Anaïs Nin and Colette on YouTube

A couple of friends came over and videoed me reading aloud from my novel, Nights in Paris. One video shows me reading from The Slave of Bracelets, one of my chapters about Anaïs Nin. In the other video, I read from The Silver Stopper, one of my chapters about Colette.

Not having any acting or filming experience, being filmed was bizarre and excruciatingly embarassing. However, everyone seems to be Tubing these days, and when in Rome, etc.

In the Colette video, I introduce myself in French as well as English. My French is pretty good, but I was so nervous that my pronunciation of “roman” (“novel” — a very easy word to say) wobbled and came out as “romain” instead. I had exactly the same wobble on the next take, which was otherwise okay, so we decided to let it go. So that’s why I’m describing my Roman instead of my novel!

I’m going to attempt to give you the links to my videos, but I find links tricky, so if they don’t work, please search YouTube for my name, Sarah Line Letellier, and the videos should pop up.

Extract from The Slave of Bracelets (about Anaïs)

Extract from The Silver Stopper (about Colette)

Big thanks to Nicola, my web guru, and to Elaine, filmographer extraordinaire! S x

Polaire répond! — Polaire replies!

In my last post, I replied to a comment by “Polaire” (not the original Polaire, obviously!… but the owner of a wonderful website, Polaire-1900), and we discussed our opposing theories of whether Polaire was one of Colette’s lovers. When I say opposing, I mean it in the friendliest way. Neither of us, 100 years later, will ever know the truth about whether the writer and the actress were lovers, but it’s still fascinating to swap theories.

My message to “Polaire-1900″ was both in French and English. The reply is in French, but I’ve summarised each paragraph into English.

Bonjour Sarah,
Tout d’abord, merci beaucoup pour ton message. Dans la mesure où tu parles français parfaitement, je me permets de céder à la facilité (ce n’est pas bien) et je réponds à ton message en français. Je reviens maintenant sur ce que j’ai écrit au sujet des rapports de Polaire avec Colette. Tout d’abord, je te précise que si ta réponse me fait vraiment plaisir, c’est que, dans la mesure où tu n’avais pas intégré mon commentaire sur ton blog, j’ai cru qu’il s’agissait d’un rejet de ce que j’avais dit … j’ai donc été rassuré par ta réponse et le fait que tu aies ajouté sur ton blog ce que j’avais écrit.

Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your message; your French is perfect [that's not true, but very kind: flattery will get you everywhere!] so I’ll do the easy thing and reply to you in French. Regarding what I wrote about the relationship between Polaire and Colette: your reply gave me pleasure because, when you didn’t post my comment on your blog, I took it as a rejection of what I’d said… so I was reassured by your reply and by the fact that you did post my comment on your blog. [There was a technical hitch which meant that there was a delay in the comment being posted, but this wasn't intentional.]

Pour ce qui est de mon opinion sur l’éventualité de rapports physiques de Polaire avec Colette ou d’autres femmes. Ce que j’ai écrit sur ce sujet sur le site est uniquement basé sur les éléments biographiques sur Polaire dont je dispose. C’est à dire l’autobiographie de Polaire (“Polaire par elle-même”) écrite en 1933. Des articles publiés du vivant de Polaire. Ainsi que diverses biographies sur Colette.

Regarding my opinion about whether Polaire had a physical relationship with Colette, or with other women: what I’ve written on my website is based on the autobiography “Polaire, in her own words”, written in 1933, articles about Polaire written in her lifetime, as well as various biographies about Colette.

Je reconnais qu’il y a une certaine “insistance” de ma part sur ce sujet. Mais elle n’est pas due à l’expression d’une conviction personnelle ou a une préférence de ma part sur ce sujet. Si j’avais des informations indiquant que Polaire avait eu des rapports physiques avec Colette ou d’autres femmes, cela ne me gênerait aucunement. Je ne l’en aimerais pas moins à cause de cela. Et je l’aurais écrit sur le site. Mais Polaire n’est plus là pour se défendre. Et c’est pourquoi, dans la mesure où elle a écrit qu’elle n’a jamais eu ce type de rapports, je m’en tiens à ce qu’elle a écrit. Mais je suis par ailleurs tout à fait d’accord avec toi lorsque tu écris que l’histoire permet de laisser libre cours à ses propres convictions, à son imagination. Et que, grâce à l’imagination, tout est possible.

I admit that I am adamant on the topic [that Colette and Polaire were not lovers], but this isn’t based on my own preferance… if I believed that Polaire did have relations with Colette or other women, it wouldn’t bother me. But Polaire is no longer here to defend herself, and so, since she writes that she didn’t have those tendancies, I believe her. But I agree with you when you write that history allows us to let our own convictions and imagination run free… and that, with imagination, everything is possible.

En ce qui concerne ton aide pour traduire le site en anglais, je dois dire que je suis vraiment tenté d’accepter ta proposition car je reçois souvent des mails de personnes qui me disent qu’elles aiment vraiment le site “but so sad it’s in French only”. Tu me diras lorsque tu en auras le temps comment nous pouvons faire. Mais il n’y a aucune urgence sur ce sujet. Et si tu t’occupais de cette traduction, ta contribution serait bien sûr indiquée sur les pages concernées. Je pense en particulier aux pages Biographie. Merci encore, sincèrement, pour ton message et tes commentaires sur ton blog. Bien amicalement….

Regarding your offer to translate my website into English, I admit I’m very tempted to accept. I often receive emails from people who say they love my website, but “it’s so sad it’s only in French”. Let me know if you have the time… your contribution would be acknowledged, of course, on the relevant pages — I’m thinking of the “biography” pages in particular. Thanks again for your message and comments on your blog….

Thank YOU, Polaire-1900! It’s such a pleasure to be able to discuss Colette and Polaire with people who share my passion for them. It’s interesting that I and “Polaire-1900″ take sides with the woman we are most passionate about. Colette didn’t confirm the rumours that their relationship was sexual, but she didn’t deny them either. She probably thought that it was no one else’s business either way, and quite right too. That’s what I love about Colette: her always-exact sensibility, her finely-tuned ability to dance on the verge of respectability and explicit sexuality, without ever being coarse or vulgar. If anyone had dared to ask outright if she and Polaire were lovers, her answer would probably have been only to lower her eyes and smile…

So, I now have a new project — how exciting! I can’t wait to begin translating the biography pages on www.Polaire-1900.com.

Letter to Polaire (were Polaire and Colette really lovers?)

Hi Polaire! (I searched for your name on your site, but I couldn’t find it! So, since your email address is Polaire…) Congratulations on your site (http://www.polaire-1900.com/), it’s beautiful. So sorry you had difficulties posting your message… I’m not quite sure what happened, but I managed to post it (in “comments”).

Bonjour, Polaire! (J’ai cherché pour ton nom sur ton site, mais je n’ai pas trouvé! Alors, comme ton addresse émail s’appelle Polaire…) Je te félicite sur ton site, c’est très beau. Je suis desolée que que as eu des difficultés pour poster ton message… je ne sais pas très bien ce qui c’est passé… enfin, finalement j’ai réussi a poster ton message.

Thanks for visiting my blog, and for answering a question I’ve been wondering about. The truth is that no one can really know what happened between Colette and Polaire, except them. This isn’t sad — on the contrary, that’s what I love about history — you can use your imagination, allow yourself to invent things… everything is possible.

Merci beaucoup pour avoir visité mon blog, et aussi pour répondre à une question que je me posais. La vérité, c’est que personne ne peut vraiment savoir ce qui c’est passé entre Colette et Polaire… sauf elles-mêmes. Mais cela n’est pas triste — au contraire, c’est ce que j’aime dans l’histoire. On peut se permettre de l’imagination, les fantaisies… tout est possible.

I’ve re-read the biography page about Polaire, and I still think it insists that love never became physical between the two women. If Polaire was embarrassed by being on stage with a feminine man (it wasn’t even a love scene!), and was averse to homosexuality, it’s pretty much saying that their relationship remained strictly platonic. (“…different witnesses leave no doubt as to Polaire’s aversion to homosexuality… In her memoirs, she describes her embarrassment, in playing Claudine à Paris, when she had to be on stage with ‘that Marcel, wearing outrageous make-up’…” translated from http://www.polaire-1900.com/.)

J’ai relu la page biographie sur Polaire, et j’y trouve toujours une insistance que l’amour n’est jamais devenue physique entre les deux femmes. Si Polaire était gênée en jouant une scène avec un homme féminin (même pas une scène d’amour!), et que l’homosexualité lui faisait éprouver de “l’aversion”, autant dire que leurs relations auraient resté stricement platoniques… (“…des témoignages convergents ne laissent subsister aucun doute sur l’aversion de Polaire à l’égard de l’homosexualité… Elle-même, dans ses souvenirs, évoque la gêne qu’elle éprouvait, dans Claudine à Paris, lors des scènes avec ‘ce Marcel, outrageusement fardé’…”)

Thank you for letting me know about the book “La Folie Polaire”, I found it on Amazon.fr, and read a few reviews… the book sounds fab! I love historical books where facts mix with imagination. That’s what I’m doing — writing a novel (Nights in Paris) about Colette and Anaïs Nin, inspired by their real-life love affairs.

Merci pour ton conseil “La Folie Polaire”, je l’ai trouvé sur Amazon.fr, et j’ai lu plusieurs commentaries sur l’internet… le livre a l’air super! J’aime beaucoup les livres historiques qui mélangent les faits avec l’imagination. C’est ce que je suis en train de faire — j’écris un roman (Nights in Paris) sur Colette et Anaïs Nin qui s’inspire de leurs amours réels.

Your English is perfect! But if you ever feel like discussing Polaire, or Colette, or you need any help translating your site into English… it would be a pleasure!

Ton anglais est parfait! Mais si jamais tu voudras échanger des idées sur Polaire, ou Colette, ou de l’aide pour traduire des pages de ton site en anglais… ce serait un plaisir!

Thanks again for visiting!
Amitiès,
Sarah

Film locations for The Silver Stopper

The first draft of the script for the short film about Colette is finished! It wrote itself really; it’s been amazingly quick and easy. I’m not too sure about the title of the short film, though: I like my title The Silver Stopper for the Colette short story, but I wonder if it’s not exciting enough for a film. It needs something more thrilling, something that says: Parisian love triangle circa 1905! In the classiest way possible, of course.

The director, Toni, and I went to see the Katherine Mansfield house in Thorndon, recreated as it would have been when Katherine was growing up there in the 1890s. It’s beautiful, and would be perfect as a film location. We haven’t yet asked them if we can film in the house — I will be surprised if they say yes, to be honest (I had to hand over my bag in case it scratched the wallpaper, so I can’t imagine they’ll want actors lounging around in corsets on the white, lacy bedcovers or sitting on the embroidered chairs), but it won’t hurt to ask.

The hunt for locations begins! We need a 1900s kitchen, two bedrooms, two salons, and a hallway with stairs. This last requirement will seem odd if you live in Europe, where most hallways have stairs. But the only stairs in our home, and in most people’s homes here, are for going up or down (steep hills) to the front door. Stairs are almost exotic! We also need a horse — you’d think the horse would be the most difficult character to find, but in the weird, wonderful and surprising place that is New Zealand, we already have a few potential horsey actors.

The script is different from the story in that I’ve taken out all scenes of Parisian exteriors — it’s impossible to make Wellington look like Paris, so we’re not going to waste our time trying. There are three exterior scenes, but these are in gardens and woods, which can easily stand in for Paris. Never mind, descriptions of beautiful grey brick walls, pale blue shutters, and wrought iron balconies bursting with red geraniums, I haven’t abandoned you, I’m still keeping you in Nights in Paris!

J’ai fini le premier brouillon de mon scénario pour un film sur Colette! C’est épatant! Maintenant il faut trouver une ancienne maison pour filmer… pas façile en Nouvelle Zélande!

Taking Colette’s masterclass in writing fiction

I’m still working on the Nights in Paris novel as well as the short film. I’m very pleased with the beginning of my next Colette chapter; it can be hard to know how to start a new chapter. It’s a bit like the daunting task of stuffing a duvet into its cover: you have a clear picture of the end result, but how do you know which corner to tackle first? I’ve taken a tip from the great master — or rather, great mistress — herself: Colette, of course.

Colette often begins her chapters with a conversation, or an action; in that respect, many of her novels are like plays. She acted on the stage for many years, and I think this second, theatrical job helped to hone her shark-like instinct when writing: straight to the point, never deviating, pared down to the absolute essentials. Reading her novels is like taking a masterclass in writing prose that is watertight and incredibly focused: I’m thinking especially of Chéri, Julie de Carneilhan, La Retraite Sentimentale, and Duo / Le Toutonier.

My latest chapter of Nights in Paris starts with Colette opening the door of the marital apartment, apprehensive and afraid of seeing her husband because it is the morning after the night before, and the night was spent with Missy… luckily I have some (dusty) memories of this kind of sordid melodrama, so while I’m writing I can relive the emotional turmoil… oh joy!

Par où commencer un nouveau chapitre? C’est comme empailler un duvet dans sa housse: on le prend par quelle bout?! On trouve la reponse en lisant Colette. Chéri, Julie de Carneilhan, La Retraite Sentimentale, et Duo / Le Toutonier sont des romans d’une précision admirable, dont les chapitres commencent souvent, comme des pièces de théâtre, en pleine conversation.

Next Page »