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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
A gift from a dear friend which I took with me on a 2-day trip. Ironically I had had enough of city life and escaped to the countryside when I read the bulk of this book. By midway, I started to want to head into London and stroll the streets.
We see each city from the eyes of Laura and through the lives of those she introduces from history. Rather that past and present, they weave together into one superimposed picture of the cities - occasionally confusing but more often successful. Her description of Tokyo was intriguing, and refreshing to read something so down-to-Earth about the place. Having been to all the cities in the book I could relate to each emotion, even if ultimately I had different views of the city.
I'm so glad to have been given this book as it would not be something I would normally pick up.
We see each city from the eyes of Laura and through the lives of those she introduces from history. Rather that past and present, they weave together into one superimposed picture of the cities - occasionally confusing but more often successful. Her description of Tokyo was intriguing, and refreshing to read something so down-to-Earth about the place. Having been to all the cities in the book I could relate to each emotion, even if ultimately I had different views of the city.
I'm so glad to have been given this book as it would not be something I would normally pick up.
informative
The title is misleading. Instead of it being an interesting exploration about different cities, it was a love letter to Paris and complaining about how other cities weren't Paris. I enjoyed learning about the artists/authors but they also didn't relate as strongly as they could've to the title/expectations of the book.
Would not have finished if it wasn't for the audiobook narrator who was amazing, she gets 5/5 stars lol.
Would not have finished if it wasn't for the audiobook narrator who was amazing, she gets 5/5 stars lol.
I bought this book while studying abroad in France, and bought this at Shakespeare and Company bookstore. This book is all about the power of walking while living and traveling and absolutely adored it especially during a time while I was living in such a walkable place. It gives such a different perspective and power when walking through a place rather than driving.
Absolutely loved the use of different cities as the setting for the author's experiences and how she related the literature, films and art of other female writers who had experienced the same places at different points in history.
As an urban planner, I've always been fascinated by city and how we perceive the urban space around us. I knew a little bit about the term "flaneur" so I was intrigued to read this book about the female version.
I began reading with an enthusiasm that dwindled after the first several chapters. There are a few quotes that promised a wonderful read about "flaneuse-ing" such as "The city turns you on, gets you going, moving, thinking, wanting, engaging. The city is life itself", but unfortunately they are not many. The rest of the book, aside from the ending, manages to stray so much from the topic that my frustration grew as I was reading about biographies of either literary writers or of the author herself. I do not mind some off topic things each and there, but this book had more than half of it. I was always expecting Elkin to tie these biographical facts of her various female heroes to something related to the topic, but aside from Virginia Woolf and Agnes Varda, I found no middle ground to connect them to the intended theme of the book.
This book could have been much more and the title is very misleading. Instead, it is a book which has literary criticism mixed with some autobiography (which I would have expected to dwell more upon her actual relationships with the cities and not on her love life) and too little "flaneuse-ing". I was very disappointed.
I began reading with an enthusiasm that dwindled after the first several chapters. There are a few quotes that promised a wonderful read about "flaneuse-ing" such as "The city turns you on, gets you going, moving, thinking, wanting, engaging. The city is life itself", but unfortunately they are not many. The rest of the book, aside from the ending, manages to stray so much from the topic that my frustration grew as I was reading about biographies of either literary writers or of the author herself. I do not mind some off topic things each and there, but this book had more than half of it. I was always expecting Elkin to tie these biographical facts of her various female heroes to something related to the topic, but aside from Virginia Woolf and Agnes Varda, I found no middle ground to connect them to the intended theme of the book.
This book could have been much more and the title is very misleading. Instead, it is a book which has literary criticism mixed with some autobiography (which I would have expected to dwell more upon her actual relationships with the cities and not on her love life) and too little "flaneuse-ing". I was very disappointed.
this book was pretty disappointing to me. I was initially really excited about it as I had recently been living in a city on my own as well, in one of the exact areas the author writes about. I enjoy reading memoirs but I wasn’t prepared for how much this book delves into the works of other women throughout history and while this may not be bad it wasn’t what I wanted when I started the book. It had its good parts, especially the beginning, but overall it fell flat for me.
It was a nice read, even if I spaced out in some parts—an enjoyable, thoughtful journey through a few cities (but mostly Paris) and some of their prominent literature figures.
I've considered myself a flâneuse since I first heard the term in my Writing London class in 2015. I also consider myself a writer and have strong connections to Bloomsbury in London and Brooklyn in New York City. And I had a magical 24 hours in Paris. So this is obviously my kind of book.
This reminded me a bit of Olivia Laing's THE LONELY CITY: ADVENTURES IN THE ART OF BEING ALONE in that I thought it would be a lot more memoir than it ended up being, but it was much less bothersome to me in this case because the focus was on women writers in the city rather than male artists.
I took a lot of notes, but I'm not sure whether they translate well to a review because I basically wrote down quotes and phrases to which I related. So I will just say that I really appreciated the principles upon which this book was based: space is a feminist issue, belonging and being are not necessarily the same things – in terms of travel being acceptable and immigration being abhorrent for whatever reason – and that cities can be ideas as much as places.
I'll definitely be thinking about this for a while, but I'm not quite sure I can articulate its precise impact on me.
Also, I would like to mention that certain turns of phrase in this book made me swoon. Future self: see notes in your Remembrall for examples. Okay, that's it.
This reminded me a bit of Olivia Laing's THE LONELY CITY: ADVENTURES IN THE ART OF BEING ALONE in that I thought it would be a lot more memoir than it ended up being, but it was much less bothersome to me in this case because the focus was on women writers in the city rather than male artists.
I took a lot of notes, but I'm not sure whether they translate well to a review because I basically wrote down quotes and phrases to which I related. So I will just say that I really appreciated the principles upon which this book was based: space is a feminist issue, belonging and being are not necessarily the same things – in terms of travel being acceptable and immigration being abhorrent for whatever reason – and that cities can be ideas as much as places.
I'll definitely be thinking about this for a while, but I'm not quite sure I can articulate its precise impact on me.
Also, I would like to mention that certain turns of phrase in this book made me swoon. Future self: see notes in your Remembrall for examples. Okay, that's it.
I was ecstatic during this book's first chapter. Planning! Pedestrianism! Urban life! Feminism! Oh mama!
And then as I read on, I felt bogged down by the examinations of mostly-unknown (and I get that that's partly the point) literary women, and I had a hard time seeing how this all fit together. It seemed like two slightly related articles jammed together to make one book. I wish it could have a do-over.
And then as I read on, I felt bogged down by the examinations of mostly-unknown (and I get that that's partly the point) literary women, and I had a hard time seeing how this all fit together. It seemed like two slightly related articles jammed together to make one book. I wish it could have a do-over.
Absolutely loved the use of different cities as the setting for the author's experiences and how she related the literature, films and art of other female writers who had experienced the same places at different points in history.