57-oji XX a. Aukso amžiaus knyga. Sukrečianti karo istorija apie penkių kareivių, kurie tiesiog nebenori būti kareiviais ir stengiasi išsigelbėti nuo fronto baisybių, bausmę - išvarymas žūčiai į niekieno žemę tarp dviejų priešiškų apkasų. Tačiau vieno iš jų mergina negali patikėti blogomis žiniomis ir visais būdais atkakliai ieško tiesos. Tokia liūdna ir romantiška karo istorija.

J'ai eu du mal à le lire, l'histoire est belle mais je n'ai pas accroché plus que ça.

Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles raconte l'histoire de Mathilde et Manech, parti à la guerre. Mathilde cherche à comprendre ce qui est arrivé à son fiancé, et nous la suivons dans sa course après les indices, les informations, les témoins, les victimes... Il y a plusieurs parties dans ce roman, on commence par connaître les cinq soldats, puit on suit Mathilde. Je n'ai pas vu le film donc impossible pour moi de comparer malheureusement.

Globalement, j'ai beaucoup aimé l'histoire et la façon dont elle est racontée, à travers l'alternance de lettres, et de passages racontés par Mathilde ou les différents personnages qui viennent ajouter des indices et des informations à ce qu'elle connaît déjà. C'est une véritable enquête et on ne connaît la vérité que lors des toutes dernières pages, ce qui m'a (je l'avoue) un peu frustrée tout de même. J'aurai bien aimé avoir de véritables retrouvailles plus tôt. Je n'ai mis que trois étoiles parce que je n'ai pas non plus été transportée par ce livre, sûrement parce que l'écriture est très crue, parfois même vulgaire, et j'ai trouvé que cela n'avait pas toujours lieu d'être.

Set in 1917, about five soldiers who officially have died in the line of duty but what really happened to them. Partly a mystery and partly a love story but particularly well done when it tells what happened from different points of view.

Esta novela no ha sido lo que esperaba. Creía que tendría más ritmo y que me resultaría más emotiva, sin embargo, se me ha hecho muy larga y no he conseguido empatizar con ninguno de los personajes.

La protagonista de la novela es Matilde, una chica que moverá cielo y tierra con tal de encontrar a su amado (Manech), y ello a pesar de que le han notificado que ha caído en combate. Una gran parte de su investigación se desarrolla a través de cartas, lo que hace que estas tengan un peso importante en la narración.

La novela se articula en capítulos, a mi parecer, algo largos; y la prosa, aunque es sencilla, no hace que la lectura sea fluida. Quizás sea por la presencia de bastantes fechas.

En definitiva, no ha sido una lectura para mí.

Pour ma part je l' ai lu avant d' aller voir le film (il faut toujours procéder ainsi), et j' ai bien fait ! Le film n'est pas mauvais, mais rien de comparable avec la beauté du roman. Une histoire vraiment bien montée et dont on remonte le fil avec fébrilité tant on veut savoir la vérité...

The French trenches on the Western Front during World War I were muddy, cold, and infested with lice and rats. The men lived in constant danger, and saw their good friends die by their sides. Some soldiers suffered "shell shock", some deserted, some committed suicide, and others wounded themselves to get away from this hell on earth. The book opens as five soldiers, who have allegedly shot themselves in the hand, walk through the mud to the Front. Their punishment is to be brought to the area between the French trenches and the enemy trenches where probable death awaits them.

Mathilde, the fiancee of Manech, has been told by officials that he died on the battlefield. But she receives a letter from a dying soldier who tells her that Manech was one of the five soldiers with the self-inflicted wounds. The soldier thinks that one or more of them may still be alive. Mathilde is in a wheelchair but she has an intelligent mind, a strong spirit, and a deep love for Manech. With the help of her wealthy father, her chauffeur, and a detective, Mathilde contacts the families of the other four men, as well as other soldiers, to get more information. She receives conflicting accounts of their final days, so we don't know if Manech and the other four men survived until the end of the book. Mathilde's contacts show us the terrible effects of the war on the civilian population as well as the military.

The novel is a mystery, a World War I story, and a love story as it flashes back to Manech's and Mathilde's relationship. The book can be a little confusing at first since the characters are called by several names, so it helps to jot down their nicknames and professions. For example, Jean Etchervery is Manech, Cornflower, and the fisherman. Throughout the book there is a great warmth and respect displayed by the living soldiers toward their fallen comrades and the widows who are dealing with so much pain.

4.5 stars. From the opening pages, I was transported to France during WWI. The author used a style of writing that I would normally associate with that time period, giving verisimilitude to this work. This is the story of a "white widow" - a woman whose fiance was killed during the war. Or was he? Her search for the truth is the theme of the book.

This just missed being a 5-star book. I got bogged down in all the names (and nicknames) at times, which is why it is 4.5.

For such a small book it seemed to take a while to read.

Another book to remind us that war is not an answer and human resiliance amazing.

Finishing this book is satisfying however it takes a while to get there. You need to be careful to pick up all the clues from various angles, I needed to re read bits to ensure that I had the correct gist of things. The plot and subject are excellent the complexity of the characters well portrayed and I like that the reader is an active participant.

My suspicion is that this is actually a really good book but for me it has suffered in it's translation from French to English.

I am glad to have read it.

I've been reviewing for over 5 years. In that time, there is only one book that I ever started that I did not finish. Well, now that number is increasing to two.

I won't give a summary as many, many others have given a really detailed summary that is far better than anything I could ever have done justice to. Instead, let me tell you why I stopped at page 113 and why I have no inclination to finish this book.

The first twenty pages are spent introducing five soldiers--their names, their prison numbers, their family, their main characteristics. The next thirty or so pages are spent reintroducing those five soldiers and continuing a few moments ahead in their story. And finally, at page 60, we are introduced, in a large, very exposition-heavy 5 page section, our main character.

I found the writing is terribly confusing. I don't know if it was meant to be that way, or if that is a fault of translating from French, or maybe I am just plain stupid, but sentences sounded weird, the writing was dense, and I had to start skimming in order to make any progress in this book. The book is written in present tense, but that felt more unwieldy and clumsy than some YA books I've read. Sections switched points of view sometimes without a section break, leading from first-person to third-person in just a paragraph. And it seems an omniscient narrator is dictating this...except for a few places where I thought it was Mathilde.

The characters are painfully dull. First of all, I could hardly keep them all straight. They were like a deck of only red cards, which the author flashed at me. I couldn't tell who was a diamond, who was a heart, if that person was a 3 of hearts or perhaps a 6 of diamonds. The characters were so flat, it would be a compliment to call them two-dimensional. About the only one I cared for was the soldier wrongfully accused of self-mutilation...and I have absolutely no idea what his name is or who he is beyond that he didn't self-mutilate and was wrongfully charged. Mathilde was a horrible character, in my opinion. She was stiff, unlikeable (calling random people "sh!t kicker" is NOT a way to endear a character to me), and oddly characterized. I don't mind having a woman proud of her body, but this passage just doesn't sound like any woman I know:

"She has very lovely breasts. She's proud of them: they're heavy, well-rounded, and softer than silk. When she caresses her nipples she soon feels like making love. She makes love all by herself."

Male fantasy? Bad translation? A very, extremely confident woman? I don't have a clue.

Mathilde exchanges letters with various people. These people are startlingly open about their private lives, sometimes going on pages and pages (when they supposedly aren't big on writing) to detail every last detail of that person's life to a complete stranger.

The story is supposed to be about a mystery, but it really didn't kick into gear until the last 20 pages that I read. Even then, I have no drive to figure it out. I predict one of three outcomes: 1) Mathilde finds Manech and reunites (sure, a litfic book is really going to choose the "happily ever after" ending), 2) Mathilde finds Manech and doesn't reunite (most likely), and 3) Mathilde finds Manech dead (too depressing, even for a litfic book). It doesn't really matter what ending will be chosen. Lessons will be Learned; People will Change; Morals will be Passed on.

I read the last 20 pages or so and looks like I was right--Mathilde does find Manech, but he has lost his memory, so she leaves him in his new life.

And this is why I am giving up on this book. There is no way I can force myself to read another page, and with so many other better books out there, I am going to pass on this one.

HOWEVER, just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean it's horrible. I rated it 2 stars because "I didn't like it"; I'm sure lots of people who love mysteries, historicals, and books about World War I will love this. To them, I say, go ahead and give this book a try. I hope you have a much more enjoyable read than I did.

„O logodnă foarte lungă” este un roman al contrastelor, pentru că aduce în fața noastră întreaga mizerie și urâțenie pe care războiul le creează, cu vieți pierdute în van, și frumusețea unor povești de dragoste ce trec de timp și spațiu și care rezistă chiar și în fața morții, asemeni marilor istorii de amor ale omenirii. În prim-plan, se află povestea lui Mathilde și a lui Manech, însă, dincolo de aceasta, întrezărim din scrisori istorii asemănătoare acesteia, căci povestea lui Mathilde este cea a multor altor femei ce au fost nevoite să își caute iubiții, logodnicii sau soții pierduți într-un război mult prea nedrept, care a răpit vise, speranțe și vieți, punând totul sub semnul hazardului. În plus, cartea are puternice accente detectiviste, pentru că Mathilde încearcă să afle adevărul cu privire la logodnicul său, adunând indicii după indicii și punând cap la cap piese ale unu puzzle dificil, indiferent de ceea ce i se spune și de câte aripi îi sunt retezate, iar acest fapt face ca romanul să devină mult mai palpitant, în ciuda începutului destul de static.
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Había visto la peli y quería saber qué tal el libro.