Barks and Purrs

by Colette

Barks and Purrs is a collection of seven episodes in the lives of Toby-Dog, a French Bulldog, and Kiki-the-Demure, a Maltese cat, living in a comfortable household.

Genres: Fiction, France, Animals, Classics, Dogs, Short Stories, French Literature

116 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Colette was the pen name of the French novelist and actress Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. She is best known, at least in the English-speaking world, for her novella Gigi, which provided the plot for a famous Lerner & Loewe musical film and stage musical. She started her writing career penning the influential Claudine novels of books. The novel Chéri is often cited as her masterpiece.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some unknown reason, I have never read anything by Colette. I don't remember now how I came across this title at Project Gutenberg, but it made me curious, especially when I saw it was a series of small sketches written like plays and featuring Toby-Dog (a French bulldog) and Kiki-The-Demure (a Maltese cat). It was originally published in 1904 so is one of Colette's earlier works.

And it is absolutely delightful! There are seven scenes, such as Sentimentalities, where we first meet Toby and Kiki and learn how each one feels about their chosen center of the universe. Toby's heart belongs to 'She' (the mistress of the house, Colette) but Kiki loves 'He' best (the man of the house, Colette's first husband, the novelist Henry Gauthier-Villars, known as Willy).

I was impressed at the way Colette captured the personality of her household pets. Kiki is all feline grace and ego, very much a superior being who remembers the days of ancient Egypt, as all cats surely do. Toby is a sweet little dog, a bit naive, even a bit dense at times, but loyal and adorable. Both animals felt so real I half expected to find them curled up next to me while I was reading.

We all go off to the country house in On The Train and when Kiki is allowed to slither out of his travel basket in their private compartment, Toby gets excited and tells him Proclaim your freedom I tell you! It's the custom. Whenever a door is opened one must run, jump, twist oneself into half circles and cry out. This was one of my favorite scenes, but so was Dinner Is Late and The First Fire.

The edition at Gutenberg was graced with lovely drawings that helped bring Toby and Kiki to life, whether they were toasting themselves on the hearth in front of that first fire of the cold season, or slithering out of travel baskets on the train. Here is the link to see this title at Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11737/...

This book makes me want to read more by Colette, to see what her novels and journals are like, but this is the only title available in English at Gutenberg, so I will have to wait until Someday when I have more in the Book Budget and can buy a volume or three.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barks and Purrs is a collection of seven episodes in the lives of Toby-Dog, a French Bulldog, and Kiki-the-Demure, a Maltese cat, living in a comfortable household. The episodes cover a hot afternoon, a train ride, and what happened when dinner was late or their mistress was ill. We hear about the first fire in autumn, a heavy storm, and about a visitor in the household.

All in all, this seems a little boring, doesn't it? Wrong, because these loosely linked snippets into their lives are addictive. Some are idilic and humorous, others unsettling, but never forgettable thanks to Colette's wonderful writing.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I think it takes a great deal of perspective to be able to write about oneself through the eyes of one's animals. Can't take everything at face value, but it's still nice, even sometimes sweet to read.
Colette had a great deal of sensitivity in regard to animals: at times, I really felt like she clearly got Kiki's and Toby's spirits right. She had a fine understanding of their minds and attitudes and she gave them real personalities. Humans are supposed to be negligeable, but the reader gets that they are important in the animals' lives, mostly for Toby-Chien, who lives for Colette.
I also loved the dialogues' dynamics and the writing-style.
But my favorite dialogues were the ones between or about the soldier, the last two. They gave a glimpse of animal life during the war; the author really tried to understand their point of view.

I'll keep reading Colette.

[Nicolas Chinardet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous and often elegiac collection of short vignettes. As the book progresses darker undertones mingle with Colette's colourful palette to create moving short pieces. It's a delight to read.

[Arianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai lu très lentement Dialogues de bêtes; un livre qui trainait et dont je lisais quelques pages à la fois seulement. J'ai adoré le style lyrique donné aux animaux de compagnie. Traiter des trivialités vécues par les chats et les chiens comme de grands drames grecques a rendu toute la lecture des plus agréables.

[Praj · Rating 3 out of 5]

An utterly cheerful and amusing narration of various antics and experiences of TOBY- the dog and KIKI-the demure cat. Colette shrewdly depicts the several shades of traits, revealing the gullible and devoted Toby and the sly and narcissistic Kiki, whilst revealing the underlying human persona in these animals. It may sound like an elementary school read; even so it is worth a glimpse for the fineness of Colette’s inimitable flair to convey complex elements through simplistic tenderness of animal emotions.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Own a furry pet that is either a dog or cat? Read this. Colette captures the attitude and strangness of those that pet owners share thier lives with.

Told as conversations between Kiki the Demure and Toby-Dog, the story concerns the pets' responses to various situtions, the most distressing being the late dinner. Immensely funny and immensely true.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Demonstrating that feelings about cats and dogs have been consistent for the past 100 years, this 1904 book reads as if it were written last week for the Barnes and Noble gift table. Well, actually, it reads much better than that because Colette really captures the attitude and tone of a standoffish cat and a rambunctious bulldog. The book is really a collection of seven short episodes plus a prologue and mostly involves the two pets talking to each other. The readers for the public domain librivox edition did a fabulous job bringing this to life. This was just the right bit of amusing fluff to lighten a very dark mood today.

[Chris H-C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rather enjoyed this little play. Well, it was read to me by librivox volunteers so it sounded a little like a play. Short, diverting, with oodles of character. I guess it goes to show that the attitudes we ascribe to pet dogs and cats haven't changed much in the last century.

[Federica ~ Excusetheink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non avevo mai letto nulla di Colette, cercherò di rimediare dovessi incappare in titoli interessanti (questo è stato recuperato al Libraccio a metà prezzo la scorsa settimana).

Delizioso libretto che si legge in una giornata, i raccontini sono allietati dai disegni d'epoca e i pensieri di Toby e Kiki, coinquilini che in realtà non potrebbero far a meno l'uno dell'altro. Il gatto egoista che si vendica mordendo e graffiando è uno stereotipo duro a morire, e per questo non assegno il massimo dei voti. Le pagine di Il primo fuoco, con l'ode da parte di entrambi di questo misterioso e sempre incantevole elemento, fanno quasi sognare. La scrittura è curata, ricca di particolari e belle immagini evocative, niente è lasciato al caso seppur a parlare siano cane e gatto di casa. Un libro che non conoscevo prima di acquistarlo che ha saputo stupirmi e allietare un pomeriggio di temporale.

[Maudline Rothenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

elle a développé des personnages pendant 150page et après c'est complètement partit en couille

[Vel Veeter]

I have an 8 year old dog, a 5 year old cat, and a 10 month old kitten. Here’s their day: dog waits for us to come home. Kitten messes with dog all day and is also her very best friend. 5 year old cat sits in the window not waiting, not not waiting, just being.

When the dog goes out into the backyard, the kitten goes with her, enlists her as a kind of bodyguard, and follows her around the yard.

The dog sends us constant warnings about the cats’ doings, and when we go out of the bedroom at night (cats are banned) the cats are holding some kind of meeting.

This novella puts dialog to those moments between the cats and dogs in our lives. It’s more “Grendel” than Lady and the Tramp, so the conversations are symbolic and false and fabricated rather than realistic, so be warned, and also this isn’t a great story at all, but the cheek is appreciated.

Over all as the tenth book by Colette, this is fine, but had this been the first, it might have been the last.

[Jacek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Książka to zapis rozmów pomiędzy kotem i psem zrealizowana w formie teatralnego dramatu. Myli się jednak ten, kto po przeczytaniu tego zdania uzna książkę za twór banalny. Zwierzęta te tak doskonale zantropomorfizowane w swoim przedstawieniu zdają się mówić samą prawdę na temat tego jakie tak naprawdę są koty i psy oraz jak łatwo można odnaleźć w nich ludzkie cechy. A może to jednak na odwrót? Może autorce chodziło o to, aby pokazać jak łatwo odnaleźć cechy tych pociesznych zwierząt w nas, ludziach? Pytanie to dręczy umysł czytelnika aż do samego końca. Książka pełna ciepła i ciekawości świata postrzeganego z oczu tych najmilszych nam zwierząt.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This brief and unexpected offering by French writer Collete is an extended dialogue between her French bull-dog, Toby-Dog, and her Maltese cat, Kiki-the-Demure, who by species and personality necessarily have quite different views of the world and of their master and mistress. Delightful reading. Both this piece and Flush, written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, elevate the “art form.” Apparently pet companions of literary people are more literate than your run-of-the-mill cat or dog. But isn’t that to be expected?

[Nicole C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and clever conversations between a dog and a cat that live in a house with their humans. Despite this being translated into English, I don't think it loses any of the flavor of its original language. Even though it's rather old, it's still amusing and timely to read the well-known quirks of our pets in these pages.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was given to me when I was 16...and I have started it so many times. I finally finished it. It was a clever idea...but Colette is probably not my favorite writer. The secret notes hidden between the pages were better. :)

[Math le maudit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le seul livre de Colette que j'ai lu. Sans doute pas le plus représentatif de sa carrière je suppose, mais cela m'avait bien plu à l'époque. Les dialogues étaient assez savoureux. Je ne pense pas relire de Colette cependant, mes goûts ont bien changer entretemps, pas sûr que j'accroche.

[MaureenMcBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

This cat-and-dog tale has some funny moments, but doesn't really develop beyond the dogs-are-from-Mars cats-are-from-Venus schtick. I have been looking for works that explain why Colette was so famous in the first half of the 20th Century. I guess I'll have to keep looking.

[Alice Urchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I basically just read this because it was written by Colette. I wasn't sure what to expect. It was entertaining and sort of cute, as far as talking animals go. The actual copy wasn't great, some textual errors and wrapping issues, but nothing horrible.

[Marti Martinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's as if Colette channeled Moliere into a Saturday morning cartoon. REALLY funny in some parts. Delightful, too, except for the extended scene at the fireplace; that grew tiresome. I could also see it as a stage play.

It's not really just for kids.

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a more generous day this would be a four. It's amusing as both a cat owner and dog lover to read a book from animal perspectives.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

funny little book from kindle's free collection. not quite what i was expecting, but cute read for fellow fans of talking animal stories.

[Gail Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever little book. You must read Toby with an American or English accent and KiKi with a bored French one!!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting concept, to see the world through the minds of pets. I'm not sure what I expected from Colette, but this was unusual and entertaining.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual and entertaining , and seeming to me completely accurate based on my own pets' personality.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

quite cute, though abruptly ended. fun to peek inside the minds of a French bull dog and grey tabby cat. I've always meant to read a book by Colette and I was not disappointed.

[Guilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Animal lovers, prepare to fall in love. Colette captures the characters of Dog and Cat perfectly, and provides a short, ultimately bittersweet, journey into their world.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5

[Silvia]

Colette vole enfin de ses propres ailes! Après s'être faite voler la paternité (maternité?) des ses 4 (4!!!) premiers romans par son cher mari Willy (qu’ aujourd’hui on rappelle simplement comme etant le mari exploiteur de sa femme!), elle se lance avec ces Dialogues des bêtes, imaginant ce que pourraient s'échanger ses deux animaux à la maison: Toby chien et Kiki la doucette. Probablement ces deux bêtes là partageaient vraiment le quotidien de l’auteure, car ce sont bien de débris de quotidienneté que l’on peut retrouver dans leurs discours sur les Deux Pattes qui occupent avec eux la demeure. On retrouve Elle pleine de vie, prête à courir parmi les herbes folles, pendant que Lui gratte sagement le papier à l’intérieur. Toby, le chien un peu ingénu mais plein de bonne volonté, préfère Elle, alors que Kiki le persan apprécie davantage Lui. Peut-être que Colette a eu peur de, enfin, tant de liberté! Car ces dialogues, bien qui écrits avec le style élégant et propre à Colette, sont à mon avis un peu trop bridés… on sent qu’elle peut faire largement mieux, grâce à un dialogue rajouté dans les éditions suivantes la première et qui exule du reste du livre où le personnage centrale est une chienne bergère, traumatisée par avoir suivi un fantassin à la guerre.
Bref, il faut connaître un minimum l’histoire de Colette pour pouvoir profiter d’un second degré de lecture: le premier risque de décevoir.

[anbrs · Rating 2 out of 5]

J’ai pas envie de mettre une bonne note juste parce que c’est un classique ou parce que c’est Colette. J’ai pas du tout aimé, on dirait une sorte de pièce de théâtre, mal écrite. Peut-être que je n’ai pas compris le principe du livre, le génie de l’écriture, mais ça m’a juste fait perdre mon temps. Pourtant Dieu sait que j’adore les classiques mais là c’était pas possible. J’avais vraiment hâte de lire un livre de Colette, donc je vais évidemment tester ses autres livres. Mais j’espère que je vais accrocher.