Paris in July 2019 - My Plans and Hopes - Plus a Recap of Paris in July 2018

Paris in July 2019 - Hosted by Thyme For Tea - Sign up here

My Official Event Song

This will be my tenth year as a participant in Paris in July, hosted by Thyme for Tea.  Paris in July is a wonderful international event devoted to all things Paris.

The very simple rules are on the sign up page.  

My Paris July 2018 readings

1. “A Yiddish Poet in Paris” by Blume Lempel, 1978
2. Vagabond by Colette, 1904
3. Lost Times - Lectures on Proust in a Soviet Prison Camp by Józef Czafski -translated and introduced. by Eric Karpeles - 2018
4. “Her Last Dance” by Blume Lempel - 
5. Gerorge Sand by Martine Reid 2017
6. ,THE ARCHIVE THIEF The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust LISA MOSES LEFF
7. “Cousin Claude” by Blume Lempel
8. Taste of Paris:A History of the Parisian Love Affair with Food by David Downie
9. “The Beggar” by Gaito Gazdanov, 1962
10. “Images on a Blank Canvas” by Blume Lempel

Blume Lempel left the Ukraine for Paris to escape anti-Semitic pograms.  She loved Paris but did leave for Canada, settling in New York City shortly before World War Two began.  She loved Paris and always wanted to return but never did.  I was delighted to find four short stories, translated from Yiddish, by Lempel set in Paris.  Of course I could not neglect Colette.  Taste of Paris:A History of the Parisian Love Affair with Food by David Downie left me hungry.

THE ARCHIVE THIEF The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust by LISA MOSES LEFF is a very valuable addition to Holocaust Literature.  Lost Times - Lectures on Proust in a Soviet Prison Camp by Józef Czafski -translated and introduced. by Eric Karpeles left me humbled. Gerorge Sand by Martine Reid was edifying.  The Beggar” by Gaito Gazdanov, is a story by a Russian Cab driver in Paris, writing stories of his experiences.  He deserves to be better read.  

Participates can share their experiences on anything from your favorite Paris restaurant, a movie about Paris, my pick is Ninotchka, a French artist, a trip to Paris or a fashion designer.  Paris history is also a rich topic.  

Literary stars such as Balzac, Zola, Proust, Flaubert, Hugo, Colette, de Maupassant are must reads.  Plus of course there are great set in Paris works by Americans, the best of which, in my opinion, is The Ambassadors by Henry James.  Hemingway's The Movable Feast would be a very good pick.

Here are some works I hope to read for Paris in July 2019

1. The Mad and the Bad by Jean-Patrick Manchette 
2. Suzanne's Children - A Daring Rescue in Nazi Paris by Anne Nelson -nonfiction
3. Death on the Installment Plan by Celine - This is a companion volume to his  Journey to The End of the Night which I read for Paris in July 2017
4. At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell - cultural history of French existentialism
5. Paris Vagabond by JEAN-PAUL CLÉBERT -1952 a poetic exploration of "sites of great poverty or cheap debauchery in an unknown Paris."
6. Cheri by Colette
7. Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-De-Siecle Paris by Caroline Weber
8. The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer.  Set in Paris during WW Two. I just completed her set in Marseille The Flight Portfolio
9. Paris Seven AM by Lisa Wieland - The acclaimed, award-winning author of A Watch of Nightingales imagines in a sweeping and stunning novel what happened to the poet Elizabeth Bishop during three life-changing weeks she spent in Paris amidst the imminent threat of World War II.
10. Four set in Paris Stories by Mavis Gallany 
11. Also I hope to read a few other short stories 

Getting an early start, I have begun several of my choices.  I probably won't finish them all and hope to learn about new to me works from other participants.  

I will be assisted by Ambrosia Bousweau 

Mel u