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Los días de París
El Orient Express avanza a toda a máquina a través de la estepa y Banine es libre por primera vez en su vida. Ha huido de su patria en ruinas y de su matrimonio forzado para labrarse un nuevo y deslumbrante futuro en la tierra París. Una ciudad que invita a cortarse el pelo, a llevar faldas cortas y a mezclarse hasta altas horas de la noche con todo tipo de aristócratas rusos, artistas españoles y demás bohemios del beau monde de los años veinte. Pero muy pronto ―cuando su familia se quede sin dinero, ella tenga que trabajar como modelo para sobrevivir y una glamurosa figura de su pasado vuelva a entrar en escena―, la autora descubrirá que también la libertad acarrea sus propias complicaciones, y que las fuerzas de la Historia nunca han dejado de actuar…
Compañera de la fabulosa Los días del Cáucaso, esta elegante, irónica y conmovedora mémoire presenta con vivacidad e ingenio a una mujer y una época extraordinarias, a la vez que traza un agridulce retrato de los sueños de juventud y de la siempre esquiva búsqueda de la felicidad.
«Con una pluma espontánea e ingeniosa, Banine narra cómo descubrió que la vida puede ser más novelesca que cualquier novela». ABC.
«Su autenticidad es, sin duda, la clave, unida a un tono narrativo cercano e inteligente». La Razón.
«La frescura del relato de Banine es tan fantástico como su inteligencia vital». José Mª Guelbenzu, Babelia, El País.
Compañera de la fabulosa Los días del Cáucaso, esta elegante, irónica y conmovedora mémoire presenta con vivacidad e ingenio a una mujer y una época extraordinarias, a la vez que traza un agridulce retrato de los sueños de juventud y de la siempre esquiva búsqueda de la felicidad.
«Con una pluma espontánea e ingeniosa, Banine narra cómo descubrió que la vida puede ser más novelesca que cualquier novela». ABC.
«Su autenticidad es, sin duda, la clave, unida a un tono narrativo cercano e inteligente». La Razón.
«La frescura del relato de Banine es tan fantástico como su inteligencia vital». José Mª Guelbenzu, Babelia, El País.
268 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
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About the author
Banine
14 books24 followersUmm-El-Banine Assadoulaeff (Umm Əl-Banu Əsədullayeva)was a French writer of Azeri descent - a granddaughter of two famous Azeri millionaire Musa Nagiyev and Shamsi Assadullaev, a daughter of Azerbaijani businessman and politician Mirza Asadullayev. She wrote under the penname of Banine.
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September 12, 2024Parisian Days gave me such a sense of living in a completely different time in a different world. The author, Banine, captured what it was to live at this time of great upheaval and change - following the end of WWI and the Russian Revolution, with huge numbers of refugees throughout Europe. Banine is one of them, a still-young Azerbaijani (19 years old) happily living in exile in Paris, having left behind her unwanted husband in Constantinople at the start of the book.
I enjoyed the start of this book a bit more than the second half, where the focus shifts somewhat from Banine forming an independent life for herself to her cousin Gulnar - I found Banine’s opinions and observations of life in Paris much more interesting. But I can see why Banine included so much of her cousin’s plans and schemes - living with such a beautiful, ambitious woman provided much dramatic content, and Gulnar did have a strong influence on Banine’s future.
There are hints in the book of Banine’s later life - I would love to read more about it, but this story ends just as Banine’s own ambitions as a writer and an intellectual are starting to blossom. I don’t believe her future books are available in English yet. I would be interested to read more of her works if any are published in translation in the future.
I enjoyed the start of this book a bit more than the second half, where the focus shifts somewhat from Banine forming an independent life for herself to her cousin Gulnar - I found Banine’s opinions and observations of life in Paris much more interesting. But I can see why Banine included so much of her cousin’s plans and schemes - living with such a beautiful, ambitious woman provided much dramatic content, and Gulnar did have a strong influence on Banine’s future.
There are hints in the book of Banine’s later life - I would love to read more about it, but this story ends just as Banine’s own ambitions as a writer and an intellectual are starting to blossom. I don’t believe her future books are available in English yet. I would be interested to read more of her works if any are published in translation in the future.
July 2, 2024
I read this book in two sittings, many weeks apart—because, well, life. But this is a superbly engaging work that just got better as it went. Although Banine (who died in 1992 aged 86) naturally had some old-fashioned ideas on race, sex (in particular, r*pe!) and sexuality, as expressed in this memoir, *Parisian Days* still manages to delight. Banine was obviously irrepressible, and had firm ideas about how life was to be enjoyed, no matter one’s personal circumstances; her earnestness on this and her truthfulness about her feelings at every point are both engaging and refreshing.
Banine left Azerbaijan and moved to Paris with some members of her family, including her sisters and father, after the Soviet occupation. This memoir is about the early years in Paris, as her family gradually lost their wealth (selling off the family jewels a bit at a time). Banine worked as a model (mannequin) at that time, and lived initially in a servant’s room, until her flashy and amazing cousin arrived from Moscow and swept her up into a new kind of life. Much of the second half of the book is about the firecracker her cousin was (an unashamed gold-digger, and someone born under a supremely lucky star); about Banine’s experiences as a third wheel, and her never-ending jealousy, which peaks when her cousin gets not a comeuppance, but the best kind of “reward” for her shenanigans and plotting.
Two of the best things about Banine’s writing (wonderfully translated by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova) are her wry sense of humour—deployed against others, her situation, and herself, and her sharp wit. One has the sense that Banine’s intellect protected her and provided her with a tool for sense-making in the midst of her obvious dislocation and precarity. She never really makes much of the latter—only talks about the general situation in broad strokes, and focuses on her interior and the events that affected it (like her unfortunate affair with a man she never really liked; and, her cousin).
There is a section in the middle of the book that gives a lot of important context for the life of Russian migrants in Paris after the revolution and civil war; however, Banine of course never identified as one of them, even if she was caught up in their milieu. Even when she first moved to Paris, she felt like she was home, and Azerbaijan only the place where she spent her childhood.
Banine is a fascinating character, and all of this translated so well to the pages of this memoir. Very much recommended, as Parisian Days is a most enjoyable and memorable read. Very many thanks to Pushkin Press and to Edelweiss for early access to a DRC.
Banine left Azerbaijan and moved to Paris with some members of her family, including her sisters and father, after the Soviet occupation. This memoir is about the early years in Paris, as her family gradually lost their wealth (selling off the family jewels a bit at a time). Banine worked as a model (mannequin) at that time, and lived initially in a servant’s room, until her flashy and amazing cousin arrived from Moscow and swept her up into a new kind of life. Much of the second half of the book is about the firecracker her cousin was (an unashamed gold-digger, and someone born under a supremely lucky star); about Banine’s experiences as a third wheel, and her never-ending jealousy, which peaks when her cousin gets not a comeuppance, but the best kind of “reward” for her shenanigans and plotting.
Two of the best things about Banine’s writing (wonderfully translated by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova) are her wry sense of humour—deployed against others, her situation, and herself, and her sharp wit. One has the sense that Banine’s intellect protected her and provided her with a tool for sense-making in the midst of her obvious dislocation and precarity. She never really makes much of the latter—only talks about the general situation in broad strokes, and focuses on her interior and the events that affected it (like her unfortunate affair with a man she never really liked; and, her cousin).
There is a section in the middle of the book that gives a lot of important context for the life of Russian migrants in Paris after the revolution and civil war; however, Banine of course never identified as one of them, even if she was caught up in their milieu. Even when she first moved to Paris, she felt like she was home, and Azerbaijan only the place where she spent her childhood.
Banine is a fascinating character, and all of this translated so well to the pages of this memoir. Very much recommended, as Parisian Days is a most enjoyable and memorable read. Very many thanks to Pushkin Press and to Edelweiss for early access to a DRC.
February 17, 2025
If I’m brutally honest some of this can feel a little bit superficial but for me it was still enjoyable for its beautiful portrayal of a very specific time in history. I’ve long had a bit of a fascination with the lives of Russian emigres after the October Revolution (although of course this is focused on those from Azerbaijan as the author is keen to point out) and this gives a very satisfying peek in to that world. There are some hard facts and figures that make interesting reading as well as comments on the characters and behaviours of the often very different ‘family’ of emigres displaced by the formation of the Soviet Union abroad. All in all a fairly easy but for me, fascinating read.
July 1, 2024
(3.5) Cool look into bohemian parisian society in the 1920s. I wish I could be an artist or scholar with 3 fortunes to live off of, sounds sweet
July 26, 2024
Paris is the beacon illuminating paradise; the dream become stone and streets, squares and statues, erected throughout a long and turbulent history. It is the splendour of all fantasies, a world where micro-worlds clash or meld, creating an extraordinary wealth of life.
I received a review copy of this book from Pushkin Press via Edelweiss for which my thanks.
Umm El-Banu Asadullayeva or Banine was an émigré writer Azerbaijani descent, born to a family of oil millionaires, with her father both a businessman and politician. Born in Baku and with a happy childhood, she was married at 15 to a man who helped her father escape prison after the Bolshevik capture of the city. At 17, she travelled to Turkey and there left her husband, making her way to Paris where the rest of her family were then settled. Parisian Days (originally published in French in 1947) is her memoirs of that period and captures many moods—from her initial exuberance and effervescence which are rather infectious to time spent working as a mannequin to even the despair and depression experienced in her search for love, this is a wonderful exploration of her life and family and themes of identity, religion, love, family, dreams and aspirations and also very much of Paris itself.
When she first arrives in Paris from Constantinople aboard the Orient Express, her family (father, stepmother, younger brother and an older sister) are settled in fairly plush apartment. At this point, though they have lost all their wealth, they are living off the family jewels, selling a piece each time money is needed and living as comfortable a life as can be. Her arrival is full of promise, just being in Paris makes her feel free and there are dreams of just being able to live (and also of gaining formal freedom from her husband who she detests).
Everything was beautiful, young, interesting, amusing, full of promise. Even on arrival, I was enchanted by the ugly sooty surroundings of the Gare de Lyon, as this was where I took my first steps as a Parisienne.
I was gripped by an intense desire to live, to burn, to walk through fire, to drink at every spring, poisoned or not.
The very first concerns, though, are of fashion, for her best outfit is pronounced quite absurd by Parisian standards and even her half veil must be abandoned. Hair is done and clothes are brought and she becomes privy to her older sister’s woes for the latter is in love with a Spanish (Catholic) painter, Jose, and fears their father wrath so much that she dare not speak to him.
When she does though, the outcome is most unexpected and Banine finds herself spending time with Zuleykha and Jose amidst artists (Zuleykha, in reality Kubra [Banine used pseudonyms] herself was a quite successful Cubist painter), writers, émigrés (nobility and otherwise), among them the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway and Picasso and others, as well as several eccentric friends and acquaintances in their studio and in the city’s numerous cafes and haunts.
Once the family runs through the last of the jewellery, things take a new turn as Banine must now take up work which she does as a mannequin, first in a fashion house her stepmother frequented (when they had the means) and one that had the stereotypical models, and later an exclusive but small house (for the wealthy of more ordinary proportions). For Banine though, this experience and with it having to live in the servants' room of another wealthy friend’s apartment isn’t something she dreads but looks forward to with the same enthusiasm, perhaps more for having lived amidst wealth all her life, poverty is what she dreamt of
As a child in a world of multimillionaires, I had dreamt of poverty … I dreamt of living in a garret—a dream I haven’t invented after the fact for literary effect. It obsessed me in my childhood … And now it had come true. I had my garret, a real, old-fashioned one with a porthole window and without heating or running water.
Her life is now centred on work and the friendships she forms with the other girls though while all the others have rich lovers who might give them plenty of gifts but whose relationships have no depth, she herself stays far away from this dreaming of true, perhaps even storybook, love.
Both amidst the artists/writers and here among the models (a mixed bunch from stereotypically not too bright to ones to those who are fairly intelligent), her perception is one that shows much sense. She observes keenly and is able to see beyond the glamour to other sides of things too, whether it is the drugs and drink that destroy the artistic lot or poverty that defines their every day or the superficiality and lack of depth in the relationships the mannequins are often in, and their longing for ‘bourgeois respectability’, deny it though they may.
And yet she is very human too, not free of the traps that the life she is leading lay in her way, the desire for luxury for instance, being always surrounded by this at work, a trap that can never lead to satisfaction or content
When after long months of covetousness I finally possessed this decorative fur, it had already become commonplace and unfashionable. And in turn, fashion, obsessively capricious would produce something else to tempt us. So one was never satisfied, always prey to desire. Perhaps that is the very essence of the human condition.
And then there are the dreams of love. When she is ‘rescued’ in a manner of speaking from her garret by her wealthy cousin Gulnar, she continues to work (to maintain her independence) but starts to live with Gulnar in another sumptuous apartment, never lacking for anything (funded by Gulnar’s current lover). While Gulnar is generous and loving (also mercenary but that’s towards her love-interests), her beauty and allure always outshine our author and she begins to feel she will never really make a success of her personal life, ending up in a relationship with someone she despises on many counts and yet who gives her some form of satisfaction.
Amidst all of these adventures and everyday goings on, Banine also reflects on much else, among them religion which back in Azerbaijan was followed in all its rigidity and orthodoxy but in Paris is for all the family taken on a different form all together. She may not be ‘religious’ as such but religion serves as a sort of moral guide or compass in several ways. There is also identity, an important question for as an Azerbaijani as here in Paris she is often clubbed with all the Russian émigrés with whom she feels no kinship or connection. In a digression in the middle, she devotes some part of the book to the Russian emigres exploring among others, their struggles and dissatisfactions with Paris and French life more broadly.
Banine certainly had a rather interesting and eventful life, of which this volume narrates a part. And all through she is honest about her feelings and emotions (the mix of love and jealousy she feels for Gulnar for instance, or love and hate for Grandot, whom she gets into a relationship with), which her writing gets the reader to experience with her. Her perceptiveness and wit shine through in her writing as well (excellently brought out in this translation by Anna Thompson-Ahmadova) making the book a wonderful read, delightful and rich.
4.5 stars rounded off
I received a review copy of this book from Pushkin Press via Edelweiss for which my thanks.
Umm El-Banu Asadullayeva or Banine was an émigré writer Azerbaijani descent, born to a family of oil millionaires, with her father both a businessman and politician. Born in Baku and with a happy childhood, she was married at 15 to a man who helped her father escape prison after the Bolshevik capture of the city. At 17, she travelled to Turkey and there left her husband, making her way to Paris where the rest of her family were then settled. Parisian Days (originally published in French in 1947) is her memoirs of that period and captures many moods—from her initial exuberance and effervescence which are rather infectious to time spent working as a mannequin to even the despair and depression experienced in her search for love, this is a wonderful exploration of her life and family and themes of identity, religion, love, family, dreams and aspirations and also very much of Paris itself.
When she first arrives in Paris from Constantinople aboard the Orient Express, her family (father, stepmother, younger brother and an older sister) are settled in fairly plush apartment. At this point, though they have lost all their wealth, they are living off the family jewels, selling a piece each time money is needed and living as comfortable a life as can be. Her arrival is full of promise, just being in Paris makes her feel free and there are dreams of just being able to live (and also of gaining formal freedom from her husband who she detests).
Everything was beautiful, young, interesting, amusing, full of promise. Even on arrival, I was enchanted by the ugly sooty surroundings of the Gare de Lyon, as this was where I took my first steps as a Parisienne.
I was gripped by an intense desire to live, to burn, to walk through fire, to drink at every spring, poisoned or not.
The very first concerns, though, are of fashion, for her best outfit is pronounced quite absurd by Parisian standards and even her half veil must be abandoned. Hair is done and clothes are brought and she becomes privy to her older sister’s woes for the latter is in love with a Spanish (Catholic) painter, Jose, and fears their father wrath so much that she dare not speak to him.
When she does though, the outcome is most unexpected and Banine finds herself spending time with Zuleykha and Jose amidst artists (Zuleykha, in reality Kubra [Banine used pseudonyms] herself was a quite successful Cubist painter), writers, émigrés (nobility and otherwise), among them the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway and Picasso and others, as well as several eccentric friends and acquaintances in their studio and in the city’s numerous cafes and haunts.
Once the family runs through the last of the jewellery, things take a new turn as Banine must now take up work which she does as a mannequin, first in a fashion house her stepmother frequented (when they had the means) and one that had the stereotypical models, and later an exclusive but small house (for the wealthy of more ordinary proportions). For Banine though, this experience and with it having to live in the servants' room of another wealthy friend’s apartment isn’t something she dreads but looks forward to with the same enthusiasm, perhaps more for having lived amidst wealth all her life, poverty is what she dreamt of
As a child in a world of multimillionaires, I had dreamt of poverty … I dreamt of living in a garret—a dream I haven’t invented after the fact for literary effect. It obsessed me in my childhood … And now it had come true. I had my garret, a real, old-fashioned one with a porthole window and without heating or running water.
Her life is now centred on work and the friendships she forms with the other girls though while all the others have rich lovers who might give them plenty of gifts but whose relationships have no depth, she herself stays far away from this dreaming of true, perhaps even storybook, love.
Both amidst the artists/writers and here among the models (a mixed bunch from stereotypically not too bright to ones to those who are fairly intelligent), her perception is one that shows much sense. She observes keenly and is able to see beyond the glamour to other sides of things too, whether it is the drugs and drink that destroy the artistic lot or poverty that defines their every day or the superficiality and lack of depth in the relationships the mannequins are often in, and their longing for ‘bourgeois respectability’, deny it though they may.
And yet she is very human too, not free of the traps that the life she is leading lay in her way, the desire for luxury for instance, being always surrounded by this at work, a trap that can never lead to satisfaction or content
When after long months of covetousness I finally possessed this decorative fur, it had already become commonplace and unfashionable. And in turn, fashion, obsessively capricious would produce something else to tempt us. So one was never satisfied, always prey to desire. Perhaps that is the very essence of the human condition.
And then there are the dreams of love. When she is ‘rescued’ in a manner of speaking from her garret by her wealthy cousin Gulnar, she continues to work (to maintain her independence) but starts to live with Gulnar in another sumptuous apartment, never lacking for anything (funded by Gulnar’s current lover). While Gulnar is generous and loving (also mercenary but that’s towards her love-interests), her beauty and allure always outshine our author and she begins to feel she will never really make a success of her personal life, ending up in a relationship with someone she despises on many counts and yet who gives her some form of satisfaction.
Amidst all of these adventures and everyday goings on, Banine also reflects on much else, among them religion which back in Azerbaijan was followed in all its rigidity and orthodoxy but in Paris is for all the family taken on a different form all together. She may not be ‘religious’ as such but religion serves as a sort of moral guide or compass in several ways. There is also identity, an important question for as an Azerbaijani as here in Paris she is often clubbed with all the Russian émigrés with whom she feels no kinship or connection. In a digression in the middle, she devotes some part of the book to the Russian emigres exploring among others, their struggles and dissatisfactions with Paris and French life more broadly.
Banine certainly had a rather interesting and eventful life, of which this volume narrates a part. And all through she is honest about her feelings and emotions (the mix of love and jealousy she feels for Gulnar for instance, or love and hate for Grandot, whom she gets into a relationship with), which her writing gets the reader to experience with her. Her perceptiveness and wit shine through in her writing as well (excellently brought out in this translation by Anna Thompson-Ahmadova) making the book a wonderful read, delightful and rich.
4.5 stars rounded off
June 17, 2023
Çox rahat və yüngül, çərəzlik dadında bir gündəlik üslubuda yazılmış əsərdir. Elə çox uzun-uzun haqqında yazılacaq bir şey yoxdur, kitabdan qeydlərlə kifayətlənirəm.
"Qorxu hissi mənim ən qəddar düşmənimdir və bəlkə də, həyatımı korlayan elə o olub. Qorxuya o vaxt nifrət etdiyim kimi, bu gün də nifrət edirəm.
Bəzən biz öz həyat yolumuzda ehtiyatla, qorxa-qorxa, yaxud fikirləşmədən kor-koranə getdiyimiz vaxt duyuruq ki, yolumuz haçalanır və biz gələcək taleyimizi həll edəcək iki ypoldan birini seçməliyik. Bilmirsən sağa gedəsən, yaxud sola gedəsən. Bilmirik xoşbəxtlik hansı səmtdədir, bədbəxtlik hansı səmtdə. Adamın bircə təsəllisi olur ki, seçilən yol təxminidir və hər şeyi zaman həll edir." (səh.19)
"Ola bilər ki, rahat evdə də xoşbəxlik olmasın, amma xoşəxtlik olan yerdə mütləq rahatlıq da olur." (səh.102)
"Nitsşedən oxuduğum bu sözləri xatırlayıram: "Özümüz üçün yaşamaq öz varlığımızı və rastlaşdıqlarımızı daim işığa və alova döndərmək deməkdir."
Bəli, mən bir fikri çox təkrar edirəm. Bu fikri oxucudan çox özüm üçün təkrar edirəm ki, kiçik bir insanın böyük görünməsinin səbəbini bilim." (səh.210)
"Bugünki varlığım ovaxtki varlığımın hərəkətinə izahat tapa bilmir, amma bu ikivarlıq sirli əlaqələrlə eyni xətdə birləşir, həyatın tufanlarından keçib eyni taleyi yaradır." (səh.218)
"Qorxu hissi mənim ən qəddar düşmənimdir və bəlkə də, həyatımı korlayan elə o olub. Qorxuya o vaxt nifrət etdiyim kimi, bu gün də nifrət edirəm.
Bəzən biz öz həyat yolumuzda ehtiyatla, qorxa-qorxa, yaxud fikirləşmədən kor-koranə getdiyimiz vaxt duyuruq ki, yolumuz haçalanır və biz gələcək taleyimizi həll edəcək iki ypoldan birini seçməliyik. Bilmirsən sağa gedəsən, yaxud sola gedəsən. Bilmirik xoşbəxtlik hansı səmtdədir, bədbəxtlik hansı səmtdə. Adamın bircə təsəllisi olur ki, seçilən yol təxminidir və hər şeyi zaman həll edir." (səh.19)
"Ola bilər ki, rahat evdə də xoşbəxlik olmasın, amma xoşəxtlik olan yerdə mütləq rahatlıq da olur." (səh.102)
"Nitsşedən oxuduğum bu sözləri xatırlayıram: "Özümüz üçün yaşamaq öz varlığımızı və rastlaşdıqlarımızı daim işığa və alova döndərmək deməkdir."
Bəli, mən bir fikri çox təkrar edirəm. Bu fikri oxucudan çox özüm üçün təkrar edirəm ki, kiçik bir insanın böyük görünməsinin səbəbini bilim." (səh.210)
"Bugünki varlığım ovaxtki varlığımın hərəkətinə izahat tapa bilmir, amma bu ikivarlıq sirli əlaqələrlə eyni xətdə birləşir, həyatın tufanlarından keçib eyni taleyi yaradır." (səh.218)
October 18, 2023
I love Banine's voice!
"She took me straight and studied me - finally, the truth dawned on her face. 'You're drunk.'
I shook my head, and this unwise movement finished me off: nausea rose gently in my throat and I just had time to take the two steps to reach a washbasin. I was told the rest later, and it's of no interest to anyone, not even me."
Her stories and observations are a treat. Unfortunately, this chapter on "White Emigration in the Wake of the October Revolution" was too dry for me. It was important to her to include this information, but it lacked her usual style.
The remainder of the book was a pleasure to read.
"She took me straight and studied me - finally, the truth dawned on her face. 'You're drunk.'
I shook my head, and this unwise movement finished me off: nausea rose gently in my throat and I just had time to take the two steps to reach a washbasin. I was told the rest later, and it's of no interest to anyone, not even me."
Her stories and observations are a treat. Unfortunately, this chapter on "White Emigration in the Wake of the October Revolution" was too dry for me. It was important to her to include this information, but it lacked her usual style.
The remainder of the book was a pleasure to read.
March 4, 2023
A humorous, melancholic and entertaining retrospective view of an enigmatic figure with a colourful history.
May 11, 2024
I came across this more because of the publisher than anything else, and have to admit that the previous book in this pair would have been more in tune with my interests and tastes. But at the same time there is quite a lot here that is very welcomely readable. We start with spoilers to the prequel, so I'll try and be cagey and say it seems that our narrator is at a most suitable age to arrive in Paris for the start of the emigre Bohemia of it all – she's been forced to become a woman but is still quite young enough to turn up there and see it all from a girl's eye view.
So we're allowed to avoid the by-now yawnsome reportage of the Fitzgeralds, the Picassos and so on of those days (and nights). Instead we see the girl-turning-woman leave the family home when the whole lot's money dries up, and become a model for high-end fashion houses and stores, despite her actually having a figure, but then stuck in the heat of Paris's summer showing a dozen or two frocks – and of course the incoming season's fur coats – to the hoity-toity types. Her fellow models just want a man, and the funds they can fleece from him, at any cost. That said, we are later privy to a chapter that breaks away from this autobiographical narrative to discuss the Russians in Paris in greater detail – a bonus essay, if you like, before we're on to the joyfully awkward times she spends with a complete wet rag of a lover, whose utterances of "my darling geisha" to an Azeri were clearly on a par in merit and accuracy with her mentions of the Armenian Holocaust that she makes elsewhere here.
After that, unfortunately, it's downhill fast, as the men her cousin string along take over the story, much to its detriment. So we lose both the look at the narrator and gain the gossip column yack we wanted to continue avoiding – and even when our writer restores her being poopy to her squib of a lover it goes on so long for you to keep much respect, if any were even there.
For those fascinated in the milieu there is a lot of 'from the horse's mouth' discussion of the morals etc, however this is a version that gets to mention the 1970s and more, as it was revised for a 1990 renewal. For those with an eye to the diaspora of Russians after their Civil War, Revolutions and WWI combined, this is going to be of some vague interest. As a narrative of a woman on the cusp of a change in the world – that from where the females are supposed to lie back and pick the willy with the most money behind its thrust to where they actually have agency in their own future and their own choices to make – that's where this muddled piece might shine. For me, my star rating of it changed greatly throughout, and ended up nowhere near far enough away from three stars for that not to be the final reckoning.
So we're allowed to avoid the by-now yawnsome reportage of the Fitzgeralds, the Picassos and so on of those days (and nights). Instead we see the girl-turning-woman leave the family home when the whole lot's money dries up, and become a model for high-end fashion houses and stores, despite her actually having a figure, but then stuck in the heat of Paris's summer showing a dozen or two frocks – and of course the incoming season's fur coats – to the hoity-toity types. Her fellow models just want a man, and the funds they can fleece from him, at any cost. That said, we are later privy to a chapter that breaks away from this autobiographical narrative to discuss the Russians in Paris in greater detail – a bonus essay, if you like, before we're on to the joyfully awkward times she spends with a complete wet rag of a lover, whose utterances of "my darling geisha" to an Azeri were clearly on a par in merit and accuracy with her mentions of the Armenian Holocaust that she makes elsewhere here.
After that, unfortunately, it's downhill fast, as the men her cousin string along take over the story, much to its detriment. So we lose both the look at the narrator and gain the gossip column yack we wanted to continue avoiding – and even when our writer restores her being poopy to her squib of a lover it goes on so long for you to keep much respect, if any were even there.
For those fascinated in the milieu there is a lot of 'from the horse's mouth' discussion of the morals etc, however this is a version that gets to mention the 1970s and more, as it was revised for a 1990 renewal. For those with an eye to the diaspora of Russians after their Civil War, Revolutions and WWI combined, this is going to be of some vague interest. As a narrative of a woman on the cusp of a change in the world – that from where the females are supposed to lie back and pick the willy with the most money behind its thrust to where they actually have agency in their own future and their own choices to make – that's where this muddled piece might shine. For me, my star rating of it changed greatly throughout, and ended up nowhere near far enough away from three stars for that not to be the final reckoning.
August 18, 2024
"Banine" was the nom-de-plume of (Umm El-Banu Äsâdullayeva. Daughter of a wealthy Azerbijani family swimming in oil money, forced to marry a man she detested at 15, she fled Azerbaijan after its short-lived independent state was swallowed by the insurgent Soviet Union. Like many of her compatriots, she settled in Paris, refuge for her family and more distant relatives. Unlike many other monied Azderbaijanis, who lived as high a life as they could by selling jewels and clothes--no one, of course, was able to extract their savings--she took rather demeaning jobs, including as a cleaner and a "mannequin," that is, a woman who modeled clothes in a fancy shop for wealthy French clients.
Most of the book, however, revolves around her relations with her gold-digging cousin Gulnar, who appears in Paris, takes up with Banine, and proceeds to seduce and abandon a series of clueless rich men. Gulnar--and Banine's fellow mannquins--rebuke her endless for her failure to take up a lover; eventually she succumbs to the pressure and starts sleeping with a dull, dumb doctor procured for her by one of their friends. This affair ends badly, of course, while Gulnar meets an extremely wealthy American who falls head over heels for her and she for him; they marry and flee to America, leaving Banine behind with a "Dear Jane" letter from her erstwhile lover and a rather large pile of money as a going-away present.
Parisian Days was published in retrospect, 50 years or so after the events it details, and unless Banine kept a very detailed diary, surely most of the lengthy conversations she recounts capture only the gist, not the words. But never mind--the book is delightful, the translation polished, and Banine an honest but appealing young woman. Only recently has it been available in English. We should all be glad!
Most of the book, however, revolves around her relations with her gold-digging cousin Gulnar, who appears in Paris, takes up with Banine, and proceeds to seduce and abandon a series of clueless rich men. Gulnar--and Banine's fellow mannquins--rebuke her endless for her failure to take up a lover; eventually she succumbs to the pressure and starts sleeping with a dull, dumb doctor procured for her by one of their friends. This affair ends badly, of course, while Gulnar meets an extremely wealthy American who falls head over heels for her and she for him; they marry and flee to America, leaving Banine behind with a "Dear Jane" letter from her erstwhile lover and a rather large pile of money as a going-away present.
Parisian Days was published in retrospect, 50 years or so after the events it details, and unless Banine kept a very detailed diary, surely most of the lengthy conversations she recounts capture only the gist, not the words. But never mind--the book is delightful, the translation polished, and Banine an honest but appealing young woman. Only recently has it been available in English. We should all be glad!
September 21, 2025
Favorite Quotes:
"Life was waiting for me. I had to go and meet it despite the burden of my reluctant heart."
"Dreamers of the whole world, I address you in particular, you who know the virtue and the poison of dreams. Their virtue: they are our opium in the grey monotony of the everyday, our shelter from laws and kings; our granite in the quicksand of the world; our daily brioche when we lack even bread. Their poison: if by a miracle our dreams come true, we feel the cursed 'Is that it?' Life in its impurity tarnishes their perfection, which exists only in the imagination, and disappointment poisons us; 'Is that it?'"
"In times of plenty, when food is abundant, a man who has his sights on a woman feeds her up before consuming her himself. He force-feeds the victim before leading her to the sacrificial altar; he oils and fattens her, flambés her with alcohol, warms her up in every way possible. Let's not pity her too much: she submits eagerly to these preparations, even if she adopts a submissive expression for decency's sake. In this arachnoid feast, two spiders clash, and no one can predict who will devour whom."
"Life was waiting for me. I had to go and meet it despite the burden of my reluctant heart."
"Dreamers of the whole world, I address you in particular, you who know the virtue and the poison of dreams. Their virtue: they are our opium in the grey monotony of the everyday, our shelter from laws and kings; our granite in the quicksand of the world; our daily brioche when we lack even bread. Their poison: if by a miracle our dreams come true, we feel the cursed 'Is that it?' Life in its impurity tarnishes their perfection, which exists only in the imagination, and disappointment poisons us; 'Is that it?'"
"In times of plenty, when food is abundant, a man who has his sights on a woman feeds her up before consuming her himself. He force-feeds the victim before leading her to the sacrificial altar; he oils and fattens her, flambés her with alcohol, warms her up in every way possible. Let's not pity her too much: she submits eagerly to these preparations, even if she adopts a submissive expression for decency's sake. In this arachnoid feast, two spiders clash, and no one can predict who will devour whom."
May 22, 2024
This is a vivid memoir of Banine’s experiences as a young Azerbaijani woman living in Paris in the 1920s. It captures the atmosphere of the city and the Bohemian lifestyle she led. Banine recounts her encounters with various literary and artistic figures and her reflections on love, culture and her own identity. These memoirs offer a glimpse into Paris’s cultural and social milieu at the time through the eyes of a foreign woman with a unique point of view. It’s a very interesting insight into a period I knew little about.
https://redheadwithabrain.ch/index.ph...
https://redheadwithabrain.ch/index.ph...
March 23, 2024
2.5 Stars: The book starts out laying an interesting and unique story, only to drag and become very slow and boring until the last 50 pages. I believe it's mostly because of the disjointed writing and overall poor storytelling by the author. It's more like a diary, rather than a memoir that's meant to unfold details for the reader. If you lived during this time period or in this location, then the familiarity and nostalgia will likely be enjoyable. It took me a considerable amount of time and patience to get through this read.
April 29, 2024
The book has its moments in the first half, but overall it's weak. It does not compare to her masterpiece, Days in the Caucasus. In the following video review, I suggest ways that Pushkin Press might have done a better job of curating Banine: https://youtu.be/uy36vpy1mu0
May 27, 2025
It's about a woman named Banine who moved from Azerbaijan to Paris with her family. They lost their money over time, and Banine worked as a model to make ends meet. Her cousin from Moscow turned her life upside down, leading to a lot of drama and jealousy. Despite her challenges, Banine's humor and cleverness shine through in the story. The book gives a glimpse into the lives of Russian immigrants in Paris and is a fun and interesting read.
April 24, 2023
"I am well acquainted with the torture of hope."
4 stars
This book was such a delightful surprise for me. Banine's story is an interesting one. I do wish she'd done a bit more name dropping but overall it was a wonderful read!
4 stars
This book was such a delightful surprise for me. Banine's story is an interesting one. I do wish she'd done a bit more name dropping but overall it was a wonderful read!
March 17, 2024
Banine is not a very well known characters, I just read about her conversion to Catholicism but this book was a treat.
A description of Paris, of fashion and art world. An intriguing character with a zest for life
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
A description of Paris, of fashion and art world. An intriguing character with a zest for life
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
May 18, 2024
Enjoyable, though it wasn't quite the story I expected. Banine's arrival and early days in Paris focus more on her family than herself, and her helplessness as events carry her along is sometimes a bit hard to take. Nonetheless, an interesting slice of life and time in mid-century Paris.
June 19, 2024
A wonderful memoir of a young Azerbaijan woman who flees her loveless marriage and arrives in Paris in the 1920's. Banine's writing makes the post-war emigre community come alive, she is am amazing story-teller.
Thanks, Edelweiss+
Thanks, Edelweiss+
July 10, 2024
Set in Paris in the 1920s (although it is sometimes difficult to work out a timeline), this is the memoir of a young emigre from Azerbaijan. It is necessary to remember when this was written as sometimes the attitudes and behaviour can seem shocking, although often entertaining and amusing.
August 20, 2024
Fantastic memoir of life as an Azerbaijani expat in Paris in the 1920s, in the wake of the Russian Revolution, among artists, models and White Russian former nobility, living on their memories. Beautifully written.
November 3, 2024
For a lot of this I was all 'banine? more like banal amirite' but it all came together at the end.
PS: Surely I can't be the only one who wants there to be a memoir written by Gulnar, who I picture as a female Azerbaijani version of Lord Flashheart.
PS: Surely I can't be the only one who wants there to be a memoir written by Gulnar, who I picture as a female Azerbaijani version of Lord Flashheart.
July 1, 2025
Been having severe Paris fever so this was a perfect light read. It’s surprisingly very relatable, considering this took place a century ago. Girlhood and the immigrant experience really can be universal.
March 14, 2023
3.5 rounded up to 4
February 25, 2024
Comparado con el de los días del caucásico, este libro se queda corto...es bueno la primera mitad... pero luego decae mucho
April 13, 2024
I think I started reading this in Jan 23. It took forever, maybe because it did not have much plot. Minus one star for the irreverence from this self-hating Azeri. Otherwise, it was hilarious
May 26, 2024
This book was beautiful, but also sad. You watch her lose herself due to the people around her wanting her to change. The ending does feel very abrupt though.
August 5, 2024
Banine is again entertaining with a worthy follow up to her Days in the Caucasus.
October 14, 2024
Si el primero me dejó bastante fría, este es mucho más aburrido y sobre todo egocentrista. Prescindible.
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