tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post4545218165571538809..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: it’s so pleasurable to imagine that it makes me clench my teeth slightly - Colette's Retreat from LoveAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-65623129002667160272017-01-10T20:07:31.732-06:002017-01-10T20:07:31.732-06:00That is a useful note.That is a useful note.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-7181859797913557402017-01-10T16:48:35.725-06:002017-01-10T16:48:35.725-06:00Note to self. "Must read Colette" I like...Note to self. "Must read Colette" I like the quotes and I know I have at least one or two or more of her books somewhere..Séamus Dugganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00574186409184247059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-51920958805061482092017-01-08T15:23:50.038-06:002017-01-08T15:23:50.038-06:00Cats may not be people, but they sure are individu...Cats may not be people, but they sure are individuals.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-13829824735664030632017-01-08T13:06:06.711-06:002017-01-08T13:06:06.711-06:00I remember the cat discussion On Pechorin's Jo...I remember the cat discussion On Pechorin's Journal but couldn't agree because one thing that was mentioned as unrealistic is something my cat does all the time. Unfortunately I can't remember what it was. I only remember that I couldn't understand the criticism. <br /><br />Carolinehttp://beautyisasleepingcat.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-71796117106561372772017-01-07T21:29:22.237-06:002017-01-07T21:29:22.237-06:00Ah, the sea holly, from your piece on the book, lo...Ah, the sea holly, from <a href="https://dolcebellezza.net/2016/07/14/paris-in-july-the-ripening-seed-by-colette/" rel="nofollow">your piece on the book</a>, lovely.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-15764368718804383842017-01-07T18:35:27.038-06:002017-01-07T18:35:27.038-06:00Indeed. Her descriptions of sea-holly were so wond...Indeed. Her descriptions of sea-holly were so wonderful I had to look it up. Alas, not even a winkle to my recollection.Bellezza https://www.blogger.com/profile/18073864187188953633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-25530449690968998282017-01-07T18:32:30.381-06:002017-01-07T18:32:30.381-06:00I think the more Paris-centered books do not have ...I think the more Paris-centered books do not have so many animals. Maybe <i>Cheri</i> had a cat? I've read it but I don't remember.<br /><br />But <i>The Ripening Seed</i> is set in Brittany. Seems like there ought to be some animals. Some seafood - sorry, I mean fish - at least. A mussel, or a winkle. A beloved pet winkle.<br /><br />Colette was a terrific nature writer. Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-57266344081344268432017-01-07T18:11:17.364-06:002017-01-07T18:11:17.364-06:00Hmmmm, animals. The only book by Colette I have re...Hmmmm, animals. The only book by Colette I have read is The Ripening Seed, and I suppose you could say the temptress was a fox, of sorts. But probably not in the talking animal sense you mean. She was a nasty piece of work in a fascinating little novel, though.Bellezza https://www.blogger.com/profile/18073864187188953633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-85857261374404592082017-01-07T16:17:07.508-06:002017-01-07T16:17:07.508-06:00The response to "La Chatte" was pretty f...The response to "La Chatte" was pretty funny.<br /><br />As I look up the date of each of these suggestions I am reminded what an impressively long career Colette had. Over 50 years as an active writer. Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-2869083204588585192017-01-07T14:44:09.394-06:002017-01-07T14:44:09.394-06:00"Whichever one you read" seems good advi..."Whichever one you read" seems good advice for approaching Colette, whose work seems to form an unusually unified whole. I am especially partial to her autobiography, <i>Earthly Paradise</i> - such radiantly sensual descriptions of childhood and of first love - and to her small, painfully wistful epistolary novel, <i>Mitsou</i>. But I have not read the (explicitly) animal books.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-13879719404792052272017-01-07T12:14:49.220-06:002017-01-07T12:14:49.220-06:00Well, OK, apparently they like cats.Well, OK, apparently they like cats.obookihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03885121629202810216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-40837729869169163962017-01-07T12:10:04.189-06:002017-01-07T12:10:04.189-06:00But that the cat is like a person is the entire po...But that the cat is like a person is the entire point of the story as I remember it (though again, it was long ago). Probably these people are cat-haters.obookihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03885121629202810216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-48862414154877323442017-01-07T12:07:48.413-06:002017-01-07T12:07:48.413-06:00"I hope to add my personal contribution to th..."I hope to add my personal contribution to the sum total of our knowledge of the senses." —Colette<br /><br />That's from THE PURE AND THE IMPURE (which Colette deemed her best book) and I think it could stand as a description of what's best about her. No one else teaches as much about the senses, or indeed communicates so well the idea that there can be such a thing as knowledge of the senses. I feel as if she reminds (or informs) me about how to attend to different kinds of objects. My experience of bed-sheets was transformed by the Cheri books, for example. <br /><br />Arguably all her books are full of animals, because, as you note, her people are clearly animals. Not in a derogatory way. They just definitely exist as, and are not merely in possession of, bodies...Robert Mintohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054300455796074988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-80757575031030507382017-01-07T11:33:34.948-06:002017-01-07T11:33:34.948-06:00Over at Pechorin's Journal people were doggin&...Over at <a href="https://pechorinsjournal.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/gigi-and-the-cat-by-colette/" rel="nofollow">Pechorin's Journal</a> people were doggin' on "La Chatte" - "stinko" they called it! - apparently because the cat was too human. Seemed funny to me. It's a Colette cat, right?<br /><br />I have read pieces about Colette and Willy several times, but all long ago, so I have gone a bit vague. Willy was mentioned a couple of times in Doug Skinner's latest Alphonse Allais translation, pre-Colette.<br /><br />"whichever one you read" - that sounds good to me.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-57571479489344905162017-01-07T10:41:00.659-06:002017-01-07T10:41:00.659-06:00Really why I made that comment is that I can't...Really why I made that comment is that I can't distinguish in my memory between the novels - all the Claudines and Cheris - so I didn't know which one to pick. I'm not entirely of the opinion that all Colette's novels are of equal quality - one I read recently wasn't so good (possibly The Captive).<br /><br />I must read up on the relationship between Willy and Colette. Where all the English editions attribute books solely to Colette, the French edition I have of Claudine at School has both their names on the cover. I imagine Willy as a sort of literary pimp.obookihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03885121629202810216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-66898760135072413352017-01-07T03:47:48.629-06:002017-01-07T03:47:48.629-06:00Colette is fantastic, whichever one you read. I wa...Colette is fantastic, whichever one you read. I was going to suggest Dialogues too, but pretty much all of her books feature her animals, particularly as she goes on through life. Her later books which are basically her memoirs and thoughts about herself are littered with her animal friends. Now you've made me want to read Colette....<br /><br />kaggsysbookishramblingsKaggsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348319724492250546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-32532784984774353492017-01-07T02:25:02.211-06:002017-01-07T02:25:02.211-06:00I would tend to agree with Obooki. How about La ch...I would tend to agree with Obooki. How about La chatte? It's marvellous on so many levels. Carolinehttp://beautyisasleepingcat.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-53542302994136037352017-01-06T23:47:00.660-06:002017-01-06T23:47:00.660-06:00Ha - and not just any cats and dogs - there's ...Ha - and not just any cats and dogs - there's Toby-Chien!<br /><br />Forget translation, this book's French does not look so hard. I should stockpile it.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-74505601246120727772017-01-06T23:36:54.366-06:002017-01-06T23:36:54.366-06:00Perhaps the Colette book with the most animals is ...Perhaps the Colette book with the most animals is "Dialogues de bêtes," which is mostly conversations between cats and dogs. It's probably been translated... Doug Skinnerhttp://www.dougskinner.netnoreply@blogger.com