- Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (27 Sep 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140183256
- ISBN-13: 978-0140183252
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.2 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,022,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Vagabond (Dover Books on Literature & Drama)
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Product Description
Product Description
After a shattering marriage and divorce, Renee Nere is supporting herself as a music-hall artist and confronting the conflicting passions of sex, love, and career. One of the best, most passionate, funniest, saddest, and richly romantic of the great Colette's novels. She's timeless and a must read!
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the translators preface he brazenly proclaims the deficiencies of the Enid Mcleod translation, riddled as it is with English phrases and slang terms. He also notes Colettes use of a number of French terms and the borrowed English term Music Hall to describe the theatres the main character performs in. Regrettably this is a translation for Americans with references to broads, cops, sidewalks and vaudeville amongst others which can grate at times. Given the nature of the audience for these books I think the translator has gone further than necessary by in effect Americanising the text as I find it hard to believe that they cannot understand references to Gendarme and Music hall so I would advise against buying any more Dover publications unless they are the only editions available which is the case for Vagabonds regrettably.
Hence why I only give this edition 3 stars.
Hence why I only give this edition 3 stars.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Colette breaks free of Willy in great triumph!
21 Feb 2005
Format:Paperback
Colette's beginning as a writer is one of the strangest in literature. In her early 20s, she married a no-talent hack named "Willy" (that was how he signed his pieces) and wrote a series of novels about a young girl named Claudine. Willy took these pieces and published them under his pen name, giving his young wife no credit.
In her early to mid 30s, Colette grew weary of Willy, and turned her back on him to embark on a career as a dance hall performer. This is the setting for THE VAGABOND, Colette's first post-Willy novel, and the first to bear her own name.
The main character, Renee Nere, has been touring for 3 years, and although she's sometimes lonely, is enjoying her freedom and self-sufficiency. She's also suffering from what we'd refer to nowadays as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Her marriage to her philandering and abusive husband was so wretched, that when she meets another man who loves her, the slighest familiar gesture or word will trigger memories that incite revulsion.
THE VAGABOND is a gem of a novel that beautifully shows off Colette's gift for prose as well as her wonderful descriptions of life backstage as part of a touring group. If that isn't enough, she is also very gifted at revealing the psychological insights of her character. The introduction by Judith Thurman is well-done, and both the introduction and the novel left me wanting more Colette.
In her early to mid 30s, Colette grew weary of Willy, and turned her back on him to embark on a career as a dance hall performer. This is the setting for THE VAGABOND, Colette's first post-Willy novel, and the first to bear her own name.
The main character, Renee Nere, has been touring for 3 years, and although she's sometimes lonely, is enjoying her freedom and self-sufficiency. She's also suffering from what we'd refer to nowadays as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Her marriage to her philandering and abusive husband was so wretched, that when she meets another man who loves her, the slighest familiar gesture or word will trigger memories that incite revulsion.
THE VAGABOND is a gem of a novel that beautifully shows off Colette's gift for prose as well as her wonderful descriptions of life backstage as part of a touring group. If that isn't enough, she is also very gifted at revealing the psychological insights of her character. The introduction by Judith Thurman is well-done, and both the introduction and the novel left me wanting more Colette.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Perhaps Colette's greatest . . .
17 Dec 1999
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Gigi may be the best known of her works, but 'The Vagabond' stands out in pure beauty from the rest. The plot (an actress on the stage who faces public scorn and problems in love) seems to be most autobiographical, and narrator and main character, Renee Nere, is a delight. Both beautiful and painful in spots, this book deserves to be read, as well as its sequel, 'The Shackle.'
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
The Vagabond inspired me to become a writer
13 Aug 2005
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The Vagabond was my first delicious introduction to Colette, and the first book to make me weep openly. I related strongly to Renée, a professional woman who clung desperately to her independence while falling hopelessly for a man who relentlessly tugged at her vulnerability. Renée's confusion about whether love and happiness could coexist kept me captive in suspense until the very last (and infinitely satisfying) page.
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