i don't know how i feel about this. the impudent ones is bourgeois family drama to a T, complete with confusing, inconsistent, and sometimes hostile family tension, society scandals, illicit affairs, and gossip. much gossip. the beginning was pretty slow, and i really had to drag myself through it, but once it picked up towards the middle it was decently entertaining. the "conflicts," of which there were a couple, seemed to be resolved way too easily and quickly and the ending seemed rushed. pacing to me was way off and thus it was difficult to get invested in the events that were happening. maud was a likable protagonist and i was definitely on her side the whole time, but god did i hate jacques. i just couldn't understand how everyone else still believed this bitch, and his "redemption" at the end felt way too easy. her mother was also particularly insufferable. maud and geroge's relationship was also quite confusing, as they both seemed hot and cold at different times for no explained reason, and somehow just resolved their problems without communicating. but, i will admit i was rooting for them and i can't say i hated their relationship. plot-wise, character-wise, this was a miss for me, and it is partially my fault because i seriously could not give a SHIT about bourgeois drama like there are too many greater crises in the world to be worried about who said what to who with whom.

that being said, what made the rest of this bearable was duras's STUNNING nature prose. especially during the parts in the countrysides, the descriptions of the land, the trees, and hills and smells and birds were just gorgeous. the atmosphere throughout the book is sublime and i felt like i was lounging on a bench-shaped tree root listening to the birds chirp, feeling the soft leaves as the sun bears down on my back. her writing was filled with such rich imagery i felt i could just touch it. you could absolutely tell that she was not only very familiar with the countrysides of southwestern France but that she cherished and was connected to those lands.

overall i teetered between 2 and 3 stars for my inconsistent feelings while reading this book but i'll bump it up to 3 just as i recall the nature atmosphere of this story.

Dramatic, intense, romantic...a book that I have been waiting to read for a long time. I enjoyed delving into this one while the atmospheric plot unfolded. I enjoyed this book immensely and would highly recommend it.