Gossip Girl - Isn't it nice to be mean?
Gossip Girl - Isn't it nice to be mean? is the first part of the 18-part youth novel series by the American author Cecily von Ziegesar . The book was first published on January 1, 2002 by the Hachette Book Group USA as a paperback , the German translation was published in 2003 by cbt . The novel was translated by Katarina Ganslandt. From September 19, 2007 to December 17, 2012, the CW network showed the youth series Gossip Girl , which is based on the book series of the same name by the author Cecily von Ziegesar.
The youth novel is about privileged young people from the Upper East Side as well as their sexual antics, drug abuse and other socially critical issues.
content
The youth novel is about young protagonists who live on New York's Upper East Side . Their actions, as well as their private life and rumors, are commented on and reported by an unknown New York blogger named "Gossip Girl". Main themes in the novel are family conflicts, the conflict between rich and poor, as well as friendship, love, substance abuse, intrigue, jealousy and eating disorders . The main characters are Serena van der Woodsen, who makes headlines when she returns from boarding school. As a result, the seemingly perfect world of her former best friend Blair Waldorf is shaken. Her friends also include Nathaniel Archibald, Blair's long-time friend, who is secretly in love with Serena, and Chuck Bass. The ambivalent to the privileged youngsters are the siblings Daniel and Jenny Humphrey, who find their way through tricky events into the world of the rich and beautiful.
The novel begins with a blog entry by Gossip Girl, which informs the reader about the everyday life of the protagonists and that Serena van der Woodsen was spotted back in New York after a year in boarding school . At the same time, Eleanor Waldorf, Blair's mother, is giving a dinner party. This is the first dinner party since Eleanor and Blair's father divorced. Blair's mom has this party with her new partner, Cyrus Rose, whom Blair obviously doesn't like because she thinks he's "an extremely annoying fat loser." The Bass family, the Coates family, the Farkas family, the Archibald family and the van der Woodsen family have been invited, but without children, as their son Erik is studying and daughter Serena is in boarding school. Blair would like to spend her first time with Nate that evening, who, however, acts dismissively when he learns that Serena suddenly appears at the party. Serena is greeted effusively by everyone except Blair. She became the hottest girl in school due to Serena's absence and sees her position in danger with Serena's return. So she begins to spread rumors about Serena in order to maintain her position as an It girl . A conversation between Nate and Serena makes the reader aware that the two of them spent a night together before Serena's boarding school. At this point, Nate was already in a relationship with Blair. Nate continues to ask Serena to remain silent so as not to endanger his relationship with Blair. Still, he seems to have strong feelings for Serena.
The next day the lessons at the Constance Billard School for girls start again. The day begins with a speech by the director in the auditorium. Here the girls notice that Serena is (once again) too late. This creates more rumors that Blair and her friends Isabel and Kati are fueling. Even when Serena appears, the rumors persist. Jenny, a student in the ninth grade, hears this. She immediately tells her brother, Dan, this news, knowing that her brother has a crush on Serena.
Vanessa, who also attends the Constance billiards school and is Dan's best friend, is planning a project for film lessons. To this end, she would like to film War and Peace with her own script. Dan should take on the male lead. For her female lead, she is holding a casting in Central Park , to which Serena appears. When she realizes how emotionally they both play their roles, she realizes that she is in love with Dan. Out of jealousy, she does not give the female lead to Serena, but to another student who was not nearly as good as Serena. Dan, however, fascinated by Serena, realizes that he is developing feelings for her.
When Nate and Blair try to spend their first night together again, Nate can no longer keep up appearances. He confesses to Blair about his night with Serena and admits that he has feelings for her. Blair, who is deeply disappointed, breaks up with Nate and throws him out. After a few errors and confusions, the two reconciled at the "Kiss on the Lips" party on the condition that Nate cut off contact with Serena.
Serena is spending the evening with Dan and Vanessa in a bar in Williamsburg as Vanessa's sister Ruby is performing there with her band. Dan's little sister is meanwhile also at the "Kiss on the Lips" party. There she is sexually molested by Chuck Bass. In an unobserved moment, she reaches Dan by phone and asks him for help. Just in time, Serena and Dan stop Chuck from raping Jenny.
characters
main characters
Serena van der Woodsen
Serena van der Woodsen is the Upper East Side's It Girl . She is the daughter of Mr. van der Woodsen and Mrs. van der Woodsen. Both parents are not known by name. She has a two year older brother named Erik who is already studying. Serena is described as tall, blonde, thin, and incredibly confident. She is helpful and open as well as cheerful. At the beginning of the book, Serena returns after a year from boarding school, the Hanover Academy. Before Serena went to boarding school a year ago, she had sex with Nate, her then best friend's boyfriend. She seems to have developed feelings for him, but mostly suppresses them.
Blair Waldorf
Blair Waldorf is the daughter of a respected businessman and a famous fashion designer, Eleanor Waldorf. Your stepfather is a lawyer, Cyrus Rose. Blair has a younger brother named Tyler. Blair is described as an ambitious, responsible girl with brown hair. Nevertheless, it looks playful and extremely romantic. At the beginning of the novel, she is in a long-term relationship with Nathaniel Archibald, who, however, is in love with her best friend, Serena van der Woodsen. Because of this, she sees herself in a competition with Serena, who in her opinion gets everything. She tries several times to step out of Serena's shadow. She doesn't shy away from using dirty tricks to get her way and is therefore best known for her intrigues through Gossip Girl. Your best friends at the Constance Billard School are Isabel Coates and Kati Farkas. In the first few chapters, the reader becomes aware that Blair has had bulimia for a long time .
Chuck Bass
Chuck Bass is the son of Bartholomew Bass and Misty Bass. He has a younger brother named Donald. He is described as handsome and bon vivant. Among other things, he has already modeled for British aftershave. Chuck goes to Riverside Boys School and is in the same class as Daniel Humphrey.
Nathaniel Archibald
Nathaniel Archibald is the son of Captain and Mrs. Archibald, a French woman. He has no siblings. He is called "Nate" by his family and friends. He's been in a relationship with Blair Waldorf for a year, but is secretly in love with Serena van der Woodsen. At the beginning you learn that he had his first time with Serena before she went to boarding school. At this point he was already in a relationship with Blair.
Daniel Humphrey
Daniel Humphrey is the son of Rufus Humphrey. His mother is not known by name. He has a little sister named Jenny. He is called "Dan" by his family. Daniel attends Riverside School. Chuck Bass is one of his class. Daniel is described as an outsider and loner, mainly he reads or writes poetry. In addition, it is described in individual chapters how he smokes. Among other things, he is the protagonist in Vanessa's film project. Daniel is in awe of Serena, but has the feeling that she wouldn't notice him because they both come from different backgrounds.
Minor characters
Jenny Humphrey
Jenny Humphrey is the daughter of Rufus. Her mother's name is not known. Her big brother is Daniel, called Dan. She is called "Jen" by her family. Jenny is in the ninth grade of the Constance Billiards School.
Vanessa Abrams
Vanessa Abrams is the daughter of two artists. She lives in Williamsburg , Brooklyn with her older sister Ruby . Vanessa wears a shaved head, dresses exclusively in black turtlenecks and reads Tolstoy's " War and Peace " all the time . She is described as a loner and an outsider. Like the other girls, she attends the Constance Billiards School, but has no or hardly any friends there.
Rufus Humphrey
Rufus Humphrey is the father of Daniel and Jenny. Rufus is described as socially critical, he seems to despise the privileged residents of the Upper East Side. This can be explained by the fact that his ex-wife left him for a count or prince from Prague .
Eleanor Waldorf
Eleanor Waldorf is Blair and Tyler's mother. She is a well-known fashion designer. Eleanor divorced Blair and Tyler's father last year after he ran off to France with another man last year . She is currently in a new relationship with Cyrus Rose.
Reviews
The reviews of the book have for the most part been very positive. The Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote "... the author writes so aptly and disillusioned about the young generation of high society that it at least scares the adult reader as well as amuses it".
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Cecily von Ziegesar: Gossip Girl - Isn't it nice to be mean? 4th edition. tape 1 . cbt, Munich 2003, ISBN 978-3-570-30208-8 , pp. 256 .
- ↑ Reviews Print of the review of the Süddeutsche Zeitung of October 6, 2003 on buecher.de. Retrieved August 7, 2020.