Rating: 
Summary: Paris: from the Inside by an Outsider
Review: Living in Paris was the dream and wish of this author since he
first visited during his teenage years. It has been said, "once, you visit Paris, you must return ..." and much of the allure is based on the desire to relive the memories of the first meal ever consumed there, recalling all the tantalizing and delicious flavors that only Parisians can create. The book is essentially a 4 year memoir of living in Paris from the mid-1990s. The author is a writer for the New Yorker magazine, his wife a screenplay writer, who, along with their infant son, pack up and leave their home in New York, for the adventure of a lifetime. What I loved most about the book is how the author compares and contrasts American thinking, logic, and values with those of the socialistic, French, cosmopolitan view. The book is educational, literary, entertaining and occasionally amusing. The author's technique of interspersing French history and political outlook with current events and situations is particularly effective. The author writes with first hand knowledge about fashion shows held by the elite designers, the Parisian cuisine of the most well-established restaurants, reasons for some fo the strikes, the socialistic approach to healthcare, and even apartment hunting, explaining how & why the government owns apartments in the "best" neighborhoods, available only to highly elected officals. Of interest to me, was a chapter on the political trial of a government official who had been involved in processing the paperwork for Jews who were deported to concentration camps during World War II - the sobering past is never too far away. My favorite story was the "Balzar Wars" in which a group of restaurant regulars (well established customers) form an "association" to stand up for the rights of the waiters (garcons) when an restaurant tycoon buys this favorite restaurant of theirs ... The author describes favorite "haunts" of his such as museums, art galleries, parks near the Left Bank, and even how to maneuver through the red-tape of the "Bibliotheque National" (Naitonal Library). He also describes the favorite places of his son, who is around 2 - 3 years of age by then. Another charming story was his son's first "love affair" with a Parisian blond beauty, of about 4 years of age. There is just the right combination of intellectual discourse, creative description and chatty banter, to create a hihgly pleasurable reading experience. Erika B.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must If You Love Paris
Review: This book is a wonderful memoir of a New York family that moves to Paris for a period of 5 years with a young son in tow.Adam Gopnik writes this book in a style of short stories or essays that weave into one great book. He offers a well thought out idea of what must be said from an American in Paris. His comparisons are very real, some light-hearted, some blatantly profound. Gopnik shows his vulnerability many times as a fish out of water, but he tries harder than the average American to blend into his surroundings and take on some of the easier characteristics of becomming French like developing a fondness for a life of profound beauty, a taste for well prepared food, relaxing into the dining experience of the cafes and brasseries, showing his son the art of the carousel rather than the brainlessness of "Barney", and eventually creating another child born a Parisian. The best chapters in this book are the ones that Gopnik writes about his son discovering himself in Paris. His favorite food becomes croissants rather than ketchup fast food burgers, his puppy love with a young French girl in the Ritz pool, how he would rather play at the Luxembourg Gardens than with a television and most importantly how he adapts to becomming a childish little Frenchman. With this said the one chapter I would skip is "The Rookie" a portion in the book that somehow just dosen't fit. From the elegance of the French life back to the world of baseball? Personally I would have just left the entire chapter with an editor and walked away. Gopnik shows how well he has adapted to French life in the portions of the book that he dedicates to the cafe Balzar. This cafe becomes the victim of a corporate buyout and is almost lost until a band of dining brothers glue themselves together and form a secure fortress in pure French flair to save the cafe in its original form, garcons and all! It is an interesting look at how easy and yet how complicated life can be in Paris, all that French discussion can lead to something good. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Paris and craves a walk down its Rues. Gopnik makes little things seem absolutely important and accurately describes all of the large and small nuances between the French and Americans. His wife, Martha, says it best, "We have a beautiful existence in Paris, but not a full life, and in New York we have a full life and an unbeautiful existence." This must be why Paris remains in the minds of most Americans who walk along its streets but slowly find themselves returning home, to the rush and bustle of America with an over-inflated heart.
Rating: 
Summary: best consumed in small portions
Review: I remember liking Gopnik's "Letters from Paris" series when I still subscribed to the New Yorker in 1996. This book, frankly, is a disappointment. Although parts of it was still enjoyable (he's good at the craft of writing -- often witty on a sentence-level, and technically strong (I liked his use of the parallelism in A Tale of Two Cafes)), in a book form, some troubling characterstics show through more than his New Yorker pieces. He is fond of trying to turn small daily details into some deep metaphor about the cultural differences between NYC & Paris; but more often than not, the attempts seem forced and unreasonable. Either he was willfully, pretentiously trying to be deeper than his experiences afforded him, or perhaps he was just a lost foreigner who misunderstood his environs a lot. In terms of actual insights, this book offers no more than the same sort of thing one would expect to hear from a college student returning from her study-abroad program (granted he expressed them in a more entertaining fashion). From a human perspective, I think that Gopnik was cruel for making his very young child adjust to unfamiliar countries (twice!) just to satisfy his own vanity/childhood fantasy. I find his constant attempt at trying to fit in, trying to become more "Parisian," (and failing) rather pathetic; though in an odd way, it makes a rather moving American tale (immigrants trying to fit-in in the US).
Rating:
Summary: Over-hyped
Review: The cover said "The finest book on France in recent years" and I opened the book with great expectations. I barely made it through the first self-indulgent chapter. Urged to read on, I continued and the book improved -- although not a whole lot. I enjoyed the chapters on "The Crisis in French Cooking" and "The World Cup." Most of the rest was pretty dull. The author found great meaning in commonplace events. I didn't. His view of France is elitist and intellectual. I would have been more interested if he had interviewed French customers at McDonalds in Paris -- or American tourists wearing shorts and carrying cameras. A hilarious feature of "Paris to the Moon" is "Questions for Discussion" at the back of the book. Seven serious questions are asked of the reader -- just as if he were a college sophomore taking a test in literature! The presumption is, of course, that what he has just finished reading is worthy of discussion. What a hoot! The guy who thought of this should be assigned to guard duty on the Maginot Line -- or a week-long seminar on French culture.
Despite all, Gopnik is a likeable fellow and a good writer and "Paris to the Moon" is marginally worth reading
Rating:
Summary: Pais artfully rendered
Review: I had the great priviledge to visit Paris in December of 2000 which was just a smidgen after New York Time Columnist Adam Gopnik had finished his five year soujourn there...thus the imagery of the book was very fresh: his discussions of the Eiffel Tower , the restaurants, the museums and the Seine activated each and every precious, jewel like memory. If you too have been a visitor to Paris, Gopnik's dispatches work tremendously on this level alone. But beyond simple travelogue, the author invites the reader to experience his obsevations as a husband and new parent, as the intrepid outsider, and as an iconic American expatriot seeking an alternate dream.
Though the canvas of Paris is broad, his vingettes are witty, personal and affecting. He so artfully renders the object of his desire, his Paris, that you'll ache with longing to be there as well. I was so caught up in the thrall of his tales of City of Lights that I had a hard time finishing this book. But day dreams must end and the moon must set...even in Paris.
I treasure this truly engaging and wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: What's everybody's problem with this book?
Review: I found this book to be perfectly charming. This is a New Yorker writer, whose wife is a filmmaker. Repeat that sentence and ponder its meaning. Some of the readers who have posted review here seem to expect Adam Gopnik to write a book about somebody else's experiences. They wouldn't do this themselves, or have their children do so. They wouldn't expect Hemingway to write about feng shui or Jane Eyre to write about the Peloponnesian Wars. This isn't a history of Paris, or a guide to the subway system. Perhaps Paris brings out self-obsessiveness; perhaps living in any other country does; but I compare Gopnik favorably with Anais Nin and Henry Miller, two other self-obsessed American writers in Paris, and wonderful writers they are, albeit in the 30's. (And by the way I think Gopnik is possibly Canadian; certainly his wife is.) His touch is lighter than Miller's. His affection for his family creates a warmer sort of familiarity than Miller's (which is very winning in its own way). There's a can-you-top-this aura to Henry Miller, whereas Gopnik just marvels at things and shows off his whimsical humor and gift for association. At the same time I find his prose to be more concrete and outwardly directed than Nin's. Not a high bar, that! Gopnik makes it clear from the outset what his and his wife's admittedly enviable plans are for the next five years, for the duration of this book. Buyer beware. I would agree that he takes awhile to hit his stride, but Gopnik's talent for generalizing from common experience is wonderful. The parallel he finds between Americans' attitudes toward sport and the French's toward government officiousness is priceless. He manages to come to an understanding of soccer, a feat that to my mind compares favorably with writing, say, War and Peace. He may wander for a time in fashion circles (were I in Paris with the appropriate press pass I would too), yet he has a talent for bringing the whole crazy scene down to earth. He and his wife are raising a boy and (near the end) giving birth to a girl, and I find nothing wrong, and everything praiseworthy, about giving this side of his life center stage from time to time. The description of pregnancy and childbirth in France is one of the most memorable parts of the story. As you might expect, there is plenty here about food, and about restaurants, and about language, and about globalization, and about New York, too, aka home. As with New Yorker writing at all times, the prose is idiosyncratic, breezy, maybe a little unedited. That's just the way it is. I guess if you like it, you love it, and if you don't you don't.
|
