Manny’s review of Poil de carotte > Likes and Comments
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Manny, that sounds dreadful!!
You're right. It is dreadful... even though the book is less than 200 pages long, it took me nearly two weeks to get through it because it was impossible to read more than two or three stories at a time. I have hardly ever experienced such a tangible sense of rage and frustration. But it's interesting.
Thanks for the cat image. That one's going to haunt me for a few days.
Renard's journal is well worth reading, and not just for the Bad Things (including his awful mother). He seems to have mellowed as he got older, and his journal is full of aphoristic little reflections on art, nature, love etc. Very charming.
I don't know if it comes up in Poil de Carotte, but the introduction to the journal talks about how Renard's father got so fed up with his wife that he refused to speak to her for the rest of his life (some 20 or 30 years), though they continued to live in the same house. Another of those epic, cage-match marriages of the 19th century...
Wow. Do they actually give this to kids to read in France?
Buck wrote: "Thanks for the cat image. That one's going to haunt me for a few days.
Renard's journal is well worth reading, and not just for the Bad Things (including his awful mother)..."
Sorry about the cat. Not all of the episodes are that gruesome - the most common theme is his mother humiliating him with a few well-chosen words. But I somehow couldn't resist it.
I must check out his journal! It's not made clear in the book that his father refuses to speak to his mother, though it's indirectly implied in a few places.
Sandybanks wrote: "Wow. Do they actually give this to kids to read in France?"
Well, I must admit I'm not sure. One of the French reviewers here says "definitely not for children", but I guess that's just their opinion...
The Last Black Cat looks tempting. If only I knew more than a few words of Greek!
Poil de Carotte has in fact been translated, if you change your mind. It's unpleasant but well worth reading, and has had a substantial influence on modern French literature. Sartre (well, of course :)) was one fan...
I have been learning some very basic modern Greek as part of developing our language teaching application, but I've never tried to read anything...
I just read this, and I loved it! I don’t know what that says about me. And one has to wonder what recommending this to children says about the French.
It's a great book. And there are definitely children who'd like it. Though I think "recommended to children" is putting it a bit strongly.
Manny, I am reading it now in French and find it heart-rending. Really a lot of animal cruelty. How is your son Jonathan, now after 14 years. (I have a neuro-divergent daughter so I am always interested to hear how other kids have fared when faced with such challenges!)
Hi Victoria, so nice to hear from you! I read it in French as well, and as you say it is about as heart-rending as these things get.
Jonathan seems to be doing better. He still thinks about the past all the time, but he is not as angry about it, more curious. Sometimes, when I am feeling exceptionally optimistic, I think he could write that account. If he had a kind, beautiful carer with the right mind-set, she might persuade him to let her write it down for him.
How is your daughter?
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Hazel
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Dec 31, 2011 02:29PM
Manny, that sounds dreadful!!
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You're right. It is dreadful... even though the book is less than 200 pages long, it took me nearly two weeks to get through it because it was impossible to read more than two or three stories at a time. I have hardly ever experienced such a tangible sense of rage and frustration. But it's interesting.
Thanks for the cat image. That one's going to haunt me for a few days.Renard's journal is well worth reading, and not just for the Bad Things (including his awful mother). He seems to have mellowed as he got older, and his journal is full of aphoristic little reflections on art, nature, love etc. Very charming.
I don't know if it comes up in Poil de Carotte, but the introduction to the journal talks about how Renard's father got so fed up with his wife that he refused to speak to her for the rest of his life (some 20 or 30 years), though they continued to live in the same house. Another of those epic, cage-match marriages of the 19th century...
Wow. Do they actually give this to kids to read in France?
Buck wrote: "Thanks for the cat image. That one's going to haunt me for a few days.Renard's journal is well worth reading, and not just for the Bad Things (including his awful mother)..."
Sorry about the cat. Not all of the episodes are that gruesome - the most common theme is his mother humiliating him with a few well-chosen words. But I somehow couldn't resist it.
I must check out his journal! It's not made clear in the book that his father refuses to speak to his mother, though it's indirectly implied in a few places.
Sandybanks wrote: "Wow. Do they actually give this to kids to read in France?"
Well, I must admit I'm not sure. One of the French reviewers here says "definitely not for children", but I guess that's just their opinion...
The Last Black Cat looks tempting. If only I knew more than a few words of Greek! Poil de Carotte has in fact been translated, if you change your mind. It's unpleasant but well worth reading, and has had a substantial influence on modern French literature. Sartre (well, of course :)) was one fan...
I have been learning some very basic modern Greek as part of developing our language teaching application, but I've never tried to read anything...
I just read this, and I loved it! I don’t know what that says about me. And one has to wonder what recommending this to children says about the French.
It's a great book. And there are definitely children who'd like it. Though I think "recommended to children" is putting it a bit strongly.
Manny, I am reading it now in French and find it heart-rending. Really a lot of animal cruelty. How is your son Jonathan, now after 14 years. (I have a neuro-divergent daughter so I am always interested to hear how other kids have fared when faced with such challenges!)
Hi Victoria, so nice to hear from you! I read it in French as well, and as you say it is about as heart-rending as these things get.Jonathan seems to be doing better. He still thinks about the past all the time, but he is not as angry about it, more curious. Sometimes, when I am feeling exceptionally optimistic, I think he could write that account. If he had a kind, beautiful carer with the right mind-set, she might persuade him to let her write it down for him.
How is your daughter?
