Average customer rating:
- Review of the book,"From here, you cant see Paris"
- Poorly Edited
- Evocative rendering of a wonderful part of the world
- A little gem
- We had stumbled upon a little world of good.
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From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant
Michael S. Sanders
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
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ASIN: 0060959207
Release Date: 2003-09-30 |
Book Description
From Here,You Can't See Paris is a sweet, leisurely exploration of the life of Les Arques (population 159), a hilltop village in a remote corner of France untouched by the modern era. It is a story of a dying village's struggle to survive, of a dead artist whose legacy began its rebirth, and of chef Jacques Ratier and his wife, Noëlle, whose bustling restaurant -- the village's sole business -- has helped ensure Les Arques's future.
Sanders set out to explore the inner workings of a French restaurant kitchen but ended up stumbling into a much richer world. Through the eyes of the Sanders family, one discovers the vibrant traditions of food, cooking, and rural living, and comes to know the village's history. Whether uncovering the darker secrets of making foie gras, hearing a chef confess his doubts about the Michelin star system, or absorbing the lore of the land around a farmhouse kitchen table after a boar hunt, life in Les Arques turns out to be anything but sleepy.
Customer Reviews:
Review of the book,"From here, you cant see Paris".......2007-09-10
I started out prepared to like this book, after all, I love France, having visited it many times, and my Grandmother on my Mothers side was French. However, after only a few sentences, alarm bells started to go off. The more I read, the worse it got. Basically, -here are the problems. The authors appalling use of Grammar, the tortured sentences, the overuse of adjectives, the misplaced adverbs and verbs, the use of American slang, {as in "I wanted to get the "skinny" on the matter,-meaning the inside info.}The mixed use of Ameringlish, Franglais,and slang.
Just read it yourself, and you will see what I mean. Michael Sanders badly needs a} a good proof-reader, one who is literate as well as literary, and b}someone to edit his work and be prepared to slash many tortured sentences with a red pen.I gave up before I was even half-way through, as being a retired English teacher, it was too painful to read further. Sorry, but I cant recommend this book to anyone who is half-way literate.
Poorly Edited.......2007-06-01
I enjoyed this book for the most part, but found it poorly edited. The author mentions the same things over and over again in different parts of the book. When the same idea or scene is repeated, it is as though it is being mentioned for the first time. I found this highly annoying when I was reading the book.
Evocative rendering of a wonderful part of the world.......2006-09-02
A friend who lives in the Lot recommended this as essential reading prior to our recent trip to visit her. Although at first I feared that this book would be another cloying American-in-Europe travelogue, I happily found that Sanders presents a balanced and gracious treatment of a place that obviously captured his heart. He resists gushing encomiums and treats his subject matter with restraint and some degree of objectivity. Having said that, I should add that he also enthuses when he feels inclined to do so, and these sections generate a warm glow without excessive sugar-coating. The book hooked us, and after we arrived in the region, we undertook a two-hour drive through the backroads of the Lot to walk through the village, visit the museum, and, of course, lunch at La Recreation. It is always difficult to reconcile the experience of a place in the flesh with one's mental image from a book, but Sanders captured the magic of the place deftly. The lunch, by the way, was magnificent.
A little gem.......2006-08-15
Sanders has captured a lovely, wistful sense of life in an impoverished little French village. Balancing out the descriptions of the local restaurant and the residents of Les Arques are more factual reports on how some of France's culinary goodies (foie gras and duck breast, for example) are made.
While he doesn't shy away from describing his experiences with a clear eye, Sanders' affection and appreciation for his neighbors' kindness is apparent. This is a book that deserves a place on the shelf of any Francophile.
We had stumbled upon a little world of good........2006-07-09
After I read chapter 3, "Monsieur le mairie," I knew that I not only liked this book, but loved it. This is a book of very warm, real portraits of French people in a small community and of vivid and pleasant images of a village and the countryside around it. The book centers on the village of Les Arques in the valley of the Lot River, which lies below the better known valley of the Dordogne, and it is loosely center around a restaurant, La Recreation, and the dedicated proprietors, Jacques and Noelle. Although I am not interested in restaurants and cooking, I found myself fascinated. Not only did I learn about the life of a small, yet dedicated restaurant, but about the farmer who lovingly came to grow produce for it. And about the many other relationships of Les Arques that spell the familial essence of being French. I learned about the trials of producing truffles, of raising ducks for foie gras, and of eking out a living in rural France. Yet it is a happy book, a joyous book, a real book, and a loving book. When the author returned to America, it was almost as difficult for me to say good-bye to Les Arques.
Book Description
France on Foot details exactly how you - along with your friends or family - can combine the pleasures of walking cross-country through the forests, vineyards and villages of the French countryside with the sybaritic delights of eating in good restaurants and sleeping in comfortable hotels. Author LeFavour reveals a well kept secret: the French maintain a system of superb off-road footpaths that you can use to walk on your own for few days, a week or even a month. The Loire, Provence, the Alps, Normandy, the Dordogne - every region has thousands of miles of marked trails that are linked to the trails in other regions. This system is 110,000 miles long making foot travel possible, literally, anywhere in the country.
The book is full of information and strong opinions about France and the French. It offers as well many personal anecdotes gleaned from the author's trips on foot, and these stories will interest the walker and non-walker alike. But at base, France on Foot is a how-to book, the one resource you'll need before you take your own independent walking vacation in France.
Customer Reviews:
You too can walk the GR's of France.......2006-11-04
I have planned a walking trip to France 2 times in the previous 10 years and for reasons of sickness and health and family crisis have had to postpone. This book gave me the encouragement to try again even as a middle-aged woman. The author was entertaining, factual, and helpful. If you are unsure about taking on France's GR walks read this book and be convinced that anybody can do and will be glad they did.
This is an excellent book!.......2006-01-29
I really enjoyed this book. It's filled with very useful information for travelers in France -- on foot or otherwise. It's beautifully produced, with some great photographs.
I'm making plans for my first long distance walk in France as a direct result of this book.
Not only useful, but a pleasure to read.......2003-11-27
I think the other reviewers have already covered most of the points. This book is written by a chef, and it is composed like a fine meal. The pace is wonderful: relaxing, but never boring-- the same way he advocates undertaking a long walk in France. Although a backpacker (I am one) would find this book useful, it is not intended for anyone who has ever spent a night without a roof, nor for anyone who intends to ever spend a night without a roof. What it will do is lead you to an experience that will leave you with a sense of accomplishment after enjoying a couple of weeks of beautiful scenery and fabulous food in the most relaxing and healthy manner possible. I am not exaggerating when I say that this is one of the best books I've ever read.
Practical Advice.......2001-07-22
The other reviews have adequately described this wonderful book, so I will just tell you one or two things about putting it into practice. 1) Get in shape before you go. Prior to leaving, we did a lot of fast walking on flat ground without packs - this was NOT sufficient. Those packs get very heavy going up even a gentle hill. 2) Pack as light as you possibly can, then get rid of half of it. We ended up mailing home or throwing away city shoes, extra pants, makeup, etc.etc. Also, buy a smaller pack than you think you need. 3) Set realistic daily distance goals - the author is a bit too optimistic in our opinion. 4). Always carry water and at least a little food, like granola bars. Some places that look on the map like little towns perfect for lunch are just a group of houses and farm buildings. 5) Try to check "closed" days ahead of time. In France, it is generally not Saturday or Sunday, but some weekday. We walked into a tiny town dead-beat at the end of our first day (a Tuesday) to find it was closing day - not one restaurant, bistro, cafe, ANYTHING open, including the hotel's restaurant. However, all that being said, our walk through the Dordogne was THE single best vacation we've ever had (with the possible exception of Cuba). I love to browse through this book dreaming about our next one, maybe through Provence.
Buckle up your Mephistos!.......2001-01-22
There is no better way to discover the soul of a city than on foot. Whether the city is Helsinki or New Orleans, San Francisco or Paris, Chicago or Berlin, when you walk its streets and see its people face to face and sit next to them while you sip coffee or wine, you come to know the city. Although I have yet to try walking from hamlet to hamlet in France, I fully intend to. Bruce LeFacour and his photographer wife Faith Echtermeyer obviously have the same idea about knowing a land. I have read this book several times and would like nothing more than to spend next summer, in France, walking to all the lovely places.
Customer Reviews:
An honest look at rural Provence in the mid-20th century.......2001-01-06
For those interested in a thoughtful, genuine look at day-to-day life in rural France in the post-World War II 1950's era, this is a delightful book. It is the story and reflections of a noted Harvard sociologist whose family spent a year in the small village of Rousillon in Provence (in the book, he gives it another name to protect the locals' privacy), observing and commenting on village life. It is not a glib, quick laugh -- rather the lively reflection of a thoughtful participant and talented writer. It may be an eye opener to realize just how rural life was not all that long ago in this part of France. There are delightful pictures as well, with scenes that can be recognized by the modern visitor to Rousillon. The end of the book includes the author's reflections on subsequent visits in later years.
Truely refreshing.......1999-10-25
Laurence Wiley,a former professor of sociology at Harvard,wrote this wonderful little book in the 1950's. This charming examination of life in the town of Rousillon(which he calls Peyrane to protect it's privacy)captures the the character of French life in the postwar recovery period.As a reader you will be transported back in time to a simpler life among the hill towns of Provence.Laurence gives us the facts about the history of the town,and from where the people came (surprisingly it was a transient population).He tells us about how they are brought up,educated,their adolescent times,their whole lives.There are many delightful personalities in this book-you will enjoy it.I just hope someone will use it for a movie one day.
Book Description
A lively, detailed picture of village life in the Middle Ages by the authors of Life in a Medieval City and Life in a Medieval Castle. "A good general introduction to the history of this period."--Los Angeles Times
Customer Reviews:
Solid introduction.......2003-10-30
Life in a Medieval Village by Frances and Joseph Gies. Recommended.
Life in a Medieval Village is one of a series, including Life in a Medieval City and Life in a Medieval Castle, written by Frances and Joseph Gies. This series rarely touches upon the great people and events romanticized by Hollywood and numerous fiction writers (and perhaps even a few historians), but focuses on the basics of everyday life for the average person or even the average lord or cleric. The Gies use a number of primary and secondary sources, the latter of which reveal how the historian's view of the medieval village has changed in the 20th and 21st centuries and how flexible historians must be in interpreting the evidence.
Researched and written for the layperson, Life in a Medieval Village is more accurately about life in an English medieval village, with most of the detail coming from the records of Aethelintone/Aethelington/Adelintune/Aylington (Elton) in Huntingdon, one of Ramsey Abbey's manors. The Gies provide a history of the village concept and its definition; its role in the manorial system (contrasted to the seigneurial system); a description of its people, physical structure, buildings, administration and administrators, judicial system, family and spiritual life, and work; and the background behind its decline.
The world of Elton and similar villages is not found in movies or novels. Social and economic statuses are not always clear cut, economic upward mobility is possible primarily through acquisition of land, and even the distinction between "free" and "unfree" is not distinct. Life revolves around the manor and the villeins' and cotters' obligations to the mostly absent lord and the manor, which come in the form of work, rents, fees, taxes, and fines. The administrative structure of the manor is somewhat like that of a modern corporation, with the lord as CEO of multiple manors (and primary consumer of goods) who "wanted the certainty of rents and dues from his tenants, the efficient operation of his demesne, and good prices for wool and grain." His steward, or seneschal, serves as senior executive, while the bailiff, reeve, beadle, woodward, and others are the manor's day-to-day managers and supervisors.
As the villagers acquire surnames (from where they live, what they do, the offices they hold, and personal characteristics), patterns emerge from the records. Some families become dominant economically and politically (e.g., holding many offices such as reeve or juror many times); others decline; while yet others show a propensity for violence and petty crimes. Such infractions are punished primarily with fines rather than corporal punishment; the stocks and hanging are resorted to only in the most egregious cases. The judicial system is often compassionate (or at least practical); many fines for minor trespasses are lowered or forgiven by the court because "she is poor." When laws are broken, a jury hears the case, but the entire village decides.
The Gies also provide an excellent overview of the passing of the medieval village, which began with a sustained famine and the Black Death. The labor-intensive manorial system simply could not survive the depletion of workers, the increase in expenses, the onerous taxes brought on by wars, and, perhaps more importantly, the sense of change and discontent that began to pervade the villein class.
The challenge for the Gies as authors is to take the minimal material available (ranging from books about estate management written for lords and stewards to court and ecclesiastical records) and to bring the village to life from these records. What emerges are people who live in fragile houses; are rarely well fed from a nutritional perspective and whose food supply is always in doubt; work hard and are not above trying to wheedle out of work; who drink and fight and are sometimes brutal; fornicate (primarily a woman's crime but not a particularly reviled one); vandalize; commit petty crimes against the lord and their neighbors; and in short live lives of struggle every day without the expectation or vision of change in the future.
The Gies focus on Elton, with supplemental material from other English villages, so the reader who is interested in village life on the continent will need to explore other works to flesh out the picture. Because the mostly illiterate villagers themselves left few personal records, it is up to the thoughtful reader to discern the village's character and personality and to conceive of what day-to-day life must have been, based on the little that is known-to put oneself into the worn shoes of the working villein and to imagine his or her thoughts, feelings, and aspirations. Life in a Medieval Village is a good beginning.
Diane L. Schirf, 30 October 2003.
Lifeless.......2003-06-20
On the positive side, this book contains an enormous quantity of well-documented detail and scholarship. On the negative side, the writing is colorless and, to my eye, devoid of any unifying theme. Even someone seriously interested in the history of the period will find it soporific. Having struggled to the end, I still cannot decide if the juice was worth the squeeze.
Well sourced, but doesn't read well........2003-05-16
Renowned scholars of medieval history, the Gies credentials are impeccable. However, in this book, they seem to relish in providing piece after piece of redundant references, notes, and other bits of trivia to tirelessly pound the reader into submission as they seem determined to impress with their knowledge and research capabilities. If nothing else, the work provides the reader with a comprehensive bilbliography and reference list of places to go if they are that interested in life in a medieval village. The result of this style is a dry work that ofter reads like paragraph after paragraph of a census roll or register. It's dry, it's well researched, but it's dry. Oh, did I say that already?
A bit dry but very informative.......2003-05-03
Gies&Gies discuss the nature of an "open field" village, which was a distinctive feature of the "manorial" or feudalism (more or less). It was not just a small town; the nature of the agricultural and legal systems made it unique.
Lots of material, and well worth reading, but occassionally dry and pedantic.
Good enough for what it does.......2003-04-20
I can see from the other reviews to date that I'm not the only reader that found Life in a Medieval Village a bit dry. Some of the records Gies and Gies dug up are detailed here, but the narrative can turn into paragraphs long description of how John was fined sixpence for letting his sheep graze in the church, and so forth. I'm also not surprised to see that other readers found little depth or analysis. The authors walk the line between scholarly research and popular history, and I'm not sure many people will be satisfied with this.
If you are seriously interested in the subject, and you want details, this would be the book to choose. But I don't think it would be good in isolation. It's really not a fun read, and specialist historians probably wouldn't get much out of it.
I did read one other reviewer who liked it for a very good reason, and that is if you are considering fictional writing, perhaps historical fiction or the fantasy genre. I've also seen the Gies books listed in various Amazon.com lists for running role playing game campaigns. Having played RPGs myself in high school, I can say that all the Gies books (of the two I've read, this one and the Castle book, with Cities coming in a few weeks from now probably) would indeed be a valuable reference, because the reader will find the sort of day to day detail that is well suited to that work. It also contains a lengthy list of references and a short glossary of terms, so as a common reference and mildly enjoyable read, Life in a Medieval Village is an alright book.
Customer Reviews:
The Most Beautiful Villages of Provence.......2007-07-21
France is one of my favorate places to visit and the book has picked a few of the places I have visited. Great Book to own.
INTOXICATING!.......2007-04-16
I love this book! It effectively captures the drama and charm of Provence. I have been to Provence and this book is the next best thing if you can't go there. I also highly recommend the other book "The Most Beautiful Country Towns of Provence".
Disappointing .......2005-08-19
I bought this book thinking that it would show me not only nice pictures, but also information about the villages it supposedly considers the most beautiful ones in Provence. Pure disappointment... Even though the quality of the pictures is nice, they do not give you a true view of the relevant villages. They are pictures taken at random that do not represent - sometimes - the best view of the village.
But what is most dissapoiting in this book is the poor information about the villages, its populations, culture and location. In my opinion, every descrition of each village should also contain a map of its location in southern France (for us to know how could one get there), its population (to see how big it is), a some info on the villages picturesque points, etc. The few paragraphs dedicated to each village are too vague.
Finally, I think the editor should have made this book differently with half the villages and twice the pictures and info about them. I gave 2 stars for the pictures.
There is no place on the earth like my Provence!.......2000-08-31
I am French and was born in Provence, so I have spent most of my days there, except when I travel and when I was modeling in the world of high fashion. I know every village, and I fly my plane over Provence many, many times. I bought this book because it is so beautiful and shows the many wonderful places in my part of France. I am not good at taking the pictures, like these men do, and besides, I always do the flying. My sister would have to do the picture making. If you buy this book, you will be able to see my beautiful Provence in the pictures whenever you want to. Provence is very old and very picturesque, that is why the photography is so good. If it was not a most beautiful place in the world, it could not be so beautiful of a book. I am French and so I know it is this beautiful. It is more beautiful in the real world, if you can even think that. We have lots of cobble streets. Everyone loves the flowers, so you will see most beautiful flowers everywhere you look in Provence. We have hidden waters that come out into our special fountains. Every village must have their fountains and some are very, very old and are more special than any place else in the world. We like things to be beautiful, so you never see anything ugly in Provence. The earth is very good to us. We have herbs growing everywhere in the countryside. Lavender, Rosemary, and Thyme, you can find just walking in our wonderful hills. We love colors in Provence. Blue, yellow, ochre,green, we like all of those colors. Marcel Pagnol lived in Provence, too. He made his films and his books because he loved Provence. He was French. If you want to see a beautiful book that will make you smile and smile, get this book, and then come see for yourself that I am lucky to be French and live in Provence most of the time...................... ................Presented to you by Summer
The only thing better than this book is to be there!.......2000-08-29
Provence is heaven to me.I love the hills, the variety of plant life, and the exquisite villages with their definitive shuttters and dove cotes. The fountains bubble with life. The cobbled streets lead to some of the most fetching homes and buildings in the world. The Provencal people dress their windows in lace and paint the exterior and interior of their homes in the colors found in the Provencal landscape: blue, yellow, ochre, greens. Terracotta roofs provide the most wonderful color and texture to the landscape. Somehow everything blends wonderfully! The creators of The Most Beautiful Villages in Provence capture the essence of this southern region of France. The photography vividly presents the viewer with a panorama of gorgeous scenes: fields of lavender, geraniums in pots leading to a beautiful door, roof top views that are breathtaking, undulating paths that take you to splendid spots, aerial views of villages, an old roman road and bridge. A friend of mine, who was born in Provence, gave me this incredibly beautiful book; the only thing better, she says, is to be there! I plan to take this book with me to Provence next summer!! After seeing this book, nothing can keep me away!
Book Description
When Jeffrey Greene, a prizewinning American poet, and Mary, his wife-to-be, a molecular biologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, discover a moss-covered stone presbytery in a lovely village in the Puisaye region of Burgundy, they know they have to live there. With an unabashed joie de vivre, they begin the arduous process of procuring their slice of paradise amid the wild beauty of the French countryside -- a place of gentle farmlands and dense forests, of rivers and lakes, of stunning fields bursting with the color and heady scent of wildflowers.French Spirits is the magical tale of their odyssey to become not just homeowners but Burgundians. In lush, lyrical prose, Greene recalls their experiences turning the three-hundred-year-old stone building -- a "château in miniature," which the locals believe houses numerous spirits--into a habitable refuge. He brings to life their adventures in finding wonderful bargains with which to furnish their new space, including a firm mattress and some rather suspicious "antiques" bought from the back of a van.Greene offers the unexpected joys and surprises of village life, from celebrating his and Mary's simple backyard wedding to discovering summer fêtes from toiling in a verdant garden to trading insights with new neighbors. He shares the experience of surviving his mother's decision to move in and humorously introduces the locals -- both human and nonhuman -- who define his and Mary's new world. Woven throughout this luscious tale are the pleasures of rural France: wondrous food and wine, long-held rituals and feasts, dark superstitions and deeply rooted history. A memorable feast for the senses, French Spirits will entertain and enlighten all who succumb to its charms.
Customer Reviews:
It's okay.......2006-02-28
This is the 5th book of it's type I've read in a row. You know the genre, Americans buy a home in ruins and fix it up. I'm a sucker for this kind of book. But the things I've learned from these books are: 1. You have to have bottomless pockets. 2. French government regulations are enough to drive me insane. 3. If I ever do buy a house in France, I will find one that someone else has already roofed, tiled, windowed, painted, landscaped etc etc etc! What a nightmare.
If you like this sort of book, this one is great because it's located in a different, less written about area of France. And it's every bit as good as Ann Barry's. I always thought Ann was a ninny sort of wimp that depended on the kindness of her neighbors way too much. At least Jeff Greene and his wife were more self reliant.
Then what?.......2005-05-13
I just finished French Spirits and then read other reviews. It never occurred to me that the author was being a braggard. The story is full of real characters and the author's acceptance and appreciation of their quirks is obvious. My only complaint is that this swift read ends abruptly. There are implications that his mother does not continue to live with them in France, but we never learn what happens to her. Surely there is a sequel, but perhaps more life has to be lived before he will be ready to write it. I will certainly be waiting.
I've been had!.......2003-05-31
Beware the spate of books on the topic of Americans/Brits living in France! Talk about publishers milking a trend! Unfortunately, not every author is a Peter Mayle or an Ann Barry. Greene's book, for example, is hopeless--- a shambles as far as organization goes, peopled by clueless, insensitive, and incompletely delineated characters (maybe that last is the good news, because the bad news is that this is a work of non-fiction.) It is about as illuminating of the French culture and countryside as a Greyhound bus tour of the Top Ten tourist sites of the Ile-de-France.
Don't be taken in by the book's title, as I was. Even we bibliophilic Francophiles have some standards!
A memoir in France.......2003-04-02
I just finished reading this book. I have never wriiten a review , but I do feel compelled to after reading some of the other reviews posted here. For me, this is a memoir, not a travel guide. I admire anyone who is willing to share his life experiences with me--I find it a most generous act. I feel like writing to the author to thank him for his book. He brought the area and the people to life for me. I am studying French; so the sentences in French (don't be alarmed, he supplies a translation just following) were fun for me to figure out. I liked learning about Henri IV's locks, and learning about the author's childhood. I love a good memoir--and particularly, one by someone who is not famous except in his own circle. I would encourage anyone who feels the same to buy, or borrow this book--and order "Eyewitness France" if you want a travel guide. This book is a lovely eyewitness to a man's life.
Wonderful.......2003-03-24
I loved this book. It is not egotistical at all; it writes of an area less explored than Provence or Tuscany; and the author has a knack of bringing his characters alive; the house itself is so well described one feels one has walked through it. There was not a chapter I found dull, and I devoured it in a sitting. Greene doesn't laugh at the locals, or sneer at the imagined "quaintness" of Europe. You can't do better than this for travel narrative.
Book Description
Use this book to walk a medieval path off the beaten track. This Village to Village guide enables the walker to follow the 1,000 year-old pilgrimage footpath to Santiago de Compostela and to re-enact Europe's most historic journey. This guide is recommended by the Catholic Church to those making the pilgrimage to Santiago on foot. It is a detailed directional guide for the 800 km footpath in Spain. The book contains listings of budget accommodation and other practical information. In the middle ages, a network of foot paths carried pilgrims to the shrine at Santiago from every country. The roads went over the Pyrenees and into Spain, either by way of the great monastery at Roncesvalles, or via that of Santa Cristina and the Somport Pass. Santiago, far away under the mists and Atlantic skies of Galicia, all woods and water in a Celtic landscape of menhirs and lost gods, exerted an appeal that was infinitely pre Christian. The route to Santiago was a Roman trade-route. It was nicknamed by travellers la voje ladee, the Milky Way. It was the road under the stars. The pale arm of the Milky Way stretched out and pointed the way to the edge of the known world : to Cape Finisterre The vast majority of those who walk The Way of St James today, are not experienced walkers at all. Many have never done any serious walking in their lives. and many will never do anything like it again. Most long-distance footpaths avoid not only large towns but even quite small villages as well; the Way of Saint James, on the other hand, because of its historic origins and the need for shelter, deliberately seeks them out. It passes through ancient places rich in art and architectural masterpieces
Customer Reviews:
Overpriced. .......2007-09-08
I'm preparing to walk the last 110km starting next Sunday and orginally consulted three books: Walking in Spain by the Lonely Planet ($20), Walking the Camino de Santiago by Pili Pala Press ($20), and A Pilgrim's Guide to Camino de Santiago ($30). Then I came across the Village to Village Guide ($35) and, based on the reviews and price, thought that it was a must read.
So far, I'm disappointed. The information, I'm sure is accurate, but it is scance. Walking the Camino and A Pilgrim's guide had more references to lodging and meals and better route discriptions, complete with maps and walking elevations. Even the Lonely Planet's guide to all of Spain seemed to have about as much info as Village to Village.
Village to Village looks like it was prepared by loving, but inexpert hands. At the top of page 194 one of the editors hiccupped and deleted at least two villages and part of the description of Portomarin. (I don't know about the preceding 400km of the Camino leading to Portomarin.)
Because my walk will only be 5-6 days, I'll be able to take the short, pertinent excerpts from all of the books and will report when I return. For my own preparation I've relied the most on Walking the Camino de Santiago, but have regularly consulted the others.
Part of the preparation for the walk has been refining and refining what I'll be taking. Perhaps the editors of Village to Village have done the same, giving us a bare bones treatment of what we most need,ie. there are no maps because the arrows blaze the way. If that's the case, there may be virtue in having it. I'll let you know.
I lovedthis guide, worth every penny and more, my daughter is walking next year and she will use this guide too.......2007-08-24
This is my favorite guide and I have just completed my pilgrim and I tresure it - It never let me down.
This is a book packed with information not only on the history of the places you will pas as a pilgrim. But all the information you will need to make detailed planning. The book is updated frequently and all the latest changes are in this book.
The village to village guide has been around for many years frequently coming out in new editions as pilgrims and clergy themselves report changes to the pilgrimage route, this 2007 edition is case to point.
The guide has aquired a bit of a cult status as not only does it have practical information and is a directional guide but it has many stories on the monuments and places of interest along the way. There have been many changes on the route. When the guide was first published there were hardly any pilgrims walking the way of St James, now many thousands make the journey. Prices too have gone up considerably and the new edition incorporates these changes. Latin American and the poor pilgrim will appreciate the guide as it allows one to do financial planning and make up a budget. The guide also points the way to cheaper accommodation.
You will NOT find pictures coloured arrows and diagrams in this guide. It's a sober practical tome. I agree that pictures are not needed as you will be walking many miles to see these places, to stare in wonderment of the discoveries you have made. Pictures rather spoil this. Its rather like Seeing `War and Peace" at the movies interpreted by Hollywood and then reading Tolstoy's famous literary work, . Therefore I am glad there are no pictures in this book and only medieval woodcuts.
The latest 2007 edition has done away with maps as the route is now way marked with thousands of arrows very fifty yards or so. So its impossible to get lost. There is one large map where you can plan your position in the context of where you are on the route and thus able to chart your progress.
There is very useful practical advice on how the plan your journey what the weather would be like during different seasons etc.
An entire section is devoted to the equipment you must take, useful things to carry in your rucksack, a useful chapter describes how to get to the pilgrimage route by Land Sea and Air. It is so detailed that it gives the latest taxi fares and times when taxis leave from |Pamplona to Roncesvalles.
The book is built on the experiences of Pilgrims past and that is its forte. The pilgrimage for every person is different however the book outlines how others did it and their itineraries.
The book also comes with a short English Spanish phrasebook, focused on what the walker might need to say while on the walk, at the back, very useful as on the pilgrim route which is off the beaten track hardly anyone speaks English.
A superb Guide! A famous guide For Pilgrims by Pilgrims. And for the poorer pilgrim on a budget.......2007-08-15
As a veteran on the Camino for many years, I still use this guide as a favorite, although I own most of the others.
This is the oldest guide book on the Camino but it is updated every year with Pilgrims sending feedback on their journey. The 2007 edition has all the changes on the route. I have walked the route now over three times with Pilgrims from various confraternities of St James's. The problems of road works continue and no all the guides are up to date as this one. This guide is also used when we wish to plan our budget because it has all the latest prices for accommodation, useful when you consider that prices are steadily rising in Spain and it no longer is a cheap country.
The guide has hardly any pictures except about two dozen woodcuts, but one of the enjoyments of the pilgrimage is to see places that would surprise you, so seeing photographs tends to spoil it and the woodcuts do nicely. This guide is recommended by the Catholic Church so contains information for the religious pilgrim of on Holy places along the route. Its not a glossy guide like the lonely planet guide with artistic typesetting. But a guide for Pilgrims By Pilgrims.
good for pre travel reading or supplement.......2007-08-10
I purchased this book after deciding to walk the Camino and was intending on taking it on the journey as a guide. I am now planning on taking another book I've purchased - A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago: Camino Frances - The French Way of St. James (Camino Guides) which is a better format, has more maps and relevant information.
This book has no colour images or maps and the layout needs attention. The information seems reasonably comprehensive but a better layout design, more maps, photos and consistent headings for each village would be helpful. It seems to have good general info on the villages.
If you've got room take it on the walk with another guide, if not, read it before you go.
Used this book to walk 800km From St Jean France to Santiago.......2007-04-16
I have just finished my Pilgrimage - In the five weeks I used this book to walk the track to Santiago in Spain - I grew quite fond of it - The 220 page book is ring bound and fits compactly into my rucksack.
Every village is mentioned on the 800km way with information on each village, like don't cross this field because of a bull, or this is the village of barking dogs, or in this village the Baker helps Pilgrims or visit Madam Debril in this village near the laundry who likes chatting to pilgrims -
Ninety Five villages and a guide between them - In each village the books lists places to stay and other useful information - The book will suit the budget traveler who walks the Camino because I did the walk on $10 per day, staying in the religious establishments the book mentions often for free. The book also prepares you for the Journey and details exactly what to take, like how much weight, what type of clothes, shoes, how much does food cost, how to do your laundry, dealing with bed bugs, useful Spanish phrases and so on - It also lists places worth visiting as you walk this 800km track and some interesting stories and legends around these places.
There are also things to watch out for and useful tips - The book will mention at many different points legends around the Camino - It is a very detailed book on the 800km route every fork on this path is mentioned example.. the path now climbs for two km, turn right at the church, from the top of the next mountain you will be able to see the following five villages etc..-
I took maps and three other guides with me but after reaching the city of Pamplona to reduce weight I posted the other books back to New York along with my tent and electric stove - the book had warned me not to take the tent & stove
Book Description
In Swann’s Way, the themes of Proust’s masterpiece are introduced, and the narrator’s childhood in Paris and Combray is recalled, most memorably in the evocation of the famous maternal good-night kiss. The recollection of the narrator’s love for Swann’s daughter Gilberte leads to an account of Swann’s passion for Odette and the rise of the nouveaux riches Verdurins.
For this authoritative English-language edition, D. J. Enright has revised the late Terence Kilmartin’s acclaimed reworking of C. K. Scott Moncrieff’s translation to take into account the new definitive French editions of Á la recherché du temps perdu (the final volume of these new editions was published by the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade in 1989).
Download Description
Swann's Way, the first part of A la recherche de temps perdu, Marcel Proust's seven-part cycle, was published in 1913. In it, Proust introduces the themes that run through the entire work. The narrator recalls his childhood, aided by the famous madeleine; and describes M. Swann's passion for Odette. The work is incomparable. Edmund Wilson said "[Proust] has supplied for the first time in literature an equivalent in the full scale for the new theory of modern physics."
Customer Reviews:
Swann's Way.......2007-07-15
The product and the narration is very well done. Unfortunately, I found that Proust is just not for me.
Hmmm....Will it get any better than this?.......2007-03-07
So i finally made the commitment to reading Proust's In Search of Lost Time. I've been contemplating this for years, and this spring i have the time so i've excitedly decided to forge what will be a memorable relationship with the author and the text.
But geez, am i DISAPPOINTED with the first "installment"!!! I'm usually an avid reader of European classics, and although i wasn't expecting Proust to be thrilling, i guess i didn't realize that the work was completely plotless.
I have to stop and remind myself (lest i give up?) that i am reading for the full experience rather than instant gratification, so i'm going to doggedly push on, and read something "fun" like Waugh or Vonnegut between each of the 6 books of I.S.O.L.T...
On a postive note, Proust's unique style allows the reader's mind to wander with the narrator, so i honestly can't say that i was "bored". It is also interesting that Proust is so often right on target about the human psyche and about society, when he, an invalid, was himself removed from it for much of his life.
Finally, Swann's Way is, let's face it, a moderately thick book. Without plot, you'd think that it would be a slow and dragging read. However, his long sentences somehow propel the reader forward to the next interesting speculation or to the next social event, and once again, his style is such that we become involved in the character's life....what will be the next step in Swann and Odette's relationship?
Although i have mixed feelings about the start of my Proustian journey, I console myself with his notions of time. The way we feel and think about something while we are in the midst of it may differ greatly from the way we feel and think about it once we are removed from it. Perspective is altered by distance (and memory, imagine that...). Perhaps once i finish the work in its entirety the pieces will all come together and there will be a cumulative gain. If nothing else, there will be a sense of accomplishment!
Fabulous Writing But Not A Novel: A Lengthy Narrative On Life.......2007-02-03
In search of Lost Time is regarded by many as a key work of modern literature, bridging ideas from the 19th and 20th centuries. Proust is often compared to Joyce and Kafka.
This is revised translation of the early Moncrieff translation. That was the primary translation for the first 50 years after the first publication in French. The present work includes the later changes to the original French manuscripts made in 1954. These additions and changes were excluded in the first manuscript from Proust. The manuscript was revised in the Pleiade edit of 1954 to include all of Proust's final edits. Those edits, additions, and changes are now translated and revised by Enright.
There are three parts to Volume I:
- Combray (the town)
- Swann in Love (Swann is the family name of the narrator)
- Place-Names-The Name
Here is a question for the average reader: is this a novel? What is it? The present Volume I is 600 pages, and if you continue on after Volume I, you face another 5000 pages or so. It is not a novel and it is not a play or drama as one sees with Shakespeare; instead, it is a seemingly endless narrative. Should we be concerned with what it is? The answer is yes, because some will find Proust to be a tedious challenge while others will love him.
For example, Madam Bovary is a novel. It has a beginning, an end, clear characters who are good, evil, and indifferent. It takes place in 19th century French countryside as does Proust, and unlike Proust it is a gripping tale. The writing by Flaubert is flawless. The structure is perfect. That is a novel. I read all 500 pages of Madame Bovary in one day and was very entertained and impressed.
Proust's Volume I, by contrast, has taken me 12 months to read. Again, as with Flaubert, the prose is faultless and the details described are done exquisitely, but there is no plot, and it is not gripping. It is a series of memories or short sections. Almost by definition, these short pieces do not carry the drama of a well balanced novel. They are weakly linked together plus the writing is complicated by many characters, often relatives of the narrator. If you put the book down and start again you are momentarily lost. Some readers, and that includes myself, wonder why we continue.
Proust is part of our literary education and one can appreciate the interwoven snapshots of life, the beautiful descriptions of rural Combray, the characters of France, and the relatives in his family. It is an endless narrative about a man's life and those pieces of his life. It is a collection of memories. Here in Volume I we see three broad snapshots of one man's life; we escape to 19th century France, and we become part of a seemingly endless tale about the fine details of that life. If that interests you, then you will love Proust.
Only the most patient should read Proust. Be prepared for beautiful prose and French 19th century life.
Beautiful but fatiguing.......2007-01-24
Clearly, Proust has a remarkable gift for perception, as if he is able to see human experience, circumstance, and even plain objects, in exploded detail, and distill them for the reader. Particularly in the first and third parts of the book, he frequently drops gems of absolute truth, in much the same way that Shakespearean couplets remarkably capture the essence of love or revenge. To me, this is the reward of reading the book, and what makes the challenge worth undertaking.
At first, you may be overwhelmed by his very complex sentences, as others have noted. It is important to Proust to express an entire thought in one sentence; a lofty objective with sometimes dire consequences, but Proust adheres to it admirably. You soon learn to maintain the subject of the sentence in your head while Proust explores two or three tangents to the original thought before he comes back to it. What works in the reader's favor is that Proust is very regular with his sentence structure, so once you develop a feel for it, it ceases to intimidate.
The book is divided into three parts: The first and third parts recount experiences of Proust's early childhood, while the second part details the love affair of Charles Swann. To me, the first part is the most beautiful, followed by the third part. You will be able to tell within the first 50 or so pages whether or not Proust will suit you. The second part of the book becomes plodding and monotonous, as Proust narrates even a simple set of circumstances in many layers of redundancy, each recounted in exhaustive detail, in his complex style which begins to feel formulaic, wordy, and indulgent. Here's the subject of the sentence, tangent number one, the tangent to tangent number one, tangent number two, and then it ends with yet another metaphor about invalids. The regularity of sentence structure is much easier to tolerate in the first and third parts because Proust flits between several ideas or subjects, whereas in the second part, he drills to the very core of the earth on one or two subjects with a few variations. I found myself feeling pretty burned out, counting down pages to the end of Part 2. My advice is to pick up your reading speed if it starts to become boring or if you lose your concentration.
If Proust were not quite so overly thorough in Part 2, or if he had varied his cadence or sentence structure a bit more, I could recommend this book without hesitation. As it is, it will require an unusual investment of concentration and patience, but I believe it is worth it.
A Must-read.......2006-06-21
I have been planning for some years to read IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME, and finally started in March with Lydia Davis' translation of SWANN'S WAY.
Proust is one of the most empathetic authors that I have ever encountered. To tell the story of his youth, to describe his fears and joys and loves, he turns inward, and in doing so, gives a strikingly accurate portrayal of the human heart, and human folly.
SWANN'S WAY is diveded into four sections, too long to be called chapters: Combray, Combray II, Swann in Love, Place-Names:The Name.
Combray and Combray II tell of the summers of Marcel's youth, his grandmother and great-aunt Leonie (who never got out of her bed), Francoise, the maid, walks with his parents, meeting M. Swann, their neighbor, meeting M. Swann's daughter for the first time and falling in love with her. It is very difficult for an author to write from the perspective of a child and do it convicingly, but Proust succeeds here. I loved little Marcel, a sensitive, naive little boy who absorbs everything around him.
'Swann in Love' tells the story of M. Swann and how he fell in love with one Odette d'Crecy, a woman not of his class who seduces him and then breaks his heart.
In 'Place-Names: The Name' we read about a slightly older Marcel, and his first attempts at winning the heart of Gilberte, the daughter of M. Swann. My favorite image in SWANN'S WAY comes from 'Place Names' - an image of Odette d'Crecy strolling down the Avenue of the Acacias alone, which Proust includes in his diatribe against the death of elegance.
As the purpose of writing IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME was to recover his forgotten memories, Proust's tale is not told as a series of interconnected events, but as a collection of interwoven memories - some of them incomplete. [The short novella, 'Swann in Love', that is contained in the novel is an exception - though still told from an internalized perspective, that of M. Swann.]
In this format, description trumps plotline and dialogue. His descriptions - of tapestries in cathedrals, of a child's longing for his mother, of the beauty of words and the pain of falling in love - are first rate. I found many times that reading this book was a lot like looking at a great painting, or a sunset - soothing, [also with the exception of 'Swann in Love', where I found myself completely aggravated with M. Swann and hating Odette. An author that can calm you but also create characters capable of arousing passionate anger must be great.]
SWANN'S WAY is highly recommended.
Book Description
Readers and reviewers in the United Kingdom have hailed the new translations of Proust as a major literary event. Soon to appear in the United States, Swann's Way, along with the second volume of In Search of Lost Time, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, will introduce a new century of American readers to the literary riches of Proust. These superb editions—the first completely new translation of Proust's novel since the 1920s—bring us a more comic and lucid Proust than English readers have previously been able to enjoy.
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower is a spectacular dissection of male and female adolescence, charged with the narrator's memories of Paris and the Normandy seaside. In it, Proust introduces some of his greatest comic inventions. As a meditation on different forms of love, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower has no equal.
Customer Reviews:
These new translations are a joy to read!.......2005-05-15
Penguin's new translations of "In Search of Lost Time" were just the nudge I needed to read Proust's masterwork again. I was particularly impressed by the job the American writer Lydia Davis did with "Swann's Way". By contrast, I have a few complaints about James Grieves's rendering of "In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower". Where Scott Moncrieff translated "petite bande" (of girls) with the expected "little band," Grieves uses "little gang," which to an American ear sounds rather tough. He mangles one of my favorite quotations. And there's a typo on the bottom of page 95: "not" instead of "now"!
Overall, though, I like the liberties Grieves takes with the text, and we were certainly overdue for a freshened-up translation of one of the most important books of the 20th century. Unlike Proust's French, Scott Moncrieff's English has come to seem dusty and overblown. (For example, he rendered the title of this volume as "Within a Budding Grove", the literal translation being too racy for his 1920s audience of post-Victorians.)
The American edition (from Viking) is particularly handsome. The four volumes now available are uniform in appearance when it comes to their cloth covers (grey and black with silver lettering), and the dust-jackets, though following a general theme, are distinctive enough that you're not likely to mistake one volume for another. Altogether, a wonderful gift for your library or that of a friend.
-- Dan Ford at readingproust dot com
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower.......2004-11-03
For the second book of Proust's masterpiece, 'In Search of Lost Time', his attention turns away from the black and white realities of childhood to the greyer realms of adolescence, and with that, the deep, burning sensation of unrequited love. In essence, the second book is a 530-page essay on the different forms of young love, from deep obsession to airy neglect, from the savage loneliness of rejection to the dizzying heights of a love returned.
The book is split into two rough sections, the first of which is called 'At Mme Swan's'. Here we are introduced to Gilberte, Proust's first great love. The feelings he harbour's for her are ridiculously exaggerated, and oh so reminiscent of most people's teenage years. Every action, every word, every glance is analysed, studied, explored for meaning and intent. If, one day, Gilberte invites him to tea, the implications and potential meanings behind the invitation are debated internally for pages. If not, then even more pages are spent examining the pit of despair that Proust' soul fall in to. On top of this unhealthily obsessive love, we have his infatuation with Mme Swan, Gilberte's mother. There is almost a sense that Proust loves Gilberte because she is his age and he 'should' love her, whereas his affection towards Odette Swan is more real because there is no obligation or pressure from anyone, but less likely because she is twenty years older than him, and married.
When Proust's love for Gilberte is over - as it inevitably must, in those tender years of a boy or girl's life - the terrifying lows to which his emotions descend is as remarkable as the highs of his spirit not twenty pages previous. He obsessively analyses the ways in which he will get revenge, plotting to make her love him again, just so that he can reject her, to let her know how it feels. He tortures himself emotionally, visiting Mme Swan and purposely avoiding Gilberte.
What we have in this first part is a fascinating study on the tormented, melodramatic loves of early adolescence. Proust is too young at this stage to understand that love may not be forever, and can speak only in grandiose, exaggerated terms. If not for the fact that the prose is written with such grace and intelligence, his despair would come across as teenage angst at its very blackest.
In the second part of the novel, 'Place-Names: The Place', Proust and his grandmother retire to the beach to aid in the recuperation of his body and mind. Always a frail child, the rigours of new love have taken their toll on the young man. He rejects love, deciding that he shall become a writer once more, a passion that he had denied himself when his love for Gilberte had seemed so real and assured. He is introduced to a variety of characters which, we are told during the narrative, will come to play a great part in his later life: Robert de Saint-Loup, the Baron de Charlus and of course Albertine.
It is in this second section that Proust falls under the shadows of young girls in flower. He meets a group of girls, a 'gang' he calls them, and befriends first one, then all of them, reasoning that out of four or five girls, at least one would be worthy of love. Keeping with the true spirit of adolescence, he falls in and out of love with them all, needing only a stray glance or a casual smile to move from one girl to the other. Only two of them, Albertine and Andree, seem to return his emotions, and even then, everything remains chaste.
Interspersed throughout, we have long, insightful remarks on what love can do to the body, to the mind, and to the relationships we have with other people. Speaking as a male recently finished with his teenage years, I can say that Proust has captured the depth of feeling, the obsessiveness, the surety that everything in the universe will be perfect if only the love is returned, the electric thrill of acceptance, the deep darkness of rejection with such skill that perfection is a word that springs to mind.
Other topics are touched on throughout the novel. Early on, Proust is introduced to an author he holds in high esteem, one Bergotte. He is crushed upon discovering that the man does not exactly coincide with the image he had created while reading Bergotte's books, and ruminates on the fact that a man need not display the same intelligence and wit in reality as he does on the page. We must all focus our attention on achieving either a great reality or a great fiction, for Bergotte, his attentions were focused upon the fiction, and his personality and demeanour when interacting with flesh and blood people suffer. For Proust, it is an introduction to the idea that people can have two - or more - identities, and that a certain one is presented to a certain group of people.
The writing is, of course, typical Proust. Sentences are long, paragraphs are longer, and not very much happens. Dialogue is scarce, action scarcer. The reader is there to observe Proust's thoughts, not to use him as a mirror to the world he inhabits. Luckily for us, Proust's thoughts are never dull or boring. He says early on in the novel, 'For genius lies in reflective power and not in the intrinsic quality of the scene reflected', and Proust's reflective power more than reveal the truth of this maxim.
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