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Gigi & The Cat

By Colette
Gigi The Cat Gigi is being educated in the skills of the Courtesan to choose cigars to eat lobster to enter a world where a woman s chief weapon is her body However when it comes to the question of Gaston Lacha

  • Title: Gigi & The Cat
  • Author: Colette
  • ISBN: 9780099422754
  • Page: 305
  • Format: Paperback

    • Gigi is being educated in the skills of the Courtesan to choose cigars, to eat lobster, to enter a world where a woman s chief weapon is her body However, when it comes to the question of Gaston Lachaille, very rich and very bored, Gigi does not want to obey the rules.In The Cat , a story of burgeoning sexuality and blossoming love, an exquisite strong minded Russian BlGigi is being educated in the skills of the Courtesan to choose cigars, to eat lobster, to enter a world where a woman s chief weapon is her body However, when it comes to the question of Gaston Lachaille, very rich and very bored, Gigi does not want to obey the rules.In The Cat , a story of burgeoning sexuality and blossoming love, an exquisite strong minded Russian Blue is struggling for mastery of Alain with his seductive fianc e, Camille.

    • Gigi & The Cat Best Read || [Colette]
      305 Colette
    Gigi & The Cat

    About Author

    1. Colette says:
      Colette was the pen name of the French novelist and actress Sidonie Gabrielle Colette She is best known, at least in the English speaking world, for her novella Gigi, which provided the plot for a famous Lerner Loewe musical film and stage musical She started her writing career penning the influential Claudine novels of books The novel Ch ri is often cited as her masterpiece.

    Comment 534 on “Gigi & The Cat”

    1. Fiona MacDonald says:
      Gigi was charming, humorous and wild, and The Cat was painful and soul rejoicing Two complete contrasts in story form, one about the fickle life of a young girl being groomed by her grandmother to be a courtesan who s only use is to marry money, and the second about the devoted love and affection one man has for his cat, at the expense of anything and anyone else Really delightful, beautifully written stories.
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    2. Paul Bryant says:
      Revived review Louis Jourdan RIP 1921 2015 I loved you singing the theme song of Gigi However meretricious the movie was see below , you were perfect in your creepy realisation that you were in love with a teenager you d known all her life In that movie, any teenager would have wanted you to be in love with her ORIGINAL REVIEW I saw the movie Gigi it was made in the late 50s There was this total gush of praise that flowed from the orifices of the critics Gigi is a charming entertainment that can [...]
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    3. Abbie | ab_reads says:
      3.5 starsA bit underwhelming, but The Cat was particularly entertaining and I enjoyed Colette s insight into the sexual politics between men and women in 19 20th century France
      Reply

    4. Gabrielle says:
      Am I the only one who doesn t get skeeved out by Gigi I do get skeeved out big time by Maurice Chevalier singing Thank Heaven for Little Girls because, well duh That s a pretty fucked up song But the actual Colette novella that I have read in French countless times as Colette is one of my mother s favorite authors and her books were all over the house I grew up in and in English for the first time just now never struck me as creepy.Maybe it s my weird mix of French and Italian cultural heritage, [...]
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    5. Samantha Mitchell says:
      This novella I read mainly because I wanted to know the differences it had with the movie, GiGi, which is one of my favorite films of all time I relate a lot to Gigi being the only daughter in a family of all women The book and the movie are essentially the same, entire dialogues taken out directly from the story The only main difference is that in the film, the screenwriters delightfully and delicatly omitted the fact that yes, this is a story about a family of courtesans But these are not your [...]
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    6. Kaethe says:
      My daughter will be appearing in Gigi this spring, if winter ever leaves us, so I thought I d read it Meh Based on these two stories, I feel towards Colette what I feel towards Wharton indifference and a little boredom Sure, yes, turn of the twentieth century romantic pairings were hard due to the tremendous inequality of the sexes and the awkward courtship customs of the time But even knowing the financial importance to an entire family, I just can t feel that teenage student Gigi seducing a we [...]
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    7. Kate says:
      The Cat is the most marvelously creepy novella in the world A must read for any young lady who is engaged to the heir of a declining silk emporium and is slightly worried that a his family and servants look down upon her and b he is perhaps too into his cat.Alain, the protagonist of The Cat, is really, really into his cat He is also emotionally about 7 years old he is completely comfortable living in his ancestral home and allowing himself to drift around being cosseted by servitors The narrator [...]
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    8. Chris says:
      I m I the only one who is grossed out a bit by Gigi Maybe it s because I can t get the creepy song out of my head I know it s a different time period and all, and that she is being raised to be a mistress But ick She s 16 How old is he Now, The Cat I love that story, especially the ending where Camille makes some very good observations The Cat is where it is at.
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    9. Morgan says:
      This is collection of two of Colette s novellas I enjoyed these two stories and liked The Cat over Gigi However, don t let the title of The Cat fool you, it s not a story for cat lovers and it s of an anti romance story I think that s why I liked it so much.The first story Gigi is basically abut a young girl in France growing up to be a lady As a man reading the story it can get a little too womanly for me, but over all I liked the story I ve seen the musical and never cared for that, but the s [...]
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    10. Jane says:
      Oh Gigi, why did I wait so long to meet you It is many years since I met the wonderful Claudine, and I really should have sought you out back then.Paris at the turn of the century was always going to be wonderful, but it was the people who made this trip so special.Your family was marvellous, and I was particularly entranced as I watched your Great Aunt Alicia, a courtesan of the old school, try to mould you in her own image I shall remember so many of your exchanges with a wry smile.She only wa [...]
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    11. Lady Drinkwell says:
      My four stars are for the cat rather than Gigi I knew the story of Gigi but I felt rather uncomfortable with the light tone in which the story of a 15 year old girl getting together with a man she called tonton Uncle was written Other than that it was rather fascinating to read about the life of French courtesan and the politeness, manners and fastidiousness which surrounded what was essentially prostitution I adored the Cat however, with its spectacular descriptions of a newly married couple in [...]
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    12. David says:
      This has to be my favorite Colette that I ve read so far Tight clean writing, simple in scope yet highly moving Gigi is my favorite of the two, but both are quite well done Words that resonate long after the cover is closed.
      Reply

    13. Gitte says:
      If he s getting married, he s no longer interesting.The Beginning Don t forget you re going to Aunt Alicia s.Gigi, 2 starsI had high expectation for this one as I ve got a soft spot for classics with untraditional heroines Here we have a young girl trained to be a courtesan who surprises her family by her alternative approach to love It sounds like a winner, but it felt too short for such an interesting subject I liked Gigi, though She amused me in all her childishness and the story was a fun qu [...]
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    14. Fiona Gatt says:
      I read this book as part of my local book club It was chosen as a piece of feminist literature, but I m not sure that any of the characters really represented feminist ideals for me Gigi had some wonderful characterisations of an all female family who were fascinatingly poor, but part of Parisian high society by their association with wealthy male figures In their world, they will never expect to marry they are instead seeking the best male sponsor, basically becoming their mistress I found it p [...]
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    15. Coqueline says:
      I ve been watching the movie religiously since I was in kindergarten Back then I just took it as some sort of Cinderella story with nice music, and the older I get the I got out of the story Now I finally read the book, I still love the characters, the settings, the rich observation of these people s lives nobody can create a female character like Colette.I m still trying to imagine what would an eau de nil Persephone corset with rococo roses embroidered on the suspenders look like I don t care [...]
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    16. Faith-Anne says:
      Perfect little novella I loved it It was small enough to read in one sitting The joy jumped off the pages It s the perfect reading for a cold February evening.
      Reply

    17. Katie says:
      Gigi 4 5 stars Synopsis Gigi was written by the French author Colette and published in 1944 Gigi is a young girl living in turn of the century France with her Grandmother and Mother She is given lessons in etiquette by her Great Aunt Alicia These three women are grooming her to be a courtesan or a mistress of a rich man None of them have ever married and can t conceive of Gigi doing so When relations change between Gigi and a rich family friend named Gaston, Gigi desires than her female relatio [...]
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    18. GingerSnapHattie says:
      Gigi 5 Stars This story was clever, intricate and too short It gave a tantalising glimpse of Gigi s courtesan life and then cut off I wish there was to read The Cat 3 Stars As an animal lover, I found Camille s hatred of the cat Saha hard to stomach and that is what brought the rating down It was beautifully written, but made me uncomfortable, which is really the whole point of the story
      Reply

    19. Rosemary says:
      I actually picked this up because I wanted to read Gigi, being familiar with the musical I found Gigi an ok little story, but obviously based on a very dated concept, and shorter than I was suspecting The Cat on the other hand I absolutely loved It s such a great, ever so slightly sinister, concept and it really allowed Colette s prose to shine.
      Reply

    20. Jenny says:
      Colette s stories were very enjoyable She is very talented and makes seemingly commonplace things, unique and exotic I was familiar with the movie Gigi and always liked it, and the story was equally enjoyable The cat was very interesting and unexpected.
      Reply

    21. Saumya Singh says:
      I think Colette s stories are much too full of shallow people for me to like themThey have their moments,but overall, I don t really like them a lot.
      Reply



    24. Rachel Devadason says:
      it is so hard to b rich and learn rich ppl manners
      Reply

    25. Reds_reads says:
      There are two stories in this book Gigi is the first, and most familiar, having been made into a film in the 1950 s It is the story of Gigi, a young girl being raised to enter the family business, of being a Parisian courtesan, at the turn of the century the film, unsurprisingly glosses over this part Gigi has ideas of her own regarding love and her future, and confounds the hopes of her grandmother and aunt The overall tone of this book is light and humorous, but rather like Gigi herself, the i [...]
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    26. Tracy says:
      I love this novella, probably because Freud may be on to something about my questionable inner psychological makeup than liking the literary elements of the book Hmm Some people may find this romance between a 15 16 year old girl and a man in his 30s repulsive especially when it s treated in such a blase way Unlike Lolita, which I ve never read, not much concern is given to this fact which may repel people even .In its own way, it sort of is a feminist book in that Gigi set the terms for fallin [...]
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    27. Julia says:
      I can see why Gigi would fill the reader with indignation it s basically underage prostitution.But.I think it was an interesting view on these women and their lives.We have three generations and their different dreams and aspirations and daily struggles And while Gigi is still not quite a woman, she is been trained to become one, or at least act like it.But her childish heart wants something else and refuses to conform to the tradition.I liked the ending nothing too blunt or sexual, no trade or [...]
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    28. Kristin says:
      If you don t know Colette, you should I adored these two short novels.Gigiis best known in film form And, of course, the story is actually quite different as crafted by Colette.Between the two stories, I probably enjoyedThe Catthe most Colette writes women beautifully and her female characters usually take center stage In this story, two dominant women compete for the affections of Alain It s just that one of the ladies in this story is a charming Russian Blue cat named Saha.Colette spent a larg [...]
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    29. Lois says:
      I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with Gigi , simply because it was so different from what I was expecting from the blurb not to mention that it was far less interesting, complex and substantial than The Cat , which should really be the leading story in the title Indeed, I found The Cat astute, disturbing, and beautiful all at once, with a number of very deft observations on nature, animals, humans and marriage written in light and sensual prose I can t help thinking, based on the author [...]
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    30. Jillian says:
      This is a collection of two short stories Gigi is a charming story about a 16 year old girl who is growing up in Paris Her mother and grandmother seemed to be the other women and were educating her about manners, fashion, how to eat certain foods, etc so that she could continue the tradition However, when they start to overtly encourage the attentions of a wealthy older gentleman a friend of the family she proves to be rather recalcitrant Ultimately, things come out better than expected The writ [...]
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