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196th out of 448 books
—
381 voters
The Complete Claudine (Claudine #1-4)
Colette, prodded by her first husband, Willy, began her writing career with Claudine at School, which catapulted the young author into instant, sensational success. Among the most autobiographical of Colette's works, these four novels are dominated by the child-woman Claudine, whose strength, humor, and zest for living make her seem almost a symbol for the life force.
Janet...more
Janet...more
Paperback, 660 pages
Published
September 5th 2001
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
(first published October 1st 1976)
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One reviewer described the Claudine books as "feathery pornography". Today when Noddy has been banned from libraries for its suspect gay relationship between Noddy and Big Ears, where fear of sex is seeing a neo-Victorian revival, all I can say is get in there and experience that refreshing candour about sex and love a le francais!!!
Vive la France!!!!
Vive la France!!!!
I've only read "Claudine at School" so far, but I definitely want to read the other three books. I absolutely LOVE this character. She's like a mischievous Lisa Simpson.
Claudine is a pretty, intelligent and very naughty French school girl around the turn of the 1900s. She lives in Montigny and the book is almost like a diary. The reader shares Claudine's point-of-view in her final year at school. She is fifteen at the start of the story and turns sixteen by the end. This book raised a bit of a s...more
Claudine is a pretty, intelligent and very naughty French school girl around the turn of the 1900s. She lives in Montigny and the book is almost like a diary. The reader shares Claudine's point-of-view in her final year at school. She is fifteen at the start of the story and turns sixteen by the end. This book raised a bit of a s...more
What one should realize with this series is that it is a record of Colette's writing maturing into its own. The first book is quite silly in spots, but those fairly naughty bits were added or enhanced by Colette's husband of the time, Henri Gauthier-Villiers, known as Willy. As the books go on, and Claudine moves to Paris, marries, and ages, you watch Colette not only shed Willy from her life, but also his influence on her writing. She becomes a brave and independent woman. Interesting to note t...more
Sep 11, 2012
Madeline
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
francophilia,
novels,
translations,
women,
coming-of-age,
queer,
charming,
pastoral,
2012,
marriage-lets-you-down,
guilty-pleasures
If you like Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night, but particularly the parts where Anne Egerman and her maid Petra get into a pillowfight (look, this is a masterpiece of cinema, I promise) (also, it inspired A Little Night Music), and the pervading air of giddy lust masking the underlying sense of existential despair, then, well, I have a series of books for you.
Admittedly, the charm of the Claudine novels depreciates as they go on. There's something impressive about the artful, shameless,...more
Admittedly, the charm of the Claudine novels depreciates as they go on. There's something impressive about the artful, shameless,...more
This book claims to be complete, with four Claudine stories; I am now reading an excellent biography of the great Colette which states there are five. Nevertheless.... I have an old copy, with cover art consisting of drawings by Colette, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux at the same time as my copy of Earthly Paradise (some day if I ever have free time again I will add my specific edition to this database).
So the Claudine stories were Colette's first works, at least the first one was, which...more
So the Claudine stories were Colette's first works, at least the first one was, which...more
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I'd give a 5-star rating to Claudine at School. I started Claudine in Paris, and it was still well-written but the story was not as interesting so I stopped reading it. So that's why the 4-stars overall. I did not look at the last two books.
Claudine is a vain, willful brat that I would hope never to meet in person, but she is absolutely delightful as a character and narrator. She is full of life and observes her fellows and elders with sharpness and humor. She likes to come off as worldly-wise t...more
Claudine is a vain, willful brat that I would hope never to meet in person, but she is absolutely delightful as a character and narrator. She is full of life and observes her fellows and elders with sharpness and humor. She likes to come off as worldly-wise t...more
This is the first of four novels tracking the life of winsome, clever Claudine. The story opens with the famously familiar sentence: My name is Claudine, I live in Montigny; I was born there in 1884; I shall probably not die there. Claudine's certitude and confidence propels her through her life, and in Colette's hands, tells her story with vivacious detail. Claudine's school life is full of intrigues, and even the seemingly simple task of passing exams is lush with drama and excitement. Speakin...more
This is a collection of four short novels of different quality. "Claudine at School" is addictive, disarmingly funny, voyeuristic and memorable. I've read dozens of novels about young Europeans in secondary school and this one immediately joined my two or three favorites. Claudine narrates in a wonderfully vain and devilish fashion: “After a few lively skirmishes, I have to admit that she is an unusually good Headmistress; decisive, often imperious, with a strength of purpose that would be admir...more
bien sûr que j'ai lu Colette!
Je pense même que j'avais 15 ans. Une auteure osée à l'époque, complètement en avance sur son temps.
Le début du lesbianisme et de l'érotisme.
Une magnifique oeuvre littéraire où une auteure sait vraiment jouer avec les mots et doubles entendus
magnifique! a lire absolument!!!!
Je pense même que j'avais 15 ans. Une auteure osée à l'époque, complètement en avance sur son temps.
Le début du lesbianisme et de l'érotisme.
Une magnifique oeuvre littéraire où une auteure sait vraiment jouer avec les mots et doubles entendus
magnifique! a lire absolument!!!!
One of the greatest writer of the French language. Not sure how it translates in English. All of Colette's novels are fabulous, but this serie of books about a wonderfully adventurous and slightly perverse young girl is an absolute delight. Very French!
It sounds like a pitch for the trashiest reality TV show ever: bisexual schoolgirls in rural France!
But actually CLAUDINE is a classic... the great Colette's first published work and a non-guilty guilty pleasure to read. Claudine herself is a role model for aspiring bad girls everywhere: charmingly feline, frighteningly lucid, unapologetically sensual, and wise beyond her years. In short, she's a French schoolgirl version of the biblical Eve.
P.S. She also has a beautiful white cat named Fanche...more
But actually CLAUDINE is a classic... the great Colette's first published work and a non-guilty guilty pleasure to read. Claudine herself is a role model for aspiring bad girls everywhere: charmingly feline, frighteningly lucid, unapologetically sensual, and wise beyond her years. In short, she's a French schoolgirl version of the biblical Eve.
P.S. She also has a beautiful white cat named Fanche...more
De tous les "claudine", c'est sans doute le premier, claudine à l'école, qui m'a le plus marqué, l'écriture est à la fois sensuelle et brillante et le génie de l'auteur ne s'est jamais autant senti qu'à travers ses premières oeuvres...
I loved this; I read it as an introduction to Colette and I love her! I can't wait to read more of her books. Colette is so melodramatic, but I am a bit of a dramatist myself and can get lost in her mania.
My favorite books of late. Such a good read! Wonderfully written and a completely likable, charismatic protagonist. I eagerly wait until enough time has past that I can read them again.
B At times, I loved this book. At other points, I wanted to give it up. I'm glad I made it through, but not sure if I'll attempt additional Colettes in the future.
Still in the process of reading. Great first book, Claudine at School. In the middle of Claudine in Paris, not as great but still a page turner.
Love love love love love this series. Claudine is an interesting character and I love the scandalous story lines. Very risque for the time.
03/24/13 - So after almost two years, I'm moving this off my currently reading shelf. Eventually, I'll come back to the other Claudine stories.
07/16/11 - Claudine at School - 4 Stars.
Claudine is the perfect naughty French schoolgirl. She hits and kicks...wants everyone to love her, but doesn't give anything back...and the scandals! There's lesbian schoolteachers, creepy school Superintendents, proposals, break-ups, affairs... This book is not at all what I expected and I can't wait to see what C...more
07/16/11 - Claudine at School - 4 Stars.
Claudine is the perfect naughty French schoolgirl. She hits and kicks...wants everyone to love her, but doesn't give anything back...and the scandals! There's lesbian schoolteachers, creepy school Superintendents, proposals, break-ups, affairs... This book is not at all what I expected and I can't wait to see what C...more
Fifteen years after having been given this book, and I'm finally placed to read it. So far it reminds me a lot of friends past.
This cover actually made me do a lot of reading on Evelyn Nesbit/"the girl in the red velvet swing" and the whole turn of the century murder scandal. All these editions make me want to do visual research.
So, Colette. Claudine is too autobio and fake-sensual-giggly and "oh my petticoat ha ha!" autoerotic/demure for me. This was oddly fascinating to read, considering that. It's hard to believe that people thought like this before WWII ended the whole generational culture. It's also gigantic: four...more
So, Colette. Claudine is too autobio and fake-sensual-giggly and "oh my petticoat ha ha!" autoerotic/demure for me. This was oddly fascinating to read, considering that. It's hard to believe that people thought like this before WWII ended the whole generational culture. It's also gigantic: four...more
I've probably read this five times now. The book is so....sexy. That's the only way to say it. It's a damn sexy book.
Loved Claudine at School and Claudine in Paris. Couldn't get through the other two - lost charm.
I grew to be very fond of Claudine during these four books! She is quite an... unprecedented character. I think I'm going to miss that amusing and ineffable creature.
Love entering Colette's world. Reread her books on a regular basis.
That French bitch is crazy. In, like, the best possible way.
May 08, 2009
Cara Bride
marked it as to-read
These are her first books. I'm saving them to read last.
One of my favorite books of all time
Claudine at School: Claudine gets an education and then some.
Claudine in Paris: Romance etc.
Claudine Married: Trouble in paradise.
Claudine and Annie: Should be titled 'Annie and Claudine'.
Love readiing Colette, maybe I'll try 'Gigi' next.
Claudine in Paris: Romance etc.
Claudine Married: Trouble in paradise.
Claudine and Annie: Should be titled 'Annie and Claudine'.
Love readiing Colette, maybe I'll try 'Gigi' next.
funny, funny stuff
Magical
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Colette was the pen name of the French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. She is best known, at least in the English-speaking world, for her novel Gigi, which provided the plot for a Lerner & Loewe musical film and stage musical.
More about Colette...
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