Reviews

Odette Toulemonde et autres histoires by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt

lizwisniewski's review against another edition

5.0

My vacation book - I loved it - once I started a story I could not put it down. Now I want to see the movie of Odette Toulemonde.

harryhas29's review against another edition

3.0

Pretty enjoyable stories. I thought that the tourist one was almost a great story about struggling for humanity in the face of incarceration but I think the emphasis on the (somewhat disappointing) ending detracts from this.

librariandest's review against another edition

3.0

Each of these stories happened in my head like a short foreign film. They have that weird, mysterious, artsy foreign film quality to them, but they're also pretty simple. In most of the stories there's a French woman dealing with some difficulty in her life and then a twist at the end. Sometimes I saw it coming, sometimes I didn't. Very enjoyable to read before bed so you can contemplate the nature of happiness as you drift off and have weird short foreign film-ish dreams.

annaelle's review against another edition

4.0

wanda winniping : 2/5
c’est un beau jour de pluie : 4/5
l’intruse : 3/5 (j’avais deviné l’intrigue)
le faux : 5/5
tout pour être heureuse : 2/5
la princesse aux pieds nus : 5/5
odette toulemonde : 5/5
le plus beau livre du monde : 4/5

3,75/5

al13ex's review against another edition

5.0

I found this book to be charming and I truly enjoyed reading these the stories. They were uncommon, surprising and had unexpected endings. The subjects varied and the themes were thought-provoking, wondering myself how I would feel if I were to walk in the characters' shoes? I can't say I find them to be realistic, but I surely had a pleasant time reading them.

figwood's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

suvaznudli's review against another edition

4.0

Nevím, jestli název odráží skutečnost, ale mně se povídky líbily, četly se v podstatě samy. Jediná výhrada byla, že chvílemi je pointa příběhu dost předvídatelná a jednoduchá. Do určité míry to ale vyrovnávají zajímavé postavy, takže co už - příběh nestojí jenom na vyústění.

iuliatr's review against another edition

3.0

This was may first Schmitt book and I admit that I was curious about it, knowing that there's 2 shelves dedicated to him in my workplace, the local bookshop.

He definitely has a talent for writing, it's easy to understand and pretty catchy. The stories were...nice. I wouldn't go as far as calling it "the most beautiful book in the world". Far from it, actually.

I don't know why this man tends to write women as really cold and kind of...bitchy and there were some...problematic sentences but I tried to overlook them.

Odette's story though...must've been the most annoying out of all of them and it made me enjoy this book a lot less because it feels like we are taught that men cheat and we should deal with it, because in the end he will come back home to you. Am I crazy for thinking it shouldn't be like this? The amount of women thinking like this baffled me and I feel like this kind of literature plays a big role for this mentality.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll pick another Schmitt book anytime soon but this one wasn't horrible.

3

nourhan09's review against another edition

3.0

للأسف رغم بحثي الطويل الى أنني لم اتمكن من ايجاد الكتاب بالكامل ..
وتمكنت فقط من قراءة قصة "أجمل كتاب بالعالم."
أحببت فكرة القصة كثيراً .. عن نساء لا عن أمهات بعيدات عن حياتهن / ازواجهن / والأهم من كل شيء بناتهن.
النساء قادرات على فعل كل شيء الا ان يختصرن الكلام ^^"
لا الومهم, بالفعل من الصعب جداً ان تختصر قصة حياتك بثلاث لفائف من السجائر كيف يمكنك ان ترسل اهم احداث حياتك بكلمات صغيرة قليلة غير قابلة للتصحيح.
مجرد التفكير بذلك قد يثير اعصابك ويبعد عنك كل فكرة مناسبة ..
ولكن في النهاية النساء هن نساء.. يمكن ان يفعلن كل شيء بطريقتهن الخاصة .
فكرة القصة لطيفة للغاية .. تمنيت لو تمكنت من قراءة جميع القصص .
ولكن ربما في المستقبل اتمكن من ذلك.

laleluzz's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

J’ai lu ce livre pour la première fois il ya a quelques années, et je pense que Éric Emmanuel schmitt va toujours avoir une place dans mes auteurs de conforts. Je me sens toujours aspiré par ses histoires et il arrive toujours à les tisser avec une douceur et élégance hors du commun, et chacune d’elle inspire tellement d'amour et de chaleur. Des nouvelles très conviviales et adorables qu’on peut lire très rapidement<3