Customer Reviews

Paris Journal, 1956-1964

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Janet Flanner was amazing in her insights in her own words as well as quoting others. I think one would be hard pressed to find someone with greater perception of the France of that era. This work also is a great help in understanding the France of today.
For example, Flanner quotes Maurice Duverger, a professor at the Sorbonne in an interview in the magazine L'Express on pp. 281-282: "Nothing is stupider than stylish anti-Americanism. But at the base of it all there is, just the same, a real question. America is a very different society from ours. It was built by pioneers who for their cultural baggage had the bible and a sense of adventure." Duverger goes on to compare the Soviet Union and the U.S.A. as two evolving societies and concludes that in the long run the U.S.A. will be the greater threat to the French way of life.
Flanner concludes: "Painful as many of Professor Duverger's conclusions are for many Americans, he has academically touched on basic, alarming truths for many of the French, who, even in their awareness, seem unable to do anything about them except complain--while continuing their American way of life "à la française."
I find that to be true in Paris of 2001. I cannot recommend this book enough. Janet Flanner was truly remarkable.

Flanner (nom de plume: Genêt), a former New Yorker essayist and who lived in Paris for many years, describes the cultural and social life of Paris in the 50s and 60s. She pens wonderful glimpses into what Parisians were thinking, feeling, and doing -Paris' life, wine, art, literary insights, and ways of thinking. C'est magnifique.