| Title | : | Wonderful Clouds |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0140023704 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780140023701 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 112 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1960 |
Wonderful Clouds Reviews
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As much as I really liked Bonjour Tristesse, I'd never planned on reading Sagan again at the time, but one day I came across a book of her short fiction, and being a fan of short-stories I gave it a go, and found to my surprise some of them were really good. So I thought I'd try another novel, and for no particular reason I just went for this. Wonderful Clouds is Sagan's fifth novel, and shows a greater maturity in her writing. The young prodigy may be gone, but what we have here is Sagan showing us she was not simply a one hit wonder. In this short novel she presents an all too accurate picture of a neurotic marriage between Alan, a young American millionaire, and Josée, his overly sensitive, and somewhat unstable French wife. Talented, handsome and intelligent Alan may be, but he lacks conviction or purpose, can't stop obsessing over Josée's past, and seems always suspicious of her. In a devitalizing way he feeds off Josée who is exhausted and fed up by her husband's possessiveness and his burning jealousy. Moving from Florida to New York to the world of Paris cafe society, it's the arena of the bedroom that is key to the novel, as it's here that husband and wife use sex as a weapon, and as an escape from boredom, but rarely as an expression of love for each other. The scope of the story may be limited, but Sagan still delivers a dramatic and bittersweet tale whirling with hedonism. I liked it, and have got hold of two more Sagan novels as a result.
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Peti roman Fransoaz Sagan je naizgled o raspadu braka između patološki ljubomornog Alena, muškarca koga je život previše razmazio, i Žoz, devojke koja se, po sopstvenim rečima, grozi zdravog razuma, ali je pored nerazumnog muža morala naučiti da drži zdravorazumske pridike. Ili barem tako izgleda izdaleka. Izbliza ovo je roman o temi u središtu svih Fransoazinih romana – građanskoj dosadi, čami i svega onog što obuhvata značenje francuske reč ennuie. Po toj liniji Sagan je naslednica Bodlera, iz čijih stihova je uzet naslov romana. I za nju i za Bodlera „čarobni oblaci” su metaforičko otelotvorenje sna o „lakoći” kojoj kao bića teže, iako ih „težina” čame uvek vuče na dole. Apsolutna površnost života, bez morala i bez socijalnih problema, junakinjina stalna potreba da sebe udvaja i posmatra sebe sa strane kao lika u neubedljivoj predstavi ili pretencioznom filmu, radovanje „susretu sa malim, trulim ljudima, umetnim i šupljim, ali u isto vreme najživljim, najslobodnijim i najveselijim od svih”, skocentisanje na zvuk mlaza iz slavine dok se ima seks, isključivanje misli i gledanje satima u drveće i skverove – sve su to strategije junakinje za samozaborav kako bi ostvarila san o lakoći. Alen sa svojom težnjom da je odseče od sveta, uključi u stalno moralizatorsko preispitivanje njene prošlosti i da joj zabrani „ta ugodna trošenja sebe” gotovo je personifikovano otelotvorenje težine ennuie.
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I find Francoise Sagan's writing lovely. She writes with wit, has a very dry sense of humour and manages to fully encompass the atmosphere of the time. She reminds me a bit of Jean Rhys who I adore.
Josee and her husband Alan have a volatile relationship. Alan is jealous and narcissistic and believes every man that Josee talks to is having an affair with her. Josee's love for Alan has long since disappeared and she can only sit by and watch with horror as he embarasses her in public or questions and accuses her in private hour after hour. To make matters worse Alan believes that Bernard, their close, married friend, is in love with Josee too, and he happens to be right. Fed up with the marriage and the claustrophobia, Josee escapes from their home in Key Largo to a large, drafty house in Normandy, but Alan isn't far behind...
I must say I do love books about obsessive love that goes horribly wrong, it's fascinating to read different author's definitions. I found this wonderful old copy in a charity shop, and what a bargain that was! -
'Wonderful Clouds'....how do I loathe you, Let me count the ways.
You are pretentious crap, peopled with self obsessed prats who live unbelievably inane yet viciously stupid lives. Alan, a wealthy american who is insanely jealous of his french wife,Josee the 100%ly unsympathetic character who, instead of leaving the pathologically horrible husband instead opts to sleep with a number of people including, during the course of a very short book, an ex-lover, no sorry two ex-lovers and a shark fisherman. The ex-lovers were at least known to her, presumably, but the fisherman must have thought he was on candid camera or all his christmasses had come at once cos first he was baiting her line...or somesuch 'single entendre' and the next they were 'having it roughly' on the bed. Horrible book, horrible people; pointless and aimless story, pointless and aimless people. My first Sagan.....probably my only Sagan. -
Το δεύτερο βιβλίο που ολοκληρώνω από αυτή τη συγγραφέα και νομίζω θα γίνει μια από τις αγαπημένες μου! Έχει ένα μοναδικό τρόπο, τόσο "ποιητικό", τόσο δικό της να καταγράφει τις προκλήσεις και τα αδιέξοδα των ερωτικών σχέσεων!
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[...] she wished to regain possession of herself. There was a certain irony in the term, for there was nothing to regain, much less herself. She had come across the idea too often in too many novels.Here, there was the wind that snatched up and dropped everything, the delights of a wood fire in the evening, of all the earth's scents and smells and solitude.
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But only the wind seemed really serious in its fury, it alone seemed to have a definite aim, a precise destination. -
С голямо удоволствие я четох. Обичам да чета за човешки взаимоотношения, разгръщащи се на приятни места, които изпъкват ярко в съзнанието ми. Имам слабост към описанията на кафенета, напитки, обзаведени в определен стил салони - изобщо към специфичната атмосфера, в която се развиват отношенията между героите в подобни психилогически романи.
От моята гледна точка романът е анализ на
Направи ми впечатление, още в самото начало, колко голямо значение има житейския опит за възприемането на една творба. Този къс и на пръв поглед непретенциозен роман ако бях го прочела преди 15 години, за мен щеше да е мистерия какво движи героинята. Докато сега отнасям реакциите ѝ към собствения си опит с романтични връзки от миналото си и имам доста по-широка площ на интуитивно разбиране, което прави четенето по-лесно и приятно. От друга страна обаче да четеш без житейски опит дава много по-голямо поле за изява на въображението - имаш много повече празнини за запълване и четенето е много по-творчески процес. Поне въз основа на моя опит - като дете и тийн и някъде докъм 23-24 г. възраст четенето беше свързано със силно вълнение и дълбоко потъване в текста, който в голямата си част беше мистификация за мен и ми отваряше широк хоризонт на всякакви възможности... Днес за много повече неща знам откъде идват и с какво са свързани, защото имам по-богата обща култура и мога да обходя историко-културния контекст на творбата и да разпозная вероятните влияния/препратки (т.е. това си е буквално стесняване на обсега на възможните интерпретации), плюс собственият ми житейски опит подава интуитивно разбиране за голяма част от човешките взаимодействия с други хора, със средата, със себе си и пр. -
I made the mistake of looking at other reviews here before writing my own....ouch!! While I can see that these characters do nothing to endear the reader, I did feel like Sagan conveyed Josee's struggle enough to be engaged in her dilemma. Married to a very rich and very jealous husband, Josee waivers on whether to stay or leave him. If the book were longer than 109 pages it would certainly get tedious but I found it compact enough to read in two sittings and not be so irritated by the back and forth of Josee's mind. Yes, the characters are pretentious but I like to escape to the beautiful world of cocktail parties, where it's completely possible to just find an ad in the paper and run way to a cottage in the French countryside for a few weeks without telling anyone. It all seems very French (and I mean that as a compliment!!) so it is no surprise that the jealous husband is, of course, an American who can't handle his wife's attitude towards sex, flirting and life. I like Sagan in general so I was satisfied by this story but if you are new to Sagan I would point you towards Bonjour Tristesse rather than Wonderful Clouds. (Why the heck is this called Wonderful Clouds? Never even noticed the title until now...)
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Grāmatu izvēlējos lasīt skaistā nosaukuma dēļ un tas laikam arī palika vienīgais, kas man šajā stāstā īsteni patika. Visā visumā tāds meksikāņu seriāls par bagātiem švītiņiem franču gaumē. Lasījās raiti, sižets dinamisks par spīti tam, ka nekas īpašs jau nenotiek... Psiholoģisks terors no vīra puses un dumpinieciski mēģinājumi izrauties no sievas puses. Pa vidu franču bohēma, krodziņi un sievas sānsoļi. Grāmatas anotācijā teikts, ka šis ir viens no skaistākajiem, izjustākajiem un emocionālākajiem 20.gadsimta stāstiem par mīlestību. Laikam tā izjustā un emocionālā man bija par daudz, bet skaistā par maz, tādēļ īsti nevaru teikt, ka man grāmata patika...
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Декадентска и меланхолична, но и инфантилно патетична книга.
„Дивните облаци“ е задушена от зависимости и френски екзистенциализъм, в лицето на потъналата в себе си млада французойка Жосе, и същевременно от посредственост и ревност, пречупени през образа на богатия й, но безличен американски съпруг Алън.
Основен недостатък на „Дивните облаци“ за мен бе задавеността й от клишета, линейни диалози и банални описания. Онова, което ме накара да я довърша все пак е усещащият се специфичен френски подход на употреба на живота – пълен с вътрешни страхове, нестихващи демони, но и свобода на духа, както и смяната на средата – от почивки в безликата Флорида през самотния френски Прованс до бясно пропускащия Ню Йорк и съзидателния Париж.
В „Дивните облаци“ Франсоаз Саган е от онези изключително френски автори, до които макар и да достигаш трудно, не искаш да пропускаш, а когато се срещнеш с тях, довършваш, защото оценяваш автентичността и непреклонността им да се изправят пред табута. -
Some very harsh reviews here of what to me was simply a neat and engaging set of scenes about a horribly dysfunctional and semi-abusive relationship.
Is it that the characters are so unlikeable? Who needs likeable characters when you have some lovely creative prose acutely defining the disingenuous, mendacious, illogical and utterly hopeless, uncontrollable faces of love? The characters are selfish, weak and sadistic but their delusions also seem so on point that I wonder whether the critics here just felt it landed a little too close to the bone. I love the realism of Sagan’s cruel and shallow and hypocritical characters, who reflect the human condition as well as any perhaps more academic novels, so this is definitely something I’d recommend for a quick read on the train up to Edinburgh - with a lot to gain and very little to lose. -
'Once a bitch, always a bitch, what I say.'
It's a tale of hateful, contemptible characters who repudiate their own marriage just to inflict hurt upon one another. Josee is a profligate whore, while her husband, Alan, is a jealous neurotic.
It doesn't end well. -
Po senzibilitetu i motivima nalik na Slađanu Ninu Perković, pa je njenim čitaocima i preporučujem. Meni je došla u pravom trenutku.
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Giving the fact that there are other great titles ready to be read, I'll just go through a quick review, before I forget what this book was about. Sagan's earlier works were very similar to one another that it was difficult to differentiate them. With this novel, the focus was concentrated on a jealousy, but more like a guilty pleasure than an outrage. Although the protagonists live in a marriage, the word ''love'' is pronounced without depth or meaning. It's like saying: ''The coffee and the breakfast are ready'' every day. They relationship is even more stranger when husband loves his wife, but isn't interested in having a children. That makes the situation uncomfortable, so he spies on her and socializes himself with her ex and would be lovers in front on her. She, on the other hand, flirts with other men, but won't left her husband, despite his policy towards the children. It's one messed up relationship, but one that endures during the plot. This book is a fresh start, but doesn't make an impact for me, at least.
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Не ми допадна толкова, колкото " Добър ден, тъга" и "Усмивка почти", но отново се възхитих на безпощадния й маниер да прави дисекция на любовта, брака, зависимостта. Във всеки роман разпознавам авторката като прототип на главните героини и се питам колко ли бурен и сложен любовен живот е имала самата тя. Много ми хареса следният откъс, който звучи като откровение на Саган:
"Аз не вярвам в някаква пустота. Този вид патос ми е досаден. Никой не е удавник. Лично аз смятам, че всеки човек очертава живота си с ясни и волеви действия, по осезаем и окончателен начин. Сивотата не ме вълнува. Навсякъде виждам трепети, все едно дали се именуват скука, любов, досада или леност......Накратко, не вярвам, че сме поредни номера. Ние сме по-скоро одушевени животни, трепетни животни". -
Francoise Sagan's novels are, essentially, highbrow, decadent, poetic, French chick-lit - except that these stories never have happy endings. This particular novel wasn't that great. I enjoyed reading it, but it was a guilty pleasure. The writing felt rushed and a bit formulaic, especially in comparison to my two favorite Sagan novels - Bonjour, Tristesse, and Un Certain Sourire.
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So far Francoise Sagan can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. This novel's melancholic take on two obsessive lovers unable to live together yet unable to part was beautifully rendered. I'll even forgive her the ending which I'm still puzzling over.
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i thoroughly enjoyed these insufferable characters.
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Quelle belle surprise! J’apprécie vraiment l’histoire de ces gens si destructifs, si malheureux
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Trpke citanie o ziarlivosti, obsesii, vztahoch a nepeknej hre s ludskymi pocitmi. Pripominalo mi to serial The big little lies - odporucam obidve!
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If there’s an author whose work I don’t like but still torture myself by reading it, well, then that has to be Sagan. Thankfully, five books is my limit (even when I have six more in the collection. Six books I would rather burn then read. Yes, that bad.), and after this I don’t want to hear her name.
As always it starts great, I’m wowed by her writing that is eloquent, and as always only after two, three, pages I start to despise her characters. They are always on a high horse, looking down at the stupid people surrounding them; they are the ones in pain, with problems, and no one can understand them. Oh, please.
In this book, Wonderful Clouds, we have Josée, who is pathetic and indecisive, and we have her husband, Alan, who is obsessed with her, jealous and selfish. They have a fucked up marriage. She wants freedom and the life she had in Paris, but she gives her controlling husband the leash, and every time she gets away he does something she finds lovely, or whatever, and whoosh she is beside him, in a new cycle of emotional abuse.
Absolutely hated it. -
1
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Relation plus que toxique. C’est une histoire malsaine entre les 2 amoureux qui donne envie d’agir. On se perd parfois dans l’écriture de Sagan, ce n’est pas son meilleur livre mais il reste bien.
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Hronike raspada braka. Raspad toksične veze. Lajk!!!
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Françoise Sagan, ce n'est pas un auteur qu'on lit chez moi ; c'est même un nom qu'on ne prononce jamais quand on discute littérature autour de la table. C'était du moins le cas jusqu'à la découverte de cet incroyable roman, lu d'une traite.
Histoire d'un amour destructeur, mais d'un amour si bien traduit par l'écriture que le lecteur tend à l'idéaliser, Les Merveilleux Nuages met principalement en scène deux amants qui interagissent comme des aimants, ou comme des reflets dans un miroir trompeur. La sensation d'étouffement que produit leur relation fait croire à un huis clos alors même que le couple se déplace beaucoup, des États-Unis à la France.
C'est une superbe représentation d'un mariage singulier, peut-être invivable, pourtant très vivant, qui a fait palpiter mon cœur cent soixante pages durant. -
More subtle Sagan, but Josee is just pathetic. A bit sleazy female character. Her melancholic and spineless voice is just like Nouvelle Vague's song 'Too Drunk To Fuck' (you don’t have to know the melody to know what the song is about).
She has no will power, everything is open in her relationship with her Florida born and raised husband Alan, another spineless painter with Oedipus’s complex and decadent need to follow his own wife from the private detective notes. Yes, give me another glass of champagne while I fall down the sofa.
Obviously, no point of any conversation, I’m just too drunk to fuck, no, just not possible to verbalize and emotionalize. Anything. For. Now. They are so superficial that it is pure enjoyment knowing that I don’t know anybody like them. -
These are not 'nice' people, these are not people that I would probably like to know, but neither are they cartoon characters where I felt that I 'knew' them in any glib way.
A destructive relationship with no easy resolution, beautifully given life on the page ... and at approximately only 100 pages, once started I could not put it down. -
A sequel to the only Françoise Sagan book I didn't like "Those Without Shadows". Here Josée marries a rich, spoiled, psychopath who is obsessed with questioning her about everything. Quite enjoyed it since Sagan can really write, though the characters weren't too like-able. I can't get enough of her and her short novels.
Also, on page 92 Laura is misspelled as Lauara ;).
