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By: Robbie Coleman
Date: 23rd Jul 08
Format: Book
Motivation: Good with a whiskey in the bath
What:
Bonjour Tristesse (Hello Sadness)
Where:
Here or secondhand bookshops or eBay
How much:
New around $12
First edition $30-$1000 on eBay
First editions are like virgins in a brothel: sought after, rarely fondled and destined to live out their days in a basement somewhere. Thankfully, these beauties can still be found in second-hand bookstores, or if you're lucky enough (hint), will come to you from a dear friend...
Bonjour Tristesse takes the reader to the South of France through the scheming eyes of Cécile, a 17-year-old hedonist on vacation with her father Raymond, the sensual and fetching widower, and his conservative mistress, Elsa. However, a third person is introduced into the otherwise routine romance between Raymond and Elsa; an old flame, Anne. Oh, that's original, a ménage à trois ... merci, Sagan.
Assuming the role of Cécile's surrogate mother, Anne pressures her to spend the summer studying instead of fornicating in pine needles with her first love, Cyril. Infuriated, Cécile plots Anne's demise, using Elsa and Cyril as pawns, and ruining her father's only chance of finding true love, in Anne.
Beautifully written by an eighteen-year-old Sagan (who, ironically, failed her Sorbonne exams and chose to write this book), Bonjour Tristesse is for the pessimist, romantic or adolescent at heart.
Sex and pine needles, sex and pine needles.