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Hey there Pam. Wasn't it too funny when Madame P went off and forgot her father in law!?!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Zorro,

From Book Buddies:

I want to say that the characters are certainly a self absorbed bunch of wealthy to upper middle class snobs. Has there been any true kindness shown by any of them? Is this the 'survival' mode of just these few, or were the French people as a whole this selfish. Usually we hear of the little kindnesses that folks do for one another in a disaster. We aren't seeing much of this here.


Were there any kindnesses shown to each other and I missed them?

8/4/08 6:33 AM
Blogger Ellen D. said...

The only kindness that comes to mind is the Pericands when they start passing out chocolate, etc...then Mrs. Pericand realizes that despite having plenty of money there is nothing to buy! Her charity dries up at that point.

There was the transport driver that went out of his way to drop the soldier at a house to die more comfortably than in a truck.

8/4/08 7:17 AM
Blogger Zorro said...

Yes, Ellen, I forgot about the chocolates...Ms. P was a 'formulaic' Catholic, wasn't she. She went through all the correct motions, but 'had not love' so she was a 'clanging cymbal' or symbol!

8/4/08 7:57 AM
Blogger Bonnie Jacobs said...

MaryZorro, I love that you see her as a mere symbol/cymbal. What fun with the words!

Thanks for picking up on that vivid image of "clanging cymbal" for us. It's from the "love chapter" of First Corinthians:

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ... If I give away all I have ... but have not love, I gain nothing." (I Cor. 13: 1, 3)

Mrs. Péricand certainly wasn't willing to give away "all that she had," was she?

quote:

Originally posted by Zorro:
Hey there Pam. Wasn't it too funny when Madame P went off and forgot her father in law!?!

I laughed right out loud and then I felt a little guilty cuz I thought it was so funny.

How about when Langelet got hit by the car while the lady in the hat was driving? At the beginning of this chapter I was expecting to go back to the lady in the hat because IN went into such detail with her dress and hat. I had no idea it would turn out like this, though.

I remember thinking how snooty these people were to be caring about the stupidest things in such a time and how pampered they came across, but that's what I enjoyed about IN writing in how she let us see how spoiled these people were!
I remember the one gentlemen, didn't he just take some gas from a car and go, I believe he tricked a couple. How dirty that was I thought.

I don't have the book in front of me, but that is one of the things I remember.

quote:

I remember the one gentlemen, didn't he just take some gas from a car and go, I believe he tricked a couple. How dirty that was I thought.

YUP, he was the one that was so worried about all his manuscripts.

quote:

How about when Langelet got hit by the car while the lady in the hat was driving? At the beginning of this chapter I was expecting to go back to the lady in the hat because IN went into such detail with her dress and hat. I had no idea it would turn out like this, though.

Langelet sections really seemed like a short story - you know how they have these really surprise endings! I wonder how these stories would be if I took one character and read his sections all the way through.

How about the orphans - like Lord of the Flies!

quote:

Originally posted by Zorro:
How about the orphans - like Lord of the Flies!

I am really frustrated by the lack of info on these orphans. I want to know more about them.

Pam, could you ever forget Uncle Joe or Rita if you were in the same situation as Madame P? I thought of you when I read this....At least the man made the most of his time, dictated his will to the notary and passed on.

quote:

Posted Aug 4, 8:33 PM Hide Post

quote:
Originally posted by Zorro:
How about the orphans - like Lord of the Flies!



I am really frustrated by the lack of info on these orphans. I want to know more about them.

I am going to her notes in the back of the book and see if she says anything about them there.

I have been reading a few articles about Irene N. and wonder if the attitudes of these rich French were based on her own mother's attitudes. Also it seems that IN was anti-semitic in her own writings, although she was Jewish. She and family converted to Catholicism, perhaps hoping to be overlooked by the Nazis. She also seems to have been quite a party animal as a young woman. I haven't found anything about orphans yet, but IN was disgusted by poor people, it seems.

I found the end of the book itself, about Irene N. so fasinating and sad. She was a well-known author but she could not be saved. No one could help get her out. I remember there being letters in the end of the book, the non-fiction portion.

quote:

Pam, could you ever forget Uncle Joe or Rita if you were in the same situation as Madame P?

Truthfully, I hope that I don't act like any of them if I were in this situation.

Jean-Marie has a much different situation with his hosts. They have spent a lot of time and resources on nursing him back to health. I like the way that he seems to be walking away from this family at the same time their son comes home. This was a nice story.