Duo and Le Toutounier

by Colette, Margaret Crosland (Translator)

In Duo , Colette observes, with masterly astuteness and perception, two characters whose marriage is foundering on the wife's infidelity. Acting out the final crisis, Alice and Michel have the stage to themselves so that nothing is allowed to distract from the marital dialogue. Le Toutounier continues Alice's story after Michel's death and her move to Paris. There she and her two sisters live in a shabby, homely apartment; fiercely independent, reticent, and hard.

Genres: Fiction, Literature, France

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

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

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

riveting two stories - enough to take me out of my head for two nights, which is the best kind of book!

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duo and Toutounier are connected novels that Colette wrote later in her life, and they are fantastic.

closely analyzes the marriage of Alice and Michel. Alice has a brief affair with one of Michel's friends, and so we experience the struggle of dealing with this act of infidelity.

For me, is the real gem. After Michel's death, Alice slips back to Paris to seek refuge with her sisters in the family's small apartment. The book's title is taken from the nickname that Alice and her sisters have given a couch in their family's apartment. The couch becomes a centerpiece in the story as it is where the sisters come together to talk, sleep, etc.

What is true about both of these stories is the bravery and frankness within Colette's writing about relationships and about women. I love her lack of apology for inappropriate feelings in certain situations.

[Kseniya Melnik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially loved the second novel, Le Toutounier-the intimacy between the sisters, Colette's skillful documentation of each moment. Lovely. I can see this is a stage play.

[Lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Duo Colette embraces the reader with deep intimate details of a couple who hit an event that creates a volatile week, ending in a startlingly twist. The reader follows the tense Alice and Michel through the ins and outs of holidays, which have turned from lazy days to arduous charged moments. Eating, drawing, walking, sitting, answering the phone, drinking, and all other 'nothing' activities are layered with plot and subtleties pertaining to characters and their relationships. The relationships are based upon nothing said, but the internal feelings of each present.

In Le Toutounier Colette introduces Alice's older and younger sisters. Hermine and Cobette are her all but her triplets. The beauty of this piece shows that the siblings are all on the same page, share a language, a physical emulation, and most importantly an ancient philosophy. Compared to the more secretive, stoic relationship Alice had with her husband in Duo, the bond with her sisters is affectedly deeper. Written with touches of truth, the stroke and embrace of sisters can be felt in Colette's descriptions.

[William Guerrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't see how either of these two "novels" merit that name. They are, rather, two longish short stories. The first, Duo, is excellent. The second, Le Toutounier is contrived, presumably to tap into the success of Duo (written five years earlier) and lacks the depth of the story to which it has been joined. Together these two stories make a respectable novella, but in my judgment a reader would do well to read Duo alone, yet ponder this line from Le Toutounier "She's already proud of the harm she's done, and the unhappiness she's causing."

[Ynna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I preferred Duo, which examined the unraveling of a marriage. It was intimate and uncomfortable. Colette does a beautiful job illustrating the inner workings of Alice and Michel's minds juxtaposed with the actual words they say to one another. Le Toutounier was fun, but repetitive. I loved the conversations between the sisters, but found my mind wandering for the majority of this novella.

"I think that if a man loves me, he oughtn't to prefer anything else to me, not even suicide."
"But what if you'd driven him to despair, Colombe?"
Colombe looked at her sister with a kind of majestic naivete.
"How could he be in despair if I existed? Logically he could only be in despair if I didn't exist anymore."
"I like the 'logically'"

[Becca Vichi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow just wow so beautiful

[Suzammah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jolly enough. Entirely throw away.

[Alixe · Rating 5 out of 5]

C’est le premier Colette que je lis, et ça m’a donné envie d’en lire plus. On y trouve un dosage parfait de problèmes de couple, langueur, histoires secondaires et descriptions de paysage. Vivement recommandé.

[Evariste · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the most perfect works of fiction ever written. Colette is my favourite author and Duo changed my life. what more can I say? if you get it, you get it; if not, then not. x

[Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Trent · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first time reading Colette. Maybe this pair of linked novellas wasn't a good place to start?

[Cathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. Have loved stuff by Colette before, but this was mind-numbing

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Colette's disdain for men shines through in this. There is no respect present whenever she speaks of them. Michel is petty and surly; unable to handle the harsh but ultimately meaningless truth of his wife's one time infidelity. But on the other hand, Colette seems to think that women are vain and silly creatures. Alice shows no remorse and is, in my opinion, a little too proud, effectively hindering any chance of reconciliation. She almost demands forgiveness and cannot understand why their relationship should change so drastically because she once had an itch that needed to be scratched. It's almost as if Colette is mocking the essence of romantic relationships. She points out how flawed they can be and how the two people engaging in this escapade view and experience things differently; how they are never truly on the same page. The end result of such commonplace folly is one that I found to be a tad dramatic and over indulgent, but still holding to the truth that Colette believed.

In the second part this continues with the addition of two new women and their subsequent relationships. You see how silly and how misguided they can be when trying to acquire a new hold on something that they already have. Alice notices this and can't help but compare it to what she once had with Michel. She also notices that childhood friendships, even sisterly bonds change once romance has entered into the equation. It's a rather harsh reality when you realize that the only thing driving people is the desire to be loved forever by someone. Anyone really, as long as it has romantic feelings attached, because fraternal or platonic love just doesn't cut it.

It was an interesting read to say the least. Not my favorite Colette writing pieces, but still a sharp observation on how most people experience living. 3/5