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A review by laura_corsi
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
3.0
I read this book because I thought it would let me geek out about all things books and have lots of literary references I knew. It wasn't really that kind of book though. It was a book about grief and grieving about love and finding. There were incidentally a lot of ambiance revolving around good books, good food, and cats. Lots of cats. It wasn't what I thought but eventually this little French jewel won me over and wormed its way into my heart. I cried copious tears. I smiled gently at the wonderful adventures of Jean and his friends. I laughed and rolled my eyes a lot. It was wonderful and just in time for I was in need of some smart and funny chic lit, although I'm not sure that's exactly how I would classify this book. It was really lovely, however. Like when your friend drags you to a foreign film, at first your just humoring her/him but then after a while you begin to enjoy it against your will and then you love it more than your friend did. This book is just such an experience.
It definitely has a very French flavor as well. It was originally written in French and then translated into English, and it has a very different sensibility than an American novel of the same genre would. It is a book more comfortable with its emotions and that descends much less often into avoiding the characters emotions or shrugging it off with biting wit and leaving the emotion unsaid in the silence of a touch or a gesture like an American novel. It comes off a bit drunken to American sensibilities, but it is a charming drunk. Consider the imagery in this descriptive passage: "..daylight made the colors blossom; by night it was lit by the wide starry sky, and in the evening by the soft rosy light of old-fashioned lanterns. Over there the market with its yellow-and-red awnings under lush plane trees. Around them, soothed by the sun and the sea, people reclined dreamily in their chairs at countless tables in old bars and new cafes." (294) It is so comfortable, so expansive. It revels in what it feels and sees. It does not try to evoke a picture with a few carefully chosen words. Rather, it lets itself have an abundance of words to describe as it wishes. The characters have a similar way of viewing emotion and life. It is beautiful and French. It is decidedly not American.
If you are having trouble feeling emotions or feel that perhaps what you need is a good cry and then perhaps you might be able to finally have a good nights sleep, then I would heartily recommend a dose of The Little Paris Bookshop to be consummed in doses of 5-100 pages depending on the severity of your condition.
It definitely has a very French flavor as well. It was originally written in French and then translated into English, and it has a very different sensibility than an American novel of the same genre would. It is a book more comfortable with its emotions and that descends much less often into avoiding the characters emotions or shrugging it off with biting wit and leaving the emotion unsaid in the silence of a touch or a gesture like an American novel. It comes off a bit drunken to American sensibilities, but it is a charming drunk. Consider the imagery in this descriptive passage: "..daylight made the colors blossom; by night it was lit by the wide starry sky, and in the evening by the soft rosy light of old-fashioned lanterns. Over there the market with its yellow-and-red awnings under lush plane trees. Around them, soothed by the sun and the sea, people reclined dreamily in their chairs at countless tables in old bars and new cafes." (294) It is so comfortable, so expansive. It revels in what it feels and sees. It does not try to evoke a picture with a few carefully chosen words. Rather, it lets itself have an abundance of words to describe as it wishes. The characters have a similar way of viewing emotion and life. It is beautiful and French. It is decidedly not American.
If you are having trouble feeling emotions or feel that perhaps what you need is a good cry and then perhaps you might be able to finally have a good nights sleep, then I would heartily recommend a dose of The Little Paris Bookshop to be consummed in doses of 5-100 pages depending on the severity of your condition.