Top-5 books about Paris
"April in Paris..." One day sweet-voiced Ella Fitzgerald inspired me to visit Paris in April. I remember that time I fell in love with the blooming city on the Seine, and two years later I shared this love with readers on the pages of my novel. But I’m not the first, and I’m not the last. Paris has always attracted writers. Each has contributed to its praise. To those who are not yet lucky to see the capital of France, I propose to look at it through the eyes of the writers who lived there.
1. Douglas Kennedy "The Woman of the Fifth". The story is about an American teacher who, due to a scandal at the university, escapes to Paris and starts a new life. It's an honest, not romanticized and not sublime view of Paris. It shows not only the bourgeois nobility from prestigious neighborhoods, but also the poverty, filth and poor conditions of the emigre environment. What does Paris turn into when the sun goes down? By the way, I accidentally grabbed this copy in the supermarket, having no idea about the author. A year later, I met him in person and discussed the book at the book fair in Geneva. That's how it happens!
2. E. M. Remarque "Arc de Triomphe". The book tells about the tragic destiny of a talented surgeon who fled from Nazi Germany to Paris. Remarque shows pre-war Paris: a gray, rainy city, saturated with despair and fear of the unknown, but not losing its charm even on the edge of the abyss. "Paris is the only city in the world where you can have a great time, essentially doing nothing" They believe that prototype of the main character (Joan) was Marlene Dietrich, with whom Remarque spent some time in Paris before the World War II started.
3. Inna Shulzhenko "Eternity for Temporary Use". This is a multi-layered novel that unites the stories of seemingly unrelated characters: a Russian student and a French orphaned boy, an artist-philanderer and his girlfriend, four inseparable friends, an elderly couple, an extravagant flowershop owner and an old alcoholic DJ. You can't tell the plot so easily - you must read it. Here we see today's Paris, which, in my opinion, has not lost its former grandeur. The author is a virtuoso of the word. Her Paris is made up of "merging hues of book pages, fresh baked goods and nude human skin." By the way, I got this book at a book fair in Paris. It was written by my amazing friend's mother. I dream someday to talk to her and get an autograph :)
4. Henry Miller "Tropic of Cancer". This is more of an autobiographical novel that tells the story of the life of a young American writer in bohemian Paris of the 30s. Hungry artists, pimps, prostitutes, princesses, drunks, hustlers and sexual adventurers - this is how Miller's Paris opens up. "Paris is like a whore. From a distance, she looks ravishing, you can't wait to keep her in your arms. In five minutes you feel empty and disgusted. You feel tricked." The novel was published in Paris in 1934. In the United States, it was banned until the 60s.
5. E. Hemingway "A Moveable Feast." This is the story of a young Hemingway, who began his literary way in bohemian Paris of the roaring 20s. His Paris is a shelter for artists and intellectuals (a "lost generation", as Gertrude Stein put it). The Hemingway atmosphere is best captured by Woody Allen in Midnight in Paris. And I, as the main character of the film, fascinated by the spirit of that time, tried to convey it in my novel Artist of Montmartre. You could tell his influence by reading it.
What are your favorite books about Paris?
1. Douglas Kennedy "The Woman of the Fifth". The story is about an American teacher who, due to a scandal at the university, escapes to Paris and starts a new life. It's an honest, not romanticized and not sublime view of Paris. It shows not only the bourgeois nobility from prestigious neighborhoods, but also the poverty, filth and poor conditions of the emigre environment. What does Paris turn into when the sun goes down? By the way, I accidentally grabbed this copy in the supermarket, having no idea about the author. A year later, I met him in person and discussed the book at the book fair in Geneva. That's how it happens!
2. E. M. Remarque "Arc de Triomphe". The book tells about the tragic destiny of a talented surgeon who fled from Nazi Germany to Paris. Remarque shows pre-war Paris: a gray, rainy city, saturated with despair and fear of the unknown, but not losing its charm even on the edge of the abyss. "Paris is the only city in the world where you can have a great time, essentially doing nothing" They believe that prototype of the main character (Joan) was Marlene Dietrich, with whom Remarque spent some time in Paris before the World War II started.
3. Inna Shulzhenko "Eternity for Temporary Use". This is a multi-layered novel that unites the stories of seemingly unrelated characters: a Russian student and a French orphaned boy, an artist-philanderer and his girlfriend, four inseparable friends, an elderly couple, an extravagant flowershop owner and an old alcoholic DJ. You can't tell the plot so easily - you must read it. Here we see today's Paris, which, in my opinion, has not lost its former grandeur. The author is a virtuoso of the word. Her Paris is made up of "merging hues of book pages, fresh baked goods and nude human skin." By the way, I got this book at a book fair in Paris. It was written by my amazing friend's mother. I dream someday to talk to her and get an autograph :)
4. Henry Miller "Tropic of Cancer". This is more of an autobiographical novel that tells the story of the life of a young American writer in bohemian Paris of the 30s. Hungry artists, pimps, prostitutes, princesses, drunks, hustlers and sexual adventurers - this is how Miller's Paris opens up. "Paris is like a whore. From a distance, she looks ravishing, you can't wait to keep her in your arms. In five minutes you feel empty and disgusted. You feel tricked." The novel was published in Paris in 1934. In the United States, it was banned until the 60s.
5. E. Hemingway "A Moveable Feast." This is the story of a young Hemingway, who began his literary way in bohemian Paris of the roaring 20s. His Paris is a shelter for artists and intellectuals (a "lost generation", as Gertrude Stein put it). The Hemingway atmosphere is best captured by Woody Allen in Midnight in Paris. And I, as the main character of the film, fascinated by the spirit of that time, tried to convey it in my novel Artist of Montmartre. You could tell his influence by reading it.
What are your favorite books about Paris?
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