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
Flâneurs who enjoyed last week’s article about the pleasures of wandering aimlessly through the streets of Paris will be happy to hear that there is a new book, A Flaneur’s Guide: Paris, the Left Bank, by the mysterious “richardb,” designed … 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
Les Fleurs du Mal
The Depths of the Unknown
To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Baudelaire on April 9, we are rerunning Nick Hammond’s piece on him from last December. You may choose to read this analysis of Les Fleurs du Mal here or listen to … Read More
Marcel Proust
Proustmania
Note to readers: You may choose to read this commentary on the work of Proust here or listen to it on the audio file at the end of the article. Ever since I started these lockdown literary excursions last March, … Read More
Molière
To Laugh or To Cry?
Note to readers: You may choose to read this commentary on the work of Molière here or listen to it on the audio file at the end of the article. Those of you who know Paris will be familiar with … Read More
Letters of Madame de Sévigné
On the Road with the Marquise
Note to readers: You may choose to read this commentary on the letters of Madame de Sévigné here or listen to it on the audio file at the end of the article. At a time when France and many other … Read More
Final Transgression
The French at War – With Each Other
What was it like to live in France under the Nazi occupation? What role would you have played in those grim circumstances: Resistance hero blowing up trains? Collaborator denouncing neighbors to the Gestapo? Or simply your average French citizen, cold … Read More