I finally finished The Last of Cheri, and it’s about time. Originally, I started the book as part of my genius plan to read the complete works of Colette in order, in a row. This was not a good idea, only because I have literary ADD. So after reading The Complete Claudine (which includes Claudine at School, Claudine in Paris, Claudine Married and Claudine and Annie), The Vagabond, and Cheri, I just couldn’t make it through to the end of The Last of Cheri. Which is unfortunate, because when I picked it up again, I did enjoy it. Don’t expect a page-turner, don’t expect action-packed drama. Just appreciate the writing and the painfully inevitable evolution of the relationship between Cheri and Lea. (See? Several books like this in a row necessitates a change of literary scenery after a while. A short while.) Finishing this book did restore my faith in Colette, though… or I should say my faith in my abilities to appreciate Colette.
SPOILER AHEAD: For some reason, I can’t get past the very end of the book. Something about it disturbs me, not in the way it was written but in what occurs in the story. The end reminds me very much of Doris Lessing’s “To Room Nineteen,” and it’s very Colette to turn the situation around on the young lover after he abandoned his older mistress. I can’t decide, though, what to make of the fact that Lea gave her collection of portraits away at the end. Had she given up on her youth the same way Cheri did? In the end, were they on the same page after all? Or was that her way of ensuring that her youth and beauty would live on, even if she could no longer embody it? The woman in possession of Lea’s portraits is elderly; you can’t help but think Lea gave them to her knowing that they would find Cheri eventually. So then does the youthful Lea die with Cheri? Thinking about this disturbs me for some reason, but that’s how I know it was good. It’s continuing to bother me.
I maintain that Colette is an acquired taste, but so worth it.
NJ.
The Sunday Salon.
B
I’ll have to start by confessing to being a big fan of Colette. And I really love Cheri and The End of Cheri. The way I see it, the first novel sets up a relationship that’s really satisfying to Lea and Cheri and which they both struggle to alter. Cheri just adores being the naughty-child lover to Lea’s maternal temptress. The end of that book sees Lea coming off worst when it’s all about image. Her ageing face and neck make Cheri run away, literally. In the sequel, Lea has come to terms with her ageing body and found contentment in being who she is, without excuses or regrets. Cheri, though, can’t seem to let those tantalising old images go. He hates the fact she’s stopped making an effort, and he can’t seem to find a place where he’s comfortable. His marriage isn’t a success and the war’s damaged him. He wants to go back in time to when he was happy with Lea, and that time just doesn’t exist. So to end it all surrounded by pictures of Lea when she was young and beautiful is a way of saying that he chooses images over the awkwardness of reality, but it kills him.
Well, that’s just what I think. I’m glad you ended up your project still liking Colette. After all the Claudine novels in a row and those two, it’s no surprise if you could use a mental palate cleanser!
Comment by litlove — March 6, 2009 @ 10:02 am
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing, and I absolutely see what you’re saying.
Comment by elitist — March 7, 2009 @ 10:44 am
I loved this book–Cheri and the Last of Cheri. It’s the only Colette I’ve read and would love to read more (and reread Cheri, too). Litlove always offers such wonderful insight–and her comment and your post brings reading the book all back to me!
Comment by Danielle — March 7, 2009 @ 10:05 pm
What did you think of the film? I saw it yesterday and enjoyed it. I confess I have not read Colette but will now remedy that.
I saw the film with a French friend, a Parisienne, who was startled to see that Lea’s house was one she’d passed every day on her way to and from elementary school. Small world, indeed.
Comment by Jo Manning — July 11, 2009 @ 11:01 am
P.S. I write about and give lectures on courtesans. See the bio I wrote of the royal courtesan Grace Dalrymple Elliott, My Lady Scandalous.
Used to have a web site but the server was hacked into in January :(
Comment by Jo Manning — July 11, 2009 @ 11:04 am
Jo: I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m quite excited about it! SO glad to hear from you!
Comment by elitist — August 2, 2009 @ 1:27 pm