Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London by Lauren Elkin

3.54 AVERAGE

cgcpoems's profile picture

cgcpoems's review against another edition

3.5
informative reflective medium-paced
I liked these essays about walking through cities, and the women that have walked there in the past. Sometimes the writing felt a bit dry, and then in other essays I was incredibly engaged. Because of the back and forth between memoir and history, I also felt like the rhythm of the book was a bit off. 

I don’t know that I’d necessarily recommend this to others, but if you’re interested in the topic of walking in cities I think this is a decent place to start!

rita1906's review against another edition

4.0
hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced
oxnard_montalvo's profile picture

oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition

A very engaging memoir/essay collection. Elkin has a very chatty, personable writing style. Was surprised by the wealth of topics she explores, and the meandering unexpected roads she takes us down. While I enjoyed it a lot, the combo-essay structure and memoir could be rather jarring. Got the sense Elkin was struggling to interrogate her own bias and preconceptions of Tokyo, and the tone of that chapter in particular was much more diary than critique. Granted I’m not expecting a person to be as self aware and reflective in their own personal diary, but since this was published, I think the chapter as a whole could have benefitted from some analytical distance. Some time spent thinking about the city itself not just her reactionary relationship to it.
paytonmckenna's profile picture

paytonmckenna's review

3.5
not sure this book has anything profound to say about women's roles in cities and as flâneurs, but it was interesting nonetheless as elkin weaves together history, art criticism, and memoir. like many other people who left reviews, i also found the tokyo chapter tough to get through. elkin spends the entire chapter emphasizing how much she dislikes the city and everything she thinks is wrong with it in comparison to america or europe, and the lack of self-awareness makes elkin's attitude feel antithetical to the approach she takes to rest of the book. beyond that major disappointment, i appreciated elkin's analyses of short stories, novels, and films littered throughout the book, and i'm taking away plenty of new additions to my to-read and to-watch lists. at the end of the day, if this book did anything, it just made me want to book a flight to paris.
trin's profile picture

trin's review against another edition

2.0
The first problem with this book is that I've read better versions of it multiple times. [a:Maeve Brennan|172661|Maeve Brennan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1417923313p2/172661.jpg]'s [b:The Long-Winded Lady|299435|The Long-Winded Lady Notes from The New Yorker|Maeve Brennan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328050456s/299435.jpg|290509], [a:Vivian Gornick|75060|Vivian Gornick|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1260777260p2/75060.jpg]'s [b:The Odd Woman and the City|22929524|The Odd Woman and the City A Memoir|Vivian Gornick|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420944842s/22929524.jpg|42499074], [a:Kate Bolick|8435477|Kate Bolick|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1420003385p2/8435477.jpg]'s [b:Spinster|26804054|Spinster Making a Life of One's Own|Kate Bolick|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443020354s/26804054.jpg|42459922] -- even [a:Edmund White|15975|Edmund White|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1386885403p2/15975.jpg]'s [b:The Flaneur|109724|The Flaneur A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris|Edmund White|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1369505859s/109724.jpg|16186642] does a better job discussing marginalized groups walking the streets of Paris. My favorite flânerie, I think, is about looking outward: observing others, watching the buildings and the streets. Elkin's book seems to be primarily about how much she loves France, how much she hates Tokyo, a really bad boyfriend that she had...in short, about Elkin. This could still be interesting if she made herself a rich, complex subject, but -- she doesn't.

And good god, that Tokyo chapter. TOKYO IS UGLY COMPARED TO PARIS AND THEY EAT GROSS FOOD YOU GUYS. It's 35 pages of the worst white girl whining. How is this still considered acceptable (publishable) travel writing/cultural commentary/anything? Elkin claims you can't walk in Tokyo -- which, since I tragically have not been (making me especially fond of the passages where Elkin bemoaned her boyfriend's company paying for her to fly and live there), I can't actually dispute, but having read a ton of wonderful, wandering [a:Murakami|3354|Haruki Murakami|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1470611596p2/3354.jpg] novels -- and even the white guy travelogues of, say, [a:Will Ferguson|21042|Will Ferguson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1232853650p2/21042.jpg] -- I view with extreme skepticism. Also, "the men slurp their noodles." Elkin doesn't put the adjective Japanese in there, but it is more than just implied; it's a given. Ew.

Two stars because the chapter on Agnès Varda was a small oasis of excellence -- the only section of the book that seemed truly in the spirit of flânerie: probably more a credit to Varda than to the author.

cleocon's review against another edition

3.75
informative reflective medium-paced

hanlandxo's review against another edition

4.5
adventurous emotional funny informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

b1k1l's review against another edition

4.25
adventurous informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

carrie_t_loves_books's review against another edition

4.5
adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

cappog's review against another edition

3.5
informative reflective medium-paced