I now have the elegance of the hedgehog in french and it is almost identical to the english translation!!!!! Very exciting. Normally there is a big difference in translated books, but happily this is not the case.
The film starts this week.......... _________________ If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.
Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 1654 Location: Penrith (where jacarandas remind me of change), New South Wales, Australia
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:01 am Post subject:
What a joyous batch of recent posts!
'n Debbie your language is now much more joyous Debbish...that *&^(*%(% food business had us worried.
as for book of the moment ~ a toss up ...either "That Was Yvette" (biography of Yvette Guilbert) or Fred Kaplan's "Gore Vidal" or "The Elegance of the Hedgehog"
am drawn to TEOTH ..so yes, that's it...hedgehog
glasses raised to all those connected in any way to the invention of the printing press!!!!!!!!!!! _________________ "I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson
Madame, what is "That was Yvette" like? Is it rivetting, ok or tedious going?
Wayne is away for a few days so I am going off to the movies with some girlfriends to see TEOTH (like the abbreviation thanks Madame).
I saw Millenium in french so know I can handle this in french no problems. The man of the house however does not enjoy his films in anything except english........ perfect time for me to indulge in a few VF films.
I am loving P&P&Z Bainst. Have been rationing myself. Spending an hour each day in the park studying (desperately need vitamin D) and the last 10 mins are devoted to The Book.
Madame I am almost back on form. Have started eating salad and grains again this week (thank goodness as temps over 30 degrees C all week). Still on tiny meals, but bigger than at start. Weight is still coming off and have been working with a personal trainer to get some strength back into my leg and to ensure I don't lose muscle tone during this period. You won't recognise me in december!! _________________ If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.
Saw TEOTH last night. It would have to be THE movie of 2009 for me.
It is very true to the book. All they have done is left out a few characters and focussed instead on the concierge, the little girl and the japanese man.
Take your tissues! I (along with everyone else in the cinema) cried my heart out in the end, even though I knew the story and what was coming. Men and women reduced to sobbing messes but saying how wonderful the film was.
Just typing this and remembering last night I have goosebumps. I highly recommend it if it comes to your area. _________________ If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.
I've read everything about TEOTH in the Wikipedia as I don't know if I can purchase the book here. I hope I will, it seems worth reading. Thanks , folks.
But what I was thrilled about when reading about the book was to discover that the address is 7, rue de Grenelle.... Fiction ar not, I lived about 4 years at 47(or was it 46?)-rue de Grenelle ,just above the Gallimard book-shop, and across the best cheese shop in town!!- in a chambre de bonne, on the 7th floor, 147 steps!!!). But I have no doubt that "our" conscierge, a thin , dry and unpleasant woman was no Renee in her private home. She made my life miserable more than once .. she did not like my long-haired friends.
And about Colette and Cheri- I loved Colette and I read practically all her books about 40 years ago ( when I was Chery's age) but you , dear friends, have arroused my nostalgia to go back and re-read it now, from the perspective of an elderly woman. One thing: I do agree Michelle Pfeiffer is a very beautiful woman and a great actress: But she is not the Lea I imagined. Her beauty is too perfect, to sweet, too fragile, in short, too American ( in the good sense) but.... not frech. There is something in the french women, ( in my opinion ) which is unique, a "je ne sais quoi " , a little shrewd smile, a not too perfect beauty... I don't know, something else which I miss in Michelle's Lea. Well, nobody really consulted me....
Joined: 27 Dec 2004 Posts: 200 Location: cambridge, ma.
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:15 pm Post subject:
I agree and the Cheri is miscast, he looks too wordly and seductive.
I cannot picture him as in the book playing on the bed weaing Lea's peorls. _________________ Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly
..................................MFK Fisher
Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 1654 Location: Penrith (where jacarandas remind me of change), New South Wales, Australia
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:23 am Post subject:
simona, how about Fanny Ardant as Lea?
I think she has one of the most fascinating faces on the planet!
Debbie, thrilled to bits about the increase in your fittness etc...as for the book..haven't started yet...planning Papa's 94th birthday and so on...busy days...
hugs dear readers _________________ "I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson
I thought of Fanny Ardent - but she's several years too late. A 20 years younger jeanne Moreau or a new Simone Signoret - my favourite actress ever ! ( and not because her name, nor even because of Yves Montand).
I just can't think of any right-aged french actress today. But there are certainly a number of suitable ones.
As for Cheri, any 20 YO black haired youth with a tormented look and passionate mouth will do! As for Ms. Bates, I can hardly imagine her as a "maitresse" even 20 years ago!!! What a casting! An they speak English , Oh mon Dieu ! Still I'll go and see the movie. Because of the hats...
Thanks David, and OLD hippie indeed!!!
Well, finished P&P&Z. The longest it hs ever ever ever taken me to read a book! It was nice though to ration it out as a treat each day.
Well, I think I must have been infected somehow as I craved cauliflower the past month..... have decided that I must really be a zombie as a head of fresh cauli looks extremely appetising to me.
What a great book. I loved every sentence and a few times found myself laughing out loud.
Thank you Bainst!!
A friend gave me a box of old books from early 1900's. They belonged to her sister and father who have both passed away. I feel so privileged that she chose me to give them to. Beautifully bound in linen or leather. Some with block prints inside. They are part of a collection. Cannot wait to start reading them. Amongst the collection is the diary of Samuel Pepys in two parts. Will be interesting to see what has changed for the modern edition I have read. _________________ If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.
Joined: 07 Aug 2005 Posts: 151 Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:31 am Post subject:
Debbie,
I am so happy you enjoyed the book. Just like you, I was laughing out loud. I am happy I was able to send it to you. _________________ Live as if to die tomorrow. Learn as if to live forever.
Mahatma Gandhi
Joined: 17 Aug 2005 Posts: 307 Location: Far, far away
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:53 am Post subject:
I know I don't participate anymore and that I've never been as colourful as Sarape though I should get some points for deferring to the majority by spelling the adjective the way it appears in this sentence.
However, your collective passion for books makes me want to pass on some of the titles of a string of incredibly good novels I have read recently, hoping to inspire some "oh, I loved that too"'s or gratitude (since I do peek here from time to time and just got my library's copy of TEOTH as a result).
So: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/15/books/review/15COVERAT.htmlSnow, a haunting Turkish novel by Orhan Pamuk whose protagonist, Ka, takes the name used for the spirit or life energy of beings in Ancient Egypt. But he has more in common with Kafka's K. Translations are mentioned here; the English is profoundly beautiful. Very political, but like the next two books, yearning for, finding and looking back upon love lie at the heart of the story.
Second, Plainsong by Kent Haruf. The description of making oatmeal cookies will make you cry. Simple, understated prose with depth. Nothing's explained. It all comes across in the things characters do and observe in the part of the country where they live.
Joined: 24 Sep 2004 Posts: 443 Location: Paris, France
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:18 am Post subject:
Hello Deste,
It's great to see your name pop up again!
Thank you for the reading recommendations. As with so many titles that appear on this thread, I'm adding them to my "to read" list, perhaps especially Plainsong.
I hope you're doing well,
Clotilde.
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..so yes, that's it...hedgehog
I know I don't participate anymore and that I've never been as colourful as Sarape though I should get some points for deferring to the majority by spelling the adjective the way it appears in this sentence.