Book – Le Sourire de Gary Cooper

Book – Le Sourire de Gary Cooper

By : Sophie Pujas

Score : 8/10

Year : 2017

Publisher : Gallimard (collection L'arpenteur)

ISBN : 978-2-07-272049-9

Pages : 108*

Language : French 

I start with the back cover:

She was a kid from Brooklyn dreaming of a grandiose destiny in local cinemas. She was the first "it girl", a huge silent[-movie] star, to whom fans sent letters by the thousands. She was the soul of the twenties, a twirling icon of the jazz age, valued by Francis Scott Fitzgerald.

 She was an ardent lover, in the arms of Gary Cooper and Victor Fleming. She was a woman who was reproached for her freedom, without shrinking from the most sordid fables. She was one of the inaugural victims of this machine for crushing beings: Hollywood. In 1933, Clara Bow's dazzling career came to an end. She was twenty-eight years old. 

2 remarks : 

• for clarity, I added the movie, to "silent star" because of the original French phrasing.
• The original word "adoubée par Francis Scott Fitzgerald." is like 'knighted' or 'dubbed', I chose a clearer word, 'valued by'

Clara Bow was, therefore, not only a silent-movie star, filming from 1922 to 1933 in an increasingly frenetic rhythm - forced by the studios who saw their stars as sources of income - but also a woman who, often, did not did not comply with the requirements of good appearances and codes of conduct imposed at that time.

However, her recklessness, mixed with a kind of carelessness and naivety, caused her a lot of trouble, because of harmful and malicious gossip and rumors against her, a very bitter price after the thousands of letters from fans who adored her. Clara was an adored Star who had become an outcast, frowned upon for her rebellions.

Under the pen of Sophie Pujas, the life of Clara Bow is certainly fictionalized, but the essence of this life is well and truly told, with an admiration of the author which is noticed very quickly, and is confirmed during acknowledgments of the narrator towards this woman who, despite her shortened career and the ups and downs of life, was a rebel in the face of a society - not yet ready - and who opened the way for other women later...

Mirroring this shortened career, this novel is also (far too) short, barely 100 pages. Indeed, after quotes (on p.9), the novel begins on p.11 and ends at 108.

The chapters are not numbered, but named after important men from Clara's life phases. So, they are Robert (p.15-25); Victor (29-73); Rex (77-108), in a continuous narration, with beautiful turns of phrase, sometimes quite poetic, or even philosophical.

I really liked the style, and made me want to both learn more about Clara Bow, and discover other books by Sophie Pujas, so it's a great success.

This book being the 6th and very last for January 2024, and also the 1st in the new cycle at the  at LucieBulle's book club - and as it is borrowed from the mobile library, completed the bibliobook challenge, as well as Petit creux (Reading of a book of less than 200 pages.) Incidentally Crôapeau (Reading a book where on the cover there is a character with any headgear.)

Small note: towards the end, an important realization regarding her past comes to Clara, and although not detailed or graphic, is a sensitive subject