kurgy
Junior Member
Posts: 67
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Post by kurgy on Feb 8, 2012 0:51:03 GMT -5
I tried to search if this has been written up here before, and couldnt find any entries, so I thought I'd put it out there just in case I'm reading: Stuff Parisians Like: Discovering the Quoi in the Je Ne Sais Quoi Magny, Olivier www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XFYIEC/ref=kinw_myk_ro_titleIt is absolutely hilarious! A really easy read divided into chapters like Les Americains, The cherry tomato, The Belgians, Classical music....it provides a funny insight into the "Parisians" mind. Its written by a parisian who is a sommelier at O Chateau (http://www.o-chateau.com/) a wine bar in Paris and apparently the French version was on the best seller list in France...I read this somewhere, but can't confirm it. Anyway, have a read and enjoy his insights! |
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kurgy
Junior Member
Posts: 67
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Post by kurgy on Feb 8, 2012 0:59:18 GMT -5
I just looked at his blog on the O Chateau website - looks like hes been writing a blog called "Stuff Parisians Like" on the website in English for some time and the book is a compilation of his blogs. The French version of the book "Dessine-moi un Parisien" was published a year (2010) or so before the English version (2011), and he actually had to translate his English written blog back into French!
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Post by jo on Feb 8, 2012 6:55:47 GMT -5
I loved that book! Sometimes I laughed out loud and sometimes I just nodded my head, going, yeah, that sounds about right!
O Chateau gets very good reviews but I've also read some snarky ones. Has anyone ever gone?
Jo
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Post by geordy on Feb 8, 2012 7:10:44 GMT -5
Haven't read the book..but I will..or been to the wine bar but did go to one of his wine tastings that he used to hold in his apartment. The tasting was okay, he's a cutie and tres, tres charming...a bit too, too IMO  Un French accented English which he makes a joke about and says that if the audience wants he can speak like this...and mimics a heavy accent. I'd like to try the wine bar .....it is on the list  |
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Post by mossie on Mar 15, 2012 9:39:17 GMT -5
I am slowly going through "Stuff Parisians like" and find I have to read it in small bites. When I first got it I skimmed through cherry picking but now I have to read it properly.
Just finished "The most beautiful walk in the world" by John Baxter. That is well worth the time, he wanders off here and there but has some great insights.
Another recent read was "Finding the Foe" by Andy Saunders. This details the stories of German airmen who crashed in England during the war and whose bodies were not recovered at the time. Some remained forgotten for very many years until enthusiasts persuaded the authorities that an attempt should be made to find them. One remarkable case concerns the fighter buried some 40 feet in Romney Marsh. Those aircraft would come straight down, reaching speeds of well over 400 mph and virtually disappear into a small crater. I can still recall the noise some made, a roar which rose in volume and pitch, ending in a ground shaking thump.
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Post by mossie on Mar 15, 2012 9:40:37 GMT -5
A book I have just pulled out of my bookcase is "The Flaneur" by Edmund White, Geordy is responsible for that.
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Post by geordy on Mar 15, 2012 16:56:40 GMT -5
A book I have just pulled out of my bookcase is "The Flaneur" by Edmund White, Geordy is responsible for that. I just got Stuff Parisians Like from the libes. But I will be re-reading The Flaneur as well if my 6 holds are not available when I finish with Stuff! Read and enjoyed "The Girl in the Blue Beret" based on the recomendation above. |
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Post by btrflyrfree on Mar 15, 2012 18:13:02 GMT -5
Just started the new Cara Black "Murder at the Lanterne Rouge", a revisit to the Marais. Aimee LeDuc's partner Rene is in love with Meizi who disappears at a Chinatown dinner. And then of course there's Melac, Aimee's on again off again lover, illegal immigrants, dirty policeman, state secrets, hope I can keep it all straight.
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Post by Happygoin on Mar 16, 2012 6:42:08 GMT -5
Mossie, I read The Most Beautiful Walk in the World and enjoyed it as well. Highly recommended. Btw, it's an especially good book to take to Paris. It's got short chapters that make great, quick reading at bedtime.
Will have to check at the library for Finding the Foe. Sounds interesting.
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Post by cybee on Mar 23, 2012 13:22:05 GMT -5
I am currently reading "The Hare with Amber Eyes" by Edmund DeWaal. I did not realize the French connections I would find when I bought the book, but as for the first part of the book (which takes place in Paris)... connections were found that made me think of my last trip to Paris in particular! The story is (nonfiction) about a man searching the history of the set of Japanese wood and ivory carvings that he inherited (called netsuke) which were first acquired by his ancestor Charles Ephrussi in Paris during the Belle Epoch period. Connections....Ephrussi (#61 (Hotel Ephrussi) on rue de Monceau) lives very near the Camondo mansion(s) (those of Abraham (#66) and Nissim (#60) ( I visited the home of one of the later family member's home this Fall (Musée Nissim de Camondo at # 63 and (re?)built by Moise de Camondo (Hotel Camondo) in 1911/12 and donated as a museum to Les Arts Decoratif in honor of his son Nissim who died in WWI ) (actually this home/musee showcases 1800s furniture and art which had become the rage to collect following the "far east" craze; the latter of which had lost its luster due to becoming too mainstream). The Camondo and Ephrussi families were similar in being quite the art collectors and jewish financiers. Also, references as to the Belle Epoch period of which the exhibit at Musee d'Orsay regarding "Beauty, Morals and Voluptiousness" and the exhibit had Japanese art displayed, inter alia, at the exhibit. Japanese art was new and popular in Paris at that time as Japan was relatively newly opened to the world (opened in 1850s) and such was an influence in impressionist art as well. Thereafter (as I read) the story takes place in Vienna (as the netsuke set was given as a wedding gift to another family member). Some sections of the book are more interesting than others, but in general it is illuminating of the times in those areas.
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Post by trocaderojoe on Mar 23, 2012 18:06:09 GMT -5
I'm currently about 1100 pages into the unabridged version of Les Miserables and still have about 400 to go and I am struggling to find the time to make progress with the remainder.  Next up is The Most Beautiful Walk.... which based on the comments here, I can't wait to get started.  |
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Post by suzanne on Apr 8, 2012 9:24:03 GMT -5
I juts saw an ad in the Wall Street Journal for a new book called "Sacre Bleu" Looks like it might be a fun read. The author is Christopher Moore.
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Post by cigalechanta on Apr 8, 2012 17:36:51 GMT -5
Read the most beautiful Walk, now reading Cara Black's new book that I started on the plane to Paris.
Will check out What Parisians Like,
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Post by btrflyrfree on Apr 9, 2012 11:40:08 GMT -5
Thanks Suzanne, just put a reserve in at the libes!  |
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Post by jo on Apr 15, 2012 14:53:20 GMT -5
I know I'm very late to this party, but I just devoured Sarah's Key in 24 hours ~ What a haunting story. I don't think I could ever watch the movie, I cried so many times during the book. Also read The Paris Wife last weekend ~ am now looking for my copy of A Moveable Feast to reread, but can't find it anywhere  The question is will I be to cheap to rebut it, lol Jo |
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Post by denise on Apr 15, 2012 15:27:05 GMT -5
:)Jo, I am still reading and enjoying "The Paris Wife" much better than" A moveable feast" in my opinion. But dear Hadley is beginning to irritate me. If they are supposed to be so poor, how can they afford to be swaning all over Europe, and now she has got a servent. Marie!
She doesn't have a job, cries poverty, gets drunk all the time, puts up with all sorts of rubbish from Earnest and yet has somebody else to do the cooking and cleaning!
My Protesant work ethic hackles are rising. Get a life woman!
LOL!
Denise
Love from England
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Post by jo on Apr 15, 2012 15:37:36 GMT -5
OMG Denise, I was thinking the very same thing as I was reading it! A servant ~ really?? AND all those trips all over the continent! I want to be poor like that, lol
And where was that poor baby when they were gallivanting all over Europe and even drinking all over Paris ~ very suspicious.
Jo
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Post by suzanne on Apr 15, 2012 19:45:48 GMT -5
I was thinking the same thing. Who leaves their baby for weeks on end? Not to mention allowing your husbands girlfriend in for a nap.
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Post by Happygoin on May 10, 2012 8:27:09 GMT -5
For all of you who love spy thrillers, I just finished Vince Flynn's Kill Shot. It takes place in Paris, in fact, the Eiffel Tower is on the cover. Good read...
PS. For anyone who regularly reads Flynn's books, I didn't realize til I read this that he's been battling cancer for the last couple of years.
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Post by Happygoin on May 22, 2012 8:36:23 GMT -5
There was a book review in the Sunday paper for a new book on...well, you know....Paris....that made me think to post it here:
Paris, I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down by Rosecrans Baldwin
It got a great review and is said to be hilarious.
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Un French accented English which he makes a joke about and says that if the audience wants he can speak like this...and mimics a heavy accent.
The question is will I be to cheap to rebut it, lol
hahahha