RMST 202

At first glance, I found this novel quite interesting. Keeping the title from being translated seems to make it appear more authentic and true to its originality. As a student who is also currently taking french classes this term, I was able to interpret the meaning of the title. Nonetheless, I can see why readers may not pick up this book from the shelf – they say not to judge a book by its cover, but I think the title is fair game. The title is meant to draw you in, in minimal words, so that you want to know more about the book and read the back cover. If one does not understand the title or has to look up its translation, does it not take away a part of the process of reading the book? On the other hand, keeping the title in its original form sets the atmosphere of the text; it provides some background information, that is in fact, French. From there, the reader would judge the cover and synopsis with that knowledge before choosing whether they want to read the book or not. Of course, this argument doesn’t really apply to our case of choosing to the reading the book, but I do find the impact of a book’s title intriguing. My question is, how much do you pay attention to a book’s title – what do you notice first and what draws you in?

I think this novel is similar to Agostino in a lot of ways. As Agostino could be said to have “mommy issues”, Cecile could be said to have “daddy issues”, but in completely differing ways. Agostino was more sheltered and possessive of his mother, he idolized her. Whereas Cecile sees her father as almost incompetent, in the way she describes him as a baby who needs to be protected. Cecile sets out to protect her father and relationships through her strategic ways as if she is not his child who he is supposed to be protecting instead. Cecile takes on a lot more responsibility for her father than a child should when instead she could have been studying for her exams – a more common stress of an adolescent. Though I empathize with Cecile for resenting Anne for trying to lock her in the room to study or keep her away from Cyril, I also sympathize with Anne. Anne is trying to ensure that Cecile has a bright future ahead of her and that she does not tarnish it by failing her exams or getting pregnant, as this could result in a limit of opportunities for her in the future.