"Le Mystère Céline Dion": Denise Bombardier's book

[SensationalCeline]

Yay..............well can't wait for the English version..............

[idroveallnight]

Just got the book! It was the only copy at the Chartres FNAC!

 

The French edition is just the "You and I" picture---soft paperback with photopaper cover. It had a little band at the bottom of extra cover so that one can mark the page.

 

Beautiful book! Thumbing through it was fun---I can't wait to sit down and read it.

 

The chapters are as follows: (translated by me)

 

 

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - 4 March 2008

 

Dubai, Rugby Club - 5 March 2008

 

Johannesburg, South Africa - 15 February 2008

 

Montréal - 15 August 2008

 

Québec, Montcalm Palace - 21 August 2008

 

Québec, sur les Plaines d'Abraham - 22 August 2008

 

Paris, Hôtel George-V - 18 May 2008

 

Paris de l'Élysée - 22 May 2008

 

The mythical Family

 

The Queen Mother

 

Gold Coast, Australia, Marriott Hotel - 22 March 2008

 

René Angélil

 

The Couple

 

From the child to the megastar

 

Macao, China - 15 May 2008

 

The child with long hair

 

A voice

 

The entourage

 

Living under the watch of others

 

The life of a megastar

 

Thank yous

 

I love the names of these chapter titles. I hope we can count on an English release very soon.

[celinedream]

I'm not being funny but, now a days all things Celine come in both french and english which is great, like the ''A new day...'' dvd, the ''For Keeps'' book, and the upcoming tour book by Gerard.

So wtf....... why not this book???

 

It annoys me so much!!!!

Just like how that concert in Canada last summer was released on dvd, but without english subtitles , for the non french speaking Celine fans, and now its been renamed and will be released in ''europe'' soon for the (french) speaking Celine fans, its ridiculous...

Europe is a big place and not everyone in europe speaks french, arghhhhhh!!!!!!!!

 

Its not hard to translate something from french to english, french to spanish, german, italian etc, these days...

It reachs more fans and obviously will boost sales!

So whats the problem?????

 

Its frustrating and crazy!

 

Darren.

 

As far as I know this book will be translated to English...

 

I know what you mean!! But if you can't fight them...join them right?? That's why i learned French . You should too...you'll discover a whole new Celine world I guarantee you

[Celine_mon amour]

I WANT the english version!!

[celine4evauk]

I'm not being funny but, now a days all things Celine come in both french and english which is great, like the ''A new day...'' dvd, the ''For Keeps'' book, and the upcoming tour book by Gerard.

So wtf....... why not this book???

 

It annoys me so much!!!!

Just like how that concert in Canada last summer was released on dvd, but without english subtitles , for the non french speaking Celine fans, and now its been renamed and will be released in ''europe'' soon for the (french) speaking Celine fans, its ridiculous...

Europe is a big place and not everyone in europe speaks french, arghhhhhh!!!!!!!!

 

Its not hard to translate something from french to english, french to spanish, german, italian etc, these days...

It reachs more fans and obviously will boost sales!

So whats the problem?????

 

Its frustrating and crazy!

 

Darren.

 

As far as I know this book will be translated to English...

 

I know what you mean!! But if you can't fight them...join them right?? That's why i learned French . You should too...you'll discover a whole new Celine world I guarantee you

 

 

But french is SOOOO HARD!!!! All that masculine/feminine thing! Would love to learn it though. My ancestors are from France - there's a street somewhere in France that my surname originates from.

[SensationalCeline]

I tried learning French but when I started, I had a spanish test and got French mixed up with Spanish and got a 60 on that test...............whoops. I might try after I'm done with Spanish.

[vroni]

I'm not being funny but, now a days all things Celine come in both french and english which is great, like the ''A new day...'' dvd, the ''For Keeps'' book, and the upcoming tour book by Gerard.

So wtf....... why not this book???

 

It annoys me so much!!!!

Just like how that concert in Canada last summer was released on dvd, but without english subtitles , for the non french speaking Celine fans, and now its been renamed and will be released in ''europe'' soon for the (french) speaking Celine fans, its ridiculous...

Europe is a big place and not everyone in europe speaks french, arghhhhhh!!!!!!!!

 

Its not hard to translate something from french to english, french to spanish, german, italian etc, these days...

It reachs more fans and obviously will boost sales!

So whats the problem?????

 

Its frustrating and crazy!

 

Darren.

 

As far as I know this book will be translated to English...

 

I know what you mean!! But if you can't fight them...join them right?? That's why i learned French . You should too...you'll discover a whole new Celine world I guarantee you

 

 

But french is SOOOO HARD!!!! All that masculine/feminine thing! Would love to learn it though. My ancestors are from France - there's a street somewhere in France that my surname originates from.

 

loool you should try German, we have feminine/masculin and neutrum things haha

well maybe it's got something to do with them thinking that the book wouldn't sell that well in other countries, that the French speaking population is more interested in Céline than others... don't know, anyway I'll try the French version, but would of course prefer to have it in English

[sazzlepop123]

It's my mission this summer to work on my french!!! Carla and I are going to practice lots!!!

[dandoodles]

i have a question for someone who lives in canada. i was looking at the book on chapters.indigo.ca and it says its 29.95, my question is...is that what i will be paying in american dollars? i know things are most expensive there so i didnt know if thats what will show up on my credit card bill or if it will be a totally different amount. can someone please tell me?!

[Alex_Incognito]

It'll be converted into US dollars.

[dandoodles]

thank you!

[dandoodles]

how much would 39.85 be in U.S dollars?

[Teodora]

I received my copy last night! I only had time to read the introduction and probably I won't have time to get serisously into it until the weekend... I can't judge by introduction alone, but it does seem like Denise Bombardier did play the "lonely at the top" card a bit.... I'll let you know when I read the whole thing, it shouldn't take me more than the weekend. I thought it would be harder to understand, given I don't read that much Frech stuff, but it's actually quite easy.

 

What I love in the introduction, and I think we'll have more in the book, is little images of Celine's life she gives, like a photo, but in words. For example, she tells about meeting her in Vegas the first time, and how she looked in her little white robe, sitting on the floor, with her head against Rene's knee... little images like that, I really love. She said "Celine Dion lives behind `Celine' (the star)". Pretty cool!

 

And guys, you think French is hard? Try learning German, Russian or Romanian for that matter. That would be hard. French is almost as easy as English, especially if you learn just enough to be able to read and understand (I admit, conversation and writing are harder).

[Alex_Incognito]

I haven't had the time to dig in yet, either. But so far it seems like an easy read.

 

Learning a language requires a commitment. You have to keep practicing.

[emi&celine]

I got it! 21.35 euros in the Benelux

[MistaChanel]

is it just me, who thinks that Miss Bombardier repears herself over and over again int he book....

there are words and even kind of long phrases and thoughts that are repeated over and over again in three or four chapters.... and it is very "Québec Oh Yeah" attitude-likish.... Some things are really interesting but the rest ist somehow disappointing... I dunno....

[nuts2you]

can u give us a little more info. pls. what do u mean by attitude.Some things are really interesting but the rest is somehow dissapointing.

[SensationalCeline]

maybe this will come out in english as another xmas gift.......a Celine filled christmas!

[tativale]

Finaly I bought mine yesterday, it should arrive soon hehe I cannot waiiitttttt heheheh

[Alex_Incognito]

I haven't even started reading yet! I'm waiting for a good moment to start.

[CSCfan]

Now?

 

 

[Pureceline]

Haha Mathias! You are so funny

[MistaChanel]

can u give us a little more info. pls. what do u mean by attitude.Some things are really interesting but the rest is somehow dissapointing.

 

Interesting => conversations between Céline and her husband in the rpivate jet for example

 

dissapointing => over and over again that Céline is modest, that fans love her due to the way she represents herself, that she lives in her won world and I bet the word québec appears 100 times and the values of québec and how had it was for her mum and céline being the little child ... u can say it once and then get over it... the book is really repetitive!

[nuts2you]

Thank u for gettng back to me for answer my quuestion. I really can"t wait to read this now.

[Teodora]

I just finished reading the book. For those of you who are expecting something extraordinary, sorry to burst the bubble. The book brings nothing new for a fan of nearly 15 years like myself. Anyone intelligent and with a little sense could've come to the conclusions Denise Bombardier reached in her book, even without following Celine around for a year, thought I admitt the latter sure would be more fun! Denise plays the "lonely at the top" card a bit too much for my taste. You don't have to reach Celine-like megastar levels to be lonely, I know it too well. I do like though, that, in the end, she does say Celine has always been marginalized by her own choosing, right from the moment she first opened her mouth and sang, because it kind of comes with the teritory. When you have something so unique, and you make it so big on top of it, you can't expect anyone to understand how it's like.

Most of the Celine quotes in the book are taken from her interview for TV5, so again little novelty there too.

Denise emphasizes a lot on Celine sicknesses, on her little pains, worries and stuff like that, without balancing out with showing some good moments, which I'm sure exist. For example, she points out a lot of concerts where she was displeased with her performance, without talking about a single concert with which Celine was happy. It's hardly fair.

But of course you publish books to sell them, so I understand why she had to choose an idea and stick with it, especially when it can turn out to be a little controversial (and Denise is quite known for being controversial, as I understand).

I like the little and very rare moments when she depicts Celine at certain fixed moments, like a photograph, like a conversation with Rene on the plane, or with RC about the Science Museum in Paris which the kid wanted his mom to buy (stuff we already know, but nice to read when it's like a photo or little video).

Don't get me wrong. It's a nice read and I really like the fact that she always points out how intelligent Celine is and how she knows exactly what she's doing. I know that even here there are people who still think Celine just does what people tell her to and she has no brain to think for herself, when, in fact, it's quite the opposite.

And I like the fact she points out Celine is not a normal human being, like most people want to belive. It always bugs me when I hear people saying Celine is normal, just like the rest of us. Is she were, she'd be stuck in an office job and living an annonymous live like the rest of us, so I'm glad Denise emphasized Celine's uniquness and really unusual streght of character. I also like that she says, repeatedly, that it's Celine who imposes this accelerated rhythm onto herself, not Rene, nor anybody else (for all of you Rene haters...).

All things considered, it's a nice - and quick - read, even if holds little new for a fan. For new fans or people who didn't follow her life and career, it may be a very interesting book.

 

P.S.: I do agree with what some of you said, the book is a little to repetitive. You can only read so many times that she has 13 brothers and sisters.... Besides, I see no point in re-telling the story of her life. Everybody knows it, this was meant to be an essay, not the history of Celine Dion.

Edited May 30, 2009 at 08:16 PM by Teodora

[nuts2you]

Has anyone finish reading this book yet, beside Teodora ,btw what did she say about mom? any tib bits.

[Davey84]

P.S.: I do agree with what some of you said, the book is a little to repetitive. You can only read so many times that she has 13 brothers and sisters.... Besides, I see no point in re-telling the story of her life. Everybody knows it, this was meant to be an essay, not the history of Celine Dion.

 

thanks for the little synopses! hmm I think you hit the spot with this remark... I don;t think a new book on Céline was necessary! We had the Official Bio in 1998, My Story My Dream (which was a lot like the 1st bio) in 2001, then For Keeps in 2007... I don't think a new book would have been due in like 2020... and yeah we don't need to read the whole bio again! It's too bad Denise didn't write about more little things, maybe even more personal things, if she followed céline a year... and didn't they also said, she'd follow fans too? I don't think she interviewed one!

 

I wonder what céline's outtake on the final book is!

[Edwin]

So the only mystère is what happened to the original content for this book?

[Davey84]

[Teodora]

In interviews I read, Denise says Celine and Rene really loved the book, and that Celine told her it was like looking into a mirror. Denise also says no one told her what to write in the book, neither Rene nor Celine or anyone from their team had anything to do with the content.

To answer nuts4you, if you're reffering to Celine's mom, she didn't say much of what we didn't know. She kept saying she's an incredible strong woman. the leader of the clan, both respected and feared by the members of the family. She says Rene really managed to win her over and establish a very good relationship with her, because he figured out early on that without Maman Dion he'd have no chance to be part of this family. She says Celine is unbelievably close to her mom, her relationship with Rene-Charles being pretty similar like the one she has with her mom. So.... yeah... nothing new