A review by lezreadalot
Claudine At School by Colette, Colette

4.0

Elle semble se trouver si bien dans cette chambre chaude et assourdie que je me sens déjà prête à l’aimer tant et tant, avec tout mon cœur déraisonnable. Oui, je sais très bien, depuis longtemps, que j’ai un cœur déraisonnable, mais, de le savoir, ça ne m’arrête pas du tout.

3.5 stars. A slice of life, coming of age following 15 year old Claudine at school, as she plays pranks with her friends, battles the headmistress for the attention of the pretty assistant, lovingly bullies the girl in love with her, reads to her heart's content, and is summarily ignored by her well-meaning father. I adored the style in which this is written; it made the very mundane goings-on really entertaining. And I mean, it's not that mundane; it's amazing (and great!) that the love affairs between women were spoken about so frankly and easily. It doesn't buck conventions that hard (see the ending for Mlles. Sergent and Lanthenay) but in the ways it did, it was remarkable. I loved Claudine, truly. She's such a shitty little teen, with her stubbornness and pranks and sometimes nightmarish behaviour. But her haughtiness and stubbornness and resourcefulness are good things, especially considering some of the people she has to put up with (like the doctor). And she's so passionate about everything, both when she's in love and when she's been spurned; it's difficult not to love her. Poor Luce! I understand you. I was a little less engaged near the end of the book, but for the most part, this was really light and fun.

Listened to the audiobook as read by Barbara McCulloh, who has a lovely, somewhat classic voice. She didn't do any character voices, but I found that I didn't miss it that much. I listened in English while following along with my French copy, which makes for good practice and allowed me to pick up a little of the original nuance, as well as appreciate Colette's writing. I really liked it! Classic French is so decadent and descriptive, and the style really suits the way our main character flings herself into her endeavours. Definitely want to continue Claudine's adventures some time.

Content warnings:

Spoiler

sexual assault/forced kissing

On ne peut pas contenter tout le monde et soi-même. J’aime mieux me contenter d’abord...