Paris

Since I had never been to Paris, I bought a number of books besides this one. Thank God! Not only did the room description in the book not resemble the room I was in, but the directions to the hotel were messed up. The closest subway station to the hotel (as per the instructions) was on a different subway line in a different neighborhood than the real station - which by the way -was a rail road station. I have no idea where they dug up the hotel from, because no-one around it even knew the street name. I would not be surprised if the Eifel Tower directions send you Versaille. Luckily - I did not have to find out.

Assuming you aren't a Paris expert, then you do need a guide to give you some orientation and also to suggest lodging, etc. Fodor's has published a sufficiently wide-ranging guide that you could make do with it alone. So, if you can only take one guide, buy and take this one. Also, it's lightweight and well sized for travel.

Calvino is a wonderful writer and a genuine original, someone I've always loved to re-read, year after year. But prepare for a shock with "Hermit in Paris": he's almost a caricature of the rude, snotty, anti-american Leftist who finds "95% of America is a country of ugliness, oppressiveness and sameness, in short of relentless monotony." He meets James Purdy and describes him as "pathetic" (why?)

"American Diary" is a tour of the USA through the lens of an Italian Communist. He describes American housing projects as "prisons built of brick" and "terrifyingly anonymous" -- and while few would disagree, they remain positively cheerful (not to mention well-made) when compared to the European model. Exhibit A: East Berlin. When it comes to sheer cement horror and ugliness, no one can outdo the communists of Europe. Painting raw cement electric pink and mint green definitely doesn't help alleviate the hideousness of it all. A more squalid region of the world would be impossible to find.

European Communists are amazing to me, they have Yugoslavia, Poland, East Germany - it's right there, right next door! You can drive there in a few hours. They never mention it. They pretend it isn't there.

This book is for readers who already know and appreciate Italo Calvino's major works of fiction. The center piece of this collection of interviews and memoirs is Calvino's notes on his 1959-1960 trip to the United States. The culture shock and fascination/irritation are especially absorbing to those who have been to the places Calvino visited and share Calvino's interests in literature and culture. These reminiscences are also interesting in the context of earlier Italian observers such as Ferruccio Busoni (concert tours 1892-1915) and Giorgio de Chirico (essay about New York in the 1930s).

This is the first Maigret novel I have read, although I have heard audio dramatisations of the stories and seen televisations. I was a little disappointed. Aware that Simenon produced a vast number of books, almost a production line of material, I did not have high expectations of its qualities. The novel did not transcend them.

The basic plot is simple: a police colleage of Maigret is shot. He is badly injured, his last words before slipping into unconsciousness relate to "an apparition". Maigret is brought into the case and investigates, initially as a controlling force, later through direct interviewing. The investigation leads Maigret into the heart of the Parisian art world, and a sordid world it is too.

Simenon's writing technique is to describe little. The plot is pushed forward by dialogue, and it is dialogue that accounts for the characterisation.

There is something to be said for this approach in certain stories, and in works by some writers the sparseness of description and revelation through dialogue becomes valuable. However, in such writers dialogue does not also bear the burden of progressing the story. The technique (as used by Carver, Kelman, et al) is most effective in stories where little happens. Alterntaively, it can be useful where there is clear first person narration. Sadly, here a lot happens, and the novel is in the third person. The technique is functional at best.

The characterisation appears to be perfunctory, although the reviewer accepts that increased familiarity with the characters in a series of novels inevitably increases the depth of characterisation - and as this is a first reading the subtler nuances of the characters may be missed.

Maigret himself and his wife are most fully drawn, and there are some charming side characters (including a voyeur who keeps watch over his neighbourhood noting the comings and goings from a Dutch art colllectors home; and the wealthy Ducth art collector himself).

In some ways the novel feels like a film treatment, and it is perhaps with actors filling the roles that the characters would take on a little vitality.

This book was not for me, but in its favour it was quickly read. Perhaps the best of Simenon lies elsewhere...

As usually, Simenon creates a splendid atmosphere with Maigret.
It's a jubilation to read this book.

The big art work of Mona Hatoum really don't are able to be close between to cover. Like her performance, her installation and sculpture are ugly and mute in a static and not-so-well-printed photografy book. Good is the intro, and the index of exibitions

This is a good introduction to the art of Mona Hatoum. The book has several well written texts, an interesting interview, and very good photos. Of course, the kind of work Hatoum makes does not lend itself easily to photography, and inevitably some of the impact is lost (but then again, this could be said for any book on art...). Oh, and it is a very good-looking book.

A sweet book. We enjoyed the pictures (photos of street scenes in Paris) and the text was nice although not exciting. Not as fun as some of Charlotte Zolotow's others, but a good book to read to our daughter before we go to Paris!

I love this book and I love reading it to my daughter, and not just because I love Paris. It's refreshingly unique in the world of books for children--books with relatively few words, that is. The photographs are wonderful and match the text perfectly. The author has taken such a fresh approach to viewing that beautiful city, and she has chosen her words with care. The book's title is so meaningful once you read the book. This is a book I wish I had written for my daughter.

The priest Pierre Froment, hero of Zola's novels "Lourdes" and "Rome", is back in Paris, struggling with his lack of religious faith. Froment is surrounded by a nervous city because of the treat of Anarchist attacks, a city divided between extremes of grinding poverty and irresponsible, corrupt wealth.

This is an angry novel. Zola tilts at political cynicism, the duplicity and insincerity of organised religion, and the social and economic inequities of the time.

Much of the novel is really a rehash of themes Zola explored in his "Rougon-Macquart" novel cycle - so there's little original here, and at its worst, the style becomes annoyingly preachy.

There is an interesting sub-plot in which Pierre's brother, Guillaume, develops a new explosive powder of enormous power - many of the issues raised by Zola about how that invention should be best put to use seemed to me to anticipate debates about nuclear power.

Paris is the third volume of the Three Cities trilogy that began with Lourdes and continued with Rome. Published in 1898, Paris is Zola's summation of the 19th Century and his predictions and hopes for the 20th Century. In this work Zola gives a splendid portrayal of social life in Paris at the end of the century. He takes us into the lives of men and women of the upper classes, the working class, and even revolutionary Anarchists. This work is of particular interest to readers today who face the future of a new Milennium since Zola looks at the accomplishments of his century and projects his hopes for a new century ruled by Reason and Justice. We can see how we of the 20th Century have failed and succeeded in bringing Zola's vision of the future to life. Zola spent his career portraying the 19th Century France through the lives of his characters. In this final work of the Century, he uses his story telling powers to create a portrait of the time through the lives of his characters.

I was tricked into buying this book. It is being marketed as a general history of Paris for the traveler or Francophile. Unfortunately, it reads much more like someone's masters thesis. As such, it brings with it all the usual problems of academic writing. Here is a sample sentence:

"In perfect anthithesis to this, phantasmagoria was an ideological mechanism of exclusion."

Sadly, there's lots more where that came from. This book was not written to entertain, inspire, or inform the reader; it was written to promote the author's erudition.

If you're looking for a general history of Paris, I'm sure there are many other options that are more readable.

If you're looking for a general history of Paris, this book is not for you. On the other hand, if you already have a fair knowledge of Parisian history and culture, and if you are intrigued by the intersections of reality and imagination, don't miss it. Anyone who has ever lived in a big city, especially one with history, knows that the essence of the city is more than simply the sum of its buildings and inhabitants. This is particularly clear in the case of Paris - as a city, it is almost more myth than reality. Everyone is familiar, to some extent, with the images and ideas associated with Paris. Higonnet's book can show you how and when these myths originated. The amount of casual erudition in the book can be overwhelming at times, but a dedicated reader will find it rewarding. In addition, Higonnet's ever-elegant and quietly ironic style, combined with what is clearly a deep feeling for Paris, will make you want to keep on reading even when the sheer quantity of information is intimidating.

At first glance, a travel guide encompassing both Paris and Provence (Riviera included) would seem to be a much welcomed attempt at providing a single book to cover a common itinerary. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long to realize that there are many things missing from what could be a first-rate travel book.

If you're thinking of buying this book, keep in mind that there is little else besides restaurants and hotels in the way of reviews (emphasis on the former). In the Paris section of the book, you'll find almost three times the number of pages devoted to restaurants as there are for hotels. The eateries are arranged by arrondissement, as expected; however, the hotels are instead arranged by class ("luxury," "classic," "charming," etc.), which makes searching for lodging by area impossible. Overall, the commentary is usually quite good, although suprisingly more descriptive for the restaurants. There are also reviews of a select few specialty shops (e.g., flowers, perfume, luggage) which might be somewhat helpful to upscale shoppers. Big ommission: not one map of Paris, even by arrondissement (to my knowledge, the only guide of its kind without one). The requisite metro map was also nowhere to be found.

The organization of the "Out of Paris," Provence, and Riviera regions takes on yet a different convention. In these cases, the cities and towns are arranged in alphabetical order with the hotels and restaurants lumped together. Here, you can actually find city maps with numbered lodging and eating places.

In my opinion, the strength of this book lies entirely in the restaurant reviews. If your interests include anything else besides fine dining, look elsewhere if you're searching for a good, all-in-one travel guide.

If you are visiting Paris, I strongly recommend their Paris book, though I can't speak for this combined volume. It is a particulary good book for those who have previously experience the City of Light and are searching for less "touristy" hotels, restaurants and activities.

For example, I discovered the charming Paris canal boat tour in the GM guide. If you've already done the Bateaux Mouches, this is the kind of excursion that will delight you. They also list chocolate and cheese shops that are well worth a visit.

Get the GM Paris guide if you're looking to add new dimensions to your Paris experience.

This spare travelogue of a story tells of a cat that runs away from her owner during a visit to Paris. The story, though illustrated with beautiful watercolors, begins rather abruptly. It's a little hard at first to recognize that Alice is the name of the cat and not the little girl, who is named Annie.

The story gives us a cat's-eye view of Paris, the city of lights. The pictures contain a lot of the usual sites of the city on the Seine, including the ubiquitous Frenchman with long baguettes of bread in the basket of his bike. Since the book is targeted to the non-French, throwing in an illustration of the Eiffel Tower, easily recognizable even to young children, might have been nice.

A nice book to read when you want to make believe you are in Paris in April.

This book has a very short story, but the pictures are wonderful. It is like a brief postcard visit to Paris.

I recently purchased this book [3/1/2002] and took it with me to Paris to look for nightclubs and other interesting sights. The book did a good job of pointing me to some of the better sights in Paris. Paris has to be seen to believed. I would also recommend getting additional books which focus more on using the metro to get around the city and books on the landmarks and museums. The metro is the key to Paris. It will take you almost anywhere you want to go...

I went to Paris with the 10th Edition rather than the 9th; but unfortunately I cannot write a review there as Amazon still says the book is not yet published. Very quickly I have now used 2 books by Timeout, and this book was far more useful than the one that I used for Florence. Overall I think that Timeout books are well organized, have great pictures, and I esp. like the little areas where they have the "Best of." The difference b/w this book and the one I took to Florence became very apparent as soon as I started pounding the pavement in Paris. The only negatives I would have to say are that the maps are a little difficult to use with the different Arrondisements spread out over diff pages; Timeout publishes a magazine like free city guide that I grabbed while in Paris, and this gave me a nice sized map that I could refer to without constant page flipping. I would also agree with the other reviewer in that the authors did not give a great explanation of the metro system in conjunction with the several transport maps they gave in the back, but it is very easy to use once you get there and do some prac app. Other than those two things, it's a good book; I did not award 5 stars cuz I feel a top rating would mean that the user/book owner did not have to rely on another source.

I highly recommend the macaroons @ Laduree, going to the Eiffel Tower past 9pm(it is open until 11) and the patisserie Au Levain du Marais.