Customer Reviews

Le Divorce

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

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.

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. (...)

"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.

Le Divorce takes the reader on a trip to Paris with Isabel Walker. The novel's 22 year old heroine, a USC Film School drop out chock full of naiveté, travels to Paris to care for her pregnant sister. She is seeking, of course, something more; she wants, like any twenty-something, a little culture, R&R, and hopefully some direction. Diane Johnson does an admirable job writing as Isabel in the first person, growing her from innocent American to savvy Franco-American in a matter of a hundred pages. The book examines the cultural and social differences between the United States and France, and the intracacies of the small and tightly-knit American population that calls France their home. Johnson's narritive is thouroughly unbiased, pointing out the idiocy and splendor of both cultures.

I loved this story. Of course, I lived in Paris, and I'm an American married to a French woman. But I think Ms. Johnson hit the nail on the head many times when she described Parisian lifestyles, Californian lifestyles, and how those two lifestyles often clash when brought face to face (and body to body, in the case of Oncle Edgar).

The fate of the painting was a perfect deus ex machina to bring out the cultural issues that arise when two families from different countries become joined through a marriage. The author's knowledge of Paris, French life, and even French law was impressive and accurate. She did her homework.

There are many truths contained in this novel, and for that reason alone one might consider curling up on a couch one cold night and jumping in. That and the sumptuously described characters and settings that fill up the story. You will not be disappointed.

I enjoy transatlantic novels and this is a good one. It is satire at its best. It offers witty observations about both the French and Americans -- the comparisons are often laugh out loud hilarious.

The characters were great and I enjoyed the social commentary they provided us. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in French culture, living abroad, or in the need of a good read!

Le Divorce is a delightful book. It definitely appeals to the feminine reader. The main character can be easily idenified with. Johnson writes very fluidly and has a distinctive style of her own. My main greivance with the book is that the plot does not really get started until practically the end. Once you are completely used to the dull overtone of the character's life with her sister in Paris, it turns completely. Simple daily memoirs become an elaborate murder mystery. It was a very amusing book none the less. If you like reading about Americans in Paris, check out "Le Divorce". Il est tres amusant!

while in the midst of a family crisis, i picked up this novel wanting escape. Despite the fact that Le Divorce is about families in crisis, on these pages, I was completely removed from my own problems. I'd lived in Lyon years ago, and was happily reminded of that time-and of all the good and bad qualities of the french, and of americans in france. Bistro, tonight, I think.

Diane Johnson knows the French from her own experience, but for those of you who plan to live in France I also recommend French or Foe by Polly Platt for a non-fiction report. Johnson acknowledges her use of the Platt book and they make a great pair.

It is hard to give a review of a book like this because it doesn't inspire or repel you. It was nice reading, good story, and very funny at times. But it lacked an overall cohesion and the characters (even Isabel) were not developed much past their introduction. At the end of the story, you don't really even care about what happens to anyone. However, it is an unpretentious novel without being trashy and would probably be a good book for a plane.