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Two Weeks in Another Town: A Novel
A struggling actor’s last chance becomes an unforgettable Roman holiday
World War II derailed John Andrus’s acting career. Marred by a facial scar and burdened by a new family, Andrus works for NATO in Paris. A producer from his past shows up with an attractive acting job—involving two weeks in Rome and a hefty salary. How can he pass it up? In Rome, Andrus quickly realizes that the job is not at all what he expected. Bounced between movie sets, directors, producers, and women, he grows more uncertain of his future with each passing day. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Irwin Shaw including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.
World War II derailed John Andrus’s acting career. Marred by a facial scar and burdened by a new family, Andrus works for NATO in Paris. A producer from his past shows up with an attractive acting job—involving two weeks in Rome and a hefty salary. How can he pass it up? In Rome, Andrus quickly realizes that the job is not at all what he expected. Bounced between movie sets, directors, producers, and women, he grows more uncertain of his future with each passing day. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Irwin Shaw including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.
482 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1960
69 people are currently reading
381 people want to read
About the author
Irwin Shaw
261 books421 followersShaw was born Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff in the South Bronx, New York City, to Russian Jewish immigrants. Shaw was a prolific American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best known for his novels, The Young Lions (1948) and Rich Man Poor Man (1970).
His parents were Rose and Will. His younger brother, David Shaw (died 2007), became a noted Hollywood producer. Shortly after Irwin's birth, the Shamforoffs moved to Brooklyn. Irwin changed his surname upon entering college. He spent most of his youth in Brooklyn, where he graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934.
Shaw began screenwriting in 1935 at the age of 21, and scripted for several radio shows, including Dick Tracy, The Gumps and Studio One.
Shaw's first play, Bury the Dead (1936) was an expressionist drama about a group of soldiers killed in a battle who refuse to be buried. During the 1940s, Shaw wrote for a number of films, including Talk of the Town (a comedy about civil liberties), The Commandos Strike at Dawn (based on a C.S. Forester story about commandos in occupied Norway) and Easy Living (about a football player unable to enter the game due to a medical condition). Shaw married Marian Edwards. They had one son, Adam Shaw, born in 1950, himself a writer of magazine articles and non-fiction.
Shaw enlisted in the U.S. Army and was a warrant officer during World War II.He served with an Army documentary film unit. The Young Lions, Shaw's first novel, was published in 1949. Based on his experiences in Europe during the war, the novel was very successful and was adapted into a 1958 film.
Shaw's second novel, The Troubled Air, chronicling the rise of McCarthyism, was published in 1951. He was among those who signed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the John Howard Lawson and Dalton Trumbo convictions for contempt of Congress, resulting from hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Falsely accused of being a communist by the Red Channels publication, Shaw was placed on the Hollywood blacklist by the movie studio bosses. In 1951 he left the United States and went to Europe, where he lived for 25 years, mostly in Paris and Switzerland. He later claimed that the blacklist "only glancingly bruised" his career. During the 1950s he wrote several more screenplays, including Desire Under the Elms (based on Eugene O'Neill's play) and Fire Down Below (about a tramp boat in the Caribbean).
While living in Europe, Shaw wrote more bestselling books, notably Lucy Crown (1956), Two Weeks in Another Town (1960), Rich Man, Poor Man (1970) (for which he would later write a less successful sequel entitled Beggarman, Thief) and Evening in Byzantium (made into a 1978 TV movie). Rich Man, Poor Man was adapted into a highly successful ABC television miniseries in 1976.
His novel Top of the Hill, about the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in 1980, was made into a TV movie, starring Wayne Rogers, Adrienne Barbeau, and Sonny Bono.
His last two novels were Bread Upon the Waters (1981) and Acceptable Losses (1982).
Shaw died in Davos, Switzerland on May 16, 1984, aged 71, after undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
His parents were Rose and Will. His younger brother, David Shaw (died 2007), became a noted Hollywood producer. Shortly after Irwin's birth, the Shamforoffs moved to Brooklyn. Irwin changed his surname upon entering college. He spent most of his youth in Brooklyn, where he graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934.
Shaw began screenwriting in 1935 at the age of 21, and scripted for several radio shows, including Dick Tracy, The Gumps and Studio One.
Shaw's first play, Bury the Dead (1936) was an expressionist drama about a group of soldiers killed in a battle who refuse to be buried. During the 1940s, Shaw wrote for a number of films, including Talk of the Town (a comedy about civil liberties), The Commandos Strike at Dawn (based on a C.S. Forester story about commandos in occupied Norway) and Easy Living (about a football player unable to enter the game due to a medical condition). Shaw married Marian Edwards. They had one son, Adam Shaw, born in 1950, himself a writer of magazine articles and non-fiction.
Shaw enlisted in the U.S. Army and was a warrant officer during World War II.He served with an Army documentary film unit. The Young Lions, Shaw's first novel, was published in 1949. Based on his experiences in Europe during the war, the novel was very successful and was adapted into a 1958 film.
Shaw's second novel, The Troubled Air, chronicling the rise of McCarthyism, was published in 1951. He was among those who signed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the John Howard Lawson and Dalton Trumbo convictions for contempt of Congress, resulting from hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Falsely accused of being a communist by the Red Channels publication, Shaw was placed on the Hollywood blacklist by the movie studio bosses. In 1951 he left the United States and went to Europe, where he lived for 25 years, mostly in Paris and Switzerland. He later claimed that the blacklist "only glancingly bruised" his career. During the 1950s he wrote several more screenplays, including Desire Under the Elms (based on Eugene O'Neill's play) and Fire Down Below (about a tramp boat in the Caribbean).
While living in Europe, Shaw wrote more bestselling books, notably Lucy Crown (1956), Two Weeks in Another Town (1960), Rich Man, Poor Man (1970) (for which he would later write a less successful sequel entitled Beggarman, Thief) and Evening in Byzantium (made into a 1978 TV movie). Rich Man, Poor Man was adapted into a highly successful ABC television miniseries in 1976.
His novel Top of the Hill, about the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in 1980, was made into a TV movie, starring Wayne Rogers, Adrienne Barbeau, and Sonny Bono.
His last two novels were Bread Upon the Waters (1981) and Acceptable Losses (1982).
Shaw died in Davos, Switzerland on May 16, 1984, aged 71, after undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
October 12, 2012
Another novel about Americans in Rome, as was The Imperfectionists, but much better. The era is postwar mid 1950s. Jack Andrus was a hot Hollywood star in the 1940s until World War II completely disrupted his life. He served in the army, came home wounded and scarred, lost both his place in the movie industry and his wife, then emigrated to Paris.
As the novel opens he is married to a French woman of the conservative French wife and mother type. They have two children, have spent whatever passion they once had, and Jack has a boring administrative post in NATO. A call from his old director changes everything.
Off he goes to Rome for two weeks to help his one-time friend in an attempted comeback as a player in the world of cinema. All of Jack's past comes back to haunt him and he spends the two weeks working it out. It is a satisfying, dramatic story because Irwin Shaw struck that magic balance between literary chops and storytelling.
Because I have done so much reading about Europe in the 1950s recently, including the Simone de Beauvoir memoirs, I felt familiar with the Paris and Rome portrayed. Shaw was a screenwriter early in his career and some of his novels, including this one, were made into movies. He knew the movie world from financing to studios to stars. He also had his fingers on the pulse of society and since he lived in Europe from 1951 onwards, had a wider view than some of the America-centered novelists I have read from those years.
I was entertained throughout. Perhaps he went a shade too far on the melodrama but I admired the skill with which he put the reader into the minds and hearts of his characters while imbuing the story with a sense of menace. Life in the late 1950s was not as dull and "normal" as it looked on the surface, especially in Europe. Two Weeks in Another Town offers a glimpse into those times.
May 28, 2022
Много повече от 5 звезди. О да, великолепен е Ъруин Шоу, казвала съм, че го колекционирам, чела съм много негови книги и „Две седмици в друг град“ е от шедьоврите му. Това е истински романист. Без да са философски, романите му са толкова дълбоки, плътни, създадени от плътта на живота с всичката нейна вездесъщност, тленност, двусмисленост. Толкова прекрасно чувство ми оставя всеки път, въпреки че прямотата понякога е твърде болезнена! Голяма любов към Ъруин Шоу има в моето сърце!
December 31, 2021
Irwin Shaw, who is remembered and loved in Russia for the TV series "The Rich Man-the Poor Man" based on his novel of the same name, and connoisseurs of vintage film classics - for the film "Young Lions", this time acts as a writer of the bohemian dolce vita of cinematographers, and does it with knowledge of life.
The story of a former American actor, and now a forty-year-old official at the UN, living in Paris, happily married (and this is the third marriage) to a beautiful young woman, the father of two cute babies, Jack Andrews, who lost the feeling of fullness of life in his new, cozy and measured life.
When a friend, a director, asks him to help with dubbing his picture, Jack perceives it as an opportunity again for a short time - the contract stipulates a period of two weeks - to plunge into the cinema atmosphere dear to his heart: beautiful people, bohemian simplicity of manners, a special world for the chosen in the scenery of the Eternal City. And the expectations will be met, even with a vengeance.
Хроника пикирующего командировщика
Volare, oh oh. Cantare, oh oh oh oh
Летаю, о-го!
Напеваю, о-го-го-го!
В синеве весь синий такой,
Пролетать счастлив я над землей!
Ирвин Шоу, которого в России помнят и любят по сериалу "Богач-бедняк" снятому по его одноименному роману, а ценители винтажной киноклассики - по фильму "Молодые львы", на сей раз выступает бытописателем богемной дольче вита кинематографистов, и делает это со знанием жизни.
История бывшего американского актера, а ныне сорокалетнего чиновника при ООН, живущего в Париже, счастливо женатого (и это уже третий брак) на прекрасной молодой женщине, отца двух милых малюток Джека Эндрюса, который утратил ощущение полноты жизни в своей новой, уютной и размеренной жизни.
Когда друг, режиссер, просит его помочь с дубляжом своей картины, Джек воспринимает это как возможность снова ненадолго - в контракте оговорен срок две недели - окунуться в любезную его сердцу атмосферу кино: красивые люди, богемная простота нравов, особый мир для избранных в декорациях Вечного города. И ожидания оправдаются, даже с лихвой.
В эти две недели уместится столько событий, сколько порой не вмещают два десятка лет обыденной жизни. А читатель, в придачу ко дню сегодняшнему, получит реминисценции последнего двадцатилетия жизни Эндрюса. Рассказ о его восхождении к высотам кинокарьеры, с которой пришлось расстаться, когда в после ранения его лицо разлюбила камера, о войне, о любви и двух браках, предшествовавших нынешнему
На самом деле, сегодня "Две недели в другом городе воспринимаются" диковато. Такой оголтело-брутальный мачизм, столь неколебимая уверенность в собственной правоте, настолько вопиющие двойные стандарты: герою можно все, в то время, как его женщинам милостиво позволяется довольствоваться крохами с валтазаровых пиров, где Джек пьет радость чайными стаканами.
Но это и хорошо, хотя бы потому, что прослушав роман, а теперь есть прочитанный Игорем Князевым (как всегда великолепно), чье исполнение позволит не только услышать персонажей, но словно бы увидеть их воочию. Так вот, послушать его в наши дни, стоит хотя бы за тем, чтобы порадоваться.
В очередной раз убедившись, что мир движется в верном направлении и подивившись как далеко мы ушли за шесть десятков лет от самодовольного сексизма, бывшего нормой совсем недавно.
The story of a former American actor, and now a forty-year-old official at the UN, living in Paris, happily married (and this is the third marriage) to a beautiful young woman, the father of two cute babies, Jack Andrews, who lost the feeling of fullness of life in his new, cozy and measured life.
When a friend, a director, asks him to help with dubbing his picture, Jack perceives it as an opportunity again for a short time - the contract stipulates a period of two weeks - to plunge into the cinema atmosphere dear to his heart: beautiful people, bohemian simplicity of manners, a special world for the chosen in the scenery of the Eternal City. And the expectations will be met, even with a vengeance.
Хроника пикирующего командировщика
Volare, oh oh. Cantare, oh oh oh oh
Летаю, о-го!
Напеваю, о-го-го-го!
В синеве весь синий такой,
Пролетать счастлив я над землей!
Ирвин Шоу, которого в России помнят и любят по сериалу "Богач-бедняк" снятому по его одноименному роману, а ценители винтажной киноклассики - по фильму "Молодые львы", на сей раз выступает бытописателем богемной дольче вита кинематографистов, и делает это со знанием жизни.
История бывшего американского актера, а ныне сорокалетнего чиновника при ООН, живущего в Париже, счастливо женатого (и это уже третий брак) на прекрасной молодой женщине, отца двух милых малюток Джека Эндрюса, который утратил ощущение полноты жизни в своей новой, уютной и размеренной жизни.
Когда друг, режиссер, просит его помочь с дубляжом своей картины, Джек воспринимает это как возможность снова ненадолго - в контракте оговорен срок две недели - окунуться в любезную его сердцу атмосферу кино: красивые люди, богемная простота нравов, особый мир для избранных в декорациях Вечного города. И ожидания оправдаются, даже с лихвой.
В эти две недели уместится столько событий, сколько порой не вмещают два десятка лет обыденной жизни. А читатель, в придачу ко дню сегодняшнему, получит реминисценции последнего двадцатилетия жизни Эндрюса. Рассказ о его восхождении к высотам кинокарьеры, с которой пришлось расстаться, когда в после ранения его лицо разлюбила камера, о войне, о любви и двух браках, предшествовавших нынешнему
На самом деле, сегодня "Две недели в другом городе воспринимаются" диковато. Такой оголтело-брутальный мачизм, столь неколебимая уверенность в собственной правоте, настолько вопиющие двойные стандарты: герою можно все, в то время, как его женщинам милостиво позволяется довольствоваться крохами с валтазаровых пиров, где Джек пьет радость чайными стаканами.
Но это и хорошо, хотя бы потому, что прослушав роман, а теперь есть прочитанный Игорем Князевым (как всегда великолепно), чье исполнение позволит не только услышать персонажей, но словно бы увидеть их воочию. Так вот, послушать его в наши дни, стоит хотя бы за тем, чтобы порадоваться.
В очередной раз убедившись, что мир движется в верном направлении и подивившись как далеко мы ушли за шесть десятков лет от самодовольного сексизма, бывшего нормой совсем недавно.
February 24, 2017
It is time to make up the tally of memory. Forgotten voices have spoken, old songs have been heard, ghosts have coupled and parted, ancient wounds have opened and bled once more ..
جاك اندروس عمل في مطلع حياته كممثل في هوليود، وشارك في الحرب العالمية الثانية، حصلت له حادثة أثناء الحرب تسببت في تشوه وجهه، ولم يعد قادراً على العمل كممثل، بدأ بداية جديدة في حياته بعد أن انتقل من امريكا إلى فرنسا وانفصاله عن زوجته الثانية، وبدء يعمل لدى الحكومة في فرنسا، فيما بعد تزوج امرأة فرنسية وأنجب منها طفلين وعاش معها حياة هانئة لمدة ثماني سنين.
بعد هذه السنين اتصل به صديقه القديم الذي كان يعمل مخرجاً في هوليود وما يزال، وطلب من جاك اندروس مساعدته في فلم يعمل عليه لمدة اسبوعين في روما، واستجاب اندروس لنداء صديقه وسافر إلى إيطاليا ..
And ? What happened in those two weeks in Rome ? Actually nothing happened, the whole GODDAMN book went on and on to say : BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
And he came back to his family with gifts, End the story
April 13, 2023
Empecé a leer sin una idea clara de nada, y me encontré con una historia fascinante.
Conforme leía iba tratando de imaginar la continuación y no lograba anticiparme, eso me hizo darme cuenta de que tengo esa mala costumbre de querer anticipar las historias, pero lo hago de manera automática y no sólo en los libros también con las películas, lo cual puede llegar a ser molesto sobre todo cuando se acierta.
Por lo que caminar sobre terreno desconocido fue una gran sensación.
Tenemos a Jack un cuarentón bien conservado con un trabajo de oficina nivel diplomático sin ser tampoco muy encumbrado, mandado desde USA a Paris, donde vive su apacible vida con una esposa parisina y dos hijos chicos, un niño y una niña. Hasta aquí todo suena normal, pero al inicio del libro nos muestra a un Jack a punto de tomar un vuelo a Roma con 2 semanas de estancia, y que parece incomodar supremamente a su esposa parisina, en esas pocas páginas ya te da para pensar varias preguntas: ¿que trabajo hará Jack?, ¿porque su esposa esta tan molesta por su partida?
Y si, conforme la historia avanza, descubrimos que Jack tuvo otra vida donde se llamaba James, y era un actor de cine muy conocido, que estuvo casado un par de veces y tiene un hijo ya grande.
Delaney un famoso director estadounidense que tuvo mucha fama y que poco a poco ha ido perdiendo brillo, lo contrata para doblar la voz del protagonista de su actual película que está siendo filmada en Roma, al parecer Delaney apeló a una antigua amistad con Jack y aún jugoso pago de 5,000 dólares.
Todo estos ingredientes hacen que el Jack que conocimos en el aeropuerto sea muy distinto del Jack que está en Roma, se empiezan a dar cambios, descubrimientos y relaciones que pareciera que en lugar de otro país fue a otro universo,y empezamos a entender porque la esposa estaba tan reticente al viaje.
Convengamos que Jack vivía en Paris, pero si hay una ciudad que puede ganarle por cultura, historia, embrujo y belleza pues es Roma.
A Jack le pasa de todo, más allá de la extraña filmación, conoce varios personajes, entre ellos a Verónica una joven italiana con la que inicia un romance , a Bresach un atormentado joven que quiere ser director de cine que vivía con Verónica y al descubrir el romance de esta con Jack, lo persigue para matarlo.
En medio de todo esto, en las noches Jack recorre las calles de la ciudad eterna, y cuando llega a su cuarto de hotel es presa de pesadillas estrambóticas con ocultos significados, y presagios de muerte.
Uno se pregunta si entre tantas personas del presente y del pasado, así como situaciones por aquí y por allá, Jack lograra regresar de una pieza a Paris.
Una magnífica novela que me ha sorprendido y deleitado por partes iguales, pasan tantas cosas en tan poco tiempo, pero toda te muestran lo frágil de la condición humana, lo endeble que pueden ser las promesas, lo difícil de cerrar ciclos que parecían cerrados y enterrados, y como tarde que temprano aparecen los personajes del pasado ya sea para redimirse o para mostrar su verdadero rostro.
Conforme leía iba tratando de imaginar la continuación y no lograba anticiparme, eso me hizo darme cuenta de que tengo esa mala costumbre de querer anticipar las historias, pero lo hago de manera automática y no sólo en los libros también con las películas, lo cual puede llegar a ser molesto sobre todo cuando se acierta.
Por lo que caminar sobre terreno desconocido fue una gran sensación.
Tenemos a Jack un cuarentón bien conservado con un trabajo de oficina nivel diplomático sin ser tampoco muy encumbrado, mandado desde USA a Paris, donde vive su apacible vida con una esposa parisina y dos hijos chicos, un niño y una niña. Hasta aquí todo suena normal, pero al inicio del libro nos muestra a un Jack a punto de tomar un vuelo a Roma con 2 semanas de estancia, y que parece incomodar supremamente a su esposa parisina, en esas pocas páginas ya te da para pensar varias preguntas: ¿que trabajo hará Jack?, ¿porque su esposa esta tan molesta por su partida?
Y si, conforme la historia avanza, descubrimos que Jack tuvo otra vida donde se llamaba James, y era un actor de cine muy conocido, que estuvo casado un par de veces y tiene un hijo ya grande.
Delaney un famoso director estadounidense que tuvo mucha fama y que poco a poco ha ido perdiendo brillo, lo contrata para doblar la voz del protagonista de su actual película que está siendo filmada en Roma, al parecer Delaney apeló a una antigua amistad con Jack y aún jugoso pago de 5,000 dólares.
Todo estos ingredientes hacen que el Jack que conocimos en el aeropuerto sea muy distinto del Jack que está en Roma, se empiezan a dar cambios, descubrimientos y relaciones que pareciera que en lugar de otro país fue a otro universo,y empezamos a entender porque la esposa estaba tan reticente al viaje.
Convengamos que Jack vivía en Paris, pero si hay una ciudad que puede ganarle por cultura, historia, embrujo y belleza pues es Roma.
A Jack le pasa de todo, más allá de la extraña filmación, conoce varios personajes, entre ellos a Verónica una joven italiana con la que inicia un romance , a Bresach un atormentado joven que quiere ser director de cine que vivía con Verónica y al descubrir el romance de esta con Jack, lo persigue para matarlo.
En medio de todo esto, en las noches Jack recorre las calles de la ciudad eterna, y cuando llega a su cuarto de hotel es presa de pesadillas estrambóticas con ocultos significados, y presagios de muerte.
Uno se pregunta si entre tantas personas del presente y del pasado, así como situaciones por aquí y por allá, Jack lograra regresar de una pieza a Paris.
Una magnífica novela que me ha sorprendido y deleitado por partes iguales, pasan tantas cosas en tan poco tiempo, pero toda te muestran lo frágil de la condición humana, lo endeble que pueden ser las promesas, lo difícil de cerrar ciclos que parecían cerrados y enterrados, y como tarde que temprano aparecen los personajes del pasado ya sea para redimirse o para mostrar su verdadero rostro.
October 2, 2020
Легкая, интересная книга для отдыха.
August 29, 2025
Not a bad story, but really can’t get into a book where there are like 6 different fmc and all of them are written like they are the trash of the earth. Like the mc gets almost murdered??? And the murderer is written to be more likable than any other woman in the book…. And yet another book with the theme of I need to cheat on my wife to realize I love her which I hate!!
December 18, 2021
Ook dit boek Niet Uitgelezen wegens nul interesse
Read
November 6, 2009Okay, I didn't really finish this book. I tried to read it since I recently saw the movie and I love comparing films to their novel sources. But the book is way too much of it's time - a curious hybrid of a serious fifties-sixties literary novel and a trashy pot boiling best-seller like Harold Robbins. The main character is fascinating but somewhat unlikable, due to his infidelity something the movie avoids by losing the wife and having the character played by Kirk Douglas at his most charming and vulnerable. But there are just too many other books out there to waste the time on this one.
October 16, 2014
Первая книга за полгода, которой ставлю 5 из 5.
Советую читать тем, кто чувствует себя сторонним наблюдателем в собственной и чужой жизни, старается не проявлять эмоций и смертельно устал от выяснений отношений и требований других, но почти всегда иронизирует над собой и обстоятельствами. "Аналог" подобрать пока сложно, но думаю, эта книга понравится всем, кто ранее оценил стиль и содержание романа "Зима тревоги нашей" Джона Стейнбека.
Советую читать тем, кто чувствует себя сторонним наблюдателем в собственной и чужой жизни, старается не проявлять эмоций и смертельно устал от выяснений отношений и требований других, но почти всегда иронизирует над собой и обстоятельствами. "Аналог" подобрать пока сложно, но думаю, эта книга понравится всем, кто ранее оценил стиль и содержание романа "Зима тревоги нашей" Джона Стейнбека.
June 26, 2025
Two Weeks in Another Town by Irwin Shaw – this is not one of the spectacular, overwhelming, elating works, in my opinion, but you could read or listen to takes on chefs d’oeuvre by checking my blog, this is an oxymoron, though a ritual by now, given that there are only 30 visitors on a good day, so what would be the point, well, there it is https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
7 out of 10
There is certainly something in here, in Two Weeks in Another Town, alas, I have not noticed it…well, the theme of mental health, getting MAGA, I mean Mad, trying to solve past issues, a lost love and getting back on top
It reminds one of The Bad and The Beautiful https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... which was nonetheless much better, albeit the problem here is a different one, the
- Absence of Flow
Flow https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is a classic of psychology, you should read it to see what gets you in The Zone, the conditions to ascend there would be
- You are in control, nothing else matters – in this and other cases, you tend to get distracted
Feedback is constant and instant, it is an autotelic experience (it offers pleasure, and this is not what happened here, not to the proper extent) time changes, in a good way, when you are in Flow, a minute can feel like an eternity
However, there is the reverse, instead of that minute feeling longer because it is so rewarding, it can be exhausting, in that you want it to end…let me refer to Dostoevsky https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... and his own near fatal experience
He had been sentenced to death, and he is now facing the firing squad, with three minutes left, he divides them into one to say goodbye to family and friends, another to pass his life in front of his eyes and the last:
To admire a ray of sunshine falling on a bell tower nearby (something like that, do not expect an accurate anything here) and in the last moment he is pardoned, and he writes about what man feels in front of death in his magnum opera
- Now those minutes must have been intense, I don’t know about Flow though
Enough with the ‘review’ of Two Weeks in Another Town – I know, I have not really made any sense, did not really touch it, except in passing, perhaps – let me share what I have on my mind, you must have moved by now
You are not still here, I hope, there is that ‘adventure’ with Miss Romania, many years ago, which turned me around, drove me crazy, which I may still be, and there is the connection with the main character, in that sense
More pressing is this upcoming ‘date’ with a sex worker, which should not be public, but seeing that there are so few clicks on the blog, it might as well be in a drawer, hidden from the world – I do not know what to do, it is rather expensive, at least for my (tiny, near zero) budget, but it is tempting, picture, attitude and all…We shall see, like in that Zen story told at the end of Charlie Wilson’s War https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
7 out of 10
There is certainly something in here, in Two Weeks in Another Town, alas, I have not noticed it…well, the theme of mental health, getting MAGA, I mean Mad, trying to solve past issues, a lost love and getting back on top
It reminds one of The Bad and The Beautiful https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... which was nonetheless much better, albeit the problem here is a different one, the
- Absence of Flow
Flow https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is a classic of psychology, you should read it to see what gets you in The Zone, the conditions to ascend there would be
- You are in control, nothing else matters – in this and other cases, you tend to get distracted
Feedback is constant and instant, it is an autotelic experience (it offers pleasure, and this is not what happened here, not to the proper extent) time changes, in a good way, when you are in Flow, a minute can feel like an eternity
However, there is the reverse, instead of that minute feeling longer because it is so rewarding, it can be exhausting, in that you want it to end…let me refer to Dostoevsky https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... and his own near fatal experience
He had been sentenced to death, and he is now facing the firing squad, with three minutes left, he divides them into one to say goodbye to family and friends, another to pass his life in front of his eyes and the last:
To admire a ray of sunshine falling on a bell tower nearby (something like that, do not expect an accurate anything here) and in the last moment he is pardoned, and he writes about what man feels in front of death in his magnum opera
- Now those minutes must have been intense, I don’t know about Flow though
Enough with the ‘review’ of Two Weeks in Another Town – I know, I have not really made any sense, did not really touch it, except in passing, perhaps – let me share what I have on my mind, you must have moved by now
You are not still here, I hope, there is that ‘adventure’ with Miss Romania, many years ago, which turned me around, drove me crazy, which I may still be, and there is the connection with the main character, in that sense
More pressing is this upcoming ‘date’ with a sex worker, which should not be public, but seeing that there are so few clicks on the blog, it might as well be in a drawer, hidden from the world – I do not know what to do, it is rather expensive, at least for my (tiny, near zero) budget, but it is tempting, picture, attitude and all…We shall see, like in that Zen story told at the end of Charlie Wilson’s War https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
January 25, 2016
I want to go to Rome
January 22, 2023
Две насыщенные недели.
Давайте считать, что моя оценка - это 4 с минусом. В какой-то момент, я решила, что это все же четверка, отличная, жирная четверка, но потом все повалилось и рассыпалось и превратилось в четверку с минусом.
Ни одного прекрасного женского образа. Очень обидно. Сплошь шлюхи, истерички, зануды и требующие взять их на ручки девицы. Но не могу сказать, что все эти образы не выдержаны. Девушки написаны отлично. Пусть они все как из-под одной гребенки, но придраться не к чему. Есть в нас порой такие грехи. И все же это как одна женщина, которую автор разделил на года, связи и места рождения.
А вот мужчины радовали разнообразием. Было и благородство, и прямодушие, и семейность в них, и любовь всех видов, и предательство. Но все же это были разные мужчины, а не один разделенный на обстоятельства и места своего пребывания.
Главный герой казался единственным нормальным в сумасшедшем доме с человечками пытающимися влезть ему на шею и очень хорошо, что все это прекратилось потому, что в конце концов кто-нибудь обязательно влез бы и стал бы им понукать, а у него и так целая котомка проблем, без лишних людишек на шее.
Это были насыщенные две недели и страшнее просто не придумаешь. С другой стороны он хоть прекратит называть другом человека, который предал его. Наконец-то перестал носить в себе свою вторую жену, а отделавшись от ее призрака в своей жизни, ему действительно станет легче дышать, хотя на его месте, я все же к психотерапевту бы сходила, вторая жена все же не хило ему психику-то поломала. Нашел себе замену для старшего сына. Не подружился, но хоть понял, что есть возможность все наладить, если будет желание это сделать. В общем покидало человека не хило так, но зато все к лучшему.
Хотя я так хотела чтобы не было предательства друга, чтобы у мальчика все получилось, чтобы фильм действительно получился, но автор все скомкал, разорвал, заявил, что реальность не розовая и плюшистая и за это имеет у меня четверку с минусом!
Читать было трудно, при видимой простоте, было много нагромождений событий, эмоций и не было островка где можно было бы выдохнуть. Всегда должен быть какой-то герой, на котором глаз отдыхает, тут такого не было. Я не сочувствую главному герою, я не смогла проникнуться еще какими-то мимо проходящими героями. Мне всегда предлагали вроде бы интересных персонажей, но я бы с ними дружить не хотела. Провести некоторое время - может быть, но у меня-то есть кем любоваться в жизни-то, когда я имею дело с подобными человечками, а когда читаешь, очень сложно, между строк приличного человека не впишешь.
Читать можно, местами даже интересно. Но все же это утомительная книга.
Давайте считать, что моя оценка - это 4 с минусом. В какой-то момент, я решила, что это все же четверка, отличная, жирная четверка, но потом все повалилось и рассыпалось и превратилось в четверку с минусом.
Ни одного прекрасного женского образа. Очень обидно. Сплошь шлюхи, истерички, зануды и требующие взять их на ручки девицы. Но не могу сказать, что все эти образы не выдержаны. Девушки написаны отлично. Пусть они все как из-под одной гребенки, но придраться не к чему. Есть в нас порой такие грехи. И все же это как одна женщина, которую автор разделил на года, связи и места рождения.
А вот мужчины радовали разнообразием. Было и благородство, и прямодушие, и семейность в них, и любовь всех видов, и предательство. Но все же это были разные мужчины, а не один разделенный на обстоятельства и места своего пребывания.
Главный герой казался единственным нормальным в сумасшедшем доме с человечками пытающимися влезть ему на шею и очень хорошо, что все это прекратилось потому, что в конце концов кто-нибудь обязательно влез бы и стал бы им понукать, а у него и так целая котомка проблем, без лишних людишек на шее.
Это были насыщенные две недели и страшнее просто не придумаешь. С другой стороны он хоть прекратит называть другом человека, который предал его. Наконец-то перестал носить в себе свою вторую жену, а отделавшись от ее призрака в своей жизни, ему действительно станет легче дышать, хотя на его месте, я все же к психотерапевту бы сходила, вторая жена все же не хило ему психику-то поломала. Нашел себе замену для старшего сына. Не подружился, но хоть понял, что есть возможность все наладить, если будет желание это сделать. В общем покидало человека не хило так, но зато все к лучшему.
Хотя я так хотела чтобы не было предательства друга, чтобы у мальчика все получилось, чтобы фильм действительно получился, но автор все скомкал, разорвал, заявил, что реальность не розовая и плюшистая и за это имеет у меня четверку с минусом!
Читать было трудно, при видимой простоте, было много нагромождений событий, эмоций и не было островка где можно было бы выдохнуть. Всегда должен быть какой-то герой, на котором глаз отдыхает, тут такого не было. Я не сочувствую главному герою, я не смогла проникнуться еще какими-то мимо проходящими героями. Мне всегда предлагали вроде бы интересных персонажей, но я бы с ними дружить не хотела. Провести некоторое время - может быть, но у меня-то есть кем любоваться в жизни-то, когда я имею дело с подобными человечками, а когда читаешь, очень сложно, между строк приличного человека не впишешь.
Читать можно, местами даже интересно. Но все же это утомительная книга.
June 10, 2025
After reading several Irwin Shaw novels in the last couple of years, I’ve learned to expect a colorful set of characters getting themselves into scrapes and disagreements. John Andrus is settled into a sedate life in Paris with a government job, a wife and kids, after leaving behind his short-lived acting career after he sustained injuries during WWII. When his old director, a quirky emotional older man, asks him to come to Rome for 2 weeks to help him finish a film that is faltering, he jumps at the chance to make a little extra money, and frankly he admits, to get away from his wife for awhile.
So much happens to him during those 2 weeks that it’s hard to believe that it’s “only” 2 weeks. There’s a lot of action, elation, disappointments, and even violence crammed in to those 2 weeks. Old relationships come back to haunt him, and new relationships start up and flare out in no time at all. The novel is never boring, though at times, given my 21st century perspective, his antics and behavior can seem rather boorish.
So much happens to him during those 2 weeks that it’s hard to believe that it’s “only” 2 weeks. There’s a lot of action, elation, disappointments, and even violence crammed in to those 2 weeks. Old relationships come back to haunt him, and new relationships start up and flare out in no time at all. The novel is never boring, though at times, given my 21st century perspective, his antics and behavior can seem rather boorish.
May 21, 2018
A high quality potboiler, in the sense that this is presumably the kind of book that a talented and intelligent writer turns out when trying to produce a popular melodrama -- back in 1960, at any rate. Nowadays the author would spend less time on sparkling prose and more on page-turning storytelling, and the result would be a Robert Harris thriller (my guilty reading pleasure, as Goodreads friends will know). The novel is overlong and something of a shaggy dog story; the ending will come as no great surprise. Still, it's harder-edged than the movie and helped while away the longueurs of a business trip with several connecting flights.
March 14, 2018
Read in translation and still the language feels as highly exquisite which inevitably adds to other beauties of the text but doesn’t make up for the gloominess of the story and pity for the characters. One of them seems to have been transported from Dostoevsky’s novels (his friend or he himself by the way was reading Demons). So to say happy end helps a bit to come to terms with the book but not company. Interestingly enough good sex is a remedy and has got power to resolve various issues
July 25, 2022
Една дълбоко откровена книга, без излишна поетичност, но с много тънка естетичност.
.
За да кажеш, че животът е прекрасен трябва лекомислено да отвърнеш лице от страданията на света. Но за да кажеш, че животът е ужасен трябва неблагодарно да забравиш миговете когато ти или някой друг сте имали шанса да бъдете щастливи.
.
За да кажеш, че животът е прекрасен трябва лекомислено да отвърнеш лице от страданията на света. Но за да кажеш, че животът е ужасен трябва неблагодарно да забравиш миговете когато ти или някой друг сте имали шанса да бъдете щастливи.
February 27, 2025
Rome in the 50s!
A fun little story about the movie industry in Italy in the 50s. I will now find the film version and see how they did. Could've been edited down I think but that was a different time. Very cinematic to read. But why does my Kindle copy have a photo of Florence on the cover? Someone can't claim to have been to Rome.
A fun little story about the movie industry in Italy in the 50s. I will now find the film version and see how they did. Could've been edited down I think but that was a different time. Very cinematic to read. But why does my Kindle copy have a photo of Florence on the cover? Someone can't claim to have been to Rome.
December 28, 2019
Uncertainty of life's wins and losses demonstrated as best as could be! Realistic immoral characters. Consequences of impulsive decisions resulting in climaxes and anti-climaxes. A show of how crazy and ironic a life could be.
April 30, 2025
Читал после Ночного портье и понял, что Шоу видимо не мой писатель. Сюжет не захватывает, герои в лучшем случае не вызывают симпатии, в худшем просто неприятны. В этом романе даже от Рима удовольствия не получил🥲
January 24, 2018
My short gripe about this is here.
https://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpre...
https://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpre...
June 24, 2018
I’m in love with Irwin Shaw and Jack Andrus!
December 24, 2019
Very poorly written. Cliches throughout. Pulp fiction dialogue. This is the kind of book you grab at the airport to get you through a long flight. So different than Sinnerman Saint.
June 7, 2020
It was a great read, just took longer than expected to read it!
August 25, 2021
First exposure to Irwin Shaw. Excellent story line, his character Jack Andrus reminded me of Patrick Melrose in Edward St Aubyn's novels.
June 14, 2024
No me gusto, el titulo sugería que todo rondaría en esas dos semanas y resulta que las dos semanas era solo el principio del culebrón que se avecinaba, demasiados cab0s sueltos. no lo recomiendo.
September 9, 2025
4,25/4,5
December 17, 2021
The book did not capture immediately. The hero was faced with a midlife crisis, he wanted changes, memories came flooding back. An interesting syllable, description, exposition, but the hero did not arouse much sympathy.
April 4, 2016
Like his later, and superior, “Evening in Byzantium,” Irwin Shaw’s “Two Weeks in Another Town” follows an American adrift in a famous European city; this one, a Mr. Jack Andrus, with more attachments than the hero of “Byzantium.” Andrus lives in Paris, where he works for the American government, in a position that’s never clearly explained, and lives with his French wife and two kids. He’s been married twice before, and has a curiously detached attitude in regard to his grown son, from the first marriage. Andrus meditates on his marriages, his relationship with this son, and his past life, as a successful Hollywood actor, before the war.
His wife isn’t happy to see him head to Rome (the “Town” of the title), but he’s been called by his old movie director friend, Mr. Delaney, to assist in dubbing the lines of an alcoholic leading man, for a movie the director hopes will bump his career and esteem back up to its previous lofty heights.
Almost as soon as he arrives, Andrus finds himself in the midst of confrontation, punched in the nose by a belligerent drunk. He meets a woman named Veronica, sleeps with her, and is then confronted at knife-point by her jealous boyfriend, a man named Bresach. There’s a thorough dissection of the relationships in Andrus’s life, with his wife, ex-wives, the director, Veronica, and a French newsman and old friend named Despiere. But the most interesting of these relationships is the one that develops between Andrus and Bresach, who it turns out is somewhat involved in the Italian film industry and has written a screenplay. In Bresach Andrus comes to see a younger version of his good friend Delaney, and there is some insightful commentary here, as the aging man admires, while being wary of, the explosive mixture of passion and youthful idealism embodied by Bresach.
The narrative rambles a bit—it could probably be cut by at least fifty pages—but the characters are all well-drawn, and the dialogue sounds true, with occasional bits of humor and sarcasm. I wouldn’t suggest this as one of Shaw’s best novels, but it’s still an enjoyable read.
His wife isn’t happy to see him head to Rome (the “Town” of the title), but he’s been called by his old movie director friend, Mr. Delaney, to assist in dubbing the lines of an alcoholic leading man, for a movie the director hopes will bump his career and esteem back up to its previous lofty heights.
Almost as soon as he arrives, Andrus finds himself in the midst of confrontation, punched in the nose by a belligerent drunk. He meets a woman named Veronica, sleeps with her, and is then confronted at knife-point by her jealous boyfriend, a man named Bresach. There’s a thorough dissection of the relationships in Andrus’s life, with his wife, ex-wives, the director, Veronica, and a French newsman and old friend named Despiere. But the most interesting of these relationships is the one that develops between Andrus and Bresach, who it turns out is somewhat involved in the Italian film industry and has written a screenplay. In Bresach Andrus comes to see a younger version of his good friend Delaney, and there is some insightful commentary here, as the aging man admires, while being wary of, the explosive mixture of passion and youthful idealism embodied by Bresach.
The narrative rambles a bit—it could probably be cut by at least fifty pages—but the characters are all well-drawn, and the dialogue sounds true, with occasional bits of humor and sarcasm. I wouldn’t suggest this as one of Shaw’s best novels, but it’s still an enjoyable read.
June 21, 2012
Two Weeks in Another Town follows Jack Andrus also known as Jack Royal, a former successful Hollywood actor. Jack is a changed man from his Hollywood days where he was opinionated, motivated and challenging. Both WWII and life's unexpected twists and turns have left him bitter and bored. Following his departure from Hollywood, Jack has settled into life of normalcy with his French wife, their French children and a dull job at NATO.
One day, he is contacted by Maurice Delaney, a former hot shot film director. The two share a close relationship as their greatest films were due to their collaboration. Their relationship allows them to fully confide in one another, even outside of work. Delaney asks him to come to Rome to work with him again on a new picture. He desperately hopes that this film will revive his career and renew everyone's confidence in him as an director. Due to their shared history, Jack agrees to meet him there.
He arrives in Rome and finds himself falling for a young Italian woman named Veronica. Jack immediately realizes trouble follows Veronica as he is confronted by Breasch, her live-in lover. As Jack spends more time away from home, he is able to fully reflect on his past mistakes and the women he loved. In Breasch, Jack sees a younger version of himself as well as a representation of his estranged son. He takes him under his wing and assists him in his film endeavors. This soon renews Jack's energy in life.
Two Weeks in Another Town was a slow but enjoyable read. None of the characters could be deemed "likeable" as they were nearly all vain, volatile and unashamedly engaging in extramarital affairs. However, this may be due to Shaw's portrayal of a Hollywood filled with has-beens. I was annoyed that details of Jack's experiences in World War II were left out as I was lead to believed this played a large part in his current development. Yet, with all Shaw novels I was unable to put the book down as each chapter contained an interesting spark that moved me forward and forward until I reached the very end.
One day, he is contacted by Maurice Delaney, a former hot shot film director. The two share a close relationship as their greatest films were due to their collaboration. Their relationship allows them to fully confide in one another, even outside of work. Delaney asks him to come to Rome to work with him again on a new picture. He desperately hopes that this film will revive his career and renew everyone's confidence in him as an director. Due to their shared history, Jack agrees to meet him there.
He arrives in Rome and finds himself falling for a young Italian woman named Veronica. Jack immediately realizes trouble follows Veronica as he is confronted by Breasch, her live-in lover. As Jack spends more time away from home, he is able to fully reflect on his past mistakes and the women he loved. In Breasch, Jack sees a younger version of himself as well as a representation of his estranged son. He takes him under his wing and assists him in his film endeavors. This soon renews Jack's energy in life.
Two Weeks in Another Town was a slow but enjoyable read. None of the characters could be deemed "likeable" as they were nearly all vain, volatile and unashamedly engaging in extramarital affairs. However, this may be due to Shaw's portrayal of a Hollywood filled with has-beens. I was annoyed that details of Jack's experiences in World War II were left out as I was lead to believed this played a large part in his current development. Yet, with all Shaw novels I was unable to put the book down as each chapter contained an interesting spark that moved me forward and forward until I reached the very end.
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