Student Blogs

 I really enjoyed reading the text "Bonjour Tristesse" by Françoise Sagan. It was a novel that flowed very well and was something that was easy to interpret and understand. I found the storyline very interesting and easy to follow. Cécile's thoughts towards both her education and life was something that was extremely surprising to me. I figured since the novel was written a while ago, that education was an extremely important factor in life as well as the most important one. It was interesting to see the character of Cécile not hold an interest for education as I feel as though that is very comparable to today's time for a lot of people. I feel like the importance or significance of living a happy and peaceful life was of higher priority for Cécile and that is something that is really interesting to me and was calming to read. I found that Cécile's relationship with Anne was a bit confusing. It seemed as though she had hated Anne at tines, but loved and adored her at others. This confused me because I did not know if Cécile cherished her relationship with Anne or if she dreaded it. It seemed like at times Cécile had a very strong connection for Anne and that she needed Anne to be in her life. In the end it was shown that Cécile really cherished her relationship with Anne and strongly regretted her decision to build a plan for her father to get back with Elsa. My question is why is Cécile so back and forth which how he feels towards Anne?

I was extremely shocked in the ending of this novel. It was sad how it ended and I did not think that could have been the possible ending I was surprised that Cécile's father, Raymond had even gone so far as to kiss Elsa, as it had seemed like they had gone without talking for months and it also seemed like Raymond has mixed feelings about Anne as well. So to just move back to Elsa with that speed was really surprising to me when he clearly loved Anne. It was shown towards the end of the novel how big of an impact Anne had on both Cécile and Raymond, that she really was important to the both of them. She was able to give them structure and purpose which was something that was very significant to them and it was shown through their emotions.

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    In the context of French history, Black Shack Alley is a remarkable time piece. With the unique perspective of the French-Caribbean, Zobel analyzes the effects of revolts: the aftermath of the French Revolution which changed the world in regards to viewing dynasties and absolutism as negatives; the subsequent slave revolts in Haiti which […] read full post >>

Françoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse gives the readers an outlook on the confused, impulsive life of a teenage girl. It brought... read full post >>

The French female narrator, Cécile, seems to be intelligent and a bit immature. She explores her own first sensual and sentimental experience. The immorality and sensuality of the characters would seem less shocking today, but this is indeed a very daring and matter-of-fact account during a time when such things were unbecoming, especially amongst the […] read full post >>

“Bonjour Tristesse”, or “Hello Sadness” in English, is a stable novella filled with romance and surface-level drama. The story is narrated by a young girl, Cecile, who is describing her summer vacation with her widowed father, Raymond, and his young girlfriend, Elsa. Her father, described as a charming or “playboy” type, ends up falling in …

Continue reading "Blog Post 5- Sagan"

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Françoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse was a very fun read, but I quickly grew to have conflicting feelings about the main protagonist. In fact, many of Cécile’s thoughts and actions reminded me a lot of Blair Waldorf from the tv series, Gossip Girl (the one that first aired in 2007 – not to be confused with whatever mess […] read full post >>

Françoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse, tells the story of Cécile, a privileged bourgeoise  who spends her life in relative luxury. For Cécile, freedom means spending her days doing anything she wants without responsibly and the attention of her father. In this life of carefree luxury, Cécile is ignorant and selfish, viewing things simply as her and […] read full post >>

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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