised and resented. Cecile devises a plan to rid herself and her father of this woman. In lovely language, Sagan describes the psychological tug-of-war that takes place between Anne and Cecile as well as the affection between father and daughter and Cecile's first love affair, all on the show more sands and in the water of the French Riviera. A very good first novel. I will read Sagan again. show less

Seventeen year-old Cecile, her father Raymond and his current girlfriend Elsa are spending the summer in a Mediterranean coastal village. Cecile's mother died several years before and ever since, Raymond has had a string of brief romances. Cecile adores her father and isn't bothered at all by his selfish manipulations of the women he moves in and out of her life and even makes excuses for his behavior until he shows a preference for old friend Anne's company rather than her own.

It's hard to believe that Sagan was just eighteen years old when she wrote this. There is a maturity in both the writing and subject that I would never expect to see in a teenager or even someone ten years older. The story of Cecile's change from a child's show more reverence for a father who charmingly mistreats women, including Cecile, to a woman who has experienced real remorse and sadness is powerful and so very infused with the sophistication of France of the 1950's. Highly recommended. show less

Spoiled teen Cécile spends a summer on the Riviera with her "frivolous" father Raymond and his new fiancée, intelligent, orderly Anne. Fearing that Anne will drastically change her and her father's pleasure-seeking lifestyle after the planned fall wedding, Cécile hatches a plan to drive her father and his fiancée apart. Cécile revels in her ability to get weaker-minded people to do her bidding, but she doesn't foresee her scheme's tragic consequences.

First published in 1955, Bonjour Tristesse is a quick read about two unsympathetic characters: Cécile and Raymond. Father and daughter are both "egotists" who live only for the moment. Their boundary-less attachment to each other hints at emotional incest, but neither one of them is show more capable of love. The last page reveals that Cécile is just as frivolous as her father. Even Cécile's "tristesse" (sadness) at the end of the summer seems more like melodramatic self-indulgence than genuine sorrow for her actions.

Moreover, Anne's relationship with Raymond doesn't make much sense. What is such a successful, self-assured woman doing with such a shallow man?

Despite my reservations, I still found this novella a decent summer read. show less

Kellemesen csalódtam, mert előzetes elvárásaim ölég csekélyek voltak. Két okból. 1.) Ha 18 éves übertehetséges írótitánról hallok, akkor nálam rögtön elkezd dolgozni a gyanakvás – ez biztos a szokásos aggkori irigységből fakad. 2.) Az alaptörténet, valljuk meg, elég irritáló. A Jó reggelt, búbánat! világa olyan univerzum, amiben a szereplőknek sem anyagi, sem egészségügyi téren nincs semmiféle problémája, hát abból, ami rendelkezésükre áll (öregedés és testi vágy) konstruálnak maguknak, de akkorát, hogy ihaj. Képzelem, ’87-ben a Kádár-rendszerben szocializálódó olvasóközönség mekkora szemeket meresztett az ilyesfajta vergődések láttán… Másrészről viszont Sagan ezt show more a közeget olyan eleganciával és visszafogottsággal adja elő, amit csak bámulni tudok, pláne, hogy az ő korában a legtöbben olyan versek farigcsálásával töltöttük az időnket, amiken legfeljebb a saját édesanyánk hatódott meg.

A Jó reggelt, búbánat! tulajdonképpen két teljesen különböző szögből olvasható. Az egyik nézőpontból ez a klasszikus gonosz mostohás magyar népmesék gallikán változata: él a paradicsomi szabadság állapotában apa és lánya (de olyan nyitott szülő-gyermek kontaktusban, hogy attól egy visszafogottan konzervatív tisztségviselő a szociális minisztériumból rögvest köhögőgörcsöt kapna), ám egyszer csak megjelenik a femme fatale, egy idősödő, rohadtul decens és céltudatos asszony személyében, aki felborogatja a kukákat. De az intelligens és életteli leány nem hagyja magát, mert ha harc, hát legyen harc. A másik olvasat szerint pedig ez a könyv egy olyan kamaszról szól, aki annyira nem tudja, mit csináljon feneketlen jódolgában, hogy a nálánál idősebbek ítélőbírájául nevezi ki magát, és sátáni ravaszsággal szétcincálja apja aktuális kapcsolatát. Szerintem az a legelragadóbb ebben a könyvben, hogy egyik opciót sem lehet kizárni. Sagan van annyira ügyes, hogy a két ellentétes nézőpontot egyszerre futtassa, ami arra kényszeríti az olvasót, hogy folyamatosan összevesse egyiket a másikkal. (Már ha nem eleve elkötelezett valamelyik mellett.) Mindenképpen bravúros húzás.

A kötet második kisregénye (Szereti Brahmsot?) ugyanazt a témát variálja, mint az első. A szabadság kockázatainak regénye: mi történik, ha addig ragaszkodunk a függetlenségünkhöz, hogy a végén az elmagányosodottság kellős közepént találjuk magunkat? A szereplők sem az első, sem a második „megíródásban” nem lelik meg a választ erre a kérdésre, ami úgy fest, a sagan-i életmű központi konfliktusa – mindenesetre itt is jól olvashatóan és tetszetősen kínlódnak nekünk. Bár a Szereti Brahmsot? nem tűnik olyan erősnek, mint az első kisregény, de azért rutinos, szép szöveg életteli szereplőkkel. Kicsit mintha iparosmunka lenne, de annak kiváló. show less

This is France’s answer to Catcher in the Rye and, considering it was published when Sagan was only 18, is astonishing for that. The writing shows great maturity and insight into human character, particularly that of older adult relationships, which elude me even today, let alone when I was 18!

The story is from the point of view of an adolescent, Cecile, watching her father deal with a couple of women who want to marry him. I really appreciated the way that Sagan described the feelings that accompany this. I went through something similar although I was only 10 years old at the time. I think she gets it spot on.

Cecile has a hard time accepting the fact that her father has chosen to marry despite being happy with a string of show more girlfriends and living what Cecile thinks is an idyllic carefree life. The conception that there is nothing to gain in the impending marriage for her middle-aged father is, I think, a very natural one for someone in their teens who would reject anything that would tie them down.

Cecile is a complex character and although anyone writing about a teen would have to take this into account, to do it when you yourself are a teen is quite amazing I think. She is torn between greatly admiring the woman her father has chosen while abhorring the idea of her becoming her stepmother. This leads to a great deal of conflict, understandably, although most of this is psychological rather than physical.

It’s a very short book and can easily be read in one sitting and, in fact, I think would benefit from that approach so that you immerse yourself in the mind of Cecile with no distractions. show less

Probably a book to read when you're young and on the cusp of adulthood, as is the impossible and provoking Cecele. The spoilt child of a spoilt papa, Cecile spends the best part of an idyllic summer trying to drive discord into the relationships around her - and succeeds. The heartlessness and vulnerability of teenagers is terrifying...