The rhythm of the language mimics the lethargy of Cécile and the pleasant weariness that comes with laying in the summer sun. I read Bonjour Tristesse in a kind of heady haze, being pulled in by the language and by the characters. The language throughout is sensual and atmospheric it’s delicious and gorgeous. It pulled me in and, reading it again after finishing the novel, perfectly links with the ending. This strange new feeling of mine, obsessing me with its sweet languor, is such that I am reluctant to dignify it with the fine, solemn name of ‘sadness’ (p. The first line of Bonjour Tristesse sucked me in completely. When Cécile’s father announces that he and Anne are to be married, Cécile realises that the union will spell an end to their carefree lives, and devises a plan which will have devastating consequences. Anne’s arrival puts Elsa firmly out of the picture.
Cécile likes Anne, but she is the antithesis of Cécile and her father’s lifestyle: where they indulge in fluid lives with no responsibilities, Anne stands for structure and routine. Until her father invites Anne to the villa.
It’s summer and Cécile’s days are blissfully spent sunbathing, swimming and drinking. In an attempt to lift myself from my recent reading slump I looked over my list and, remembering how I felt about the book when I added it, I reserved a copy at the library.īonjour Tristesse is told by Cécile, a seventeen-year-old girl holidaying in the French Riviera with her father and his young mistress, Elsa. This book came to my attention when I read Max’s wonderful review of it which inspired me to add the book to my to-read list instantly.
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