Dear classics reader,
In this week’s very unnatural pancake you will find:
The announcement of our monthly read-along for July;
Birthday wishes to Brigid Brophy;
A preview of coming attractions and other notices;
And for paid subscribers:
The week’s new classics – including a new translation of Proust’s Sodom and Gomorrah;
And our first discussion of The Third Policeman – with a Bibliographie de de Selby.
This newsletter may be too long for your email inbox. If so, please click ‘View entire message’ at the bottom – or visit Substack.
July’s read-along – Bonjour Tristesse
I’m delighted to announce our next monthly read-along. Please join me in July to read Françoise Sagan’s sultry novella, Bonjour Tristesse.
Remarkably, Sagan published Bonjour Tristesse in 1954 when she was just eighteen years old.
What is it?
Bonjour Tristesse – or ‘Hello Sadness’ – is a coming-of-age novel about 17-year-old Cécile and the sexual politics of a sweltering summer holiday on the French Riviera with her playboy father and his mistresses. It was an immediate succès de scandale on first publication in the 1950s.
Why are we reading it?
It’s a perfect beach read that’s also a literary masterpiece. The Times has described it as ‘funny, thoroughly immoral and thoroughly French’ and the Guardian says that Sagan is the ‘French F. Scott Fitzgerald’.
Which translation should I read?
Bonjour Tristesse is available in two English translations, by Irene Ash (1955) and Heather Lloyd (2013).
In the UK, both are published by Penguin. I will be reading the Irene Ash translation, which is published in a small, slim volume with no introduction. It is the less complete translation – about 100 details were cut to make it palatable for 1950s British readers – but I’m swayed by the late great Rachel Cooke’s assessment of the two translations. She much prefers the Ash.
Alternatively, if you wish to experience the full, uncensored text, choose Heather Lloyd’s more recent translation, which is published in Penguin Modern Classics with an introduction by the novelist Rachel Cusk. This edition also includes Sagan’s second novel, A Certain Smile (1955).
In the USA, Ecco publish the Irene Ash translation with an introduction by Diane Johnson.
How will we read it?
Bonjour Tristesse is less than a 100 pages (in my edition) and consists of two parts and 18 chapters in total.
I suggest we read it over two weeks:
We’ll start reading on Friday 3rd July.
On Friday 10th July we’ll discuss Part One;
And on Friday 17th July we’ll discuss Part Two.
Then, if you’re near London, you’d be very welcome to book a ticket for our discussion of Bonjour Tristesse at the Hatchards Classics Book Club on Thursday 6 August.
We meet downstairs at Hatchards (187 Piccadilly) on the first Thursday of every month at 6.30pm – tickets cost £5 with a free Hatchards Reward Card and include a glass (or two) of wine. These book club events are not live-streamed, but afterwards I post a report of our discussion here on Substack (see below).
As ever, our weekly read-along discussions of The Third Policeman will be for paid subscribers only. More details here.
But if you – or anyone you know – would like to join this or future read-alongs, but can’t afford a paid subscription, just let me know and I’ll send a gift subscription.
If you buy a copy of Bonjour Tristesse through Bookshop.org (UK) or Bookshop.org (US), Read the Classics will earn a commission from your purchase. Thank you in advance for your support!
Happy Birthday Brigid Brophy
In other news, today was Brigid Brophy’s birthday. She was born on this day in 1929.
Brophy was a prize-winning British novelist, essayist, critic and political campaigner, championing gay marriage, pacifism, vegetarianism, prison reform and Public Lending Rights. Her debut novel, Hackenfeller’s Ape, was published in 1953. It was followed by many others including The King of a Rainy Country, Flesh, The Finishing Touch, In Transit, and The Snow Ball, as well as critical studies of Mozart, Aubrey Beardsley and Ronald Firbank. Brophy was married to the art historian Michael Levey and also had a thirteen-year relationship with the novelist Iris Murdoch.
Hackenfeller’s Ape by Brigid Brophy (1953)
In London Zoo, Professor Darrylhyde is singing to the apes again. Outside their cage, he watches the two animals, longing to observe the mating ritual of this rare species. But Percy, inhibited by confinement and melancholy, is repulsing Edwina’s desirous advances. Soon, the Professor’s connection increases as he talks, croons, befriends – so when a scientist arrives on a secret governmental mission to launch Percy into space, Darrylhyde vows to secure his freedom. But when met by society’s indifference, he takes matters into his own hands . . .
[UK] Faber Editions | 133 pages | introduced by Sarah Hall
[US] Dalkey Archive Press | 150 pages
Coming Attractions and Other Notices
Future monthly read-alongs
For a sneak preview of our upcoming monthly read-alongs, take a peak here.
The Evesham Festival of Words
If you’re near Worcestershire on Friday 26 June, come to the Evesham Festival of Words! I will be speaking at 3.30pm about the history of the Penguin Classics series, which marks its 80th anniversary this year. Here are all the details.
The Idler Festival
And then if you’re in London on Sunday 12 July, it would be lovely to see you at the glorious Idler Festival at Fenton House in Hampstead. I will be leading a guided walk of literary Hampstead at 12 noon on the Sunday. Here are the details.
The Idler No. 110
And speaking of the Idler magazine, I’m delighted to say I have an article in the current issue about the different translations of Homer’s Odyssey. I’ve even got a spot on the front cover, alongside John and Paul!
I’m in excellent company in this issue, alongside Mark Vernon, Alex Johnson, David Bramwell, ella berthoud, Rachel Kelly and many others.
You can get your copy from all good newsagents – or directly from the Idler here.
Annual book subscription
And if you’re enjoying our read-alongs, why not treat yourself to the Hatchards Classic Book Club annual book subscription?
You (or a friend) can receive all the books we read each month here on Read the Classics, beautifully gift-wrapped and delivered to your door, anywhere in the world, as well as a year’s complimentary subscription to Read the Classics, so you can choose to read along with us, if you wish.
To find out more, follow this link or email Hatchards directly: subscriptions@hatchards.co.uk
