Bonjour Tristesse was a very interesting read.

It’s about Cecile and her relationship with her father as he falls in love with Anne, the woman Cecile believes threatens their free and youthful way of living. All this is to disguise the sense of instability has within herself, with the thought of losing the only other person who shares this with her propelling her into scheming with her friends to destroy what is probably the only saving grace in her father’s life.

In short, its a novel about youth, instability, fear and childishness. I found myself, like other people, not being able to sympathize much with Cecile. She has every opportunity to grow up but chose to plot against someone who could’ve given her stability and encouraged maturity. I think it’s maybe due to the fact that Cecile has grown up so privileged, which makes anything that disrupts her comfortable existence a pertinent threat.

I thought the father was an enabler, with him not really caring much about what Cecile does and seeking validation from her at times. The father himself is also a little immature, and it was interesting to observe the similarities between him and his daughter.

I really liked Anne’s character. She was self-assured, confident and could see the pitfalls of Cecile and her father’s lifestyles. I think she did a lot to contribute so that they could reorient themselves in a better way, however as we saw, it was ultimately to her detriment.

Overall, I didn’t really like the book. My favorite read so far remains Nada by Laforet, but I did like the discomfort that came with the read as it is not often that I come across protagonists who are so stuck in their ways and ultimately stay stuck and unmoving. The characters in this novel were destructive and petty, but they reflected the sentiment of forever youth and the appeal of an unstable/reckless lifestyle well.

My question is: Did you like Anne? Do you think she could’ve helped Cecile if Cecile would’ve listened to her? Do you think it was in Anne’s place to parent Cecile in the way that she did?