Customer Reviews

La chamade (French Edition)

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As terribly weary as I am of "pink novels", this book is far beyond the "romance" - it borders the philosophical/existential. It is not so much about Paris or particular characters or Lucile's meeting her lover - they are all just symbols used to question the search for happiness, and the terror of the routine. So convicing I couldn't put it down. But I don't think it makes you cry. Rather it makes you think. Lucile is fascinating, a weak/strong free/prisoner we've all met in real life. The rise of passion, the end of hope. What to surrender to, what is a victory, what is a capitulation? It is a story of disallusionment and my (Russian) translation of it was titled "Signal for Capitulation", which is strangely appropriate. No phisolophical answers in this book, no Kierkegaard-like essays, just vague questions, and quite a bit of pleasure.

Seeing that Amazon.com can be accessed throughout the entireworld, there are probably many people out there reading this articlenow who have never been to Paris. Although I have never personally lived among a group of people such as those depicted in La Chamade, Francoise Sagan gives us her insight into the lives of the people of Paris at the time that she was writing the novel. Through the eyes of Lucile, a young Parisian woman longing to find happiness, we begin to see a group of Parisians amongst which she spends a lot of her time. At a dinner one night with these friends, she encounters the young Antoine. In an attempt to find true happiness, she pursues a relationship with him, and then eventually learns more about what the true meaning of happiness really is for her. A very good book, and one that anyone from the intermediate-level French student to the native French speaker would benefit from. END

Well, I guess Sagan's best novel is "Bonjour Tristesse" and this book is the second best. It's indeed touching and true to life. It's about the love which the two hove lost, such things really happen in our life. It's extremely sad and it makes you cry a bit if you are sensitive. It shows pure feelings. It's nice