Perfect Companions

Dogs, cats, and horses at full stride

“Nos compagnons les plus parfaits n’ont jamais moins de quatre pattes.”

(“Our most perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.”)

“Le temps passé avec un chat n’est jamais perdu.”

(“Time spent with a cat is never wasted.”)

—Colette

As many of you know from previous Open Books, I love Colette, in large part because my mother loved her. I inherited her collection of Colette books, including a few first editions, which I prize. If you haven’t read her novella La Chatte (The Cat), published in 1933, I recommend it. It is the story of a love triangle involving Camille, her husband Alain, and his cat Sasha. The story is a classic, and you will not forget the dénouement.

Few writers have rendered animals and the natural world as vividly, or as unsentimentally, as Colette.

Colette’s first husband was Henry Gauthier-Villars, a writer and impresario known as “Willy.” She was his Claude (Claudine?), or better yet, his Chat(te)-GPT. She wrote the Claudine novels, famous for their frank writing about female adolescence and desire*. The books, published under his name, were a sensation and Willy kept both the credit and the royalties.

Colette eventually reclaimed ownership of her work, and went on to publish many fine novels, including Chéri and Gigi. We would be lucky if AI reveals itself to be as original, spirited, and talented as the wonderful Colette.

To accompany her lovely quotes above, here are a few pictures from France of animals. You will recognize Daisy with her lobster scarf (she did remind me that I should be promoting Ulysses S. Cat, and its main character). More may be added in later posts, as it is impossible to walk anywhere in France without being touched by the charm of this special kinship.

*Perhaps because Scott interviewed Judy Blume recently at the Santa Fe International Book Festival (interview airs this Saturday on Weekend Edition), I am tempted to compare the Claudine Novels, which came out in 1900-1904, to Judy Blume’s oeuvre. I am working on a short post to drawn out this comparison.