Collected Stories of Colette

Great

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette is of course best known to the world as just Colette, and although of course I have read the Claudine tales in my teens like so many, I have never really gone into the mass of short fiction that she provided us with. This book then was a sheer joy to read, and for a number of these tales it is the first time that they have appeared in English translation.In some of these tales you can see the influence of Proust coming through in the way that they have been devised, but always, whatever the subject matter, the inimitable voice of Colette herself, as we are taken on a tour of different emotions and situations. The characters and the scenery are wonderfully brought to life as we follow the author’s writing career, as these tales span the whole period of her writing. Set out into a few sections so stories that take in similar themes, such as love, are placed together.With comedy and sadness at times so we have the whole gamut of human emotions brought to life before us, reminding us all of lost love, things that go wrong, as well as the joys of living. This is obviously a book that it is best to dip into rather than read straight off, as there is a lot here. Reminding us all of the literary power and quality of Colette’s writing, so we are given glances into her world, and that of her acquaintances. From same sex love, and hedonism, so we have deaths and even the feelings that we have for our pets. This also gives us a glimpse into the showbiz world of the period, where those at the higher end of the entertainment ladder had to rub shoulders with those of the lower echelon.In all this is really a great read that should give you not only joy in perusing, but also an insight into France and its people from the end of the 19th Century, towards the middle of the 20th Century, and thus takes in tales that were written within the war periods, as well as the inter-war years. Some of these are only a few pages long, but other are of much greater length.

It is dated (of course), but is an insight into contemporaneous literature. Possibly best read in French.

Love her style of writing. Many interesting stories.

Nice to have so many short stories

Useful collection