Paris Red by Maureen Gibbon was definitely not what I expected when I opened the book, especially when comparing it to Girl With A Pearl Earring. Readers are thrown into a world of art, mystery, and sex shown through the eyes of a 17 year old girl. There is little to be imagined. While reading this book I found myself having a reaction of annoyance for the main character through her thoughts and need for excessive validation. Making a competition with Denise where there did not need to be one, who was chosen to be kissed first and whom Manet would pick to sleep with. Overall I found myself disgusted and blaming Manet for praying on the two young girls. I was reminded of the feeling of being 17 once and thinking I knew everything when really I knew nothing about the dangers the world possessed.
I found myself focusing more on the relationship between the two more than the art that was being created unlike Girl With A Pearl Earring. There was more of an emphasis on these parts than anything else which led me to wonder why. The pleasure of thinking about something that you know to be forbidden, the want and need to be touched. All things so different from art but an experience that many people do have all the same.
I agree with this interpretation. While the main character accurately portrays the cavalier attitude that a lot of 17 year old girls possess, she also has some individual tendencies that do not exactly boost sympathy for her. Also, the competition (I like how you put it) between her and Denise felt sad. Furthermore, there were areas in the book where it was clear that Denise did more for her than Manet did. Yes, Manet provided money and that is a much-needed/desired commodity throughout human history, but Denise took care of the main character by soothing her when she had a break up as well as knowing what to do and how to take care of her when she had that horrible bleeding (clot? Miscarriage? I’m still not sure what that was).
Long story short, I like how you conveyed this analysis and I wish that she could have stuck with Denise or at the very least provided more of a helpful presence in Denise’s life rather than up and leaving her as she did.
I found it ironic that Louise says that Denise is “like a sister to her.” on one page, then a few pages later talks about wanting to kiss Manet and did not care if Denise was there or not. Furthermore, whether this was a different century or not, going after teenage girls that you have explicitly said you know are around eighteen years old is concerning.