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| Books on Paris galore... |
When I’m in New York, I love visiting the
Strand. Between the Christmas market at
Union Square and my old stomping grounds in the Village, this bookstore from
the 1920s is my favorite place to spend the precious few moments I have in the
city. Far from a pretentious hipster or
some literature lover, I browse the books, soaking up the often-cheap prices
and the diversity of English prose unavailable in Paris.
Sure, we have Shakespeare & Co. by Notre Dame,
and yes, Amazon delivers globally. Still,
there’s something unique and reassuring about browsing shelf after shelf of
titles. The selection reminds you that
the written word lives on through secondhand copies of classic works or obscure
titles that you can’t find elsewhere.
Plus the tote bags are excellent.
I digress.
While browsing bookstores this year in New York
City, there was a rampant theme in many of the sections that I never really
noticed before. Paris. I know, this isn't new, but, just, wow.
Now a hyper-sensitive expat, I was struck by how many genres feature the
City of Lights, from cooking to memoirs from fiction to history, and from
parenting to tourism. Every shelf, every
display, every section seemingly was pushing Paris as this year (century’s?)
most popular character.
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| A familiar name! |
Even in the travel section, unsurprisingly, but
nevertheless astonishingly, nearly a quarter of the entire European collection
is devoted to Paris. Forget the rest of
France, Paris is it. Vampires, zombies,
and halflings all take a backseat to the town I call home.
Hemingway’s novels aren't far from books about
his wife, authors that I've met are on the staff’s recommendation list, and
journey’s through Paris’ history mingle with a travel guide featuring my name
on the last page. It’s an incredulous mix
of styles, perspectives, and voices that few other cities have managed to bring
together over the last 100 years.
I want to read them all, and I’m working on
it. A copy of La Seduction made it into my suitcase as a gift, and the
visually-indulgent Paris vs. New York
will make a great coffee table book, once I get a coffee table. I’m already waiting for next year’s list of Paris-inspired
works to make their debut. The problem now is seeing how many books I can fit in my suitcase...
I know what you mean; I used to live near the Strand when I lived in New York and it quickly became a weekly stop for me! I wish we had something like this in Paris as well. Potential new business idea, perhaps? :)
ReplyDeleteJoyeux Noël !
Milsters
(http://www.littlepiecesoflight.com/)
When my daughter moved to NYC 3 years ago The Strand was the first place I dragged her to when I came to visit. Now it is one of HER favorite places to show off to visitors. We visited Paris the summer before her big move to NYC, and both adore Shakespeare and Co. She has the best pictures from our visit. Ahhhh the memories....
ReplyDeleteSo what books did you end up purchasing?
Thank goodness for Skakespeare and Co. for English books in Paris, but also I love browsing Gibert Jeune for the same(ish) experience as the Strand!
ReplyDeleteI didn't end up getting any "fun" books at the Strand this year, just a dozen or so books on journalism and Web studies that I'll use for school -- things that no Sorbonne library carries! I guess they'll be fun to read compared to French academic books...