Rating: 
Summary: Not very exciting
Review: I wanted to read this book since there was a movie coming out based on the book. Well I sure hope that the movie is better. It really started out slow, but I continued reading it hoping that would get better. It didn't get much better. Towards the end, somethings started to happen, but it was a little too late.
Rating: 
Summary: Expatriates in France
Review: This book, at times witty and humorous, reminds me of "Portrait of Lady", "Daisy Miller" and a "Moveable Feast" combined. The theme of the novel is the old world vs. the new world. American innocence next to European jadedness and fiendishness. It is also a good example of the modern novel. That being said the book was somewhat slow moving and I thought the descriptions of the French and French living were a bit cliched. Particularly the part where the main character, Isabel, becomes involved with a much older Frenchman (Colette does it much better). However, it is still a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Now I'm bored AND irritated!
Review: Every time I picked up this book, I was astonished that I wasn't farther along in it. It was SO boring! Finally I skipped ahead, wondering if there was any redeeming event in the offing. But no. And just for the record, the next time I purchase a book of this nature that is purportedly written in English, but contains endless French phrases and quotations that are left untranslated, I intend to return to the bookstore and ask for a refund for the percentage of the book that is unreadable.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing.
Review: LIked it. I couldn't identify necessarily with main character, but liked her. Intriguing book which makes you think about life choices, how we make them.
Rating:
Summary: OH MY CHERI
Review: Ever since the dawn of the last century, artists of all types have flocked to Paris to get away from their own cultures and to find an audience for their work. In recent times though, Paris has begun to lose its prestige. It's almost a cliche to want to go there now. New York City has stepped into that void and has become the cultural mecca of the West. Le Divorce is almost like a ghost-town homage to Paris, showing not a culture that thrives, but one that only lives to spit in the face of American consumer culture. They mistake animosity for vitality.Isabel Walker, a young and pretty film school dropout, has come to Paris supposedly just to hang out with her pregnant stepsister who is married to a Frenchman. Why she's really there is that she can't figure out what to do with her life. In fact, she doesn't want to do ANYTHING. Due to a rather sheltered lifestyle she lived in Santa Barbara, California, with beachfront property, she's rather spoiled. Her stepsister, Roxy, is a poet, and her parents have always encouraged her in that pursuit, one which Isabel sees as useless. On the other hand, they've been trying to push Isabel into some mind-numbing zombified Mcjob. So I guess she's trying to just get some breathing room. After she arrives, she finds out it's not the ideal situation she believed it would be. Roxy's husband is having an affair. Not only does Isabel have to help her navigate through this situation with the French and American sides of her family, but finds herself falling in love in a way she could never imagine with a man she could never imagine. I liked the book. The word that comes to mind is "elegant". The book goes through a lot of moods from love to hate to gentleness to great cruelty and madness but never loses its voice or style. I thought the conflict between the two cultures was shown with great effect. No matter what Isabel does, the Persands (that's the French side) look down on her and her sister as little violent animals. The French people in this book are pretty much portrayed as Americans have stereotyped them: cold, snooty, rude, distant, reasoning to a fault, emotionless. The book makes no headway in understanding the French people. According to Johnson, the best we can hope for is mutual toleration, which I do not agree with. The book repeats the theme of nationalism causing wars and leading to all kinds of persecution but the French in this work are just short of being Aryans. They don't like to mix blood or speak or respect foreigners. I guess I was just hoping that there would be more of a conciliation between the two cultures. Instead, the French are shown being Americans and not even being aware of it. Even though I'm commenting seriously on this work, the book IS a comedy! Ironic and biting comedy but it's funny. For example a quote in one of the chapters is: "Paris, city of amusements, pleasures, etc., where four-fifths of the inhabitants are dying of unhappiness." I enjoyed the main character of Isabel. She's spoiled but interesting and funny. I thought this was a cool book and it has a cool cover by Nina Berkson who does all of Diane's books. Le Divorce was a National Book Award Finalist.
Rating:
Summary: I don't completely hate this book
Review: The 2 things I liked about this book was that it a fast read with an American view of life in Paris. But this book gets annoying really fast. The plot and characters are unbelievable. The main character Isabel is suppose to be 20-something but she acts and thinks like a 40-something having an identity crisis. Also the characters are never fully developed, in fact there are too many characters and stories in this book in my opinion. Some characters are briefly introduced at the beginning of the book and don't appear again until many many chapters later. I went through this book with the idea that everything will come together in the end, and it doesn't. The ending is sorely disappointing. But if you need a fast quick read for a trip or the beach this book will suffice.
Rating:
Summary: Ou La La
Review: Isabel is from Santa Barbara, California. She has just arrived in France to help her pregnant sister when she finds out that Roxy’s philandering husband, Charles Henri, has flown the coop! Roxy finds herself depressed, alone and left to face the in-laws at their weekly Sunday dinner in the country. Needless to say she is not having a good day. It is time to start proceedings for “Le Divorce”. While in Paris, Isabel, who has been a bit of a wandering spirit with little to no sense of who she is, becomes enamored with an elderly gentleman who guides her into the life of pleasure that Paris has to offer. She enjoys politics, art, and the opera. The world opens before her like an oyster that produces the most opalescent pearl. “Le Divorce” surges on and things get ugly and scandals abound. It all comes to a most unexpected ending that I will allow the reader to discover. Paris is presented to the reader like a fine jewel on a silver tray. A wonderful look at a different culture and how they view Americans. Superbly written and intelligently played out, I can see why this book was a National Book Award Finalist. (...)
Rating: 
Summary: A High Brow and Witty Novel
Review: I enjoy transatlantic novels and this is a good one. It is satire at its best. It offers witty observations about both the French and Americans -- the comparisons are often laugh out loud hilarious. The characters were great and I enjoyed the social commentary they provided us. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in French culture, living abroad, or in the need of a good read!
Rating:
Summary: Just not good
Review: Just not good literature, maybe it's not ment to be maybe it's just to be a fun read, well it's not even a fun read.
Rating:
Summary: It's like a run away train!
Review: Chapter after chapter, I tried to stay focused and read on, but couldn't. I didn't see the point of the story. She repeats the same ideas over and over in each chapter so that it is hard to tell what's the plot or the point about this book.
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