Gigi and the Cat (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

Rating:
Summary: GiGi, but not as in the musical
Review: Gigi was really about a time, a place and a way of life that is no more--the Belle Epoque and the demimonde of Paris.

The "demimonde" or twilight or half-world, was the domain of paid courtesans, not prostitutes, but professional "artistes" who made their living as the paid companions of rich men. They often were dancers or actresses and didn't marry--"We never marry in our family" states Gigi's mother. The Belle Epoque ended with World War One and saw the revitalizaton of Paris by Hausmann and others, creating the city's magnificent architecture that we still love today.

Gigi is a young girl of 16. She falls in love with a rich gentlemen of 33, Gaston. But contrary to custom, she wants something quite different that her family has planned for her. This reflects the idealized dream that Colette had of love with a much older man. She herself pursued this dream disastrously by marrying the highly unsuitable Willy, and also assigned her alter-ego Claudine the same but happier dream in her Claudine novels.

Read this for the wonderful evocation of Paris in the gay 90's, and realize that it has little to do with the musical--this is about a way of life that has passed, along with horse drawn carriages, laced hourglass corsets, and women's hats the size of cartwheels.

Rating:
Summary: C'est Magnifique
Review: Gigi was really about a time, a place and a way of life that is no more--the Belle Epoque and the demimonde of Paris.

The "demimonde" or twilight or half-world, was the domain of paid courtesans, not prostitutes, but professional "artistes" who made their living as the paid companions of rich men. They often were dancers or actresses and didn't marry--"We never marry in our family" states Gigi's mother. The Belle Epoque ended with World War One and saw the revitalizaton of Paris by Hausmann and others, creating the city's magnificent architecture that we still love today.

Gigi is a young girl of 16. She falls in love with a rich gentlemen of 33, Gaston. But contrary to custom, she wants something quite different that her family has planned for her. This reflects the idealized dream that Colette had of love with a much older man. She herself pursued this dream disastrously by marrying the highly unsuitable Willy, and also assigned her alter-ego Claudine the same but happier dream in her Claudine novels.

Read this for the wonderful evocation of Paris in the gay 90's, and realize that it has little to do with the musical--this is about a way of life that has passed, along with horse drawn carriages, laced hourglass corsets, and women's hats the size of cartwheels.

Rating:
Summary: C'était bizarre...
Review: I don't know, I just found this book to be completely bizarre. I had to read this for a French class (so I'm referring to the French edition, maybe its better translated, as rare as that is) and when I was finished I was like "huh"? Gigi is 16 and Gaston is 33! I haven't seen the movie, which now I think I must do. It was one of those books that really made me wonder at the end. Gigi was just too immature, even for a 16 year old, and Gaston seemed to be too much the playboy type. I just thought the whole thing was too unbelievable. I do like Colette's style of writing, she describes things so well you feel as if you were there, but I was disappointed with this book.

Rating:
Summary: Forget Gigi, read The Cat
Review: Not to say that Gigi isn't worth reading. It's a classic novel that has got the attention it's deserved. But the second novel The Cat is neglected. I can't blame this when another story is attached to a novel it seems to be a filler but this isn't the case.
The Cat deals with a sensitive young boy. He's lives a quiet life with his mother and has a special relationship with his cat. Actually he has a deep understanding of cats that no one can seem to make sense of. He is thrust into a marriage with a local girl Camille.
Afer marriage he realizes she wasn't the girl he thought. She's more needy and isn't satisifed with the marriage. He begins to think about the cat he left at home. Then a fierce battle between the cat and the wife begins.
An interesting concept and Colette pulls it off well.

Rating:
Summary: Your own personal time machine!
Review: The books of Collette all seems to whisk you right into the world of turn of the century Paris (GiGi). For those who think a relationship between a 16 year old and a 33 year old odd, it most certainly is by today's standards, but not for 1900 - try to think that quite a few women were groomed for marriage or to be courtisans as soon as they were old enough back then. Perspective is required when reading historical fiction, and Collette's works are some of the finest.

Rating:
Summary: C'est Magnifique
Review: The story of Gigi is a wonderful piece of work. It discards the old fashioned minds of the era and brings to light the truth. Colette brings her own life experience into this short story. Bringing into the story the way how to catch a man and how many is so important in some people lives and love dies away (but not exactly dies just hidden).