Bonjour tristesse -ne [Mass Market Paperback]

And this book really is more of a short story than a novella. The first half of the book could easily have been edited down to one third of its length, hence making it something more suitable for inclusion in short story collections.

And one should bear in mind that much of the initial popularity of this book was due, I'm sure, to fairly crass and prurient reasons. The sex, and especially the teen sex, that is described seems very tame by todays standards. So this book really is quite dated and even antique. In a way, it reminds me of an old scratched Elvis 45. It's so hard to imagine nowadays how anyone could have gotten that worked up about it.

Cécile is a precocious seventeen-year-old girl who travels to the French Riviera in the company of her father and his mistress. She is used to having different women around with her father all the time. But when he decides to marry one of them, Cécile and her lover Cyril decide to do something to stop him. Meanwhile, she is also learning about life, love, sex and pleasures. All these life-changing experiences will make the girl grow up towards to womanhood.

Françoise Sagan writes about something she knew, and it makes the book very interesting to read. Her prose never sounds fake or far-fetched. Although, it is a little dated --some of Cécile's acts that were daring by that day are just 'normal' nowadays-- it has not lost its freshness. The Riviera settings are beautifully described, and we're often asking what the girl will do next.

It is undeniable it is a novel about that time in our lives when we're not a child any more and not yet an adult. With a mind filled with questions, we're trying to define who we are and will be in the future to come. Cécile has to face tragic events to understand what her life is and what it will be like for the next years. While many consider her being a spoilt little brat, this is the time when she is forced to stop being that, and see she won't have her father papering her forever.

'Bonjour Tristesse' opens with a powerful paragraph that reads: 'A strange melancholy pervades me to which I hesitate to give the name of sadness'. At this point, had we any doubts it is a book about teenage angst, they are all dissipated.

Sagan wrote this novel when she failed to pass her examination at Sorbonne. The book became an international best seller and also a movie. While 'Bonjour Tristesse' is a short and quick book, it is a good work of fiction, and probably Sagan's masterpiece.