Le Divorce [Paperback]

Diane Johnson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Plume / Penguin Books; Later Printing edition (2003)
• ASIN: 0452159555
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Makes a better movie, September 8, 2003

By 

HeyJudy "heyjudy" (East Hampton, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Le Divorce (William Abrahams Book) (Paperback)

I read LE DIVORCE when it first had been published and, while I didn't hate it, I didn't like it much, either. I've never since bothered to read another book by author Diane Johnson since that time; admittedly, she seems to be doing just fine without me.

Generally, when one first reads a novel and then sees the movie into which the story is made, one inevitably says, "Oh, the book was better." Not so with LE DIVORCE.

Perhaps it is as much a tribute to the screenwriter as to the original author, but the film makes the story far more believable than the printed page did, and the characters also seem better developed. (Or maybe that's just due to the excellent casting and attractive actors who people the characters.) Even the climactic event which resolves the story seems, somehow, more plausible on the screen.

By all means, see the film if you're interested in this story. It will be quicker and far more pleasurable than reading the novel. And you'll be getting a swell travelogue about Paris at its most lovely, with its modern day aristocrats, thrown in for no extra charge.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ou La La, November 27, 2001

By 

Denise Bentley "Kelsana" (The California Redwoods) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Le Divorce (William Abrahams Book) (Paperback)

Isabel is from Santa Barbara, California. She has just arrived in France to help her pregnant sister when she finds out that Roxy’s philandering husband, Charles Henri, has flown the coop! Roxy finds herself depressed, alone and left to face the in-laws at their weekly Sunday dinner in the country. Needless to say she is not having a good day. It is time to start proceedings for “Le Divorce”.

While in Paris, Isabel, who has been a bit of a wandering spirit with little to no sense of who she is, becomes enamored with an elderly gentleman who guides her into the life of pleasure that Paris has to offer. She enjoys politics, art, and the opera. The world opens before her like an oyster that produces the most opalescent pearl. “Le Divorce” surges on and things get ugly and scandals abound. It all comes to a most unexpected ending that I will allow the reader to discover.

Paris is presented to the reader like a fine jewel on a silver tray. A wonderful look at a different culture and how they view Americans. Superbly written and intelligently played out, I can see why this book was a National Book Award Finalist. (...)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars uneven quality but a pleasant read, January 12, 2005

By 

erica "ejs192" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Le Divorce (William Abrahams Book) (Paperback)

"Le Divorce" is the coming-of-age tale of a young American in Paris. Isabel, the narrator, has left her California life to live with her sister, Roxeanne, who is pregnant and whose husband has just left her for another woman. Isabel is introduced to her sister's in-laws, a varied and entertaining clan, and she takes on a slew of odd jobs that lend glimpses of the lives of Parisians and the Americans who live among them. She enters into a clandestine affair with a Frenchman and begins to develop her own opinions about what it means to be American or French, at home or foreign. Meanwhile the drama of Roxeanne's imminent divorce unfolds, entwining the two families in a dispute over a newly-valuable painting. As the plot rises, Isabel's family arrives in Paris to mediate, opposing forces clash more bluntly, and the situation becomes increasingly complicated.

All this complexity can be distracting; aside from the two central plots (the divorce and the affair) there are several subplots which appear at intervals and are never fully resolved. The final chapters of the book, rather than taking on the real work of finishing the story in accordance with its themes, create an artificial crisis, inconsistent with the book's tone and style, to provide a convenient resolution. The characters are sufficiently developed but not terribly likeable (the main character, in particular, is conceited and self-centered as well as naive). But, despite these drawbacks, the book is an enjoyable read. It is a pleasant mood piece, fun and frivolous. The Parisian setting and the enthusiastically described clothes and meals add a bit of exotic flair. At times, the story approaches the wry hilarty of an Austen-esque comedy of manners, and these are its best moments.