L’Impossible Retour
You Can't Go Home Again
One of the things I love most about France is the seriousness with which the publication of up-to-the minute novels is treated. The most significant time for new works to appear is known as the “rentrée littéraire,” when all the … Read More
A Flâneur’s Guide: Paris, the Right Bank
A Wandering Raconteur's Paris
A Flâneur’s Guide: Paris, the Right Bank, by “richardb,” is the follow-up to the author’s similarly titled guide to the Left Bank. It crosses the Seine to offer another witty, offbeat, entertaining and frequently off-the-beaten-track view of Paris. Once again … Read More
Molière
To Laugh or To Cry?
Note to readers: To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the birth of the great French playwright Molière, we are republishing this commentary on his work, which first came out in Paris Update on November 18, 2020. A recorded version is … Read More
Paris-Briançon
Night Train
When we are informed at the beginning of Philippe Besson’s new novel, set on the overnight train from Paris to Briançon, that there will be deaths by the time dawn breaks, it would not be a complete surprise to find … Read More
Premier Sang
Diplomatic Training
Even though Amélie Nothomb’s new book, Premier Sang, is not the first openly autobiographical novel she has written – Le Sabotage Amoureux (1993), Stupeur et Tremblement (1999), Métaphysique des Tubes (2000) and Biographie de la Faim (2004) all draw inspiration … Read More
Happy Days
Intuition of the Absurd
Note to readers: You may choose to read this analysis of Happy Days here or listen to it on the audio file at the end of the article. This week, I am going to discuss a play created by one of … Read More
Le Roman Bourgeois
The Quintessential Parisian Novel
Note to readers: You may choose to read this commentary on Antoine Furetière’s Le Roman Bourgeois here or listen to it on the audio file at the end of the article Many works published over the ages could justifiably make … Read More
Oscar Niemeyer in France
The Shock of the Old
A half-century after Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012) designed the headquarters of the French Communist Party in Paris, it is still a shock to spot what looks like a flying saucer, as white as the back of a swan, gradually … Read More
A Flâneur’s Guide: Paris, the Left Bank
Left Bank Lore
Update, Feb. 9, 2022: Since this review was written, a revised second edition of A Flaneur’s Guide: Paris, the Left Bank has been published. See the end of this article for a special price on the new edition. Flâneurs who … Read More
Le Dernier Enfant
Lurching Toward Melodrama
Philippe Besson’s new novel, Le Dernier Enfant, his 20th, bears many of the hallmarks of his most successful previous works. A few examples: His prose is concise and focuses on the inner thoughts of a few central characters. He chooses … Read More