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Billie
Billie şi Franck zac pe fundul unei prăpăstii, într-o văgăună din Munţii Cévennes, iar Franck şi-a pierdut cunoştinţa. Ca să-şi salveze cel mai bun prieten, alături de care a trecut prin lungul şir de peripeţii ce a fost viaţa lor de pînă atunci, Billie face singurul lucru care-i trece prin cap: îi ţine steluţei lui norocoase o pledoarie însufleţită, dezarmant de sinceră şi adesea ireverenţioasă în favoarea prieteniei lor. Îi povesteşte cum au reuşit să se scoată unul pe celălalt de pe fundul prăpastiei care fusese copilăria lor din „lumea a patra”, marcată, pe de o parte, de un tată intolerant şi cu idei extremiste şi o mamă abrutizată de băutură şi, pe de alta, de mizeria unei vieţi trăite lîngă groapa de gunoi, într-o familie abuzivă şi nepăsătoare. Îi descrie micile explozii de fericire şi frumuseţe aduse de muzică sau cărţi, dar şi rănile de nevindecat provocate de oameni, capriciile şi greşelile fiecăruia şi curajul de a-şi lua viaţa în propriile mîini, construind, cu tandreţe stîngace şi umor exuberant, uneori deocheat, un manual de supravieţuire prin iubire.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 2013
78 people are currently reading
1153 people want to read
About the author
Anna Gavalda
84 books1,757 followersAnna Gavalda is a French teacher and award-winning novelist.
Referred to by Voici magazine as "a distant descendant of Dorothy Parker", Anna Gavalda was born in an upper-class suburb of Paris. While working as French teacher in high school, a collection of her short stories was first published in 1999 under the title "Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part" that met with both critical acclaim and commercial success, selling more than three-quarters of a million copies in her native France and winning the 2000 "Grand Prix RTL-Lire." The book was translated into numerous languages including in English and sold in twenty-seven countries. It was published to acclaim in North America in 2003 as "I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere." The book received much praise and is a library and school selection worldwide in several languages.
Gavalda's first novel, Je l'aimais (Someone I Loved) was published in France in February 2002 and later that year in English. Inspired by the failure of her own marriage, it too was a major literary success and a bestseller and was followed by the short (96 pages) juvenile novel 35 kilos d'espoir (95 Pounds of Hope) that she said she wrote "to pay tribute to those of my students who were dunces in school but otherwise fantastic people".
In 2004, her third novel, "Ensemble c'est tout," focused on the lives of four people living in an apartment house: a struggling young artist who works as an office cleaner at night, a young aristocrat misfit, a cook, and an elderly grandmother. The 600-page book is a bestseller in France and has been translated into English as Hunting and Gathering.
As of 2007, her three books have sold more than 3 million copies in France. Ensemble c'est tout was made into a successful movie in 2007 by Claude Berri, with Audrey Tautou and Guillaume Canet. The adaptation of her first novel, Je l'aimais, with Daniel Auteuil and Marie-Josée Croze, was filmed in 2009 by Zabou Breitman.
Divorced, and the mother of two, Gavalda lives in the city of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, about 50 km southeast of Paris. In addition to writing novels, she also contributes to Elle magazine.
Referred to by Voici magazine as "a distant descendant of Dorothy Parker", Anna Gavalda was born in an upper-class suburb of Paris. While working as French teacher in high school, a collection of her short stories was first published in 1999 under the title "Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part" that met with both critical acclaim and commercial success, selling more than three-quarters of a million copies in her native France and winning the 2000 "Grand Prix RTL-Lire." The book was translated into numerous languages including in English and sold in twenty-seven countries. It was published to acclaim in North America in 2003 as "I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere." The book received much praise and is a library and school selection worldwide in several languages.
Gavalda's first novel, Je l'aimais (Someone I Loved) was published in France in February 2002 and later that year in English. Inspired by the failure of her own marriage, it too was a major literary success and a bestseller and was followed by the short (96 pages) juvenile novel 35 kilos d'espoir (95 Pounds of Hope) that she said she wrote "to pay tribute to those of my students who were dunces in school but otherwise fantastic people".
In 2004, her third novel, "Ensemble c'est tout," focused on the lives of four people living in an apartment house: a struggling young artist who works as an office cleaner at night, a young aristocrat misfit, a cook, and an elderly grandmother. The 600-page book is a bestseller in France and has been translated into English as Hunting and Gathering.
As of 2007, her three books have sold more than 3 million copies in France. Ensemble c'est tout was made into a successful movie in 2007 by Claude Berri, with Audrey Tautou and Guillaume Canet. The adaptation of her first novel, Je l'aimais, with Daniel Auteuil and Marie-Josée Croze, was filmed in 2009 by Zabou Breitman.
Divorced, and the mother of two, Gavalda lives in the city of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, about 50 km southeast of Paris. In addition to writing novels, she also contributes to Elle magazine.
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June 2, 2017
نمیدونم به خاطر ترجمه نه چندان جالب بود که بهم نچسبید یا کلا موضوع جذابی نبود.
کلا فکر میکنم کتاب های آنا گاوالدا از اون دسته از کتاب هاست که باید به زبان اصلی یا در درجه دوم به زبان انگلیسی خونده بشه.
کلا فکر میکنم کتاب های آنا گاوالدا از اون دسته از کتاب هاست که باید به زبان اصلی یا در درجه دوم به زبان انگلیسی خونده بشه.
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February 2, 2017تمام دنیا مثل یک فاضلاب بزرگ است که هرچقدر دست و پا بزنی باز هم از روی تپه های کثیفش لیز میخوری و به جای اولت باز میگردی؛ اما در دنیا چیزی برجسته و مقدس وجود دارد، آن هم یکی شدن دو موجود ناقص و بسیار بد است.
ما همیشه با عشق فریب می خوریم، زخمی می شویم و گاهی غم بر وجودمان چیره می شود، اما باز هم عشق می ورزیم و زمانی که با مرگ دست و پنجه نرم می کنیم، به گذشته نگاه می کنیم و به خودمان می گوییم: من بارها زجر کشیدم؛ گاهی اشتباه کردم، اما همیشه عشق ورزیدم.
ما همیشه با عشق فریب می خوریم، زخمی می شویم و گاهی غم بر وجودمان چیره می شود، اما باز هم عشق می ورزیم و زمانی که با مرگ دست و پنجه نرم می کنیم، به گذشته نگاه می کنیم و به خودمان می گوییم: من بارها زجر کشیدم؛ گاهی اشتباه کردم، اما همیشه عشق ورزیدم.
November 19, 2017
منم تو فیدیبو خوندم و خب همونطور که دوستان گفتن غلط های املایی و ویرایشی زیادی داشت که از لذت خوندنش کم میکرد. ولی در کل سادگی و روانی کتاب های گاوالدا دوس داشتنیه و من بخاطر این موضوعش که یکم متفاوت بود دوسش داشتم.
March 3, 2016
Todo el mundo merece tener a alguien tan especial como Billie y Franck.
January 24, 2016
In the parlance of the book itself - this novella is a odd little runaway Donkster, 3.5 coy little twinkling stars. Some possible comparisons:
-Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods - as written by Camus, Sartre, or de Beauvoir. (Or maybe written by them, but translated by Bryson).
-Or, Le Petit Prince - if it had been written as a travelogue by Bill Bryson.
-Or that movie with James Franco where he's the hiker who gets stuck in the crevasse, only it is Audrey Tautou instead of Franco, and Audrey Tautou is also playing the role of Amelie.
Gavalda's Hunting and Gathering is one of my favorite books, and this novella is like H&G (a sizable book) if it had been left out in the sun and shrunk and parts of it evaporated and/or became concentrated. It's the raisin to H&G's grape. So it's imperfect, sometimes a little too TOO (gritty, sour, sweet, tart...), but still contains Gavalda's hallmark characters, preoccupations, and exquisite (and exquisitely translated) prose, often so magnetically good that I found myself wanting to memorize it.
Gavalda writes beautifully of quirky endearing sensitive lonely strong-fragile outsider artist characters who have experienced oppression (e.g. due to their poverty, or sexuality) and are eking out a living on the isolated/isolating margins of society, simultaneously trying to figure out how to be seen and how to keep disappearing. She writes of their faulty coping mechanisms, of their efforts to swap these out for better ones, and most importantly of all, of their efforts to forge unlikely partnerships with other differently marginalized or alienated folks and of the healing engendered within these odd relationships. Gavalda knows that people need people to survive a world in which hell is other people.
Gavalda's underlying grittiness stops her characters just short of becoming too twee. Her female protagonists are like manic pixie dream girls who are too hungry, weak and tired to act too dreamy, manic, or pixie. This book deserves special praise for containing, through the lens of narrator Billie, some of the best descriptions I've read of growing up a young woman experiencing the level of poverty, abuse and neglect that often flies just below the radar of others' notice, empathy or aid, but is soul-crushing enough to affect one's self-worth, behavior, and relationships for a lifetime. It's the kind of impoverishment for which the sufferer herself or himself is unfortunately often blamed, even if that sufferer is just a child. In the story of Billie's friend Franck, Gavalda writes equally sensitively of the experience of being a young man growing up in a family and community that violently rejects his sexuality.
If you've not yet read something Gavalda, I might recommend Hunting and Gathering - but if you have read that, or if you'd like a shorter read, then I'd recommend this. (Be warned, though, that despite its short length, this is a book you'll want to read slowly and savor. Binging on Gavalda's crystalline prose would be like slamming back a shot of undiluted Blackcurrant Ribena.)
-Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods - as written by Camus, Sartre, or de Beauvoir. (Or maybe written by them, but translated by Bryson).
-Or, Le Petit Prince - if it had been written as a travelogue by Bill Bryson.
-Or that movie with James Franco where he's the hiker who gets stuck in the crevasse, only it is Audrey Tautou instead of Franco, and Audrey Tautou is also playing the role of Amelie.
Gavalda's Hunting and Gathering is one of my favorite books, and this novella is like H&G (a sizable book) if it had been left out in the sun and shrunk and parts of it evaporated and/or became concentrated. It's the raisin to H&G's grape. So it's imperfect, sometimes a little too TOO (gritty, sour, sweet, tart...), but still contains Gavalda's hallmark characters, preoccupations, and exquisite (and exquisitely translated) prose, often so magnetically good that I found myself wanting to memorize it.
Gavalda writes beautifully of quirky endearing sensitive lonely strong-fragile outsider artist characters who have experienced oppression (e.g. due to their poverty, or sexuality) and are eking out a living on the isolated/isolating margins of society, simultaneously trying to figure out how to be seen and how to keep disappearing. She writes of their faulty coping mechanisms, of their efforts to swap these out for better ones, and most importantly of all, of their efforts to forge unlikely partnerships with other differently marginalized or alienated folks and of the healing engendered within these odd relationships. Gavalda knows that people need people to survive a world in which hell is other people.
Gavalda's underlying grittiness stops her characters just short of becoming too twee. Her female protagonists are like manic pixie dream girls who are too hungry, weak and tired to act too dreamy, manic, or pixie. This book deserves special praise for containing, through the lens of narrator Billie, some of the best descriptions I've read of growing up a young woman experiencing the level of poverty, abuse and neglect that often flies just below the radar of others' notice, empathy or aid, but is soul-crushing enough to affect one's self-worth, behavior, and relationships for a lifetime. It's the kind of impoverishment for which the sufferer herself or himself is unfortunately often blamed, even if that sufferer is just a child. In the story of Billie's friend Franck, Gavalda writes equally sensitively of the experience of being a young man growing up in a family and community that violently rejects his sexuality.
If you've not yet read something Gavalda, I might recommend Hunting and Gathering - but if you have read that, or if you'd like a shorter read, then I'd recommend this. (Be warned, though, that despite its short length, this is a book you'll want to read slowly and savor. Binging on Gavalda's crystalline prose would be like slamming back a shot of undiluted Blackcurrant Ribena.)
October 7, 2014
It's extremely hard to write a proper review of this book. It was such a nice little gem.
This is a novel about life, death and everything in between; friendship, love, growing up, finding yourself etc. I thought I had the ending figured out from the beginning, but it turned out I didn't. Not at all. I did not see that one coming. And still, I sit here now, thinking that it was the way it could have ended. It tied up everything.
The writing of this book is what really mattered to me. Normally, I don't really care, but this book was so special that I had to reread quite a few sentences to get to experience their beauty and depth. It was easy to read, but it made me think about life (and death), and so it took me a little while.
This book is so true to life. This book matters to me. The story, the writing, everything. A heartwarming story, that's for sure.
This is a novel about life, death and everything in between; friendship, love, growing up, finding yourself etc. I thought I had the ending figured out from the beginning, but it turned out I didn't. Not at all. I did not see that one coming. And still, I sit here now, thinking that it was the way it could have ended. It tied up everything.
The writing of this book is what really mattered to me. Normally, I don't really care, but this book was so special that I had to reread quite a few sentences to get to experience their beauty and depth. It was easy to read, but it made me think about life (and death), and so it took me a little while.
This book is so true to life. This book matters to me. The story, the writing, everything. A heartwarming story, that's for sure.
September 21, 2017
جلد گل گلی سبز رنگ و عنوان (بهترین رمان آنا گاوالدا) ، که در صفحه ی اول به چشم می خورد ، دلیل وسوسه برانگیزی برای شروع این داستان بود. اما متاسفانه به قدری نامفهوم و از هم گسسته بود که ذره ای با داستان همراه نشدم😓بزرگترین نقص هم از نظرم ترجمه ی کار بود😑متاسفانه تا به حال بین کتاب های گاوالدا کاری با ترجمه ی خوب نخوندم. شاید روزی زبان اصلی کتاب رو بخونم و اونوقت به کل نظرم دربارش عوض شه🙃
February 6, 2020
این کتاب رو من یک شب تا صبح تموم کردم ، داستان جذابی داشت ولی ترجمهی افتضاح ، غلط های املایی و نگارشی خوندن کتاب رو سخت کرده .
April 3, 2017
آنا گاوالدای عزیز نمیدانم چرا بیلی را نوشتی.. :( درست است که ترجمهی خوبی نبود و کتاب بسیار سانسور شده بود اما اصلا خوب نبود و من بخاطر گلِ رویِ ماهِ نویسندهی مورد علاقهام دو ستاره به این کتاب دادم..
October 25, 2017
عشق مانند بیمارشدن است، نمیدانی چطور اتفاق میافتد،
عطسه میکنی... یکهو میلرزی... و دیگر دیر شده است... تو سرما خوردهای.
آنا گاوالدا
عطسه میکنی... یکهو میلرزی... و دیگر دیر شده است... تو سرما خوردهای.
آنا گاوالدا
July 29, 2021
اناگاوالدا را دوست دارم و هر وقت کتابی از این نویسنده میخوانم از ته دل آرزو داستم که میتونستم نسخه فرانسوی اصل ش را بخونم ،، داستانی روان،،، به شدت لطیف و واقعی و ملموس بود، کتابی که من دارمش مربوط به نخستین چاپ کتاب در سال ۱۳۹۶ است ، خوشحالم که بالاخره خواندمش و لذت وافی بردم ،
August 22, 2018
Entre 3,5 y 4.
3,5, porque hay algo que no ha terminado de engancharme y me temo que tiene que ver un poco con la traducción y otro tanto, con algunos pasajes que me han costado hacer míos.
4, porque he adorado a los personajes. Dos seres que se dan vida y oxígeno mutuamente y que al lector le da la esperanza de lo bello y los cuentos.
Anna Gavalda me conquistó hace tiempo con personajes e historias un tanto dolorosas pero con esperanza. Aunque para mí siempre permanecerá en mi meromoria su "Sal de la vida".
Con "Billie" me han dado ganas de volver a ella.
3,5, porque hay algo que no ha terminado de engancharme y me temo que tiene que ver un poco con la traducción y otro tanto, con algunos pasajes que me han costado hacer míos.
4, porque he adorado a los personajes. Dos seres que se dan vida y oxígeno mutuamente y que al lector le da la esperanza de lo bello y los cuentos.
Anna Gavalda me conquistó hace tiempo con personajes e historias un tanto dolorosas pero con esperanza. Aunque para mí siempre permanecerá en mi meromoria su "Sal de la vida".
Con "Billie" me han dado ganas de volver a ella.
February 20, 2017
کتاب رو با اعتماد به نوشته ی روی جلد که گفته بود "بیلی بی گمان بهترین رمان گاوالدا است ."شروع کردم و می تونم بگم در ۷۰-۸۰ صفحه اول کاملا ناامید شدم چون به هیچ وجه ترجمه اش جالب نبود و اصلا نظرم رو جلب نکرد ولی چون میخواستم بدونم اخرش چه اتفاقی می افته کتاب رو ادامه دادم،در کل میشه گفت کتاب بدی نبود و با انچه که اول کتاب از داستان تعریف کرده بود کلی تفاوت داشت.
بیلی داستان دو دلداده است که به درون دره ای سقوط کرده اند،بیلی دختری است که در خانواده ای بسیار فقیر و مشکلات فراوان بزرگ شده است و فرانک پسری است گوشه گیر که هر آنچه انجام میدهد برای رضایت پدرش و نا امید نکردن مادرش است و...
بیلی داستان دو دلداده است که به درون دره ای سقوط کرده اند،بیلی دختری است که در خانواده ای بسیار فقیر و مشکلات فراوان بزرگ شده است و فرانک پسری است گوشه گیر که هر آنچه انجام میدهد برای رضایت پدرش و نا امید نکردن مادرش است و...
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December 23, 2017چند تا کتاب از آنا گاوالدا خوندم و تقریبا موضوع تمام آنها آدم های تنها و سرخورده هستند. اما آن چه خاص آنا گاوالداست القای حس خوش بینی و امیدواری است. در دنیایی که آدمها معمولی و مرفه سرگرم زندگی خود هستند، آدم های تنها و سرخورده به همدیگر کمک می کنند، به همدیگر تکیه می کنند به همدیگر امید می دهند، زمین می خورند و دوباره به کمک همدیگر جان می گیرند و پایان خوش داستانها نمی دانم به دیگران چه حسی القا می کرده اما در من همیشه این حس ا��جاد شده که آدم های تنها و سرخورده جامعه، انسان تر از بقیه هستند.
May 15, 2017
واقعن متاسفم.
و نمیدونم چی باید بگم به اونی که صفحه اول نوشته بود این بهترین اثرِ گاوالداست.
درسته که دو کتاب قبلی هم سطحِ بالایی نداشتن اما انصافن من اورا دوست داشتم از بیلی بهتر بود.
فکر کنم شاید بهتره از خواندنِ کتاب باهم بودنش هم منصرف شم.
و نمیدونم چی باید بگم به اونی که صفحه اول نوشته بود این بهترین اثرِ گاوالداست.
درسته که دو کتاب قبلی هم سطحِ بالایی نداشتن اما انصافن من اورا دوست داشتم از بیلی بهتر بود.
فکر کنم شاید بهتره از خواندنِ کتاب باهم بودنش هم منصرف شم.
December 15, 2018
اولین بار بود از آناگاوالدا میخوندم. نحوه ی تعریف داستان و پیش بردنش متفاوت بود و ازونجایی که من همیشه متفاوت هارو دوست دارم این کتاب خیلی به دلم نشست.
July 11, 2016
Hold nu fast, hvor er den her bog barsk og smuk. Jeg havde forholdsvis store forventninger til den, som delvis blev opfyldt. Sproget er meget direkte og da Billie taler med en stjerne, så er det vel logisk nok, at det så er i talesprog - det skal man bare lige vænne sig til at læse. Hun fortæller om sit liv, hvordan hende og Franck mødte hinanden og hvad der senere hen skete. Sandheden skal frem og hun er hudløs ærlig overfor den lille stjerne.
Den er rørende og en smule trist, men er derudover også meget realistisk. Jeg kunne sagtens sætte mig ind i mange af de ting, som Billie taler om. Noget der virkelig også gjorde indtryk på mig var, at forfatteren har dedikeret bogen "til alle skæve eksistenser", hvilket er perfekt - for det er lige netop dét, som bogen handler om. Skæve eksistenser. På den gode og den knap så gode måde.
"Så pegede han med hagen på huset, han boede i, og sagde: "Jeg kunne selvfølgelig godt foreslå dig, at du kom med ind lidt ..." Jeg var allerede lige ved at svare nej, det kan jeg ikke, for ... da han afbrød mig: "... men det gør jeg ikke, for de har ikke fortjent dig."" - citat side 68.
Billie er en bog, som kan læses af alle. Den handler om opvækst, og hvordan man lever i en verden, hvor man måske ikke passer helt ind. Jeg fældede et par tårer undervejs og det er en smuk fortælling om et venskab, der kan holde til næsten alt.
Den er rørende og en smule trist, men er derudover også meget realistisk. Jeg kunne sagtens sætte mig ind i mange af de ting, som Billie taler om. Noget der virkelig også gjorde indtryk på mig var, at forfatteren har dedikeret bogen "til alle skæve eksistenser", hvilket er perfekt - for det er lige netop dét, som bogen handler om. Skæve eksistenser. På den gode og den knap så gode måde.
"Så pegede han med hagen på huset, han boede i, og sagde: "Jeg kunne selvfølgelig godt foreslå dig, at du kom med ind lidt ..." Jeg var allerede lige ved at svare nej, det kan jeg ikke, for ... da han afbrød mig: "... men det gør jeg ikke, for de har ikke fortjent dig."" - citat side 68.
Billie er en bog, som kan læses af alle. Den handler om opvækst, og hvordan man lever i en verden, hvor man måske ikke passer helt ind. Jeg fældede et par tårer undervejs og det er en smuk fortælling om et venskab, der kan holde til næsten alt.
July 3, 2020
دارم نظرات رو میخونم و الان دیگه مطمئنم که ترجمه کتاب واقعا بد بود،پر از غلط دستوری و جملات بی سر و ته
قطعا باید بکبار دیگه به زبانی دیگربخونمش شاید بهتر بود!
فعلا برای این ترجمه ۲ستاره دادن، بخشندگیه!
قطعا باید بکبار دیگه به زبانی دیگربخونمش شاید بهتر بود!
فعلا برای این ترجمه ۲ستاره دادن، بخشندگیه!
May 10, 2021
Toto bolo nečakane silné. Prvých pár strán trvalo, kým si ma rozprávačka získala; a potom som zrazu zistila, že ma ma omotanú okolo prsta, že jej fandím, zaujíma ma jej životný príbeh, že jej to celé vlastne bezozvyšku verím. A hoci láska neexistuje, sú len dôkazy lásky, toto je krásny príbeh o láske - hoc o inej, než by sa mohlo zdať.
“...že jo, všichni chlapi jsou hajzlové a jo, všechny ženské jsou coury, ale že není na světě nic krásnějšího než to, čo se děje mezi hajzlem a courou, když se milujou...”
“...že jo, všichni chlapi jsou hajzlové a jo, všechny ženské jsou coury, ale že není na světě nic krásnějšího než to, čo se děje mezi hajzlem a courou, když se milujou...”
April 12, 2020
Hey look! I finally read a short novel. New to me author that I'll be looking into more, thanks to some comments I got in social media.
There isn't a lot to this story (but it really is more of a novella), two friends are caught skiing when one is injured, and the woman tells stories of their friendship to keep them both awake.
There isn't a lot to this story (but it really is more of a novella), two friends are caught skiing when one is injured, and the woman tells stories of their friendship to keep them both awake.
December 14, 2021
دیگه مطمئن شدم که من عاشق قلم آناگاوالدام
چون حتی از این کتاب با وجود سانسور های فراوان باز هم لذت بردم.
امتیازی که میخوام بدم در حقیقت سه و نیمه ولی چون برام در حد چهار نبود همون سه رو میزنم.
چون حتی از این کتاب با وجود سانسور های فراوان باز هم لذت بردم.
امتیازی که میخوام بدم در حقیقت سه و نیمه ولی چون برام در حد چهار نبود همون سه رو میزنم.
May 1, 2015
J’ai réussi à obtenir une synchronisation inespérée avec le Premier Mai concernant ce livre, puisque, après l’avoir fini, j’ai fait moi-même une randonnée dans la forêt. L’expérience aurait été complète, peut-être, si j’avais apporté le roman avec moi afin de lire quelque pages au beau milieu de la nature, vu (au moins) la couverture de l’édition roumaine, un facteur décisif qui m’a d’ailleurs déterminé de l’acheter. À-propos, il ne faut pas hésiter, la traduction en roumain est faible, alors, si vous pouvez, choisissez l’original.
Billie est mon premier roman de Gavalda que j’ai lu. J’ai été vraiment attiré par sa longueur et son aspect « de vacances ». Le sujet, sans être totalement innovateur (deux amis tombent dans une sorte de précipice et, là où il n’est plus question de simples blessures mais plutôt de vie ou de mort, Billie commence à raconter l’histoire de sa vie…de leur vie ensemble), paraissait prometteur dès le début. C’était une occasion parfaite d’explorer plusieurs thèmes (l’amour, l’adolescence, la nature, etc), sans devoir être un vrai maître des mots qui épreuve quotidiennement les affres de la création. Apparemment, le roman comprend toutes les conditions : Gavalda accomplit sa tâche, même si les mots semblent totalement expédiés sans aucune révision. Grâce au talent incontestable de conteuse de Billie (qui fait semblant de décrire une épopée nostalgique et touchante), ses paroles deviennent brusquement dérisoires. Entourés par le noir et la solitude (et je le répète, le cadre où l’histoire est placée est absolument superbe et propice, c’est maintenant qu’on perçoit le mérite de Gavalda et non plus tard, où elle offre au lecteur la sensation de la paresse-même), les mots de Billie perdent paradoxalement leur valeur – et, alors, quel serait le rôle de ce récit ? – en sombrant dans l’abîme (encore plus profond que celui du roman) de l’ineffable.
À la fin du livre, j’ai compris cette attirance bizarre de Gavalda pour Billie, personnage qui emprunte des traits de caractère de Holden Caulfield, le héros de Salinger, par exemple ; de même, malgré son attitude parfois risquée, elle a un bel âme, plus pur que celui de la plupart des gens. Elle n’est pas parfaite et elle le sait; pourtant, elle met son espoir en Franck, son compagnon, et essaie, à l’aide d’une innocence surprenante, à trouver le meilleur chez les autres. Billie est, en effet, magique et c’est dans sa création que réside la qualité de ce livre, dans sa manière de parler et de penser sans faute. Gavalda m’a rappelé de François Sagan par ailleurs même s’il est difficile de les comparer.
Bien que《Billie》ait, en apparence, le pouvoir de grands romans d’offrir des expériences inouïes et des sentiments étoudissants, en essence, Anna Gavalda a écrit, me semble-t-il, une esquisse d’une telle œuvre. 《Billie》est costruit comme un brouillon facile, parce que ses phrases sont trop directes et la vision du monde est souvent trop simpliste. On dirait une tentative de mettre bout à bout plusieurs pensées à la va-vite. Ayant beaucoup (voire trop) à dire, ce roman échoue finalement d'une manière triste et, si ce n’était pas pour cette écrivaine, on l’oublierait déjà. 3,2/5
Billie est mon premier roman de Gavalda que j’ai lu. J’ai été vraiment attiré par sa longueur et son aspect « de vacances ». Le sujet, sans être totalement innovateur (deux amis tombent dans une sorte de précipice et, là où il n’est plus question de simples blessures mais plutôt de vie ou de mort, Billie commence à raconter l’histoire de sa vie…de leur vie ensemble), paraissait prometteur dès le début. C’était une occasion parfaite d’explorer plusieurs thèmes (l’amour, l’adolescence, la nature, etc), sans devoir être un vrai maître des mots qui épreuve quotidiennement les affres de la création. Apparemment, le roman comprend toutes les conditions : Gavalda accomplit sa tâche, même si les mots semblent totalement expédiés sans aucune révision. Grâce au talent incontestable de conteuse de Billie (qui fait semblant de décrire une épopée nostalgique et touchante), ses paroles deviennent brusquement dérisoires. Entourés par le noir et la solitude (et je le répète, le cadre où l’histoire est placée est absolument superbe et propice, c’est maintenant qu’on perçoit le mérite de Gavalda et non plus tard, où elle offre au lecteur la sensation de la paresse-même), les mots de Billie perdent paradoxalement leur valeur – et, alors, quel serait le rôle de ce récit ? – en sombrant dans l’abîme (encore plus profond que celui du roman) de l’ineffable.
À la fin du livre, j’ai compris cette attirance bizarre de Gavalda pour Billie, personnage qui emprunte des traits de caractère de Holden Caulfield, le héros de Salinger, par exemple ; de même, malgré son attitude parfois risquée, elle a un bel âme, plus pur que celui de la plupart des gens. Elle n’est pas parfaite et elle le sait; pourtant, elle met son espoir en Franck, son compagnon, et essaie, à l’aide d’une innocence surprenante, à trouver le meilleur chez les autres. Billie est, en effet, magique et c’est dans sa création que réside la qualité de ce livre, dans sa manière de parler et de penser sans faute. Gavalda m’a rappelé de François Sagan par ailleurs même s’il est difficile de les comparer.
Bien que《Billie》ait, en apparence, le pouvoir de grands romans d’offrir des expériences inouïes et des sentiments étoudissants, en essence, Anna Gavalda a écrit, me semble-t-il, une esquisse d’une telle œuvre. 《Billie》est costruit comme un brouillon facile, parce que ses phrases sont trop directes et la vision du monde est souvent trop simpliste. On dirait une tentative de mettre bout à bout plusieurs pensées à la va-vite. Ayant beaucoup (voire trop) à dire, ce roman échoue finalement d'une manière triste et, si ce n’était pas pour cette écrivaine, on l’oublierait déjà. 3,2/5
March 12, 2016
This was more like 3.5 stars.
I will read; anything written by Gavalda that I can get my hands on. And given the reviews on GR, I seem to be one of the few Americans (hi Suzanne!) who has read her, as most of the reviews for this book are written in French.
Her books are either a bit hit or big miss with me. This was almost a miss, but I stuck with it; a miss because I didn't like the narrator AT ALL. Since she told us her life story, I know why Billie was the way she was, but I didn't want to spend any time with her. Thank goodness this was a novella.It's Gavalda's writing style (or maybe the translator's?) that I like and kept me reading.
"France 2" on the cover says this is Gavalda's finest novel yet. I respectfully disagree.
I will read; anything written by Gavalda that I can get my hands on. And given the reviews on GR, I seem to be one of the few Americans (hi Suzanne!) who has read her, as most of the reviews for this book are written in French.
Her books are either a bit hit or big miss with me. This was almost a miss, but I stuck with it; a miss because I didn't like the narrator AT ALL. Since she told us her life story, I know why Billie was the way she was, but I didn't want to spend any time with her. Thank goodness this was a novella.It's Gavalda's writing style (or maybe the translator's?) that I like and kept me reading.
"France 2" on the cover says this is Gavalda's finest novel yet. I respectfully disagree.
January 7, 2015
No me ha parecido de los mejores libros de Anna Gavalda. Mucho lugar común; nada que ver con Quisiera que alguien... o Juntos nada más.
October 20, 2017
با اینکه ترجمه خیلی بد بود و کتاب انگار اصلا ویرایش نشده بود، از خوندنش راضیم. آنا گاوالدا خوب و روان مینویسه و خوندن کتابهاش راحته.
November 3, 2017
Alltså jag hade förväntningar. Ganska högs förväntningar. Det lät som en bok som skulle ha allt jag tycker om. Romans, lite feel-good, en bög... men, den är förvirrande skriven. Jag gillar inte språket eller uppbyggnaderna av varken intrigen eller meningarna. Och så är det slutet. Det kan vara ett av de värsta slut jag varit med om i hela mitt liv. Nej. Fy.
September 10, 2025
War gar nicht so schlimm kitschig wie von mir befürchtet. Ich habe es beim Auto fahren gehört. Zum Lesen wäre es mir doch zu fade gewesen.
January 12, 2022
Emoţionantă şi amuzantă. A fost o achiziţie impulsivă, nu regret !
August 15, 2024
Je l’ai dévoré car c’était quand même accrocheur comme histoire et je voulais savoir ce qui allait arriver aux personnages. Très original, l’histoire de 2 amis racontée depuis leur première rencontre jusqu’à l’âge adulte. Triste quand même, mais touchant. Humoristique quand même mais un peu ringard le style de blagues et de jeux de mots. Contente de connaître la fin mais un peu cul cul
January 4, 2016
3.5-stars, really.
billie is a raw and jarring novel from one of my favourite writers. anna gavalda has written wonderfully about pain, belonging, love, and outcasts in her past works, so it is not surprising to encounter these themes again in this newest book. i will admit i was really surprised gavalda reused character names from Hunting and Gathering - franck and camille. i must get to the bottom of this! :) unlike her past stories, though, there is a sharpness, an edge, to billie - as the story unfolds, it's more in-your-face, and seems to create an urgency that i have not felt in reading her previous stories.
i like billie, but i don't love it the way i love Hunting and Gathering or I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere. i think it comes down to the way this story is told - billie and franck have had a accident while hiking. billie is slightly injured, franck moreso. they have to pass the night before billie will attempt to hike out for help. unable to sleep, billie begins to recount their lives and their friendship and talks to a star in the sky. at moments, of course, this feels like a religious exchange - i will tell you all this stuff with honesty, if you let my friend survive. but at other times it felt a bit precious or twee. 'oh my little star.' so i did not fully buy into this voice. and i am not sure about the ending. i am still thinking it over and can't decide if it's brilliant or too easy.
in this novel, billie talks briefly about being invisible. and i do think this story deals with some important issues, like gender, sexuality, class divides, things people do to survive. there is a novel that's been getting a lot of attention in canada lately: When Everything Feels like the Movies, by Raziel Reid. billie almost feels like a companion to WEFLtM, so gavalda's book may work well for readers of reid's book who are looking for something similar. i certainly think billie serves as a great crossover book between YA and adult fiction and that it would be an excellent book for mature high school students to read, or even be taught. oh sure, some parents (or readers) might get caught up in the fact there's bad language and sex, but i would suggest reading with compassion and getting over yourself. the pictures gavalda (and reid) give through their books are realistic and true. to think these stories are otherwise, that people are not living and struggling in these ways, is living in a bubble of ignorance that must be very nice for you.
(sorry!! i hate sounding rude. i think i get a bit defensive when readers review books that deal with difficult or sensitive issues, and do so in a completely judgmental and negative way. and i feel like gavalda and her characters could be judged negatively. certainly raziel reid has had to deal with a firestorm of haters. and it's very unfortunate. reading, they say, increases empathy. books like WEFLtM and billie certainly should help in this regard. but people need to have open minds and, as i have said already, compassion.)
hmm... i seem to have gone off on a tangent here. so i will close this up now. but, seriously, franck and camille, in two books. what's up anna gavalda? i will figure this out!! :)
billie is a raw and jarring novel from one of my favourite writers. anna gavalda has written wonderfully about pain, belonging, love, and outcasts in her past works, so it is not surprising to encounter these themes again in this newest book. i will admit i was really surprised gavalda reused character names from Hunting and Gathering - franck and camille. i must get to the bottom of this! :) unlike her past stories, though, there is a sharpness, an edge, to billie - as the story unfolds, it's more in-your-face, and seems to create an urgency that i have not felt in reading her previous stories.
i like billie, but i don't love it the way i love Hunting and Gathering or I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere. i think it comes down to the way this story is told - billie and franck have had a accident while hiking. billie is slightly injured, franck moreso. they have to pass the night before billie will attempt to hike out for help. unable to sleep, billie begins to recount their lives and their friendship and talks to a star in the sky. at moments, of course, this feels like a religious exchange - i will tell you all this stuff with honesty, if you let my friend survive. but at other times it felt a bit precious or twee. 'oh my little star.' so i did not fully buy into this voice. and i am not sure about the ending. i am still thinking it over and can't decide if it's brilliant or too easy.
in this novel, billie talks briefly about being invisible. and i do think this story deals with some important issues, like gender, sexuality, class divides, things people do to survive. there is a novel that's been getting a lot of attention in canada lately: When Everything Feels like the Movies, by Raziel Reid. billie almost feels like a companion to WEFLtM, so gavalda's book may work well for readers of reid's book who are looking for something similar. i certainly think billie serves as a great crossover book between YA and adult fiction and that it would be an excellent book for mature high school students to read, or even be taught. oh sure, some parents (or readers) might get caught up in the fact there's bad language and sex, but i would suggest reading with compassion and getting over yourself. the pictures gavalda (and reid) give through their books are realistic and true. to think these stories are otherwise, that people are not living and struggling in these ways, is living in a bubble of ignorance that must be very nice for you.
(sorry!! i hate sounding rude. i think i get a bit defensive when readers review books that deal with difficult or sensitive issues, and do so in a completely judgmental and negative way. and i feel like gavalda and her characters could be judged negatively. certainly raziel reid has had to deal with a firestorm of haters. and it's very unfortunate. reading, they say, increases empathy. books like WEFLtM and billie certainly should help in this regard. but people need to have open minds and, as i have said already, compassion.)
hmm... i seem to have gone off on a tangent here. so i will close this up now. but, seriously, franck and camille, in two books. what's up anna gavalda? i will figure this out!! :)
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