The Provocative Colette

by Annie Goetzinger

From her marriage at the age of 20, until her divorce, this snapshot of Colette's life focuses on her formative years. Incredibly complex, powerfully determined, truly gifted, Colette challenged herself to reinvent her life and assert herself as a free woman. In her day, her behavior scandalized and vexed the establishment. But in the end, she helped to free women in their thinking and became member and then president of France's prestigious Académie Goncourt, among many other honors as one of France's preeminent authors. For mature readers.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Biography, Nonfiction, Comics, History, Bande Dessinée, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2017

About the author

Annie Goetzinger was a comics artist and graphic novelist from Paris, France.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dull biography of a fascinating woman. She became a best-selling author in France, ghostwriting for her husband before setting out on her own. At a certain point though, this became about all her many affairs. They all blended together to the point it was just the same thing over and over. The art is nice though.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 2 out of 5]

A symbol, an icon, for freedom for women in the early twentieth century, Collette became a popular writer and much loved in France and the wider world. This comics biography by Annie Goetzinger covers a period in Colette's life she had much written about, La Belle Époque, a period of Western history usually dated from the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. In Colette's case, the focus is on her marriage at 20 to her divorce. The main thing that happened during this time is that she and her husband had a lot of "affairs," so this book focuses on that. Freedom!?

And there's some focus on the writing. Her husband hired people to ghost-write novels for him, but he never had success such as he had when Collette began writing novels for him. The first two sold more than 40,000 copies a piece. It was not until later that she began to own her own work and developed a reputation of her own.

I like the lovely, period-seeming art; the story is, amazingly, given the subject matter, less than compelling, unfortunately. One affair blends into the next, you don't get to know them, eh. I so wanted to like this book, but uh. . . thought it was just okay.

[Vicky "phenkos" · Rating 2 out of 5]

I became interested in this comic book/graphic novel because it covers a period in Colette’s life that’s not as well known and documented as her later period – Colette’s formative years during her marriage to Henry Gauthier-Villars and immediately after her divorce. In this younger Colette we find a woman who is “at once wise and unconventional, sweet and vindictive, steadfast and fickle, natural […] and affected”, as Nathalie Crom says in her Introduction. The Introduction aside, however, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I’d thought I would. For one thing, I didn’t like the drawing very much; the colouring was subdued and uninteresting and the pencilling itself was not as highly accomplished as I’d expected. The other problem was the rendering of the story: it was too fragmentary and quickly paced covering large stretches of Colette’s life without sufficient depth and detail. As a result, the reader had to rely on the introduction to fill in the gaps, thus creating a vicious circle: without the introduction the reader has difficulty following the story, but, having read the introduction, the graphics do not add much to the main story. So overall: the concept was good and had a lot of potential, but unfortunately the implementation left much to be desired.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

[George Ilsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve not read much by the remarkable Colette, but what I have encountered is sharp, spare, delicately perverse—at once entertaining and disturbing. In addition to her writing, Colette's life was also vibrant, unconventional, scandalous, and inspirational.

This volume was published in French as "Les Apprentissages de Colette". The meaning here is “learning” (as in the English word "apprentice) so might be translated as The Education of Colette, or Becoming Colette. I found this translation awkward—starting with the title.

Good introduction if someone knows nothing about this writer’s life and her many works. However, a reader would be better served actually reading more Colette—which is what I intend to do.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty pictures, but pretty dull.

I knew nothing of Colette beyond seeing the trailer for the recent movie, but Goetzinger's cover art cannot help but catch the eye, so I snatched this up at the library. Indeed, the art throughout is quite nice.

Colette seems to have lived an interesting life, but this book is more interested in the soap opera aspects of all her loves and scandals rather than firmly placing the significance of her work in the larger literary landscape of the time. This bio assumes a knowledge of Colette's writing which I do not have. Porn with a strong female protagonist maybe? I'm just guessing. I suppose I could Google her, but what was the point of reading this then? The pretty pictures, I suppose.

[Adam M · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bonus borrow from Hoopla that caught my eye

A beautifully illustrated book about an intriguing historical character that absolutely loses it's way at the 1/4 mark. This should a far more interesting book, but the story telling gets in its own way and the ending is almost hilariously abrupt. - The art was spellbinding, which is why I kept going, but the way the story lays itself out is just abysmal. This shouldn't be a boring story and I got bored.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book about a woman who led such an exciting life, The Provocative Colette is surprisingly dull. Flat dialogue, unclear timelines, and poor narration undo what should be an interesting biography. The art is far better than the text, although the fact that all the women look like Colette doesn't help the reader. I found the Chronology and Entourage sections at the end to be much more interesting than the actual narrative, a clear sign that something went wrong.

[Laurelas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comme j'aime bien lire des BD-biographies, j'ai emprunté celle-ci à la bibliothèque (sans forcément faire attention au fait que c'est la même autrice que pour Jeune fille en Dior !) et sa lecture m'a beaucoup rappelée le film qui a adapté cette même période de la vie de Colette (avec Keira Knightley dans son rôle).

La BD m'a semblé un peu superficielle, se concentrant sur la vie amoureuse (tumultueuse) de Colette, plus que sur son écriture ou d'autres évènements de sa vie... mais dans la mesure ou ses aventures façonnent ses écrits, ce n'est peut-être pas si mal après tout ? Difficile d'être exhaustif après tout, surtout dans le genre du roman graphique...

En somme un récit intéressant pour qui ne saurait rien de la vie de Colette, mais qui ne sert que d'introduction (à mon sens). Les dessins sont élégants et c'est assez plaisant à lire pour cette raison également.

À découvrir, peut-être à la bibliothèque, surtout si vous ne savez rien de Colette.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

'The Provocative Collette' with story and art by Annie Goetzinger is a graphic novel about Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette during a specific period in her life.

Colette was born in a less well off family and married off to womanizer at the age of 20. This graphic novel shows Colette as powerful and capable. Her early writing was taken by her husband, whom she would soon divorce. This also follows her early years.

I would have liked a better introduction to this person, in a better foreword or afterword. I felt a lot of disinterest while I read this because it didn't really help me understand why I should care about this person. The art, on the other hand, was quite good, but that's hardly a reason to recommend this graphic novel.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from NBM Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 4 STARS
2018; NBM Publishing/Independent Publishers Group
(Review Not on Blog)

I didn't know much about Colette other than she was a French writer. Reading this biography through graphic novel format has only made me more interested in reading Colette's works and about her. As I was looking at the synopsis I noticed there is a movie based on her life which I will also be looking into. I really enjoyed the drawing/illustrations in this graphic novel. It had a very French feel, and would look great framed! I look forward to reading more of Annie Goetzinger.

***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Provocative Colette is a graphic novel of the life of the author Colette, from the time of her marriage at 20 to her divorce. Colette grew up in the country and married a man known for his many affairs. He was a writer and he encouraged Colette to write. He took the credit for her early writings, and he continued to have affairs during their marriage. He encouraged her to do likewise, and so she did, having affairs with both men and women, and writing about these, shocking society with her behavior.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wait until you're finished to read the preface and don't skip the timeline of her life and the descriptions of her entourage at the end.

Story: ***
I loved learning about such a fascinating iconoclast! The problem is that Goetzinger is barely half as good a writer as she is an artist in this book. It gets really confusing at times and makes hasty jumps between scenes. She had so much to cover so I understand but she could have done much better.

Art: *****
She's one of my favorite artists to the point where I even have 5-6 of her books in French that were never translated to English. Her painting is sensual and refined with a lusciousness that is dreamy. She is one of the best at getting people to come to life on the page and making the reader want to jump into the narrative.

[TamaraLeila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trop résumé wikipédia de la vie de Colette, ça manquait d'inventivité :(

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Content warning: Contains a slur for Chinese people. I guess it's still OK to say that in France? Either that or there's been a significant error in the translation.

This is beautifully illustrated, but Colette had such an eventful and tumultuous life that it's difficult to get a sense of her—as a person or a writer—in 128 pages.

[Delaney · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pictures were pretty but this was lacking literally any depth

[Mark Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is not one redeeming thing about this story. But Ms Goetzinger is a masterful story teller. The art woke is superb. Colette makes Woody Allen look like a choir boy.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elegant, evocative artwork that is a lot of fun on it's own account, is used tot ell the story of a historic person.

While I had read work by 'Colette' I knew nothing about the author as a person, only that she was controversial. This graphic novel does an elegant job of describing the early life and development of the woman who came to take society by storm in the late 1800's and early 1900's. A writer, before women were writers. A performer in the most scandalous of ways, back when women performing at all was a scandal in itself. It describes how as a young woman, her much older husband betrayed her trust repeatedly, both sexually and by taking credit for her writing.

All in all an excellent story of it's times, perfectly combined with the lovely artwork, I can't speak for how historically accurate it might be, but it certainly inspires an interest to learn more about the subject.

[Michel Harenczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

La couverture est belle et attirante, le livre est broché, un côté vieillot plein de charme
Pour les fans de Colette , il n'y a rien de nouveau mais si vous ne connaissez pas cette femme cette auteure, c'est l'occasion de la rencontrer. Découvrir sa vie avant de lire son œuvre
Ne rater pas ce beau livre avec ce dessin très fin

[Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a bit of trouble reading this book because of formatting issues. The handful stories I was able to read were wonderful and the illustrations were simply lovely. I think calling it provocative is a bit beyond the scope but I would still recommend it. I'm always game for a unique graphic novel and this one delivers.

[Noina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette était une femme fascinante, dont l'écriture m'a hypnotisée lorsque je l'ai découverte en lisant Chéri, son roman le plus célèbre. Malheureusement, cette BD lui rend difficilement justice... On apprend finalement peu de choses sur l'autrice, si ce n'est ses histoires de coeur – qui sont certes importantes dans son oeuvre mais ne suffisent à dresser le portrait de Colette.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une bande dessinée élégante, très véridique et fidèle à Colette, à son oeuvre et à la femme qu'elle était.

[Liz Yerby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really excited to read Colette’s story and the art really helped pull me through it. Very dreamy and French imagery. I’m a bit more sure who Colette was and happy for it

[Moon Captain · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was boring.. but now I know something about Colette I suppose

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wrote a short review: https://wordsandpeace.com/2019/01/24/...

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this biography of Colette in graphic format in a thrift store of all places. The artwork is gorgeous and does well to evoke the early 20th century. I know of Colette, but wasn’t very familiar with her life apart from that she wrote risqué literature that was sometimes autobiographical, and was married to an older man.

This biography gives a good quick overview of her life. It’s translated from the French, a fact I suspected as I read the introduction as I’ve found the French style of writing difficult to absorb in other books. I’ve studied all the Romance languages to varying degrees—Spanish for 12 years (middle school through college), Latin for 2 years in high school, Portuguese for a semester in college, and a little Italian through singing. I even touched on Galician Portuguese in a medieval Spanish literature class. As an adult, I’ve tried self-teaching myself some French, but it feels very different from the others, and no matter how I try, it just doesn’t click with me. I had a word-a-day French calendar, and only manage to make my French-speaking coworker break into laughter at my awful pronunciation. Then I tried the Pimsleur audio language course, which walks you through some basic information helpful to tourists, asking where a street is and such, and concludes with inviting a woman up to your hotel room. I had these audio courses in more than one language, and loaned one to a friend who said the other language led to the exact same conversation. I wonder if they all do. But I digress....

The main challenge with this book for a reader not familiar with French language and culture is there are a lot of names of people and places. I think for a French reader, these would be familiar, or they could at least absorb them better in the way that even if you aren’t familiar with the Biltmore Estate, you know what the word estate means. Add to this challenge that graphic format tends to have an exceptionally fast pace, often relying on the illustrations to convey a lot of the information. While the artwork was beautiful, as the people followed similar fashions, it was hard to distinguish who was who, and not all the character are clearly introduced. It feels as though this book is for people who are already familiar with Colette’s life.

It was still worth reading. I hadn’t realized just how unconventional she was for her time. She grew up in the country, and married a wealthy 34-year-old writer at the age of 20, moving to his apartment. He was known for having many affairs, and the practice didn’t end with his marriage. He encouraged her to write, and published her work under his own name, which at the time she was okay with. Colette came to take female lovers herself. After they divorced, she lived with a woman who dressed and lived as a man, something that it took me a while to realize in this book, due to it relying primarily on illustration and having only one gender pronoun at the end of the relationship, though there were references before that.

Colette was also an actress, often appearing partially nude on stage. In addition to novels, she wrote newspaper articles, as well as many letters to her mother, which I imagine is tremendously helpful to biographers. She married again and at 40 gave birth to a daughter who seems to have been largely neglected. She also became lovers with her second husband’s teenage son from a previous marriage, the revelation of which ended her marriage.

I haven’t read Colette’s novels. I started one at some point in my twenties, but couldn’t get into it. I might try again. I can’t help wondering if her fame and appeal are largely due to her gift for writing, or her shocking and scandalous content. I imagine it must be both, as I’m sure there are many smutty books that weren’t well written that are now lost in the past. At any rate, I think I might try her first novel, Claudine at School about her girlhood in the French countryside, and possibly continue through the other Claudine novels, or jump to her later work The Ripening Seed.

[Miss Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork, not very provocative story. I skimmed through most of the pages, but didn't feel I missed much. There was literally speech bubbles that just said "blah, blah, blah"; and many highlights were just suddenly told like she discovered her 1st husband's mistress and was just sad for a bit but decided to overlook it as long as she could live in the country and write books for him to publish under his name. Then at some point she agrees to have an affair with one of his mistresses, and start acting in burlesque shows. All things that could have been provocative moments but just fell flat because Collette supposedly had little choice in these decisions or even seemed to enjoy them, just doing whatever her "master" allowed until she fell for some new lover, all the while supposedly having massive success as an author, screen & stage writer.
She didn't seem provocative, more sad & used.
But the artwork is divine, definitely transported me to early 1900 Paris and made me want to read Collette's work.

[Ava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent idea, mediocre execution. The dialogue was terse and clunky, though that may be the fault of the translator rather than the author -- I haven't read its French counterpart so I'm not sure which it is. I liked the art style, but it felt kind of...voyeuristic, almost? I understand that Colette is an icon for reclaiming female sexuality, but this felt more exploitative than celebratory.
I actually went into this with a fairly strong dislike of Colette, mostly from my experience reading La Vagabonde (which is partially autobiographical) and absolutely HATING the protagonist. This book certainly didn't make me like her more, but I definitely respect the hell out of her now. I was mostly compelled to finish it because of the side "characters" (they were real people, so not sure how to refer to them), especially Colette's queer companions and her daughter. I'd love to read a deeper dive into the folks in her circle...just not any more about her.

[Romy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cette BD sur les "apprentissages" de Colette revient sur la période comprise entre son mariage avec Willy, à 20 ans, jusqu'à la publication du "blé en herbe" (sous le seul nom de Colette). Elle se concentre surtout sur les relations amoureuses de Colette, de Willy, son premier époux, jusqu'à Henry de Jouvenel, son deuxième époux, peu sur ses œuvres et son processus d'écriture. L'idée de revenir sur cette partie de la vie de Colette (et l'importance de ses relations amoureuses) est intéressante mais sa réalisation me paraît, ici, un peu bancale (les événements éventuellement tragiques sont passés sous silence, tout le monde est beau et heureux, les personnages sont bienveillants, ...). Le dessin de l'autrice, que j'avais découvert dans la BD faite sur Christian Dior, est toujours aussi "fin" et élégant. Le revers est d'en faire un ouvrage un peu "superficiel", tant par son ton que par ses dessins qu'on dirait sortis d'un magazine de mode des années 50.

[bErgUP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Her life story reads like grooming progranda. having said that, she still had an extraordinary life and was a trail blazer in many areas, but...... it's really exhausting reading material after material downplaying grooming and pedophilia. For instance how how her first husband groomed her before she married him @20, or the framing of her grooming and having sex with a 15 to 16 year old as an affair or "relationship". Absolutely the fuck not! No, JUST.NO. And the title in itself seems so deranged, like pedophilia (or whatever philia it is) can be so easily sandwiched between having a few complicated relationships and writing/ performing lewd (for its time) material like it's the same thing is beyond me. Quite frankly it irked me quite a bit. I guess I'm not that person that wants to separate the person from the art.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know much about Colette before I read this, other than there was about to be a film about her in the cinemas. So before I saw the film I thought this would give me an accessible insight into the author. The binding and colour palette struck me as "up my street" and indeed all the way through it felt like a lot of time and effort had been but into the art and production. Sadly I think the writing let's it down. It felt trapped between an autobiography and a story. Too much "and then this happened" and not enough editing. Maybe it was lost in translation. Still worth a read and I have much admiration for the Goetzinger's ambition.