Student Blogs

The protagonist, Jose, is poverty-stricken and it is evident in the way in which he lives. As with the other... read full post >>

blog#6 – taming Chaos — The Duality of Cécile was by far the most captivating aspect of Bonjour Tristesse. Françoise Sagan’s ability to portray both a wild, cunning jealousy and guilt-ridden empathy and sorrow is what makes the book such an interesting read. The raw honesty and (at times, hesitant yet inevitable) introspection of Cécile’s own […] read full post >>

This reading, by far, trumps Agostino in the genre of Oedipus complexes in the coming-of-age era. The relationship between Cecile and her father is much like the dynamic between Agostino and his mother in the sense that it felt like children raising children. The father did not care for Cecile’s education and let her go […] read full post >>

After reading Black Shack Alley, I really enjoyed this novel. I have read stories with similar themes like colonialism, supremacy, and poverty, but nothing like how the main character reconciles with these themes. At the beginning of the book, the main character is almost sort of naive to the idea of his grandparents and the […] read full post >>

Zobel’s Black Shack Alley is a fascinating look into the impacts of colonialism throughout childhood in Martinique, and the racialization and trauma that comes with it. It seemed to me while I read that José did not frequently dwell on and confront notions of race, but it was clear that race and struggles with identity pervaded much […] read full post >>

Reading ‘Bonjour Tristesse’ by Francoise Sagan went more quickly than I had expected. While the entire book spans months, I felt as if I were reading about one very long and eventful day. Perhaps this speaks to the “thoughtlessness” of our main... read full post >>

Reading ‘Bonjour Tristesse’ by Francoise Sagan went more quickly than I had expected. While the entire book spans months, I felt as if I were reading about one very long and eventful day. Perhaps this speaks to the “thoughtlessness” of our main... read full post >>

This week, the book I read was Bonjour Tristesse. I have to say, out of all the books that I have read thus far in this class, this was one of the ones I enjoyed the most. It was a very easy, fun story to read and I believe that had something to do with the relatability of the main character’s age and personality. I honestly truly enjoyed reading Cécile as a character. She is a naive, young, negligent and intense girl. As she made her plans and plotted against Anne and her father, it seemed as if she was pretty careless with her actions. She kept changing her mind on whether or not she wanted to continue carrying out her plan, and because of her indecisiveness, she kind of neglected the consequences that resulted from her actions. She would leave Cyril and Elsa in the dark by not giving them an update on the plan for days if she felt like it and just used them as chess pieces in her game. She seems to represent the very essence of a seventeen year old girl who has been spoiled with the comfort of knowing that she will never be in need of anything and that everything will work itself out in the end. The fact that the author was also 18 when she wrote this story is probably why Cécile’s character feels so real. It was very easy to understand the way she thought about life and to sympathize with her because she was so honest.

There’s something bubble-like about the way she lives her life. She is quite sheltered from the struggles of the outside world thanks to her father, his money and his status. She doesn’t have to fend for herself in terms of making a living or even going to school. I almost want to protect her little bubble forever because it feels so worry-free and quaint. However, there’s also a sense of danger that comes with this type of carelessness. It allows her to justify meddling and playing around with other people and their lives, like she did with Anne and the relationship she had with Cécile’s father. While she’s not obviously completely responsible for what happened to Anne, there’s something of a warning in there about cause and effect, and being prudent about the consequences that can arise as a result of playing God. 

Here is my question this week: How much responsibility should Cécile feel about Anne’s accident, if any?

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This week, the book I read was Bonjour Tristesse. I have to say, out of all the books that I have read thus far in this class, this was one of the ones I enjoyed the most. It was a very easy, fun story to read and I believe that had something to do with the relatability of the main character’s age and personality. I honestly truly enjoyed reading Cécile as a character. She is a naive, young, negligent and intense girl. As she made her plans and plotted against Anne and her father, it seemed as if she was pretty careless with her actions. She kept changing her mind on whether or not she wanted to continue carrying out her plan, and because of her indecisiveness, she kind of neglected the consequences that resulted from her actions. She would leave Cyril and Elsa in the dark by not giving them an update on the plan for days if she felt like it and just used them as chess pieces in her game. She seems to represent the very essence of a seventeen year old girl who has been spoiled with the comfort of knowing that she will never be in need of anything and that everything will work itself out in the end. The fact that the author was also 18 when she wrote this story is probably why Cécile’s character feels so real. It was very easy to understand the way she thought about life and to sympathize with her because she was so honest.

There’s something bubble-like about the way she lives her life. She is quite sheltered from the struggles of the outside world thanks to her father, his money and his status. She doesn’t have to fend for herself in terms of making a living or even going to school. I almost want to protect her little bubble forever because it feels so worry-free and quaint. However, there’s also a sense of danger that comes with this type of carelessness. It allows her to justify meddling and playing around with other people and their lives, like she did with Anne and the relationship she had with Cécile’s father. While she’s not obviously completely responsible for what happened to Anne, there’s something of a warning in there about cause and effect, and being prudent about the consequences that can arise as a result of playing God. 

Here is my question this week: How much responsibility should Cécile feel about Anne’s accident, if any?

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About Bonjour Tristesse, this week’s readings, I have a couple of thoughts but felt all over the place as I... read full post >>

To begin with, I found Bonjour Tristesse to be quite an intriguing, if a bit desolate, read. Sagan’s descriptions, especially when he focuses on the French upper class in the beginning of the twentieth century has an almost lyrical, romantic feel to it. What caught my interest the most the more I read of the novel was […] read full post >>

This definitely wasn’t my favourite book that we’ve read probably do to the constant theme of cruelty and punishment that carries out during the novel. However with that being said I do think that this is a very important read because it further educates its readers about the tough and brutal realities of slavery and […] read full post >>

Bonjour Tristesse was one of the books I have been looking forward to this entire course, just based off of the short description given, and it did not disappoint. I found this book to be one of the easier, or more liner books we have read so far. Not that the others haven't been interesting in their own ways but this one definitely held my attention the whole way through and it was very enjoyable to follow along. 

I think that one of the main reasons I loved it so much was actually because I was able to see so many parallels between the relationship Cecile and Raymond had and Agostino and his mother had. The situations were so similar yet different dynamics so it was interesting to read both of these novels one after the other. 

Another thing I really enjoyed was the relatability of this book, not necessarily content wise just based off of my own life ( I was not raised by a single parent etc. ) but in terms of approximate age, gender and the fact that it almost felt like this was written as a diary. Ceciles character was fascinating to read about although I did find her actions to be very destructive ( as she feels at the end of the novel ) and definitely don't agree with some of the feelings she has and the way she handled them. As with Agostino, Cecile being jealous of the women in her fathers life may come across as strange but I believe a part of this book is to show how normal these feelings may be. 

I think that (not to the extreme of the book) the situation of trying to prevent a parents marriage is something that happens more often than we think (the plan might not work realistically, but definitely the feelings of wanting to or at least a plan itself). In this extreme case, Cecile just wanting his father to be with someone she did not feel threatened by (like Elsa) and she almost admires Anne that makes her jealous because she is taking all of her fathers time and she in a way wishes to be as put together as Anne. This is very similar to the situation in Agostino. 

My questions for this novel would be, do you think the way Cecile was raised by her father is what brought her to have this love/hatred for a woman like Anne? Do you think Cecile possesses a sort of privilege because of the way she was raised? 

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Bonjour Tristesse was one of the books I have been looking forward to this entire course, just based off of the short description given, and it did not disappoint. I found this book to be one of the easier, or more liner books we have read so far. Not that the others haven't been interesting in their own ways but this one definitely held my attention the whole way through and it was very enjoyable to follow along. 

I think that one of the main reasons I loved it so much was actually because I was able to see so many parallels between the relationship Cecile and Raymond had and Agostino and his mother had. The situations were so similar yet different dynamics so it was interesting to read both of these novels one after the other. 

Another thing I really enjoyed was the relatability of this book, not necessarily content wise just based off of my own life ( I was not raised by a single parent etc. ) but in terms of approximate age, gender and the fact that it almost felt like this was written as a diary. Ceciles character was fascinating to read about although I did find her actions to be very destructive ( as she feels at the end of the novel ) and definitely don't agree with some of the feelings she has and the way she handled them. As with Agostino, Cecile being jealous of the women in her fathers life may come across as strange but I believe a part of this book is to show how normal these feelings may be. 

I think that (not to the extreme of the book) the situation of trying to prevent a parents marriage is something that happens more often than we think (the plan might not work realistically, but definitely the feelings of wanting to or at least a plan itself). In this extreme case, Cecile just wanting his father to be with someone she did not feel threatened by (like Elsa) and she almost admires Anne that makes her jealous because she is taking all of her fathers time and she in a way wishes to be as put together as Anne. This is very similar to the situation in Agostino. 

My questions for this novel would be, do you think the way Cecile was raised by her father is what brought her to have this love/hatred for a woman like Anne? Do you think Cecile possesses a sort of privilege because of the way she was raised? 

read full post >>

I decided to look up the author, as I do with most of what I read, and was surprised to find that Françoise Sagan was only 18 years old when she published Bonjour Tristesse. Also that it was her first novel and is her most popular novel ever published. This was inspiring to find. That […] read full post >>