Paris in July 2016 - Thoughts, Hopes, and Plans

Host Webpage for Paris in July 2016

I am very happy to be once again participating in Paris in July, a wonderful event about all things Parisian, hosted by Thyme for Tea.  I have been following this blog for many years.  It is one of the gems of the international book blog world.  Last year we had posts on more than just  the many glories of French literature.  I discovered lots of new to me writers through this event, including a writer whose image will for ever be on the side bar of my blog, Iréne Nemirovsky.  My first post for this year will be on her novel based on her families move from the Ukraine to Paris to escape virulent anti-Semetic pograms.  Tragically she died in the Holocaust, being sent to Aucshwitz where she was as murdered.  I have studied her life and read and posted on fiveteen of her works since last year.  I feel her loss personally.  French authorities and the anti-Semetic feelings of many French people, contributed too her murder.  

     Iréne Nemirovsky and her mother

To me Paris is the capital of the reading life world.  Terrorism is a war on the reading life.  There are no terrorists groups not strongly anti-Semetic.  

I hope this year to learn more about French literature, to linger over descriptions of French food and enjoy arm chair trips to Paris.   

French Literature and History on The Reading Life

My reading from Paris in July 2015

1. Baum, Gabriel, 1935" by Mavis Gilbert - A wonderful set in Paris short story

2.  "Two Friends" by Guy de Maupassant- Paris in July # 6. Requires reading de Maupassant!

3.  "Mildred Larson" by George Moore- What Paris Meant to the Irish

4.  "The Parisian Stage" by Henry James - an illuminating essay

5.  "The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls" by Marcel Aymé- a new to me writer I will return to

6.   Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris, 1932 by Francine Prose - interesting 

7.  Shocking Paris Soutine, Chagall and the Outlaw Art of Montaparrne by Stanley Meisler-a 

     Well done account of Yiddish emigre artists in Paris

8.  Short Stories about Cats by Three Classic French authors 

9.  Suite Francaise by Iréne Némirovsky- a true masterwork. Paris under the Germans

10.  The End of Evil Ways by Honoré de Balzac

11.  Mademoiselle Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History by Rhonda K. Garelick- brilliant bio.

12.  The Horla by Guy de Maupassant, translated by Sandra Smith

13.  "A Piece of Bread" by Francois Coppee 

14.  The Wine of Solitude by Iréne Némirovsky- White Russians move to Paris 

15.  Pynchon and Paris - 

I hope some of my readers will join Thyme for Tea for Paris in July, 2016.

Mel u