Reviews

One might like this book for many reasons: because it's a love story, because it's unconventional, quite bohemian [amelie poulain-like] and maybe even because it's surrealistic and s.f. i called this book a collective bildungsroman, because i have the feeling all characters undergo major changes during the book.

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o carte care place in primul rind pentru ca e o poveste de dragoste, in al doilea rind pentru ca e neconventionala si nu in ultimul rind pentru ca e de o boemie specifica lui amelie poulain. si-ar mai fi un rind, pentru cei interesati :p, cartea combina cu succes realitatea cu s.f.-ul si cu suprarealismul.

personajele, care pot fi usor grupate in cupluri, chloe-colin, alise-chick, isis-nicolas, traiesc fara preocupari cotidiene concrete. chick e gata sa se falimenteze si sa renunte la dragostea pentru alise de dragul colectionarii operei lui jean-sol partre iar colin considera ca munca il coboara pe om la nivelul masinii. cu toate astea, in final, cu totii ajung sa experimenteze lucrurile de care fug la inceput: munca, probleme financiare si moarte, motiv pentru care indraznesc sa numesc lucrarea lui vian un bildungsroman colectiv. despre povestea principala, dragostea dintre colin si chloe, n-o sa spun nimic, pentru ca detalii se gasesc mai peste tot. mai bine citeva citate:

mai intotdeauna era bine dispus; restul timpului, dormea.

usa de la intrare se inchise in urma lui cu zgomotul unui sarut pe-un umar gol.

pe mine nu ma intereseaza fericirea tuturor oamenilor ci a fiecaruia in parte.

-ce-ar fi sa cint 'misty morning'? propuse anticarul. oare-i buna?
-da, spuse colin.are un efect formidabil. produce un cocteil gris-perle si verde de izma, cu gust de piper si de fum.

a se citi avind in casti muzica lui duke ellington.

xolotlll's review against another edition

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4.0

I feel like my enjoyment of this fantastic novel was diminished slightly by my false pre-conceptions. I went in expecting and hoping for something whimsical, heartwarming, beautiful and deeply romantic. The first half of the novel seemed to provide the heartwarming whimsicality though it was light on romance and there was zero conflict. The latter half of the novel, on the other hand, is something else entirely.

paulataua's review against another edition

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5.0

I read this many years ago in French, and although I was immediately aware I was reading something special, my French was nowhere near good enough to appreciate all that Vian brought to the novel. Finally got hold of an English translation, and loved it. So beautiful, and yet even now I realize that no translation could possibly wholly capture Vian’s neologisms, his puns, or his weird surrealism. Now going to watch ‘Mood Indigo’, a recent film version of the novel, and, of course, get back to learning French.

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