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Bessie Cotter
Chaque fois qu’une image romancée de la vie américaine nous parvient, et surtout s’il s’agit de milieux populaires, c’est vers le cinéma que nous nous tournons pour comparer le roman avec les impressions d’un monde différent que nous enregistrons visuellement, venues d’Outre Atlantique. Pourtant Bessie Cotter, n’est pas de ces héroïnes que l’écran a rendues populaires. Elle vit d’une vie obscure et un peu végétative dans une sorte de « saloon » plein de jurons, des fumées du whisky, des notes criardes du piano mécanique. Bessie est souvent victime de sa bonté et de sa douceur, et le mauvais garçon auquel elle a donné son amour est la proie d’un tragique destin. Pauvre Bessie… Mais Wallace Smith, est, en même temps qu’un écrivain réaliste de premier plan, un humoriste précis, ironique, amoureux de la cocasserie si émouvante de certaines existences, bourgeoises dans leur dépravation. Son roman est souriant et cynique et il s’en dégage une sorte de tendresse émue pour ses héros, à laquelle la littérature américaine de ces derniers temps ne nous avait pas habitués. Comment ne pas évoquer à propos de ce livre, ceux, parisiens cette fois, du maître de ce genre à la fois désabusé, cynique et tendre, Francis Carco ?
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1936
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October 29, 2021
Venerated extremely as a literary work when it was first published, the novel portrays the life of a prostitute in pragmatic and down-to-earth images.
Set in Chicago in the early part of the 20th century, the novel recounts the story of Bessie Cotter, who readily enters the life of prostitution merely for the reason that it pays better than factory work.
Neither is Bessie a despondent prey of the streets, nor has she been drugged, swindleed, or mistreated into selling her body. Neither is she deliberately depraved or wicked. Instead, Bessie is a pleasant character, on the whole civilized and considerate toward others, whose easy philosophy of life is entirely based on survival.
Bessie evidently does not like the “sporting life,” but life in Miss Myrtle’s “parlour house” is balmy and sheltered. Bessie is at ease that she is fed well and earns $25 a night at Miss Myrtle’s. She compares these earnings with the $10 per week that she would make if she worked in a factory, the only other kind of work that someone deficient in saleable talents might find.
The other “ladies” labouring at Miss Myrtle’s have chosen their line of work for comparable motives. Although the major action of the book takes place in a house of prostitution, the sexual action is only suggested and not obvious. In an alike manner, the lingo of the women and their clients is innocuous; “obscenities” are used at only one point in the novel, when two waiters are clearing away dishes from the preceding night.
The blunder of the novel, in line with its critics, lies in the letdown of the author to censure Bessie and the other ladies of Miss Myrtle’s for their lifestyles, or to afford them with chastisement for their actions.
Set in Chicago in the early part of the 20th century, the novel recounts the story of Bessie Cotter, who readily enters the life of prostitution merely for the reason that it pays better than factory work.
Neither is Bessie a despondent prey of the streets, nor has she been drugged, swindleed, or mistreated into selling her body. Neither is she deliberately depraved or wicked. Instead, Bessie is a pleasant character, on the whole civilized and considerate toward others, whose easy philosophy of life is entirely based on survival.
Bessie evidently does not like the “sporting life,” but life in Miss Myrtle’s “parlour house” is balmy and sheltered. Bessie is at ease that she is fed well and earns $25 a night at Miss Myrtle’s. She compares these earnings with the $10 per week that she would make if she worked in a factory, the only other kind of work that someone deficient in saleable talents might find.
The other “ladies” labouring at Miss Myrtle’s have chosen their line of work for comparable motives. Although the major action of the book takes place in a house of prostitution, the sexual action is only suggested and not obvious. In an alike manner, the lingo of the women and their clients is innocuous; “obscenities” are used at only one point in the novel, when two waiters are clearing away dishes from the preceding night.
The blunder of the novel, in line with its critics, lies in the letdown of the author to censure Bessie and the other ladies of Miss Myrtle’s for their lifestyles, or to afford them with chastisement for their actions.
Displaying 1 of 1 review