Suite Francaise

The most elegant piece of writing I have read in a long time. Incredibly prescient, considering she never knew how the war, etc. would end. I was in an agony knowing I would never find out what would happen next. It's unfinished because the author was murdered in a concentration camp before she could finish it; despite this or perhaps because of this added tragedy, the novel resonates with the...more

The most elegant piece of writing I have read in a long time. Incredibly prescient, considering she never knew how the war, etc. would end. I was in an agony knowing I would never find out what would happen next. It's unfinished because the author was murdered in a concentration camp before she could finish it; despite this or perhaps because of this added tragedy, the novel resonates with the compassion of its author's humanity. Look what she writes in her notes: "I swear here and now never again to take out my bitterness, no matter how justifiable, on a group of people, whatever their race, religion, convictions, prejudices, errors." Amazing.   hide

A stunning achievement, when you consider what else was going on while Irene Nemirovsky was writing this book. It's a complicated story because of the relationships between the people, but is based on a simple premise, which I believe, was to show how a person's true character is revealed during hard times, in this case, WWII. My favorite line: "You can never pride yourself in knowing the sea...more

A stunning achievement, when you consider what else was going on while Irene Nemirovsky was writing this book. It's a complicated story because of the relationships between the people, but is based on a simple premise, which I believe, was to show how a person's true character is revealed during hard times, in this case, WWII. My favorite line: "You can never pride yourself in knowing the sea unless you've seen it both calm and in a storm. Only the person who has observed men and women at times like this...can be said to know them. And to know themselves." P.S. The publishers need to change the description on the back of this book, which I found inept because the book is SO much more than just a wealthy mother searching for sweets! THAT was just one scene from the novel!   hide

A friend gave me this for Christmas and he thought it was a romance novel based on the front cover. I read the back page summary and groaned as I thought it was a war novel....something I would hate. I'm only 35 pages into the book and am completely entranced. Irene Nemirovsky is an artist who paints beautiful pieces of art with her words. I'm hooked.... Loved it! Cried reading the back...more

A friend gave me this for Christmas and he thought it was a romance novel based on the front cover. I read the back page summary and groaned as I thought it was a war novel....something I would hate. I'm only 35 pages into the book and am completely entranced. Irene Nemirovsky is an artist who paints beautiful pieces of art with her words. I'm hooked.... Loved it! Cried reading the back pages especially the frantic telegrams and letters between her husband, friends and publishers after she was taken to Auschwitz. Can't imagine how devastating that would be. Hard to beleive it was only 70 years ago.   hide

I am so used to writing in Internet exclamation points, I find myself wanting to say "Fabulous!" "Wow!" "Terrific!!!!" But exclamation points seem so out of place to describe Suite Francaise. If anyone deserved to write in exclamation points, it was Irene Nemirovsky. All that she experienced during the occupation of France--the violence, the anger, the humiliation--gave her more than enough...more

I am so used to writing in Internet exclamation points, I find myself wanting to say "Fabulous!" "Wow!" "Terrific!!!!" But exclamation points seem so out of place to describe Suite Francaise. If anyone deserved to write in exclamation points, it was Irene Nemirovsky. All that she experienced during the occupation of France--the violence, the anger, the humiliation--gave her more than enough permission to react with exclamations. But the language and tone of Suite Francaise are so subtle and restrained, they are a marvel. She says at one point in her notes at the end of the book that people wouldn't be interested in the history of the war in 10 years or even 110 years, but they would want to know the stories of what happened to people during the war. And that is how she keeps the subtlety of this book, by describing the simple people who lived through it and reacted to it--and not the grand marches of armies across battlefields. To begin with, Storm in June describes the evacuation of Paris as the Germans approach. Only a few word changes and she could have been describing the evacuation of Houston as Hurricane Rita approached. The cars piled high; the ones in the ditches out of gas; people cutting each other off and thinking only of themselves. Her description of how each family prepared, what they thought was important to do and to take before they left their homes, rang true. The biggest difference was, of course, we knew we would be returning in a couple of days after the storm passed, and they knew no such thing. In the second part, Dolce, Nemirovsky describes the relationship of the French with the occupying Germany force. Occupied France is a subject that an American of my age doesn't know a whole lot about. In our history lessons, once Paris falls, we really don't talk about France until the Americans liberate Paris. Learning what happened after the fall is fascinating.There are those who collaborate and those who resist. I have often wondered how I would react in a situation like that. It is so easy in the comfort of freedom and tranquility to think I would be brave, but I am not brave in so many parts of my free life, I'm afraid I would not be brave in a captive life. What is remarkable about this book is that Nemirovsky is writing it as she is living it. She hoped to make this a five-part book. Her notes at the end of the book indicate that she had strong ideas about what would happen in the third part, but she really didn't know how the book would end. And how could she really, because she didn't know how the war would end. As far as she was concerned, the Germans could be in France forever. And the end of that book would look so much different from one where the Germans lost. It is also interesting that most books that we read about WWII, both fiction and non-fiction, usually deal with the Jews, but Jews are not even mentioned in this book--despite the fact that Nemirovsky, herself a Jew, always seemed to know that she would not survive the war. And she didn't--dying at Auschwitz in 1942. This book lay hidden for over sixty years, so reading it was like discovering a new, young author. As I read this book I kept thinking, "Oh, I want to read more from this wonderful writer. I wonder what will happen in the other three parts of this novel." And then I would remember that she has been dead over 60 years and there were no other parts to be read. And I would be sad and depressed until I started reading again. And then I would remember again. And it would feel as if she had just died again. And the whole experience was uplifting, and disappointing, and sad, and bizarre all at same time. (It is much like I feel when I listen to Eva Cassidy sing.) Any book that can make me feel all those things is one that deserves to be on my favorites list. And it is.   hide

Suite Francaise is the postmortum publication from Irene Nemirovsky, who died in Auschwitz in 1942. She details the lives of the French as they flee Paris before the Germans march on the capitol. There are the rich aristocracy scrambling to pack their linens, the middle classes barred from the train stations, and the intolerable mob grasping bird cages and hankies in their sweaty exodus. ...more

Suite Francaise is the postmortum publication from Irene Nemirovsky, who died in Auschwitz in 1942. She details the lives of the French as they flee Paris before the Germans march on the capitol. There are the rich aristocracy scrambling to pack their linens, the middle classes barred from the train stations, and the intolerable mob grasping bird cages and hankies in their sweaty exodus. Part II takes you to the countryside where the Germans are living amongst and even billeted with the local villagers and farmers. She paints a very sympathetic picture of the Germans - they are courteous and romantic figures - done so on purpose no doubt to highlight the brutality and futility of the war.   hide

Nemirovsky's Russian Jewish family fled from the revolution to France when she was 15. This is her fictional account of life in France under the Nazi occupation. She planned it as a symphony in 5 movements, but completed only 2 before she was arrested, deported, and died in Auschwitz in 1942. The first movement, Storm, is chaos. Parisians pack and flee, in fear of invasion. Refugees wander...more

Nemirovsky's Russian Jewish family fled from the revolution to France when she was 15. This is her fictional account of life in France under the Nazi occupation. She planned it as a symphony in 5 movements, but completed only 2 before she was arrested, deported, and died in Auschwitz in 1942. The first movement, Storm, is chaos. Parisians pack and flee, in fear of invasion. Refugees wander the countryside. Most eventually return. The ensemble cast of characters are human in their foibles, betrayals, loves, selfishness, fear, strength and weakness. Everyone is trying to save something, whether it be their money, artworks, family, status. Some even succeed. In the 2nd movement, Dolce, a country village lives quietly with the occupation. Collaboration is the norm - for the most part, what else can one do? Nemirovsky's sharp observation is both chilling and sympathetic. An intimate look at human behaviour in an amazing piece of history. It ends without resolution.   hide

This work is beyond amazing. It's heartbreakingly poignant and well thought-out, despite the conditions under which it was written, or maybe because of. Nemirovsky's portrayal of the humanity of people involved in war is mind-blowing considering shortly after writing this she would be shipped to Auschwitz and to her tragic death. Her story is one I've heard, although never nearly as...more

This work is beyond amazing. It's heartbreakingly poignant and well thought-out, despite the conditions under which it was written, or maybe because of. Nemirovsky's portrayal of the humanity of people involved in war is mind-blowing considering shortly after writing this she would be shipped to Auschwitz and to her tragic death. Her story is one I've heard, although never nearly as comprehensively, beautifully, or insightfully, from many people, including soldiers on both sides of WWII...war is like some kind of external miasma, it's creation and existence, war has no soul, no thought, body. Governments go to war and people who must fight, die or be conquered try only to live and hold onto what's left of humanity. It's an incredible book and an important piece of world literature. I'd also like to add that Appendix II: The Correspondence is one of the most heart-wrenching, aching thing I have ever read.   hide

Very well written and a sort of baby war and peace (which is evident also from her notes at the end - definitely worth reading). Very good characterisation, has the right sprinkling of humour and sadness to keep you going. Only wish she had been able to finish it off - from the notes it looks like it would have been good. One thing I did find odd about storm, however, was that because the...more

Very well written and a sort of baby war and peace (which is evident also from her notes at the end - definitely worth reading). Very good characterisation, has the right sprinkling of humour and sadness to keep you going. Only wish she had been able to finish it off - from the notes it looks like it would have been good. One thing I did find odd about storm, however, was that because the stories were so spread out I never really got to the point of desperately turning pages to find out what happens next. It was mroe a case of leisurely carrying on because I enjoyed the style and characters. Which I suppose is in a way more of an achievement - to hook people in on your writing not just your story. More than can be said for the likes of Dan Brown   hide

i really liked the first part and actually it exceeded my expectations. the chapter featuring the cat as a central character, or absurd death of the decadent collector struck me as suprising choices within the whole narrative structure. but i think the second part has lost something, it does become increasingly predictable, even a bit boring at times. it's a good book, but obviously unfinished....more

i really liked the first part and actually it exceeded my expectations. the chapter featuring the cat as a central character, or absurd death of the decadent collector struck me as suprising choices within the whole narrative structure. but i think the second part has lost something, it does become increasingly predictable, even a bit boring at times. it's a good book, but obviously unfinished. also, i do think that the circumstances of the writing and the fate of the author play very important role both in the publicity and the act of reading (by each individual reader). i know it has been compared to 'war and peace' but this is a bit far-fetched comparison.   hide