Paris on the Brink by Mary McAuliffe: book review

Paris on the Brink: The 1930s Paris of Jean Renoir, Salvado Dali, Simone de Beauvoir, Andre Gide, Sylvia Beach, Leon Blum, and Their Friends (2108) is an easy-to-read historical account of Paris. Long title, but well-structured with chapters (with shorter titles).

The book begins with ‘End of an Era’ – the ending of the 1920s with the Wall Street Stock Exchange Crash of 1929, sending many Americans in Paris back home.

The 1930s was the decade before the Second World War and the instability of the civil war in Spain. McAuliffe describes Paris as a cultural centre where life goes on amid uncertainty in Europe. There are chapters such as ‘It Could Never Happen Here’ and ‘Navigating a Dangerous World’ as well as ‘Taking Sides’ and ‘Coming Apart.’

There is a cast of characters—real people of the time—from writers Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Satre, and Gertrude Stein to scientist Marie Curie, artist Pablo Picasso, and fashion designer Coco Chanel.

The last chapter and the epilogue are interesting—they discuss the locations where people scattered to when they evacuated Paris. Some were resistors and some were collaborators. Some stayed ‘out of sight’ in France, while many left the country. Some were interrogated and some were imprisoned.

Due to the great number of creatives and intellectuals mentioned in this book, they are not discussed in detail – rather, they are the collective creatives. It is more about the time than the fame, and more about the politics than the individual person.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog