The Chateau [Paperback]

William Maxwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 1995

It is 1948 and a young American couple arrive in France for a holiday, full of anticipation and enthusiasm. But the countryside and people are war-battered, and their reception at the Chateau Beaumesnil is not all the open-hearted Americans could wish for.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Maxwell was born in Illinios in 1908. he was the author of a distinguised body of work: six novels, three short story collections, an autobiographical memoir and a collection of literary essays and reviews. A New Yorker editor for forty years, he helped to shape the prose and careers of John Updike, John Cheever, John O'Hara and Eudora Welty. His novel, So Long, See You Tomorrow won the American Book Award, and he received the PEN/Malamud Award. He died in New York in 2000. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage International ed edition (November 7, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067976156X
• ISBN-13: 978-0679761563
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #605,042 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written but unfortunately overlooked, July 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Chateau (Paperback)

The Chateau is a wonderful "travelogue" for people who love well written novels. The story begins with the interesting premise of vacationing in France just after the war. The novel shows the tensions of the "haves" and "have nots" between financially war torn France and the booming post war U.S. The Chateau serves to remind us of the graciousness of everyday life and the small luxuries afforded by simply being American. All of the American insecurities of traveling abroad crop up throughout the novel: (e.g. the gaucheness of being an American, the lack of a long history or the U.S's place in Western Culture). No one character is entirely lovable or wretched. That is precisely what makes it such a thought provoking novel. It is perfect for those who travel or have been to France on an extended trip. Enjoy the book and recommend it to a friend. The story can stand on its own but the writing remains the feast.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I knew myself as well as William Maxwell does., December 19, 2007

By 

Digital Chopsticks (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chateau (Paperback)

This book is not about a Chateau. It's not about France or about tourism. It's not travel writing and it certainly isn't "A Year in Provence". It is about being far from home. It's about being in a fascinating world you don't understand, and how you might interpret all that is in it. It's about how being in that world affects relationships with those you know well, and those you meet along the way. If you've been in unfamiliar territory in your life, you'll recognize yourself in Mazwell's detailed mirror. Man, this is a good book. If yor really want to see the beauty and the agony of being on foreign ground, read The Chateau.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An American Couple Go To La Belle France, October 3, 2000

By 

helen verlander (Melbourne 3108, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chateau (Paperback)

On review, I think this is an evocative and highly skilful rendering of La Belle France three years after the Second World War. Novels like this show something which is quite ineffable in any other form. Nothing much happens for all the life is in the minutiae of the everyday and the France that is captured here and which of course exists no longer is seen through the uncomprehending eyes of the young American couple who insensitively travel about a France where people are still suffering the physical deprivations of the War, still talking incessantly of Nazi soldiers. Despite being Francophiles in theory at least, this inseparable couple, are quite out of their cultural (and linguistic) depth in the French society they encounter, notably at the Chateau and afterwards in Paris. They are rather painful in their efforts not to be overcharged because they are Americans and preoccupied with their own comforts. They are quite put out that the chatelaine of the chateau has not provided them with a double bed as requested and when they request water for bathing it is tepid by the time they get to it. They cannot guess at the heroic efforts of their hostess to keep the chateau at all. The wonder is that they are taken under the wing of some of the guests of the Chateau. Much is made of one guest, Eugene's subsequent froideur towards them. There is no great mystery. His is a personality that blows hot and cold but this exercises the American pair a great deal. Their coupleness is also irritating but here I am expressing a personal prejudice. Published in the early sixties, The Chateau is an interesting read for anyone who has ever travelled to France. I just wouldn't wish Harold and his wife on anyone and certainly not the French.