Gigi

This is the actual story "Gigi" not the film version and it is charming. It is a novella (a short story/book) and takes about 2 - 3 hours to read. Just about everyone knows the story so I won't go there. Collette's characters are sympathetic, especially Gigi, and well written and her imagery is really in top form. This was her only "comedy". It's a small book that literally fits in your pants pocket so you can read it on the train going to work. It's a good investment at a good price.

A charming classic . Very intersting theme and well carried out by the author.

The reader pronounced things clearly and very well read by Victoria or who ever the company or lady is I don't know who it may be

I bought this book for a friend who wanted to sharpen her French skills by reading French text. She liked the book.

Arrived in good condition.

Fantastic understanding human nature.

Gigi was the first novel I read in French, and at the time that I read it, probably it was the raciest book I ever read, I was a mere lad of I don't know, eleven or so. I couldn't figure out exactly who was who. I tried reading GONE WITH THE WIND in French but that was too long. Gigi was perfect. She was, after all, a young girl, though from a different world than mine. She had several aunts who wanted to train her into the high level world of the Courtesan. A good parallel would be the recent novel MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden.What distinguishes Colette from Golden is that the French writer built a legend around herself in terms of the beauty and poetry of her language. Not only did she possess a stern and acute mind from which no nuance of regret or longing escaped her gaze, but she wielded a pen like an angel. She was incapable of writing a phony sentence, and like the American modernist poet William Carlos Williams she found beauty in the ordinary and the commonplace. A swatch of wildflowers growing in the graveyard where Gigi's mother lies becomes the palette of an artist with the dappled colors suggesting possibility. Gigi's hopes, dreams and fantasies lie mingled, like sooty water, with the harsh realities of her existence. Basically she must find a rich man to cling to, or lose all her status.For a young boy reading her story, and trying to puzzle through the evocative French, I found myself stumbling at times, but at the end I became convinced that I knew this girl, and I took pleasure in her small triumphs and her enemies became mine.Today many of Colette's works have been translated but she is still very much caviare to the general. Another couple of books I can recommend to you are CHERI and its sequel, THE LAST OF CHERI. (Cheri's a guy despite his name which to me seemed feminine before I got the drift of things.)

The idea of a teenager educated to become a classy prostitute, otherwise known as a courtesan, seems far-fetched to us. But in the time of Colette, women had very little rights and were not supposed to work, because it was degrading (work moved you down the social ladder). I bet Colette knew quite a number of examples of little Gigi.What makes the story delightful is that Gigi does not want at all the kind of life she is meant to have.In the same legal and economic circumstances lives the heroin of  Quality street: a comedy  a play wirtten by Barrie, the author of Peter Pan.And of course you can still view the movie  Gigi (Two-Disc Special Edition)  Actress Leslie Caron was perfect for the role.I recoomend the book, it is an easy read and gives an interesting slant on the end of Victorian times.

These French books are easy to read and convenient but difficult to get from a recent publication date. It has been good to get this one to add to my collection.

Exactly as described

Not in French as described

La première nouvelle éponyme nous brosse avec humour et légèreté le portrait d'une famille bourgeoise, dont les moeurs sont très corsetées. Au milieu de cette lignée, une intruse: Gigi, jeune fille très gourmande qui voudrait être autorisée à toutes les fantaisies possibles; Elle vit chez sa grand-mère, Mme Alvarez, alors que sa mère Andrée travaille à l'Opéra Comique dans une troupe, activité qui déplaît à Mme Alvarez. Mais Gigi a un allié: Gaston, son "tonton", dont on va progressivement découvrir les intentions: il s'est amouraché de Gigi qui, après moult renversements de situation, finit par céder et accepter de s'unir avec Gaston. Enfin un amour heureux chez Colette, ce qui est rare !La 2ème nouvelle, "L'enfant malade", est très particulière, elle évoque les pérégrinations par l'imaginaire d'un enfant. Cette nouvelle ne bascule pas du tout dans le pathos, l'enfant assiste même, désespéré, à la souffrance de ses proches, en particulier sa mère et la bonne, qui sont aux petits soins. "Quel besoin ont-ils tous de me guérir?" dit-il même, alors qu'il adore parcourir par l'imagination les pentes neigeuses des draps, parler à la poire de la sonnette alarme, aux arbres, et s'entourer de livres par la pensée. Pétri par ses fantasmatiques drôles et trébuchantes, la guérison ne serait-elle pas un désenchantement?La 3ème nouvelle, "La dame du photographe", nous plonge dans le monde artistique avec Mme Armand, assistante de son mari photographe, qui va souvent rendre visite à Mlle Devoidy, enfileuse appliquée de perles. Tigry-Cohen, vendeur de pierres précieuses, et à l'occasion acheteur, complète ce duo, formant un trio fort bien campé par Colette <3 Mme Armand finit par faire une tentative de suicide ratée. Dans "Flore et Pomone" , elle évoque son amour pour la province et tout ce qui y est rattaché: le règne végétal, les fruits associés aux paysages qu'elle a parcourus, en particulier ceux de la Provence et du Maroc. Enfin, "Noces" est un texte autobiographique dépeignant les circonstances du mariage de Colette avec notamment la mère de Colette, Sido, qui est triste de voir partir sa fille à Paris. Un recueil bigarré très agréable à lire, avec des nouvelles qui font voyager dans des univers bien différents, alors que la plume doucereuse, légère, fine et imaginative de Colette maintient l'ensemble d'une façon honorable. Un recueil qui mérite d'être + connu !

Ottimo BluRay con un buon comparto video e audio (io però l'ho visto in lingua originale, in 5.1 - la traccia italiana è in mono) ed extra interessantissimi: non solo un bel documentario di quasi mezzora narrato dalla stessa protagonista del film, Leslie Caron, ma addirittura l'omonimo film originale francese di 10 anni prima, anch'esso un adattamento del romanzo di Colette. Insomma, un acquisto obbligato per tutti gli appassionati (non tantissimi ormai, temo!) di Minnelli e del musical americano, di cui questo film costituisce una delle vette più alte, subito prima del declino del genere.