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When I finish reading Bonjour Tristesse, as a reader, I felt a variety of emotions, including anger, regret, and sadness. Maybe because of my upbringing and my education, I didn’t like this book very much. How did a nineteen-year-old girl come up with such a light-hearted storey? On such a lovely summer day, with beach, …
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I am so glad that the past few weeks I have consistently enjoyed the books we have read. Bonjour Tristesse was filled with what reminded me a lot of high school drama. In reality I believe it was the results of both Cecile, the narrator and Raymond, her father struggling to let go of their youth. Anne, Raymond's latest fling turns out to be the change they both needed but Cecile especially did not want to accept into her life. Cecile begins the novella as a ignorant and honestly somewhat spoiled girl. She dislikes that the life she enjoyed living with her father is being changed by Anne, especially after she and Raymond decide to marry. It's not uncommon for kids to be upset when their parents remarry eventually but Cecile's plan to try to sabotage their relationship felt like a lot. I think she knew she was wrong, her frequent switches between feeling remorseful to guilty made it clear that part of her knew Anna was not actually that bad to have in her life. I was entirely unsurprised that Raymond eventually gave in to his jealousy from seeing Elsa with his daughters summer fling. On that note, I was pleasantly surprised that at the end Cecile admitted to herself that she had never loved Cyril. Her and her father both needing the wakeup call of Anne dying to get over themselves was ridiculous. Cecile especially was honestly being an awful person the whole story, using Elsa and Cyril to try to get what she wanted then dumping the poor boy in the end. What's more it seems that after all that, in the very end of the story she and her father have gone back about their old ways, although maybe just because they do not know how else to live.
All in all I found the entire story somewhat frustrating. It was interesting to read but as soon as I stop and think about it, I understand the name. It was just sad and entirely avoidable. Had Cecile not tried to opposite Parent Trap her father and Anne and instead tried to actually understand Anne's way of life and that she did care about Cecile. It definitely wasn't entirely her fault, Raymond's immaturity was also partially to blame but the two together were largely the cause of Anne's death. Once again, I wonder what could've been. Have the two learned anything from their experience, or will they revert entirely back to their immature and selfish ways once again?
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I am so glad that the past few weeks I have consistently enjoyed the books we have read. Bonjour Tristesse was filled with what reminded me a lot of high school drama. In reality I believe it was the results of both Cecile, the narrator and Raymond, her father struggling to let go of their youth. Anne, Raymond's latest fling turns out to be the change they both needed but Cecile especially did not want to accept into her life. Cecile begins the novella as a ignorant and honestly somewhat spoiled girl. She dislikes that the life she enjoyed living with her father is being changed by Anne, especially after she and Raymond decide to marry. It's not uncommon for kids to be upset when their parents remarry eventually but Cecile's plan to try to sabotage their relationship felt like a lot. I think she knew she was wrong, her frequent switches between feeling remorseful to guilty made it clear that part of her knew Anna was not actually that bad to have in her life. I was entirely unsurprised that Raymond eventually gave in to his jealousy from seeing Elsa with his daughters summer fling. On that note, I was pleasantly surprised that at the end Cecile admitted to herself that she had never loved Cyril. Her and her father both needing the wakeup call of Anne dying to get over themselves was ridiculous. Cecile especially was honestly being an awful person the whole story, using Elsa and Cyril to try to get what she wanted then dumping the poor boy in the end. What's more it seems that after all that, in the very end of the story she and her father have gone back about their old ways, although maybe just because they do not know how else to live.
All in all I found the entire story somewhat frustrating. It was interesting to read but as soon as I stop and think about it, I understand the name. It was just sad and entirely avoidable. Had Cecile not tried to opposite Parent Trap her father and Anne and instead tried to actually understand Anne's way of life and that she did care about Cecile. It definitely wasn't entirely her fault, Raymond's immaturity was also partially to blame but the two together were largely the cause of Anne's death. Once again, I wonder what could've been. Have the two learned anything from their experience, or will they revert entirely back to their immature and selfish ways once again?
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Out of all of the books we’ve read, I’ve never felt so emotionally connected towards a character as I do for Natalia. I feel pity for Natalia; her life was by no means perfect, even before the Spanish civil war reached its peak. Her first-husband, Quimet, was a detestable man who degraded her and abused […]
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Black Shack Alley captivated me from the beginning and I was not able to put it down. Following the young life of José and his journey through his upbringing. Initially, in his childhood, it was sweet to read how he played with the other children and the dialogue really brought a sense of joy and […]
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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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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 […]
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Françoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse gives the readers an outlook on the confused, impulsive life of a teenage girl. It brought...
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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 […]
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