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laurenexploresbooks's review against another edition
3.0
This work has a lot of interesting characters struggling with their secrets and betrayals from a puppeteer, to an artist, a maid, and a writer. I found the work to be engaging and the setting of 1927 Paris intriguing. Overall I enjoyed the work but left it wanting more, particularly the continuation of Jean Paul’s journey to find his daughter. I will say this time period and the famous folks interspersed through the work may have been more interesting to me if I had known more about them for context.
glendareads39's review against another edition
4.0
This book follows a painter, writer, a puppeteer and a singer in 1927 Paris-Post WWII. Each chapter focuses on a different character and it connects like a puzzle piece. Each character is haunted by the war and their lives. I feel for Jean Paul and Souren because of the situations they were in. The Paris Hours was beautifully written. Soulen is trying to forget the death of his brother. and channeling his pain through his puppet show. Jean-Paul searching for his daughter and tells the stories of others. There was sadness, betrayal, obsession, drama, love and heartbreak. This book should be turned into a movie.
bedeker's review against another edition
3.0
Almost a very good book. Better editing would have caught the fact that RADAR wasn't a term in common usage until at least the 1940's, and certainly hadn't been coined in the 1920's. And the ending was unfinished in my opinion. I liked everything else about this book.
susangiardina's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very well written book with prose to savor. The four protagonists are all well developed and engaging, and all four are broken people. They are all trying to keep going in the world of Paris in the storied decade of the 1920s. The author deftly works in brief encounters with the big players the in Paris of the Lost Generation. As each of the characters move through their days, their stories ultimately intertwine on one day. A lovely read.
literarylawgirl's review against another edition
5.0
"It's a myth, this idea that you can change who you are simply by climbing on a boat or boarding a train. Some things you cannot leave behind. Your history will pursue you doggedly across frontiers and over oceans. It will slip past the unsmiling border guards, fold itself invisibly into the pages of your passport, a silent, treacherous stowaway."
I love books that are constructed like puzzles where all these seemingly disparate characters come together at some point to perfectly connect to one another. With each piece that is added, the reader is sucked into the journey of trying to figure out the point of the story. The Paris Hours by Alex George is such a novel and the best 24 hours of Covid life that I could have asked for.
The setting is 1920s Paris, post WWI - the city is filled with famous painters, writers, musicians, and refugees. Some of these famous artists make special appearances in the book, but are really the periphery characters: Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, George Ravel, Josephine Baker. The original Shakespeare & Company bookstore also makes an appearance. The main characters are Camille, a maid to the author Marcel Proust; Souren, an Armenian refugee and puppet show performer aching to belong; Guillaume, a down-trodden painter; and Jean-Paul, a grieving journalist. Each of these characters has a heart-wrenching backstory that brings them to this one day where through the many streets of Paris their lives intersect. The writing is literary but with no superfluous details, and the plot is perfectly timed, bringing the book in at just over 250 pages. This is the perfect book for someone looking for an escape to the Paris that everyday Parisians traverse with intriguing characters and a page turning plot.
Fave Quotes:
"This is what war does, mon ami. The whole world is holding its breath, waiting for life to begin again."
"You and I will never get too comfortable here, my friend. We'll always be from somewhere else, won't we?"
I love books that are constructed like puzzles where all these seemingly disparate characters come together at some point to perfectly connect to one another. With each piece that is added, the reader is sucked into the journey of trying to figure out the point of the story. The Paris Hours by Alex George is such a novel and the best 24 hours of Covid life that I could have asked for.
The setting is 1920s Paris, post WWI - the city is filled with famous painters, writers, musicians, and refugees. Some of these famous artists make special appearances in the book, but are really the periphery characters: Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, George Ravel, Josephine Baker. The original Shakespeare & Company bookstore also makes an appearance. The main characters are Camille, a maid to the author Marcel Proust; Souren, an Armenian refugee and puppet show performer aching to belong; Guillaume, a down-trodden painter; and Jean-Paul, a grieving journalist. Each of these characters has a heart-wrenching backstory that brings them to this one day where through the many streets of Paris their lives intersect. The writing is literary but with no superfluous details, and the plot is perfectly timed, bringing the book in at just over 250 pages. This is the perfect book for someone looking for an escape to the Paris that everyday Parisians traverse with intriguing characters and a page turning plot.
Fave Quotes:
"This is what war does, mon ami. The whole world is holding its breath, waiting for life to begin again."
"You and I will never get too comfortable here, my friend. We'll always be from somewhere else, won't we?"
crysrowe's review against another edition
5.0
I simply ADORED this book. It's beautifully written, and took my right to the streets of Paris in the early 1900s. The characters are brilliant, and the way the stories are woven together is a lot like watching a tapestry be made right before your eyes. And the ending!!! It made me gasp out loud!
It is one of my favorite books of 2020 so far.
It is one of my favorite books of 2020 so far.
ehweehweehwin's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I like how the story lines connected at the end. Very satisfying.
marisamoo's review against another edition
4.0
3.5
This is a short and sweet book. I’m a SLUT for separate-storylines-connected-at-end books so I usually go in with suspended belief because they’re rarely realistic. BUT.
I feel like the concepts and connections were made before the characters in this one which was good as it kept it a lot less contrived feeling. Just was a really enveloping peek of historical Paris and I deeply enjoyed it.
This is a short and sweet book. I’m a SLUT for separate-storylines-connected-at-end books so I usually go in with suspended belief because they’re rarely realistic. BUT.
I feel like the concepts and connections were made before the characters in this one which was good as it kept it a lot less contrived feeling. Just was a really enveloping peek of historical Paris and I deeply enjoyed it.
jenleah's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 Beautifully narrated, but I had trouble keeping the characters and their storylines straight and I do think some of that is due to how there were no breaks or verbal cues between the characters' stories. I love novels that span decades, but in this case, I think I also love novels that take place over one day. I've enjoyed all of Alex George's novels.
shmashes's review against another edition
5.0
This is my new favorite book. I checked my notes that I made while reading and the only thing I kept writing was that this book is so unbelievably good. Every character is beautifully written, each with astounding heartbreak of their own. While reading, I felt as if I knew these characters and wanted to help them. They way everyone tied together in some way was done so expertly. The author made me invest in each character equally. No character was arbitrary or unnecessary. I will read this book many times again in the future.