Creatures Great and Small

An utterly cheerful and amusing narration of various antics and experiences of TOBY- the dog and KIKI-the demure cat. Colette shrewdly depicts the several shades of traits, revealing the gullible and devoted Toby and the sly and narcissistic Kiki, whilst revealing the underlying human persona in these animals. It may sound like an elementary school read; even so it is worth a glimpse for the fineness of Colette’s inimitable flair to convey complex elements through simplistic tenderness of animal emotions.

This is probably the fourth time I've read this over a period of many years. I always enjoy it. The first volume, Creature Conversations, is very charming. Colette has a feel for animals and portrays them and their thoughts sympathically and beautifully. What I noticed this time that I didn't the others is that there is a lot of her own autobiography in many of these short stories. In fact, that is true in much of her writing.

Colette est comme les fabulistes qui font parler les bêtes pour sonder le coeur des Hommes. C'est en creux un dialogue de moralistes que nous livrent Toby et Kiki, avec leurs caractères profonds de chien fou amoureux de sa maîtresse et de chat distant et froid n'ayant pas oublié qu'il fut un dieu parmi les hommes et qui tient à le faire savoir. Dialogues amusants qui nous parlent de nous avec beaucoup de finesse, écrits avec un style propre à Colette, très châtié et compréhensible par tous. La grande classe.