The Last of Chéri

This book is both boring and brilliant. Nothing happens. The main character just mopes around Paris feeling sorry for himself. And as the reader you join the other characters in the book in trying to figure out the cause of his melancholia. Is it simply because he pines after Léa? Or is it because of his extreme narcissism? Or is it because Cheri too is one of the countless casualties of WW I? Someone who survived the war but finds himself on the other side of it, unable to adapt to the new order of things. Is it maybe just because he is a spoiled brat who never really grew up? After all, we already know from the first book that his upbringing left a lot to be desired. You never get a definitive answer.

After reading show more [b:Chéri|389115|Chéri|Colette|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1325621252s/389115.jpg|18924696] last year I was keen to get my hands on the sequel to see how one of the most dislikable characters that I'd come across in fiction, gets his comeuppance. I was looking forward to gloating over his demise. What I did not expect was to feel both empathy and sympathy for him!

I found the writing in this book to be absolutely brilliant. If it is so good in translation how well it must be in the original French? show less

Dark, depressing.

Roman peut-être commencé dès 1924, rédigé en 1925, La Fin de Chéri paraît en préoriginale dans La Revue de Paris, du 15 décembre 1925 au 15 janvier 1926 ; publication originale chez Flammarion, en mars 1926. Il doit peut-être quelque chose à un projet de pièce sur Chéri soldat (Chéri sera finalement un ancien combattant dans ce roman), voire à des nouvelles publiées en 1911-1912, dont le protagoniste se nommait « Chéri » ou « Clouk ». Enfin, Colette jouant au théâtre l’adaptation de Chéri entre 1922 et 1924-1925 ne pouvait qu’être incitée à reconsidérer ce personnage, et à lui donner, au sens propre, une « fin », sans parler des possibles répercussions, conscientes ou non, d’une autre fin, celle de show more sa liaison avec Bertrand de Jouvenel. show less