Take a photo of a barcode or cover
231 reviews for:
Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London
Lauren Elkin
3.54 AVERAGE
231 reviews for:
Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London
Lauren Elkin
3.54 AVERAGE
DNF @ 60% . I like books about cities so I got excited when I saw that this was supposed to explore a woman's perspectives on city life. This started off good and had some good points but it eventually got boring for me. I was also uncomfortable with the way she wrote the Tokyo chapter, it's the only non-western city in her book and the only one painted in a negative light too. I would have been interested if she explored why she had such a negative experience in Tokyo and why she hasn't been able to assimilate, but if felt like she blamed the city for this? And I was ????? Anyway, this was very much a white woman's perspective on city life, and it's on me for not doing my own research before reading this book.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Great premise, good reading, and really enjoyed Elkin’s writing on Woolf and Rhys.
By the middle though, this book felt like a series of essays that had been strung together. I wish she had brought out more of the key theme throughout all of the chapters to tie this book together.
Less academic and more personal than expected, but the real highlights for me were Elkin’s memoirs of living in New Jersey, Tokyo and Paris.
By the middle though, this book felt like a series of essays that had been strung together. I wish she had brought out more of the key theme throughout all of the chapters to tie this book together.
Less academic and more personal than expected, but the real highlights for me were Elkin’s memoirs of living in New Jersey, Tokyo and Paris.
Torn between a 1 Star and 2.
Cons:
Why was this book written? It is like several college papers strung together
Yeah, really need a white girls perspective on living in Japan and France...
She moved solely bc of men. This is stupid and lame.
Her tone veers to self indulgent and her argument frequently begs the question.
Pros:
Sometimes the writing is good.
The chapter on Martha Gellhorn is really good.
Cons:
Why was this book written? It is like several college papers strung together
Yeah, really need a white girls perspective on living in Japan and France...
She moved solely bc of men. This is stupid and lame.
Her tone veers to self indulgent and her argument frequently begs the question.
Pros:
Sometimes the writing is good.
The chapter on Martha Gellhorn is really good.
I found this book by accident--it came up when I was searching my library's online catalogue for middle grade author Lauren Wolk--and that is the perfect way to stumble across this book, which is itself structured to emulate what one might come across or think about when wandering through cities. I ended up really enjoying it, and there were several passages that illuminated certain cultural aspects in ways I'd never considered. Overall, it functions as mini-biographies of several women writers, artists, and fictional characters, with a little bit of memoir and cultural critique mixed in. My biggest criticism is that a lot of the endnotes contain actual content and authorial commentary that should've been footnotes--they were relevant and could've enhanced the understanding of each topic had I read them in context. Recommended to my fellow rootless city-dwellers!
Well written mix of memoir, literary biography, and travel journal. Enjoyed the New York parts the best because that's most relatable. Looking forward to visiting Paris and Bloomsbury.
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
A lil white but very enjoyable and insightful for my own personal experiences
This would have been a far more interesting and rewarding book had the author focused on women walking the city. But sadly that constituted 20% or less of the book. The rest is divided into some interesting contemplations on the issues of belonging and identity, an overview of certain incidents in European history and the whining of an extremely privileged and spoiled white American woman whenever she realizes that she has to endure some inconveniences before getting her way (see the chapter on Tokoyo or her account of a visa check on the french border).
inspiring
medium-paced