
The Pure and the Impure
Colette(Author)
WW Norton & Co (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 7. July 2026
Book
Hardback
176 pages
978-1-324-07523-3 (ISBN)
Description
Allusive and sometimes obscure, yet precise-The Pure and the Impure has elicited equal parts consternation and praise since its publication nearly 100 years ago. Through strikingly vivid and evocative portraits, many of them of her friends and lovers, Colette explores varieties of sexual expression, gender identity, love and sensual pleasure. Decades ahead of its time in contemplating queerness and women's sexuality, The Pure and the Impure provides a fascinating window into the various demimondes of the Parisian Belle Epoque. At the same time, the book offers a unique portrait of a complex and often contradictory character-Colette herself. The "brilliantly ingenious" (Lydia Davis) translator Rachel Careau presents an elegant and highly readable rendition that reproduces Colette's extraordinary musicality, making her "perfect, lapidary and truth-bearing sentences" (Terry Castle) sing for English readers.
Rachel Careau's translation of Colette's Cheri and The End of Cheri was praised as:
"This heartbreaking, astute pair of novels...are among the best of [Colette's] vast, impressive canon." - The New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice
"Both novels are exquisite in structure, sparse and lacy, every detail in a web of other details, merciless, precise." - Jenny Turner, London Review of Books
Rachel Careau's translation of Colette's Cheri and The End of Cheri was praised as:
"This heartbreaking, astute pair of novels...are among the best of [Colette's] vast, impressive canon." - The New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice
"Both novels are exquisite in structure, sparse and lacy, every detail in a web of other details, merciless, precise." - Jenny Turner, London Review of Books
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Dimensions
Height: 218 mm
Width: 147 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
273 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-324-07523-3 (9781324075233)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Colette (1873-1954) is considered one of the greatest French literary stylists of the twentieth century. Rachel Careau's translations include Colette's Cheri and The End of Cheri. A 2019 NEA Literature Translation Fellow, she lives in Hudson, New York.