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Welcome to our July Discussion of
A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/novelbookstore/novelbookstore.jpg) | What is a good novel? A classic, a book that was a landmark, a difficult book? We have all read books that include all the basics for a 'good' novel however, it became a novel without genius. Will ‘A Novel Bookstore’ move us toward a definition?
A Utopian Paris bookstore, without the constraints of market realities and financial constraints, triggers jealousies and threats in Cossé's self-described, elegantly written novel. Ivan "Van" Georg and Francesca Aldo-Valbelli, the heroes, establish ‘The Good Novel’, a bookshop that will stock only, well written French fiction.
A secret committee of eight French writers is conscripted to submit annual lists of titles that become the bookstore’s inventory. We, the readers are immediately thrust in the middle of solving secret attacks on the lives of three committee members. As the story continues, we join the friends of the ‘The Good Novel’ to also track down who is behind the attempts to de-rail the success of the bookstore that is protecting artistic excellence from being submerged by mediocrity.
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Links are underlined.
Lunchtime Literary Conversations (http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5687/prmID/2126): with Laurence Cossé (http://www.facebook.com/pages/LaurenceCoss%C3%A9/113618528648184) and author Hervé Le Tellier, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herv%C3%A9_Le_Tellier) moderated by Rakesh Satyal (http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/catalog.cfm?dest=dir&linkid=2437&linkon=subsection)
In French, with great photos illustrating her books… Laurence Cossé dans La Grande Librairie du 12 février 2009 (http://videos.france5.fr/video/iLyROoafJGes.html)
Quotes by Laurence Cossé (http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/783644.Laurence_Coss_)
Week 1: Part 1 and Part 2 through Chapter 14 (about 102 pages)
Week 2: Part 2 from Chapter 15 to the end (about 97 pages)
Week 3: Part 3 (about 123 pages)
Week 4: Part 4 (about 86 pages)
Discussion Leaders BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com) and Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 4 - PART 4
- We learn something about the writing process, and what constitutes a good novel, through discovering more about the committee members, especially the members who were attacked. What made an impression on you?
- What are some of the cynical aspects of the book publishing and book selling businesses that we learn about through the investigation of possible culprits? Have you experienced any negative aspects in your pursuit of books?
- What do we learn about Francesca? Is her situation, reactions and how she "took her leave" a reflection of novels you've read or heard about?
- What parallels are there in the relationships between Van and Anis and Van and Francesca?
- How do Van and Anis change after Francesca "takes her leave" and they read Francesca's notes?
- What are your thoughts as you finish reading the book?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 3 - PART 3
- How do the various settings – forest, hillside trail, mountain ski resort, Paris, hospitals, police station, a seventeenth-century building add mood, tone and meaning to the text?
- What recurring patterns, images/symbols, images, metaphors, similes, have you noticed and Why – What is their purpose – How do they develop or impact the characters?
- What clues made you suspect those behind the denigration of Francesco and Van
- How do the attacks on the values inherit in the book store remind you of other literary and scientific attacks
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 2
- In this section (middle to end of Part 2) we learn something about the personal lives of Van and Francesca. What impressions are you forming of them? What does the Bookstore mean to them?
- What do you make of Anis?
- What are your impressions of the 8 members of the committee?
- What are your thoughts about the importance of literature that Francesca learned from her grandfather?
"Literature is a source of pleasure, he said, it is one of the rare inexhaustible joys in life, but it's not only that. It must not be disassociated from reality. Everything is there. That is why I never use the word fiction. Every subtlety in life is material for a book. He insisted on the fact. Have you noticed, he'd say, that I'm talking about novels? Novels don't contain only exceptional situations, life or death choices, or major ordeals; there are also everyday difficulties, temptations, ordinary disappointments; and, in response, every human attitude, every type of behavior, from the finest to the most wretched. There are books where, as you read, you wonder: What would I have done? It's a question you have to ask yourself. Listen carefully: it is a way to learn to live. There are grown-ups who would say no, that literature is not life, that novels teach you nothing. They are wrong. Literature performs, instructs, it prepares you for life."
- Are there books that are mentioned in this section that you are thinking about reading?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 1
- Who is telling the story?
- How many stories within stories have you noticed? What books have you read that use a narrative embedded in the story, often told by a character in the story? This is sometimes called a Metadiegetic Narrative (a back story).
- On page 23 Marcellin heard Paul deliriously mutter “Mina green and pink.” When he spoke of it to Madame Huon, she assumed Paul “was referring to one of his visitors and the color of her eye shadow or her lingerie.” What was Paul referencing, and why is it important?
- Several of the names that are sprinkled in chapter 4 are names known to the French. Who among the names is a well-known skier and whose Sur name is a famous cookie even sold here in the US?
- What causes a chuckle reading the Doctor and Suzon attacking the beaufort? What is beaufort?
- What is the history of the name Montbrun?
- Suzon says Paul is a very cultured man who goes by the name Néant. In French Néant means ‘nothing - void’ which could describe what he lives on but more, how does his name link the concept of void to: ~ Charles Baudelaire ~ Alexandre Grothendieck, mathematician ~ a Cabaret ~ Phantasmagoria
- What book have you read that was so powerful when you finished reading you realized you never read anything like it? What about the book you read was outstanding? Was it the use of language, the unforgettable characters who spoke to you in a new way, a theme that reached beyond your imagination?
- Why does Armel write checks to Maritime Rescue or Handicap International?
- Van speaks highly of Armel as a storyteller. What is the difference between a storyteller and a stylist?
- What are the various meanings for Paul’s pseudonym, Brother Brandy?
- What motivates, scares, upsets Anne-Marie?
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Welcome everyone! We look forward to talking about this unusual but delightful book with you.
We've posted some possible discussion questions in the heading here for Part 1 and midway through Part 2. You need not respond to them all. They are just there to serve as a guide.
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Wheee we are on Our Way...seems apropo to me that we start on the weekend we celebrate 4th of July - so much has been written of late just how much the French was part of the early creation of our Independence.
This book has been a joy and one of the more fascinating I've read in quite awhile - I love researching what I do not know and there was tons to research - someone reading this in France would immediately pick up on all the connections and droll remarks - and I hope I've uncovered a few to share with you as we go along as I bet you will be finding and sharing what you learn.
During the pre-discussion there was a comment about trying to keep all the characters straight - we could start a list of the characters but I am hesitant to enter yet, another list in the heading - it may only be a temporary need and so before the day is over I will post a list of characters chapter by chapter for the pages we are reading during week one. My guess is it will fairly quickly become a moot point.
The first interview in the heading with our author - Lunchtime Literary Conversations (http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5687/prmID/2126) - is a real eye opener to her approach to writing - the interview is 51 minutes but I think you will be please you watched it. The second is actually an online newspaper clip that is a delight as it shows, as if a clip for a movie, some of the settings for a few of her books including a wonderful shot of a Paris - jammed to the ceiling - bookstore. Laurence Cossé dans La Grande Librairie du 12 février 2009 (http://videos.france5.fr/video/iLyROoafJGes.html)
If you are open to an adventure in reading and literature we have it in this book - so let's get started - I am so excited - really...!
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Claiming my seat.
Got my book renewed so now I can relax and take a little more time with it.
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Oh good Frybabe because this one is not easy to talk about just remembering the story - it seems to be more about all the allusions and quotes from the characters.
Ok I promised a list of characters so I better get started... ;)
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Here you are! The first day of a new discussion is always such fun, isn't it?
Right off I need to say that I love this translator - Alison Anderson - the woman who also translated Elegance of the Hedgehog. I hope to discover the reason why I hear her voice in both novels - written by two different French authors.
She sure does use the word, "ordinary" often, doesn't she? I'm noticing that the people she describes are not really ordinary at all - once you get to know them.
I'm really curious to learn the identity of the narrator. At first I thought it was a matter of the omniscient narrator, but in time, the narrator enters the story using the "I" pronoun - as in: "I haven't read as much as Van and Francesa."
So much more than a story about good books - but a mystery, and maybe a love story as well. And such pleasant, interesting company to share it with.
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So far - looks like chapter 4 is the challenge with so many lending a hand - I'll get it however this so far. What is fun about all these names is to Google the last name and you can start to pickup the quiet humor - also, the nods to various well known areas in France.
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Paul Néon – one of the committee of eight and one of three who are attacked
Jules Reveriaz is young and later finds his scarf
Suzon Petitbeurre who visits Paul and drives in turn: a cherry colored Twingo, a black Fiat and a gray-blue Nissan.
Good ladies of Les Crêts Village
Madame Huon from L’Etoile des Alpes
Madame Antonioz formerly librarian at the High School in Albertville
Proprietor of seedy café - no name
Alfred from L’Alpette
Old Mr. Parmentier keeps to himself and knows the woods by heart
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Anne-Marie Montbrun – one of committee of eight and one of the three who are attacked
Monsieur Menthaleau - a neighbor needing a butane bottle
Madame Ageron - old lady neighbor needing transportation to the super market
Anthony Fabre - a child Anne-Marie regularly drove home
Diane Ottaviani - a child Anne-Marie regularly drove home
Monsieur Montbrun - whose business took him abroad,
Arthur Montbrun – their 9-year-old child
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Armel Le Gall – one of the committee of eight and one of the three who are attacked
Maïté - Armel’s partner
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Joan, I had the same reaction as you to the narration. I had assumed an omniscient narrator and was sort of startled when I noticed the "I" was an actual person (though I don't know who!).
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I thought the shift in narrative to a "live" narrator rather than the passive third party odd. I thought I had missed something in the beginning, but I see I didn't.
On page 23 Marcellin heard Paul deliriously mutter “Mina green and pink.” When he spoke of it to Madame Huon, she assumed Paul “was referring to one of his visitors and the color of her eye shadow or her lingerie.” What was Paul referencing, and why is it important?
A cursory investigation came up with only these facts. Both are novellas, however Stendhal never finished The Pink and the Green which had it's genesis in Mina de Vanghel . Mina de Vanghel was made into a movie (French,1956), but IMDB doesn't have any real info about it. Several essays I ran across about Mina de Vanghel indicate it is regarded by some (including Simone de Beauvoir) as feminist in nature.
Right now, I don't have a clue how this is important to the story except that Paul was fond of reading them. I have an urge to add them to my To Buy list. Maybe the library has a copy somewhere.
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She sure challenger us right off the bat doesn't she - so glad you are part of this discussion JoanP and Pedln - and Marcie thanks for being a partner in this read - yes, who is telling the story - they seem to be there as an observer - do they know all or are they simply an observer - we shall see what we shall see as the phrase goes -
The biggie - the first chapter - First let me say you can enjoy and understand this entire book without making sense of the first few chapters - the author does throw us because her first chapters are not typical of how a story opens and is set up...
What we do know just reading the pages for this week - we ask - why start the book with these three short chapters about secondary characters? Usually, in the first chapter or chapters, you get a sense of what the story is all about. When I read the book for the first time I was sure it was a Fantasy novel - with a disappearance - rotting leaves - forest roads - finding a scarf 50 feet away - the sound like water spiders - come on if that is not the kind of opening for a fantasy novel I do not know - then we have a bottle found 6 days later and a man, Paul passed out in the black leaves of this forest with a pale moon.
After all this atmosphere we get the first glimpse of the life of this man called Paul - his plan to read a couple of books by Stendhal - OK the title of this book is the Novel Bookstore so titles of books are probably going to be included and where we on Senior Learn have read a book written by Stendhal I know I hadn't and I bet no one else has read either of these two books - so what I say and read on.
Only reading this the second time did I pick up an the clue how important those books were with the quote from Madame Huon - and seeing the both books mentioned again in another early chapter - by then on the hunt I was switching back and forth translating as much French as I could find - and pulling up whatever I could remember of how a book is organized.
Writing a first chapter is an important skill for anyone writing a Novel - and an important chapter for the reader to determine if the book is worthy of their time and to find out what is the thesis of the story. Here are some links describing what the first chapter of a book includes -
I prefer using this link - It is clear and easy to read but I will list a few others that I referred to on my trail of figuring this out.
Write and Publish Your Book - writing the first chapter (http://www.writeandpublishyourbook.com/writing/writing-fiction/writing-the-first-chapter/)
Fict-On; Opening Chapters (http://www.darcypattison.com/revision/opening-chapters/)
The Business of Writing (http://thebusinessofwriting.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/how-to-write-your-novel%E2%80%99s-1st-chapter/)
Contemporary Lit. First Chapters, Excerpts (http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/firstchapters/First_Chapters_Excerpts.htm)
So let's see what we have comparing our first chapter to the inclusions recommended for a first chapter.
1. Introduce your main character.Your protagonist. In the case of stories with multiple points of views and multiple main characters this might not necessarily apply, but if your story is about 'someone' it is a good idea to have them appear somewhere on the first page.
So is Paul our protagonist - is the forest with the pale moon a central character - is the young Jules Reveriaz or Suzon, the main characters?
Well there goes the first page - how about the second page - The two books and the author Stendhal - the names of several vehicles and an unknown proprietor of L'Alpette.
Before we track, let’s look for more clues of what we should expect to find in the first chapter...Because you guessed it the first thing was to Google L'Alpette, the vehicles named and finally the two books...
2. Do not give too much away. The first chapter should be a teaser. It should intrigue and create anticipation and suspense, whilst also giving enough detail on the character and the world of the story to keep the reader interested.
Ok she does that in spades...
3. Set the tone and style. Is there a strong voice coming through in the first chapter? How are you marking yourself out from all those other stories and writers out there? Try to establish your own unique style and tone, make your authorial voice loud and clear, but without bashing people over the head. Readers are wise, and have probably read as much, if not more than you have. They know what to expect from a story, so it is better if you can upset that expectation somehow by giving them something a little bit different. However, make sure that your style is consistent with the rest of the book.
Ok tone - definitely French - I am thinking I better get a good handle on what is meant by tone so I turn to this link Writing Tone and Pace (http://godsonggrace.blogspot.com/2011/01/scene-writing-tone-and-pace.html) which among other tips says, "# The tone and pace should match the novel's theme and intention. If you open in a literary voice, the reader expects this voice to be fairly constant. -The main character should set the tone. Is the character bitter, funny, desperate?"
hmm is Paul the main character? Well having read some 100 pages he does not appear to be the main character - definitely a mystery about this that the description of the Forest in the pale moon helps to set and finding things days later along with things happening that other folks are not aware of when they happen and even Paul has no clue what happened or who did it. That is when the concept is made evident this is a story within a story - what happened to Paul is like that play in the middle of - was it Hamlet or Macbeth - one had the witches as a scene separate from the main story and the other had a traveling group or even in One Thousand and One Nights, Scheherazade tells stories separate from what she is experiencing with the king.
More and more those two Stendhal books seem to hold the clue and if we were up on our Stendhal we would know without all this fal da rah of looking up - talk about writing a mystery - we are in the middle of one of our own and we haven't read past the first chapter.
4. Stakes.What is at stake here? What is the story about. The first chapter should satisfy the reader's need to understand what the story is going to be about, what challenges the character will face, the odds stacked against them. Can you establish empathy with the main character in those first vital few pages?
Well we are not yet sure, who is the main character or what the story is about - so far, it is a mystery that has us by the tail.
Can you establish empathy with the main character in those first vital few pages? This should be one of your main goals. If the reader does not care about the character, they might well give up on your story.
Well we care about this poor man who has stumbled out of the forest... but he must be symbolic of something if we decide this is a story within a story.
5 Make your character human. Presenting the character as a fully-dimensional person with believable attributes, who is in a situation that the reader can relate to. It sounds obvious enough, but is easier said than done. Try and speak to the reader as if you are talking to them on a personal, one-to-one level; make it intimate, intense and present them with a character and situation that is unique, intriguing and makes them want to read more.
Until we know who this main character or characters are - plus the next two chapters brings us face to face with a few more sympathetic characters and a whole host of characters that bring a smile to your face as they are described - you can almost see the tableau of village life.
OK the two books must be found - they seem to hold the key - well here is a nice short review translated from the French - this is the link to the translated page - Culture et Debates (http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dle%2Brose%2Bet%2Ble%2Bvert%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DW58%26rls%3Dcom.google:en-US:official%26prmd%3Divns&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&u=http://culture-et-debats.over-blog.com/article-11732194.html&usg=ALkJrhgQ7PhIAVMe5puQUOidgx_x65uWag)
A Project Muse, Journal 19th C. French Studies, Mina de Vanghel (http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/nineteenth_century_french_studies/v034/34.3garnier.html)
Here are pieces of the novel since Google does not reprint an entire book Pink and Green and Mina de Vanghel (http://books.google.com/books?id=5ONv5p5HvaMC&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154&dq=mina+de+vanghel&source=bl&ots=UYoq5be9P-&sig=wl0MFfTmOMbfxLDeZ4S_SyImKWw&hl=en&ei=Hk4CTpqiJa-30AGGk82iDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDgQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q&f=false)
And finally here is the entire 28 page story Mina de Vanghel (http://www.mediatheque.cg68.fr/livre_num/mina.pdf)
I must come up for some air - yes the PDF link to the story is in French - yes, I found the book at Amazon and purchased it AFTER would you believe running the entire story through Babel to get that crude translation. - a second post will follow of a 'quick' - yes, I can do quick -synopsis but more, the quote that say something meaningful and the quote is repeated in various ways throughout the story.
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Well it has been awhile since we had to review how a book is organized in order to see what the author is doing. Seems to me it was when Atonement was published that knowing English Lit 101&2 needed to be in our hip pocket.
The way I am reading this book the author introduced the main characters to us by way of another book.
There was a stage devise used that I cannot remember the name for it – but it was used in the stage production of Evita, where the journalist tells the story and before every change of scene or important event on stage out he comes, across the stage or to one side and talks to the audience – I am seeing that in who ever is telling the story and within the story, I am seeing that role played by Paul as he points to the characteristics and circumstances in the life of Francesca and Van.
From what I have read, Stendhal wrote Mina de Vanghel and realized it had problems – he set aside for a few years and then used it to write Le Rose et le Vert
There may be many more similarities however, Mina’s father, who she adored died when she is age 12, leaving her a very wealthy German aristocrat. She cannot leave her rooms because of young men in pursuit – she is wise beyond her years and realizes they will abandon her to the woman’s world once she marries any of them and they have their hands on her wealth. Her mother wants her to marry for protection suggesting older ‘Baron’ types.
In her teens – I think 16, she manipulates letters that allow her and her mother to travel. Before anyone can stop them, during the night they are off to Paris. Within 6 weeks, Mina realizes everyone is nice to her in Paris but she has neither friends nor the prospect of being accepted as a friend.
This is where Stendhal has much to say about the difference between the French and the Germans – the one phrase that is included several times with just a bit of difference to make it not a direct repeat is…
This represents a couple of translations – but you get the gist…
The fear of the small French irony l did not have obliged, at every moment, to throw a veil on its so full German thought of frankness.
Mina did not adopt the manners of a young Frenchwoman. While admiring their seductive graces, she preserved the naturalness and the freedom of her German ways.
The fear of French irony had not compelled her, at every moment, to draw a veil over notions replete with German frankness. Monsieur de Larcay dispensed with a host of little phrases and gestures required by elegance.
The Stendhal story is taking place during the days of the 'Salon' when in France, women were with great success offering all that was theirs; house, time, daughters, intellect and, above all, manners and wit to the glorification of all that was beautiful, artistic and idyllic, exploring the newest thought of economic and scientific questions.
In response to Mina noticing her difference she decides owning property would put her among the right circles – she finds a château and arranges the purchase – her mother dies and Mina completes the purchase. She focuses her attention on Alfred (we have Alfred the proprietor of L’Alpette in our book) a married man who is basically weak. She covers her German blond skin with some concoction and hires herself as a maid to the family pursuing a relationship and marriage with Alfred, Monsieur de Larcay.
She uses what she has to go after what she can pursue giving the opportunities for women in the late 1800s. She is independently wealthy and adored her father. Veiling her German frankness literally by dying her skin and hiding her position as a German aristocrat where as Francesca is more enigmatic keeping her life and wealth veiled.
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Unfortunately, Google translation does not work for me. It tried it yesterday.
Regarding the French/German interplay: When reading the excerpt in Amazon, I found a passage where a gentleman (don't remember the name) made a rather disparaging comment about the French saying that they took every opportunity to put down the Germans. Funny, that is what he was doing about the French.
My very first impression at reading Chapter One of A Novel Bookstore was, "I thought this was about a bookstore". It is a mysterious beginning. The next two chapters add to the mystery as two more seemingly isolated incidents occur before someone sees a connection. Something menacing, something sinister appears to be happening. What a start!
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Interesting Frybabe what we take away from what we read - fun - you could have fun with the idea of a bookstore filled with rotten leaves as in pages of a book being leaves. And the light of wisdom a pale moon - oh my - but seeing the scene through the eyes of a Harry Potter movie it is rather sinister isn't it -
As to the German/French thing I guess I was not seeing the difference as competitive so much as different - that each has their specialness - if I likened Ivan to the German frankness and naturalness with his elbow worn sweater and Francesco with her elegant gestures, seductive grace and small ironies - I like them both and see a benefit for both. I do think we all note differences - not sure though if seeing and remarking about those differences means one is assuming a power position over the other although, I agree we often do just that.
I do think - and I laughed out loud with the realization that most often we/me read for information and we expect our novels to be written in a frank and open way that we consider the natural or 'right' way that tells the story as opposed to seeing the work as an artistic opportunity to brush up against elegant small phrases that will gracefully seduce us into a mélange of metaphors, allusions and word associations.
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My very first impression at reading Chapter One of A Novel Bookstore was, "I thought this was about a bookstore".
Frybabe
My feeling exactly! But the story opened with a heavy-set 50 year old body lying in a forest. Are we beginning with a murder? This changes expectations of this novel - into something sinister. Wait, the man is in bad shape, but he survives!. Neither does the mother of four, involved in a bizarre car accident. She comes away with only shattered ribs and a broken sternum. It turns out these incidents are related. - They both involve writers...and now we are getting into books, and where there are books - there are bookstores. Here we go.
Did Stendhal really write La Rose et Le Vert, Barbara? I know his Le Rouge et Le Noir - years ago some of us discussed it here. What a great book - a "good novel." But this obscure work! I'm willing to bet that it relates to the story as we get into it...otherwise why use it here in the introduction?
From a link Barbara provided on this work - "Stendhal is not condemning his heroine to immorality because she is a woman and can have no sanctioned freedom; he is demonstrating how society condemns those who have the courage of their convictions, be they male or female."
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Frybabe, I was wondering the same thing about the start of the novel and how the incidents related to a bookstore. Why should a novel bookstore attract danger? Maybe we're getting somewhere with that quote, JoanP, from Barbara's link, about "how society condemns those who have the courage of their convictions." Is the act of expressing one's taste/preferences perceived to be harmful to others and, thus, elicit vengeance?
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owww I do like the quote you found - perfect for 'The Novel Bookstore' - "how society condemns those who have the courage of their convictions."
The Amazon link to both Stendhal stories Pink and the Green followed by Mina de Vanghel (http://www.amazon.com/Pink-Green-Followed-Mina-Vanghel/dp/0811217868/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309667896&sr=8-2)
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Have any of you figured out why all the village type characters in the first few chapters - many are only mentioned one time and what they have to do with the story is beyond me except if it was a painting it would remind me of one of the paintings by dutch artist, Pieter Bruegel.
Looking up the names is fun and can shed a bit of light on who are the some well known figures in France with similar names - is that the only reason for say a Colonel de Billepint or a Madame Antonioz to be included in the story?
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Most of the characters living near the three victims seem to me to serve one purpose - they provide information on the comings and goings of the three, proving that even though you think you're living a private life, you are always being watched. I can't say I made a note of any of their names with the exception of one - Armel's companion of 17 years - Maite.
He knew she was watching him - and it was only a matter of time that he had to let her know why he was afraid to go out for his usual walk.
So are we to assume that each of these three writers have been followed by two men who are threatening them bodily harm? Did they also attack the other five members of the committee? Why these three, in particular? And what did they hope to accomplish? Get them to drop off the committee that selects the book titles that are sold in the Novel Bookstore? Can you think of any other reason? And who would know their identity? That's the real mystery, isn't it?
Who would have it in for this little bookstore? Who had access to their real identity and where they lived?
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He knew she was watching him
A lot of watching going on isn't there JoanP - villagers that don't knock and check up on neighbors but they sure do watch knowing what vehicles and who visits Paul - as you point out, Maïté watches Armel - two unknown men watch Armel- Armel watches his watch for his appointment with Ivan and then watches for Ivan's arrival- almost feels like we should be expecting a Fahrenheit 451 storyline with book banning as the next initiative with all this watching...
There is no one seen watching Anne-Marie and no one sees her mystery vehicle that she believes caused the accident - it has disappeared...yes, who is behind all this and why...?
Have any of you had fun looking up the many departments and officers in your police department - I smiled when I realized since we are split between the Travis County Sheriff and the Chief of the Austin Police Department a decision would have to be made where to start - not sure of the comparison titles between the Paris police and some of the combined efforts of both the Sheriff and the Police department - we do not have any "30 units specialized in a variety of crimes and offenses." But then being small there is the advantage of calling or dropping in and telling the deputy what is what and knowing we would be directed to the right officer. Now to find one who reads literature hmmm, but then you never know and I always get a kick out of waiting in line at the grocery store and a casual conversation with those in line most often includes a line of thought along with a few literary quotes sprinkled in that can only come from readers.
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Nah, I didn't look up police department organization, but I did start to check out two of the towns mentioned, Les Crets and Meribel. Both are ski areas with the former also known for paragliding. I am curious to see where each of the committee members resides. What I haven't done yet is find me a street map of Paris.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July.
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What map did you use Frybabe - for the life of me I could not find Les Crêts - found several towns that could fit. One was situated with access to Lyon but it looked like more than a 2 hour drive to Chambéry which is south of Geneva - the town was situated though in a forest in the Haut Jura National Park. And then another that was west of Lyon and again a hike to Chambéry but could maybe be done in 2 hours however, no virtual tour in this Les Crêts and the nearby road that you can see with the virtual tour does not show a forested mountainous area. Then another, way too far although in the mountains, located not too far for Thonon les Bains on Lac Léman that separates France from Switzerland.
Now when I Google I found Les Crêts as an apartment complex in Méribel - fabulous views of the mountains for Les_Crets-Meribel_Savoie_Rhone_Alpes (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g580182-d646505-Reviews-Pierre_Vacances_Premium_Residence_Les_Crets-Meribel_Savoie_Rhone_Alpes.html) Do you think that is it and our author used the name of this complex as the name of the village in her story - The first chapter did say the last house in Les Crêts but I do not get a picture of a man alone in the middle of all these apartment units...What do you think...or did you find something that would work better.
Here we are trying to nail this down as if it were a travel-advisor or someone's biography rather than a piece of fiction. But it is fun isn't it
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I just used Google maps, Barb. This is confusing. While it came up with a Les Crets not too far below Geneva, in France, it appears that the name is attached to a bunch of apartment/resort complexes in a number of diffierent places in France and Switzerland when I just Googled the name. There is one in Meribel. So my question is, when I input Les Grets in Google Maps, why did I only got one southwest of Geneva. Well, at least we know where Meribel is.
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Its gotta be that she used the name of the complex for the name of the village because when you Google Méribel it is too perfect - right in the middle of la Vanoise National Park and a straight shot west to Chambéry that looks more like a 2 hour trip considering the terrain and the Lyon further west. Oh and using Google's little yellow man to create the virtual tour - what a treat...
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I didn't know about the little yellow man.
I found my travel guides (many countries, courtesy of an old friend) for France. As late as 2000, Meribel is not listed in Frommers, nor is the name Les Crets on any accommodations (the "newest" of the guides). I do have a huge street map of Paris, however. Yea! If you've ever seen me struggling with a paper map, you'd understand why I like Google maps and Google Earth.
I am going to go through Chapters 1-14 tonight and list all the places I see in the book, maybe the books listed and authors named that I don't know. Sounds like a nice after dinner project assuming there isn't anything worth watching on TV again tonight.
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Frybabe on the Google map there is usually on the left side a slide that allows you to zoom in by degrees and on top of that slide is a little yellow man - If you use your curser to move him every street that has been photographed turns blue on the map and where you place the little yellow man will give you a photo of what is there - every building - tree - street sign - pedestrian - vehicle - everything like a youtube video
On the street in the photo are white arrows that if you use your curser to hit the arrow in the direction you want to go the video of all you pass will be as if you are driving a vehicle - if you stop as if stopping your vehicle you can use your curser to turn the picture 90 degrees and get a shot of the front of a building or the landscape.
Frybabe I use Firefox and I have a very old computer - over10 years old running Windows something or other so that most things will not even come up on Explorer where as Mozilla Firefox accommodates this old version of windows and so if you have a new computer you should have no difficulty using this Google feature.
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Oh yes, great on listing the places - books and authors - Frybabe as long as you are taking on that huge task I will continue to list the people mentioned in Chapter 4 on - and then see if I can find a link to their names - something about the author including the actual names of so many characters is nudging me to think there is more to it than their being their to further the story of our 3 victims - that could be done with nameless villages - but there are these scenes with Suzon and the Doctor and all this about the 'plumb' hanging out her laundry when Paul comes weaving from the forest - why would we need to know she is shy, has 3 children and her husband modern enough to insist she not wear her scarf after they wedding day and yet because he is Moroccan he has conservative ideas - why do we need all that for a character to be there when Paul comes into the village - I just think there is more and so I want to look up names and see if that can be a clue. I just think there are sublet hints that go over our head because we are not living in France knowing the culture of the country.
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Frybabe, I'll be very interested in that list - especially the books that you list. Could you list the books that you recognize as well as thouse you've never heard of? Before we began this discussion, it was my hope that we'd turn up some titles of "good novels" for future discussions...
Did you notice the American author both Van and Francesca considered to be the best living author? What do you think of him?
I loved Van's little basement bookstore- what a great job...reading all the time - and stocking only the best. Listening to Van and Francesca go on about their love of books - and then their plans for a new book store, I really thought these two were so well suited for one another. I don't really see Van's attraction to young Anis - except she likes to read books - and is "exquisite." Francesca - much more gravitas, I think. But why is she so sad!
Here's a photo of the little town of Meribel - I can see why Van loved it here.
(http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/c2/bc/53/so-nice-to-wake-up-to.jpg)
Barb, I am not seeing the significance of the names - but maybe they will turn out to be important later on, but I can't see how - there are so many of them. Perhaps because the names of the people and the places are foreign to you that you think that their use might mean something more?
Years ago one of my sons came here - skiing in nearby Val d'isere. He was overcome by the mountains - way beyond his skill level. Thought he was going to die. He took out his camera and took a picture of the slope, his last view on earth. Maybe this is why Anis decided not to ski when she came with her school friends... I don't remember why she comes at all...
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Well JoanP - like you say the names may all prove to be nothing - Néant - but there is support characterization for some of them and that intrigues me - no rock unturned kind of thinking - what can I say I am hopeless when it comes to examining the details.
Ah the mountains - I'm not a skier - never been there in winter - have wanted to visit the Christmas fairs in Germany in winter - however I hiked several times in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and France. One year I too hiked these mountains - what is great making European hiking so much easier is most of the hiking trails in Europe have huts that are very inexpensive to stay for a night - so you can hike from hut to hut.
The huts on the high mountains are usually only two rooms - the lower part is booths and benches with a ceramic stove for heat and the kitchen plus a small add on where the hut master sleeps and then upstairs is one bed for 14 to 20 people with pillow and folded blanket at the foot defining everyones spot - across the isle may be another bed for 6 or 8 and an upper deck for about 4 - that side is shorter because at the end is a room with one John and sink that everyone shares.
Folks stay in these huts from all over Europe. I was fascinated meeting many from the Netherlands who bike ride to the mountains in either Switzerland or northern Italy using the huts and hiking trails. Several young people were meeting grandmothers or aunts at some location like Zermatt where together they will climb part of the Matterhorn.
The other astonishing thing is to hike in the forests for a few hours and just when you think a nice sit down with a cold beer or hot coffee would be perfect, like in a fairy tale - out of no where - is this huge seventeenth or eighteenth century chateau in front of you or down the trail a bit - with umbrellaed tables outside and other hikers, head back against the wall resting in the sun - there is nothing around - a single lane road that must be how delivers are made - hiking is a very different experience than the Appalachian trail.
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Cormac McCarthy page on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3ACormac+McCarthy&keywords=Cormac+McCarthy&ie=UTF8&qid=1309907425&sr=1-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B000APT0OW) Read All the Pretty Horses - loved it however, he includes man's brutality in just about all his stories - seems to me it was made into a movie - I have The Crossing in my pile of books but I have to be in the right emotional place to tackle what I know will be a brutal portrayal of someone.
Not mentioned in this book however, I was blown away when I read the excerpts for the new book of unfinished work by David Foster Wallace entitled The Pale King... his writing - oh my...I sure do hope we come up with some recommendations of books to read - I am thinking we need to be just a bit further into this book to get the flavor of what is a 'Good Novel'...
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I am in awe of the rest of you doing research on the locations mentioned in the book. I have no sense of geography.
I found the following information about the author's inspiration for the "novel bookstore." The bookstore seems to be based on an actual place:
Q: What inspired you to write A Novel Bookstore? Is The Good Novel based on an
actual bookstore?
Author: For a long time, I planned to open a bookstore in Paris with the name “Au bon roman”
[The Good Novel] that sells novels, nothing but novels, and all of them excellent. But the
years passed by and my plan remained only a dream. I told myself that at the very least I
could write about it, I could tell the story of The Good Novel.
I often ask myself: Where did the idea for such a utopia come from? And my answer is that
it is not a utopia. In my mind, it was a plan, a real one, and one that I believed could be fully
realized.
Some years ago I encountered an exemplary bookseller in Val d’Isère, a famous ski resort in
the French Alps. At the time, he managed a small walk-down treasure trove that was full of
novels, all of them remarkable; I was inspired by this man, Jean-Paul Shafran, and based
Van’s bookstore, located downstairs from the offices of M. Bono’s small press, on this store.
(By the way, Shafran subsequently opened his own bookstore in Val d’Isère.)
Since the publication of A Novel Bookstore I have received numerous letters from booksellers
in France and all over Europa, all saying, Come to my store (meet our readers), and you’ll
see: it’s The Good Novel.
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How fabulous marcie - not only that you found this goodie but that there really was a prototype for Ivan and more, that he opened a bookstore in the mountains as well as hearing that all over Europe similar bookstores are serving readers - looks like there is room for both the big chains and the smaller specialized bookstore - seems to me there is a bookstore I visited in London that had nothing but cookbooks so the idea of a bookstore shelving only good novels sound reasonable doesn't it...
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The health report about Eloïse is difficult and yet, we were so enriched by her posts since most of the books we read she found and read written in French and would join a conversation with us in English - amazing - we embraced what was French as well as, through Eloïse's son the French speaking part of Switzerland. Somehow I am not feeling that intimacy with all things French that was a part of our reading and discussing books. Does anyone remember what French books Eloïse led in discussion - I am remembering for awhile there was a French speaking discussion led by Eloïse. I do not want that special privilege we enjoyed to fade from my memory.
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The last book discussion with Eloise that I can remember was Elegance of the Hedgehog - funny, the same translator of this book. I also remember her participation of Le Rouge et Le Noir. I'm trying to remember which one she may have been leading - in French, Barb.
I'm wondering about the reading clientele of such a bookstore - in the mountains. Don't you think it must be the young who come to ski? Young people like Anis? Don't jump on me, I'm probably wrong about this. There are probably many Seniors who come to Val d'Isere to ski. What do I know? I think that Val and Francesca are planning a bookstore in a larger urban area - Paris, isn't it? Because most of the books they are talking about are written in French, is that right? I've only done one bookstore in Paris - Shakespeare and Company, near Notre Dame. Have you ever been? Don't get me started on that experience! It's got two separate departments - one for very expensive rare books - the other used. I remember buying a copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight there. My memory is not great, but I have the book on my shelf, with the Shakespeare and Company stamp inside - to help my memory.
I love the way Francesca and Van channel one another, as they plan. If one wants to open such a bookstore, it's good to have Francesca as a partner. Unlimited funds, it appears - and the building they can use for the store. Wow! Her husband seems to be footing the bill. I don't understand why she doesn't leave him though - is it the money?
Barbara - Yes, Colmac McCarthy. Did you read THE ROAD with us several years ago? That was quite an exhausting experience. I did read Pretty Horses - but not The Crossing. Do you know the title of the third novel in the trilogy? Were you surprised they both feel he is the greatest living author? I mean, they read just about everything and they singled out McCarthy. I wonder if Laurence Cosse feels this way about him too?
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Joan I never tire of hearing about your experience in Paris at Shakespeare and Company - what a memory to have and pull out to dust off from time to time - just fabulous. Seems to me being a part of that book store you were expected to read a book a day - whew - I do not know how to do that and still have time for other things in life but then they are not maintaining a garden or keeping a family other than those in the store along with many of our other responsibilities that keep our days full.
Joan I could be wrong but I am remembering way back before the Stendhal discussion, maybe 10 years ago, there was a time when Eloïse led a discussion in French and there was at least one if not a couple of books discussed - vaguely I am remembering The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
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JoanP, I too like the way that Francesca and Van are "on the same page" although they don't seem to have exchanged much personal information about their lives. The book is pretty mysterious about everyone so far.
I too was surprised that they singled out Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy. I'm wondering if Laurence Cosse is directing our focus to something within those books rather than on the "greatness" of the author or books themselves. I looked up a bio of McCarthy and it says:
"The third volume of The Border Trilogy was published in 1998; Cities of the Plain, unites John Grady Cole, the main character of All the Pretty Horses, with The Crossing's Billy Parham, and centers on Cole's doomed relationship with a Mexican prostitute. Not as well-received by critics as the first two books in the Border Trilogy, Cities of the Plain is nonetheless notable for its epilogue, which reaches back to Suttree [my note: Suttree is McCarthy's fourth novel and, according to some critics, his best] in its imagery and simultaneously casts the entire Border Trilogy in a new and fascinating light, unifying the previous two volumes of the trilogy."
Maybe there is a clue about A NOVEL BOOKSTORE for us there.
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Barbara - I'd forgotten about the "readers" in the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris. Mostly students, they were. With no place to stay in Paris - no money. In exchange for a bed, a cot or a mattress in the bookstore itself, - (mostly on the second and third floor) - they had to read a book a day and stock the bookshelves. So, when you visit the store during the day, you find them - reading. Van would have loved this store.
I thought it was funny that V. and F. put aside talk of the bookstore and traded information of a personal nature on the 7th day. Funny, Van shared very little with Francesa. She spilled her heart out to him - about her daughter and her unhappy marriage. Not sure why she stays the husband, though. Did I miss something? She is very unhappy.
Oh. My! Marcie, I never questioned the importance of Cormac McCarthy's work to The story. I see what you mean. So many book titles by noted authors have been mentioned - it is odd that both Van and Francesca point to him as the greatest living author. Let's see where this goes.
Another lingering question - how did Suzon know to go into the woods after Paul's incident. Was that explained? She was looking for the bottle - and found it. How could she know it would be there? Unless she's in on the plot?
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I'm wondering if Laurence Cosse is directing our focus to something within those books rather than on the "greatness" of the author or books themselves.
Marcie
I was thinking pretty much the same thing about the Stendahl books. Most, if not all are listed.
Funny, Van shared very little with Francesa. She spilled her heart out to him...
JoanP
I must be too used to George. It didn't strike me as odd that Van didn't share much personal info.
Good questions about Suzon, JoanP. I just assumed that she was familiar with his drinking habits and the forest path. What struck me as odd was why she would pick up the bottle. It sure seems like she wanted to hide evidence. Maybe she thought his story was a drinking induced imagining and/or wanted to spare him the embarrassment of the police not taking him seriously because of his state at the time.
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Frybabe, I think you're right about the Stendahl books providing clues about this book. Barbara has provided links to some of them at the end of her post #9. (http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=2337.msg123065#msg123065)
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I think you are on to something Frybabe - I do have and I'm reading the two Stendhal stories - the Mina... is a quick read the other, Le Rose et le Vert is Mina being the same as she was in the other short story but it goes on as she, in disguise seduces Monsieur de Larcay - I need to get back and read more - the book is too long to simply be a seduction piece. I see a lot of similarities between Mina and Francesca - where we hear more about her private life we really do not have an understanding of how much wealth and how it is administered - I thought it came from her father or grandfather - I think next weeks read goes into some of that but it still is not as laid out as for instance the way the bookstore will be laid out and what books they will stock.
I wonder if the 7th day they rested is what the seven days are all about - a lot of numbers and counting going on - what I wonder is that all about - I only see that now - it seems to emanate more from Ivan - is that an outward sign of his German frankness - it has to have some connection or why would an author keep it in the book...
Let's see in All the Pretty Horses it is the two friends John Grady and Rawlins are riding to Mexico when they notice a kid, thirteen year old Jimmy Blevins following them - sounds like Annis in the story as both Van and Francesco are on their journey towards opening the bookstore. The whole odyssey for John Grady is built on his love and knowledge of horses - the land where his family ranched is pulled out from under him by his mother the sole heir to the land - he raises his status quickly at a Mexican Ranch with his ability to quickly break horses - he oversteps his position when he allows the willful headstrong daughter to fall in love with him and the father arranges not only for his daughter to go to France but for some gunmen to take Grady and Rawlins to jail where they are accused of horse stealing. The story then gets rather intense with a lot of brutality - Rawlins is killed - Grady is in a knife fight - lots of 'stuff' happens - he does get a night with Alejandra before she leaves him to take the train on her way to France and after he learned it was she who signed the papers for his arrest - there is a whole backstory about a grandaunt's lost love - the kid was in the jail and he is killed - Grady leaves Mexico with what he had when he started his journey - his horse and his pride - back in Texas he stops to inform the kid's family and finds Jimmy's father is dead - all his ties in Texas are gone so he goes off into Mexico where he experienced all the confusing brutal aspects of life and where he again could negotiate life and not loose his Pride and where he is dependent on a land owner in order to do what he does best - handle horses.
And so some of the similarities I can see is Ivan is dependent on Francesco's wealth to do what he does best just as he was dependent on the shop owner in Méribel to do what he does best. Maybe Van has feelings for Francesco that cannot be realized as Grady had feelings for Alejandra - certainly we get a sense that Francesco is not in his class with her staying at chateaus, owning a building in Paris and other signs of wealth while his prized possession is a sweater with holes at the elbows and his knowledge of what is a good book. We start to wonder is it Francesco, like Alejandra, who behind Van's back is arranging for all these mysterious attacks... is it Francesco's husband who also seems to be a man of wealth and is outspoken with his disdain for the success of the bookstore...is Annis a kid who cannot take care of herself when the going gets thick and ends up like Blevins no longer in Van's life...
I have not read any other Cormac McCarthy written book so I'm limited to just this story to try and find any clue to how his books could be a shadow to the story Laurence Cossé is telling.
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I signed up for this disussion, but will not be able to concinue. I am having vision problems. On the 19th I will see my opthamologist, to evaluate if I am ready for my cataract surgery. Hopefully, things will then improve.
Sheila
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Welcome to our July Discussion of
A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/novelbookstore/novelbookstore.jpg) | What is a good novel? A classic, a book that was a landmark, a difficult book? We have all read books that include all the basics for a 'good' novel however, it became a novel without genius. Will ‘A Novel Bookstore’ move us toward a definition?
A Utopian Paris bookstore, without the constraints of market realities and financial constraints, triggers jealousies and threats in Cossé's self-described, elegantly written novel. Ivan "Van" Georg and Francesca Aldo-Valbelli, the heroes, establish ‘The Good Novel’, a bookshop that will stock only, well written French fiction.
A secret committee of eight French writers is conscripted to submit annual lists of titles that become the bookstore’s inventory. We, the readers are immediately thrust in the middle of solving secret attacks on the lives of three committee members. As the story continues, we join the friends of the ‘The Good Novel’ to also track down who is behind the attempts to de-rail the success of the bookstore that is protecting artistic excellence from being submerged by mediocrity.
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Links are underlined.
Lunchtime Literary Conversations (http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5687/prmID/2126): with Laurence Cossé (http://www.facebook.com/pages/LaurenceCoss%C3%A9/113618528648184) and author Hervé Le Tellier, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herv%C3%A9_Le_Tellier) moderated by Rakesh Satyal (http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/catalog.cfm?dest=dir&linkid=2437&linkon=subsection)
In French, with great photos illustrating her books… Laurence Cossé dans La Grande Librairie du 12 février 2009 (http://videos.france5.fr/video/iLyROoafJGes.html)
Quotes by Laurence Cossé (http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/783644.Laurence_Coss_)
Week 1: Part 1 and Part 2 through Chapter 14 (about 102 pages)
Week 2: Part 2 from Chapter 15 to the end (about 97 pages)
Week 3: Part 3 (about 123 pages)
Week 4: Part 4 (about 86 pages)
Discussion Leaders BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com) and Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 4 - PART 4
- We learn something about the writing process, and what constitutes a good novel, through discovering more about the committee members, especially the members who were attacked. What made an impression on you?
- What are some of the cynical aspects of the book publishing and book selling businesses that we learn about through the investigation of possible culprits? Have you experienced any negative aspects in your pursuit of books?
- What do we learn about Francesca? Is her situation, reactions and how she "took her leave" a reflection of novels you've read or heard about?
- What parallels are there in the relationships between Van and Anis and Van and Francesca?
- How do Van and Anis change after Francesca "takes her leave" and they read Francesca's notes?
- What are your thoughts as you finish reading the book?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 3 - PART 3
- How do the various settings – forest, hillside trail, mountain ski resort, Paris, hospitals, police station, a seventeenth-century building add mood, tone and meaning to the text?
- What recurring patterns, images/symbols, images, metaphors, similes, have you noticed and Why – What is their purpose – How do they develop or impact the characters?
- What clues made you suspect those behind the denigration of Francesco and Van
- How do the attacks on the values inherit in the book store remind you of other literary and scientific attacks
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 2
- In this section (middle to end of Part 2) we learn something about the personal lives of Van and Francesca. What impressions are you forming of them? What does the Bookstore mean to them?
- What do you make of Anis?
- What are your impressions of the 8 members of the committee?
- What are your thoughts about the importance of literature that Francesca learned from her grandfather?
"Literature is a source of pleasure, he said, it is one of the rare inexhaustible joys in life, but it's not only that. It must not be disassociated from reality. Everything is there. That is why I never use the word fiction. Every subtlety in life is material for a book. He insisted on the fact. Have you noticed, he'd say, that I'm talking about novels? Novels don't contain only exceptional situations, life or death choices, or major ordeals; there are also everyday difficulties, temptations, ordinary disappointments; and, in response, every human attitude, every type of behavior, from the finest to the most wretched. There are books where, as you read, you wonder: What would I have done? It's a question you have to ask yourself. Listen carefully: it is a way to learn to live. There are grown-ups who would say no, that literature is not life, that novels teach you nothing. They are wrong. Literature performs, instructs, it prepares you for life."
- Are there books that are mentioned in this section that you are thinking about reading?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 1
- Who is telling the story?
- How many stories within stories have you noticed? What books have you read that use a narrative embedded in the story, often told by a character in the story? This is sometimes called a Metadiegetic Narrative (a back story).
- On page 23 Marcellin heard Paul deliriously mutter “Mina green and pink.” When he spoke of it to Madame Huon, she assumed Paul “was referring to one of his visitors and the color of her eye shadow or her lingerie.” What was Paul referencing, and why is it important?
- Several of the names that are sprinkled in chapter 4 are names known to the French. Who among the names is a well-known skier and whose Sur name is a famous cookie even sold here in the US?
- What causes a chuckle reading the Doctor and Suzon attacking the beaufort? What is beaufort?
- What is the history of the name Montbrun?
- Suzon says Paul is a very cultured man who goes by the name Néant. In French Néant means ‘nothing - void’ which could describe what he lives on but more, how does his name link the concept of void to: ~ Charles Baudelaire ~ Alexandre Grothendieck, mathematician ~ a Cabaret ~ Phantasmagoria
- What book have you read that was so powerful when you finished reading you realized you never read anything like it? What about the book you read was outstanding? Was it the use of language, the unforgettable characters who spoke to you in a new way, a theme that reached beyond your imagination?
- Why does Armel write checks to Maritime Rescue or Handicap International?
- Van speaks highly of Armel as a storyteller. What is the difference between a storyteller and a stylist?
- What are the various meanings for Paul’s pseudonym, Brother Brandy?
- What motivates, scares, upsets Anne-Marie?
Sorry to hear that you must drop out for a while, Sheila. Take care of your eyesight.
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Shelia sorry you cannot join us but we understand - hope the surgery makes a difference for you - I had one eye done that was so iffy because of pseudoexfoliation but it was successfully done with only the one surgery and it did not take me any 6 weeks as they predict for healing - I was off all drops in 5 weeks and flying to my daughter's for Christmas exactly 6 weeks after the surgery - it really is as they all say one of the easiest - so good luck and smile - you will see distance like a kid again - now it will not fix astigmatism nor close up so glasses may still be your lot in life.
This book almost reads like a mystery except we have no 'body' but it sure is keeping us on the edge of our seat as we read. If you have the book keep it in your pile you will enjoy it when you can see better.
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I too am sorry you can't join us, Sheila. I hope that all goes well and that you're able to read again soon.
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Some links that tie Néant (Nothingness - Void) to French culture -
Scroll a bit for the English A Taste for Nothingness - Charles Baudelaire's Fleurs du mal / Flowers of Evil (http://fleursdumal.org/poem/215)
Photos on YouTube of Cabaret du Néant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rtsBbQfQCc) dedicated to death.
The Victorian theatrical affect The Ghost in the Theatre: Pepper's Ghost effect (http://users.telenet.be/thomasweynants/peppers-ghost.html)
Another YouTube - this time Victorian Phantasmagoria (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RZgbXyKcno)
This is a PDF As If Summoned from the Void: The Life of Alexandre Grothendieck (Mathematician and Holocaust survivor) (http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~wwwagag/download/other/groth1.pdf)
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Sheila ~ Good luck with your eyes! I too am having vision problems.
I've been lurking here ... sorry DLs ... and have not yet purchased this book.
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Glad you stopped in Mippy - wouldn't you like to join us - the meat of the story starts next week and for two full weeks we read about the bookstore in Paris - the final week is a the week the mysteries are unveiled - we are holding off with anticipation that we enjoying building as we read - gives it a delicious flavor to the read like the mouth watering anticipation of a good 4 course meal.
Here are just a couple of links to a few of the many villager's names
Suzon last name is Petitbeurre (http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2006/06/petits_beurres.php)
Doctor Parfait (http://www.joyofbaking.com/BerryParfait.html) 'Clair' maybe as in - Au 'clair' de la lune?
beaufort (http://www.cheese-france.com/cheese/beaufort.htm)
Madame Huon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huon_of_Bordeaux) whose grocery was right next to the Café-restaurant.
Alfred Deneriaz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_D%C3%A9n%C3%A9riaz) carried Néon home.
Steve Perrault (http://www.angelfire.com/nb/classillus/images/perrault/perra.html) the lumberjack who helped carry Néon home.
Marcellin (http://www.artisanalcheese.com/cheeses/Saint-Marcellin) Prot, Alfred's father-in-law who helped carry Néon home, who stayed by his bed sleeping in the arm chair and heard him mutter, Mina green and pink
Vera Polonowska, the haughty blonde nurse - France and Poland have had a special historical relationship with a great migration of Poles to France in the mid nineteenth century. France and Poland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93Poland_relations)
Alain N'Guyen, the ambulance driver - French film-maker Francois Truffaut's makeup artist spells her name "Thi Loan N'guyen"? That is, with an apostrophe between the "N" and the "g", as if there was a click in there.
Arthur Montbrun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Montbrun)
Nicos Hariri (http://www.rhariri.com/) our author includes how closely the name Nicos is to the name 'Nicolas' Sarkozy which suggested to me there were other reflections in the names.
Colonel de Billepint is one letter away from Villepint (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique_de_Villepin) Prime Minister of France 2005-2007
Ouest-France (http://www.ouest-france.fr/)
Ballon d'Alsace (http://www.google.com/search?q=Ballon+d%27alsace&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=c4c&rls=com.google:en-US:official&prmd=ivnsm&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=imUXTrX-A6f9sQKywfk5&ved=0CB8QsAQ&biw=1121&bih=677)
Armel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Armel) as in St.Armel and then his last name with all the math in the book could be a nod to this famous mathematician Le Gall (http://www.math.u-psud.fr/~jflegall/indexbis.html)
There really is a Noëlle Revaz - Home Page for Noëlle Revaz (http://www.halma-network.eu/en/scholarship/stipendiatenverzeichnis/noelle-revaz.html)as there are other authors mentioned in the book however, that is for another post.
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Mippy, I'm glad you've been following the discussion. I'm sorry about your vision problems. I hope you'll join us as you can, even if you don't find the book in your library or bookstore.
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Thank you for those names, places and informative links, Barbara.
At the end of the section we've been reading (Part 2, Chapter 14), the narrator says, after the section when Van and Francesca have decided on the number of books each committee member must recommend, "Long afterwards, when Van related these discussions to me, they seemed technical and austere. Van assured me of the contrary. He hd recalled extraordinary moments. Time flew by with the quickness of thought, their project was coming to light, and its credibility was at stake."
I've been wondering who the narrator is and how he or she knows all of the details provided in the book. Now we find out that at least Van has confided in the narrator. I'm not sure yet what I think this mysterious narrator adds to the book in place of a more traditional omniscient narrator.
This section of Chapter 14 provides quite a list of French authors whom Van and Francesca consider great novelists. I haven't heard of many, if not most, of them.
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I really give you moderators credit for the great job you're doing to try to stimulate enthusiasm for, IMO, such a dull book.
Chapter 10 has the most absurd, stilted conversation between Van and Francesca. She says to him, "Do you understand that I no longer view you as an associate?" (Meaning, I guess that she has the hots for him.) And then asks him not to tell anyone about her effusiveness. That's effusive?? LOL I would have expected him to reply, "Duh?" or "Say what?"
And the boring bit in Chapter 7 about the life of Stendahl. Who cares? The only books I recognize so far are those by Cormac McCarthy. Am bored by all the French authors they talk about. Ho hum.
And what's all that big deal about finding the exact section of the police department to help them with the attackers. Just go in and ask the d..n police sergeant to let them talk to someone about their friends who have been attacked. And why have they waited so long to do this?
When they finally find the perfect detective, they ask if he can give them an hour or two (!!). Then they proceed with a long boring account of how they met and got the bookstore going. And educate the man about the difference betwen a book and a novel! This started in Chapter 12. I just finished Chapter 14 and they are still running on and on about it and haven't yet gotten to the reason they went there in the first place. It's a wonder the detective didn't fall asleep like I almost did.
This is the kind of stuff that makes me want to throw a book (I call this a book, not a novel) against the wall. Can't do that because it's a library book, but I can return it which I will do.
Pardon my rant.
Marj
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Marjifay - I don't recognize most of these French authors either - and I was a French major way back when! I guess we have to remember that the author was French, wrote this book in French - and we're reading a translation. It stands to reason that most of the titles she's writing about are French then.
Van and Francesca talk about authors (besides Cormac McCarthy) that we can recognize. Proust and Balzac for example. Several times it has been suggested that we discuss one of their works here - or back in SeniorNet. I wonder if there is still interest in these two titles?
I agree with you - about Hefner. It did seem a bit odd the way he came to be on the case, and agreed to give so much of his time to it. I can see it was important that they find someone who would be sympathetic to the need for privacy when they explain the nature of the book store and the reasons they think the three had been assaulted. Otherwise, there is nothing to connect the attacks and no leads to give to the police.
Isn't it odd that Van at age 42 has no one in his life - no past, no family, no wife, no girlfriends? And he becomes smitten with the very young university student? who likes to read. Francesca must have thought so too- she tells him that " he came across as a born loser."
There's a lot that ought to be made clear in the coming chapters. If the author can accomplish this, she's got a "novel" on her hands...
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LOL, Marj, about wanting to throw the book (but not doing so because it's a library copy) ;)
It's definitely a slow, deliberate book. I had forgotten by Chapter 15, which is the section we're going to start this weekend (for Week 2), that the police detective was there and that the events were being told to him by Francesca and Van. I was sort of startled to see Heffner's name when Van was talking about the comic book author "B." Van says: "Let's call him B. ... Everybody knows him." The next line says "Heffner's expression told them that he didn't know him." I had to look back to see what the heck Heffner was doing there. I thought I had skipped some pages!
Everything that Van and Francesca have done together so far is very planned and deliberate and we only seem to find out things as they are told to someone else or, perhaps, reflected in a book that is mentioned. My challenge is to find out more about some of those books and, as JoanP says, maybe we'll be inspired to read some of them together.
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Sounds to me like we have among us on Senior Learn the two kinds of readers that Van speaks about in chapter nine when he describes Armel as a wonderful storyteller that he wanted on the committee to balance the stylists, even stylists as powerful as Paul or as refined as Sarah Gestelents.
I could not find an author by the name of Sarah Gestelents but this is the difference (storyteller versus stylist) that seems to be to be matching the quote from Mina in Stendhal's Mina de Vanghel and his later book Le Rose et le Vert. We included those quotes earlier about German frankness and French Irony with little phrases required by French elegance.
Marj I am thinking you prefer to read a book that is telling a story rather then a book explaining characters, motive and feelings using allusions to books you have not read. It also sounds like you do not like an author who plays a cat and mouse game of including characters who use time wasting phrases - it is true that most of the books we have read in recent years on Senor Learn are written by storytellers with German frankness so The Novel Bookstore does not offer us what we have been used to discussing.
Your book throwing sounds like since you cannot change what the author has written to what makes you comfortable you can at least throw the book ;) :D
Hope you stay with it and give this stylized story a chance - it sounds like it is a different experience for you - just as Van was aware that he needed among his list making committee authors who were both storytellers and stylists we can use the comments of someone who is more comfortable with an author who is a storyteller.
In the mean time - really you can't Marj - you just can't - pleeeaassee - don't rain on my parade - I love this book - I really do - but - it is great that we disagree - that is what these discussions were all about - to get each other's opinion while respecting each other and we each acknowledge that we do all have different life experiences that we bring to a book and we have different tastes - we can have both views here and we will have viewpoints galore from every angle. Wheeee...
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Thanks for not jumping all over me for panning the book, people. I just get moods sometimes.
I wonder how many of the French books mentioned have been translated into English. If you find one that sounds good, pease let us know.
Actually, before I got sidetracked with Novel Bookstore, I was reading an interesting book by a French author: MANON LESCAUT by Abbe Prevost, first published in 1753 but easy to read in the modern translation. The Amazon review, says "'The sweetness of her glance, or rather my evil star already in its ascendant and drawing me to my ruin, did not allow me to hesitate for a moment.' So begins the story of Manon Lescaut, a tale of passion and betrayal, of delinquency and misalliance, which moves from early eighteenth-century Paris--with its theatres, assemblies, and gaming-houses-via prison and deportation to a tragic denouement in the treeless wastes of Louisiana. It is one of the great love stories, and also one of the most enigmatic: how reliable a witness is Des Grieux, Manon's lover, whose tale he narrates? " (182 pages)
I wouldn't mind reading Proust. I own, but haven't read yet, Remembrance of Things Past. Also have Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life. (I really should get started on that because at my age I don't have much time to change my life. LOL)
Marj
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owww Marj you have a copy of Alain de Botton's. How Proust Can Change Your Life. I just ordered it from Amazon last week for the same reason you had the reaction to The Novel Bookstore - I tried Proust and oh oh oh - it was so slow moving and I was not comfortable with his spending so much time with his 'ladies' - but reading this book I realize there was a phrase that indicated Proust was about the details of life - forgot what page but it hit me that maybe I needed to look again at Proust and then when I saw Alain de Botton's book I thought that is it - read that first and then I can read Proust from a different prospective.
ah Manon Lescaut - I only know the Opera - I have never read the book... what a story and what music it inspired.
You are right some of the books mentioned are not translated and some of the authors have nothing translated into English - that is when you want to sell everything and move to France for a year - because at our age I am convinced it is the only way to learn the language - to be completely inundated with no choice to even hear English. And then all these wonders written in French would be on our reading pile.
With all the interest here of late and connecting how much French influence there is in our nation it opens a window to us and who knows maybe we will tackle a few of these authors - it would be an experience that reading as a group would get more from our read since it is so much easier reading with a group than tackling some of these authors on our own.
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I think we discussed a Proust (short story?) a while back. I did get bored with that. As for this book, I have been reading ahead because I also have a library book that must be returned soon. I can only read a short paragraph or two at at time. I don't find it boring, but it is something I can only read a little of at a time without getting "antzy" to do or read something else.
I started a list of books listed and am through Chapter 19 with that. I don't think I am going to list them all here. A cursory check of some of the books leads me to believe that we haven't heard of may of the books and authors because they have not been translated into English. Some authors have only had a few of their books translated.
As for the committee members, I did not check all the names, but the three that I did, I could not find anywhere except in the novel.
This is getting a little ahead, but the story of Gendarme Bailly and the street named in his honor is real. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_de_l%27Agent-Bailly It is only one city block long. http://my.qoop.com/store/Michele-Attilio-ZAMPOLLO-336972449184511/Rue-de-l-Agent-Bailly---Paris-by-Michele-Attilio-ZAMPOLLO-qpps_667889257073701/
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I made a list of the novels on the Novel Bookstore website and ordered a few used copies. Am reading The Sea by John Banville. Enjoying it very much but am on page 93 and have a list of over 20 words I have had to look up. It is the story of a man whose wife died and he has returned to the seaside town where he grew up. Story moves back and forth from his life with wife and his life as a child.
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Barb said, "that is when you want to sell everything and move to France for a year -"
One of the favorite places I visited was a trip with a couple of friends to France. We rented a condo in Southern France -- Aix in Provence. We rented a car and drove all over. Wonderful time, and the people in Southern France are so nice, much nicer than in Paris.
Speaking of books about France, I just finished one of the best books I've read this year -- Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell, about a famous battle the English under young Henry V fought against France in 1415. It's the story of a young English forester who signs on with Henry's army as an archer. Magnificent story telling of the 6,000 Englishmen confronting 30,000 French soldiers. Henry believed God was on his side and that France should be his. (It has some of the most creative cursing I've ever heard--some very funny.) A great read. Now I will have to read Shakespeare's Henry V.
Marj
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Oops!
I can only read a short paragraph or two at at time.
I meant a short chapter or two.
Marj, Have you read "Ysabel" by GuyGavriel Kay? It is set in Aix en Provence. I printed out several maps of the area and followed the action. I also looked at online photos of the area and Saint-Sauveur Cathedral which places a central role especially at the beginning of the book.
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Frybabe thanks - great links - did you see the YouTube link of the studio apartment available for rent? I don't know - after seeing how behind all those imposing doors we see on the street are these delightful courtyards but the apartment - oh dear - it was clean and had everything a body needs to maintain itself under one roof but the charm I am imagining is just not there. and looking closely it appears the wall board that we are used to seeing for painted walls is a new addition - behind is stone masonry - you can see it close to the ceiling and in a few spots - those buildings are made of rough stone - no wonder they are still standing 100s of years after they were built.
this studio apartment may be not much different than the space Van rents and later Annis finds her one room apartment.
Studio Apartment on Rue de l'Agnet Bailly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF7kMrH79nE)
Library book or not this book seems to call out to read on - in some ways it is a page turner and it is the mystery of what is going to happen next as the description of getting the bookstore up and running and then who is behind all the attacks first on three from the committee and then the onslaught against the store. But you are so right - no skimming is there - we have to slow down and read - that is when I realize I have not been reading enough serious literature - I am convinced it takes practice just like practicing the piano in order to read some literature. Do you have any favorite list makers of 'books we should read' - the ones that come to mind are 'The Harvard Bookshelf' and a professor Harold Bloom - but there are others.
Kidsal I am almost sure the author of The Sea is an English author - seems to me he is a Booker prize winner - it sounds like you are deep into the story - its been on my pile for over a year but my pile keeps growing in spite of all the reading - Don't you love it when you have to have a dictionary by your side in order to read a book. Another site that is great to get a flavor of a word is this online thesaurus - it costs $19 a year but the way they show the connecting words is wonderful - try it - I believe you can use it one time without paying http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
Ah Marj so you were in Aix driving around the Provence - by any chance did you visit where the Souleiado fabric by Charles Démery is printed with all those blocks smuggled in from India by Gypsies and where he has an old Gypsy caravan in front - it is located up north west for Aix in Tarascon - I bet you stocked up though on Calissons - I never did get to see the Lavender fields - did you get over that way?
All those battles - I remember vaguely Agincourt - a couple of months ago I read The Winter Sea that went back and forth between today and the sixteenth century in Scotland and again France was where Bonnie Charles was holing up with the story of how he tried to come back and recapture Scotland.Those books written around a war can be exciting can't they - very different then this book which in comparison is almost drawing room in style with allusions to other authors and carefully worded sentences -
Have you ever listened to a meeting held in France on YouTube - much time is spent on non-issue dialog that to me seems unrelated to the topic at hand. - after reading this book and researching what elegant writing is all about I can understand it is all about elegance - the look is as or more important than the content. Now that would be an expression of an art form wouldn't it. There is art that gives a message but most of it is to create something beautiful.
Golly so much to learn and only now to be introduced to a whole line of thinking and speaking and reading and writing - I wish I could start over - no - I really don't - I wouldn't want to be 20 again although 30 was fulfilling but I would take 60 of course assuming I know what I know now - . ;)
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Barb, interesting tour. I had looked at a few stills, but didn't see this. Nice little courtyard. Looks like a student flat except that I didn't notice a bunch of books and papers around. Rue de L'Agent Bailly is several blocks away from Lycee & College Jaques-Decour. A little farther away is a hospital and the College et Ecole Saint Vincent de Paul. I imagine, like New York or London, rents in Paris are so high that many people can only afford what seems more like a large walk in closet.
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a large walk in closet.
:D 8)
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Kidsal, thanks for that information about The Sea by John Banville. It's great that you're already so far into it. Are they French words that you are looking up?
Frybabe, it's fun to know that Gendarme Bailly was an actual person. I thought those letters between Van and Anis were fascinating.
We've add some questions in the heading that we might want to consider during our discussion of the middle to the end of Part 2 for week 2.
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What causes a chuckle reading the Doctor and Suzon attacking the beaufort? What is beaufort?
I've never eaten Beaufort, but I have had Gruyere, which I heard it resembles. The description of the Beaufort does not sound anything close to Gruyere I ate. I stopped eating Gruyere because it was tasting a bit "soapy" to me.
http://www.cheese-france.com/cheese/beaufort.htm
Several of the names that are sprinkled in chapter 4 are names known to the French. Who among the names is a well-known skier and whose Sur name is a famous cookie even sold here in the US?
I'm going to have to go back to Chapter 4 and cruise the names. The only French skier I remember, for I have not followed the sport for quite some time, is Jean-Claude Killy.
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You to can own a castle. Montbrun for sale. http://www.castle-forsale.com/ Lovely looking place. Here are some interiors and diagrams. http://www.carneycastle.com/Montbrun/index.htm
Here is an interesting short biography of General Louis-Pierre Montbrun. http://www.virtualarc.com/officers/montbrun/
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Frybabe - wow - not sure I would ever want to live in a castle even if I had all the money that could be imagined, I do not see living a life where a castle is homebase - leave all that for folks like Brad and Angelina but what a treat to see the photos you found.
Also, the quiet humor of this author is in that scene - Suzon's last name is the famous petits-beurres (cookie) (http://cuisine.journaldesfemmes.com/recette/306156-petits-beurres) and the Doc's first name is Parfait (http://www.cooksrecipes.com/desserts/parfait-and-trifle-dessert-recipes.html) and so we have two desserts going after the Beaufort or three evidences of food - it is the kind of recognition and acknowledgment that gets a small inward smile.
Thanks marcie for moving us along - I am so ready to get into the remaining pages of Part 2 and find out a bit more about Van and Francesca.
Kidsal do you see the Banville book as a good one for us to consider as a discussion?
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I don't know the cookie, but I did note the Doctor's name. I thought it unusual for a first name at least and not a little effeminate.
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Well not only is Plain Tales from the Hills online for us to read at our convenience but this site allows us to downloand the book one chapter at a time - Librivox - Plain Tales from the Hills - by Kipling (http://librivox.org/plain-tales-from-the-hills-by-rudyard-kipling/)
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Here is a map of the area in Paris where a lot of the action takes place. The rue Dupytren is marked with the red balloon. Notice to the left are the rue de l'Odeon and rue de Conde (where Francesca lives). Notice the proximity to the Sorbonne, and if you look to the right, near the river, you will see Shakespeare & Company marked.
http://maps.google.com/maps?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&q=rue+Dupuytren+Paris+France&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x47e671dea40453d3:0x66b3a35c097cd48b,Rue+Dupuytren,+75006+Paris,+France&gl=us&ei=i-kaToSUMNHegQeIjYGKBQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ8gEwAA
I will have to take the book back to the library today. I am hoping, Barb, that your question in the header jog my memory enough to sound semi-intelligent for the remains of the book.
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Thank you for the link to Kipling, Barbara, and the map of Paris, Frybabe. It's amazing how the Internet allows us to delve more deeply into the details of a book.
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Are there books that are mentioned in this section that you are thinking about reading?
Not unsurprisingly given my interest in the area and era, Kipling's Plain Tales from the Hills. Not Pierre Michon's Small Lives that was mentioned, but his Masters and Servants. There was one that I was interested in, but since it isn't translated into English I promptly forgot the author and book title. I already read The DaVinci Code and have the first Harry Potter book in both English and Latin. It was my intention, eventually, to try to read it in Latin using the English to help translation when needed.
What do you make of Anis?
A puzzlement. She seems fiercely independent and secretive. Needs lots of space. Maybe a bit flighty? At some point (I am not sure it started in Part 2) I entertained the notion that she might actually be a prostitute and was trying to hide the fact from Ivan.
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hmmm interesting how we read people differently - my thought on Annis was the opposite - she has all the signs of an incest survivor - but then since 80% of all prostitutes are incest survivors either would fit wouldn't it.
Well lets hope we can ask the questions to keep the story going - although, to me from here on in the book it is more storytelling done granted with elegance.
And I have to echo marcie - great map - thanks
Did the last page of your copy include a URL to The Good Novel - I only read in a review that The Good Novel is part of the story so to speak in that the bookstore does not actually exist however, the site does offer is a long list of 'good' novels written in English - some were translated and some were written by an English speaking author. Partial list of good novels available at The Good Novel. (http://www.thegoodnovel.com/?page_id=8)
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The really weird thing is, Barb, that I thought that since the book came out several real life bookstores have opened or will be opening, including one in Houston, under it's moniker. I took the online newsletter a little to seriously I guess.
Since the online newsletter has a list of good novels, I took another look. Pierre Michon's Masters and Servants is on it as are Joseph Conrad's works. Conrad is an author I also intend on reading sometime in the future. I am still working my way through and immense piles of books I bought, plus the seven pages of books downloaded to my Kindle. I should live so long. ::)
As for Anis, I hadn't thought about sexual abuse, but you are right. It fits.
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I, too, was wondering if Anis was sexually abused. Whatever its basis, her need to keep Van at a distance seems to me to be changing his self-professed pattern of flight whenever a relationship gets too close or a partner demanding more. Anis isn't asking him to make a commitment but he seems to be very faithful to her and wanting more out of their relationship. Maybe he will improve.
Thanks for those lists. I noticed a lot of Conrad's work. I think I've only read one or two and wasn't captivated by them. It could be I was too young. I'll try again.
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Nabokov wrote Lolita
The Horseman on the Roof (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113362/) was a movie in 1995 (Le hussard sur le toit)
La princesse de Clèves (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18797) published anonymously in March 1678. It is regarded by many as the beginning of the modern tradition of the psychological novel. The author is thought to be Madame de La Fayette.
I couldn't find a novel L'Eclair but I did find it is an Opera and here is the libretto which could be the story that fits L’Éclair Libretto by Planard & St. Georges (http://www.bobsdigitaloperashop.com/sfo/operas-e/Eclair-2.htm)
Alexander Vialatte, author of hundreds of articles published in The Mountain and the spectacle of the world, he was more than a regional journalist. He is the translator in France of Franz Kafka The Trial, 1933 (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7849) and other German writers. He was a writer himself.
La Duchesse de Langeais (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/469) is an 1834 novel by French author Honoré de Balzac
From 1895 to 1899 Proust wrote Jean Santeuil, an autobiographical novel.
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We're back from NC - on Wednesday, I'm off to Kansas City (think heat, think 104 degrees!) - and then will be back to normal, I think/hope. Am desparately trying to catch up to you all...40 pages to go.
Just finished reading about Francesca's grandfather and his words of wisdom to his grand daughter - I too was inspired when he told her there were "not so many brilliant books in the end." I want to read them - the brilliant ones! I'm serious. I feel I'm running out of time - and am reading too many not so brilliant ones. I'd love to get some of the brilliant ones up on the slate of nominations for fall reading. Do you think our readers would go for that - if the selection was only from a list of really "good novels"? Thanks for the link to Partial list of good novels available at The Good Novel (http://www.thegoodnovel.com/?page_id=8), Barbara.
I have to keep reminding myself that the titles mentioned here are not the results of lists compiled by a committee of writers -
Where do you think they came from? The author's own preferences?
This is an awfully good list. Can you spot any titles for group discussion? Let's us be a committee!
Looking forward to hearing what you think of Van and his attraction to Francesca - and Van and his attraction to Anis... I've some thoughts for the morning...
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Good idea, JoanP, to look in this book for good novels to nominate. Would it be dangerous to be on a Committee to suggest good novels? (just kidding) But I can see how, in some situations, expressing one's opinion that one wants to read only good novels, might be seen as threatening (condescending?) to another person's taste.
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A couple of lists for ideas of good books in English - Remember the TV series - A young single mom, Lorelai Gilmore from Stars Hollow whose parents are very upper middle class and Lorelai's daughter is Rory Gilmore who ends up going to Yale as did her Grandfather - Rory is a reader and has brains - well on Amazon there is the Rory Gilmore book list (http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/RUW63FIJGVBD/ref=cm_bg_lm) A few of the titles on her list we have read either here or on the old SeniorNet site.Included are two lists - one, classic twentieth, nineteenth century titles that every 'bookworm' should read and another, is a contemporary list.
Then Harold Bloom. professor of Humanities at Yale has a wonderful book that would support the way to determine if a book is a 'good book; How to Read and Why (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20943.How_to_Read_and_Why)
And then the famous Harvard Five Foot Bookshelf (http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics_%28Bookshelf%29) This list is from Gutenberg with links to the many books on the famous list that are free to download from Gutenberg.
In the older collection there is an Intro by President Eliot, Harvard's president in 1869, that says;
“In my opinion, a five-foot shelf would hold books enough to give a liberal education to any one who would read them with devotion, even if he could spare but fifteen minutes a day for reading.” With this very definitely in mind, we have prepared a daily reading guide in which the assignments chosen appropriately enough, will take the usual person about fifteen minutes to read with leisurely enjoyment. These selections assigned for each day in the year as you will see, are introduced by comments on the author, the subjects or the chief characters. They will serve to introduce you in the most pleasant manner possible to the Harvard Classics. They will enable you to browse enjoyably among the world’s immortal writings with entertainment and stimulation in endless variety.
Form this Pleasant and Exhilarating Habit To take a few minutes out of your busy day to commune with these great writers of all time is one of the finest habits possible. That fifteen minutes will carry you on wings of romance and adventure to other lands, to the scenes of other days and will break the monotony of your days, will change the course of your thinking, will give you the privilege of contact with the great minds whose writings have stimulated and inspired mankind over the centuries.
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From Rory Gilmore's list of classics there are very few i have not read - but these are on my to read list that I would look forward to tackling in a group
• Cousin Bette by Honore De Balzac
• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keye
• Time and Again by Jack Finney
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
• Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
• On The Road by Jack Kerouac
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
And from the Harvard Five Foot Bookshelf I have not read and would like to - another Balzac
• Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac
And then a whole slew of titles from The Good Novel website that I would love to read.
• Ivo Andric -- The Bridge on the Drina
• Robert Antelme -- L’Espèce Humaine
• Louis Aragon -- Le Paysan de Paris -- Les Cloches de Bâle
• John Banville -- The Sea
• Samuel Beckett -- Molloy
• Georges Bernanos -- Diary of a Country Priest -- Mouchette
• Mikhail Bulgakov -- The Master and Margarita
• Italo Calvino -- The Baron in the Trees
• Albert Camus -- The Stranger
• Céline -- Journey to the End of the Night
• Jean Cocteau -- Les Enfants Terribles
• Joseph Conrad -- Under Western Eyes -- The Nature of a Crime -- The Rover
• Jean Giono -- Two Riders on the Storm
• Claude Lévi-Strauss -- A World on the Wane
• André Malraux -- Paper Moons
• Pierre Michon -- Small Lives
• Jean Rhys -- Wide Sargasso Sea
• Emile Zola -- Germinal -- Thérèse Raquin
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From that list, the Conrad novel, Heart of Darkness jumps out at me - and the Balzac - Pere Goriot. Barbara, do you know where the list of "good novels" on the website came from? Do posters add books they think should be included, or are they from the author's own list?
"But I can see how, in some situations, expressing one's opinion that one wants to read only good novels, might be seen as threatening (condescending?) to another person's taste."
Marcie, that's such a good point - and a warning too. Our posters who vote for upcoming discussions might not like it if their only choices are from our list of "good novels." At least we can put up a few titles on the list of nominations to test the waters for interest. We've already got a good suggestion to start the list -
The Leopard by Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.
I'm almost caught up with you all - and trying to figure Anis. I'm also trying to figure out who the narrator might be. Clearly someone familiar with the secret workings of the bookstore. At first I thought it must be Anis - but then the narrator comments about the scene between Van and Anis in Grenoble and says:
"How do I know these details? Van often related the episode to me."
It just occurs to me that the narrator keeps changing? Who do you see as the narrator? Maybe I'm missing something? Also I'm noticing that sometimes Ivan is referred to as Van - but not always. Does that indicate a change in narrator, do you think?
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I don't know that I see Anis a victim of incest or even abuse, except that she has been left alone as a child. She has accomplished so much with so little - no wonder she hesitates to give up her studies and follow Van to Paris. She is torn - and Van is trying so hard to get her to come with him. We've just heard Van explain to Francesca how he likes to woo women and then run from them if they expect anything from him. What does this mean for Anis if she gives in to him?
So many parallels, victims of abandonment - Anis, Francesca, her daughter and even the young girl who jumped in the river - the one Gaston Bailly tried to "save" - Will Van turn into Gaston Bailly, Anis, the young woman Gaston tried to save??
In his letter to Anis, Van refers to Gaston Bailly and the "undine" of his life. An ondine/undine in French is a wave. In mythology, the Ondina is a water nymph.
Here's her story:
In a German tale known as Sleep of Ondine, Ondine is a water nymph. She was very beautiful and, like all nymphs, immortal. However, should she fall in love with a mortal man and bear his child, she would lose her immortality.
Ondine eventually falls in love with a handsome knight, Sir Lawrence, and they are married. When they exchange vows, Lawrence vows to forever love and be faithful to her. A year after their marriage, Ondine gives birth to his child. From that moment on she begins to age. As Ondine’s physical attractiveness diminishes, Lawrence loses interest in his wife.
One afternoon, Ondine is walking near the stables when she hears the familiar snoring of her husband. When she enters the stable, she sees Lawrence lying in the arms of another woman. Ondine points her finger at him, which he feels as if kicked, waking him up with surprise. Ondine curses him, stating, "You swore faithfulness to me with every waking breath, and I accepted your oath. So be it. As long as you are awake, you shall have your breath, but should you ever fall asleep, then that breath will be taken from you and you will die!"
Interesting, no? An undine is also a changeling-
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Welcome to our July Discussion of
A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/novelbookstore/novelbookstore.jpg) | What is a good novel? A classic, a book that was a landmark, a difficult book? We have all read books that include all the basics for a 'good' novel however, it became a novel without genius. Will ‘A Novel Bookstore’ move us toward a definition?
A Utopian Paris bookstore, without the constraints of market realities and financial constraints, triggers jealousies and threats in Cossé's self-described, elegantly written novel. Ivan "Van" Georg and Francesca Aldo-Valbelli, the heroes, establish ‘The Good Novel’, a bookshop that will stock only, well written French fiction.
A secret committee of eight French writers is conscripted to submit annual lists of titles that become the bookstore’s inventory. We, the readers are immediately thrust in the middle of solving secret attacks on the lives of three committee members. As the story continues, we join the friends of the ‘The Good Novel’ to also track down who is behind the attempts to de-rail the success of the bookstore that is protecting artistic excellence from being submerged by mediocrity.
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Links are underlined.
Lunchtime Literary Conversations (http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5687/prmID/2126): with Laurence Cossé (http://www.facebook.com/pages/LaurenceCoss%C3%A9/113618528648184) and author Hervé Le Tellier, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herv%C3%A9_Le_Tellier) moderated by Rakesh Satyal (http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/catalog.cfm?dest=dir&linkid=2437&linkon=subsection)
In French, with great photos illustrating her books… Laurence Cossé dans La Grande Librairie du 12 février 2009 (http://videos.france5.fr/video/iLyROoafJGes.html)
Quotes by Laurence Cossé (http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/783644.Laurence_Coss_)
Week 1: Part 1 and Part 2 through Chapter 14 (about 102 pages)
Week 2: Part 2 from Chapter 15 to the end (about 97 pages)
Week 3: Part 3 (about 123 pages)
Week 4: Part 4 (about 86 pages)
Discussion Leaders BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com) and Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 4 - PART 4
- We learn something about the writing process, and what constitutes a good novel, through discovering more about the committee members, especially the members who were attacked. What made an impression on you?
- What are some of the cynical aspects of the book publishing and book selling businesses that we learn about through the investigation of possible culprits? Have you experienced any negative aspects in your pursuit of books?
- What do we learn about Francesca? Is her situation, reactions and how she "took her leave" a reflection of novels you've read or heard about?
- What parallels are there in the relationships between Van and Anis and Van and Francesca?
- How do Van and Anis change after Francesca "takes her leave" and they read Francesca's notes?
- What are your thoughts as you finish reading the book?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 3 - PART 3
- How do the various settings – forest, hillside trail, mountain ski resort, Paris, hospitals, police station, a seventeenth-century building add mood, tone and meaning to the text?
- What recurring patterns, images/symbols, images, metaphors, similes, have you noticed and Why – What is their purpose – How do they develop or impact the characters?
- What clues made you suspect those behind the denigration of Francesco and Van
- How do the attacks on the values inherit in the book store remind you of other literary and scientific attacks
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 2
- In this section (middle to end of Part 2) we learn something about the personal lives of Van and Francesca. What impressions are you forming of them? What does the Bookstore mean to them?
- What do you make of Anis?
- What are your impressions of the 8 members of the committee?
- What are your thoughts about the importance of literature that Francesca learned from her grandfather?
"Literature is a source of pleasure, he said, it is one of the rare inexhaustible joys in life, but it's not only that. It must not be disassociated from reality. Everything is there. That is why I never use the word fiction. Every subtlety in life is material for a book. He insisted on the fact. Have you noticed, he'd say, that I'm talking about novels? Novels don't contain only exceptional situations, life or death choices, or major ordeals; there are also everyday difficulties, temptations, ordinary disappointments; and, in response, every human attitude, every type of behavior, from the finest to the most wretched. There are books where, as you read, you wonder: What would I have done? It's a question you have to ask yourself. Listen carefully: it is a way to learn to live. There are grown-ups who would say no, that literature is not life, that novels teach you nothing. They are wrong. Literature performs, instructs, it prepares you for life."
- Are there books that are mentioned in this section that you are thinking about reading?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 1
- Who is telling the story?
- How many stories within stories have you noticed? What books have you read that use a narrative embedded in the story, often told by a character in the story? This is sometimes called a Metadiegetic Narrative (a back story).
- On page 23 Marcellin heard Paul deliriously mutter “Mina green and pink.” When he spoke of it to Madame Huon, she assumed Paul “was referring to one of his visitors and the color of her eye shadow or her lingerie.” What was Paul referencing, and why is it important?
- Several of the names that are sprinkled in chapter 4 are names known to the French. Who among the names is a well-known skier and whose Sur name is a famous cookie even sold here in the US?
- What causes a chuckle reading the Doctor and Suzon attacking the beaufort? What is beaufort?
- What is the history of the name Montbrun?
- Suzon says Paul is a very cultured man who goes by the name Néant. In French Néant means ‘nothing - void’ which could describe what he lives on but more, how does his name link the concept of void to: ~ Charles Baudelaire ~ Alexandre Grothendieck, mathematician ~ a Cabaret ~ Phantasmagoria
- What book have you read that was so powerful when you finished reading you realized you never read anything like it? What about the book you read was outstanding? Was it the use of language, the unforgettable characters who spoke to you in a new way, a theme that reached beyond your imagination?
- Why does Armel write checks to Maritime Rescue or Handicap International?
- Van speaks highly of Armel as a storyteller. What is the difference between a storyteller and a stylist?
- What are the various meanings for Paul’s pseudonym, Brother Brandy?
- What motivates, scares, upsets Anne-Marie?
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Wow. Whichever lists we might use as a source for good novels, we'll have an abundance of potential riches.
Joan, the undine/ondine is such an interesting allusion. I think that I noticed three times so far when Anis is referred to by Van as being out of fairy tale. I'll have to go back to find those.
Anis seems to want to protect her "space" and doesn't want Van to come close to her. I guess that could arise from experiences of abandonment. Whatever the cause, I think we likely agree that something has happened to Anis in the past.
Joan, I noticed the shift from Van to Ivan too but couldn't see a pattern.
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What does the Novel Bookstore mean to Val and Francesca?
At the end of Chapter 15, Francesca recalls Van saying, "I have to devote myself to something that's bigger than I am, and it has to be a success." Van recalls Francesca saying, "I too want to do something worthwhile in my life, at last."
Speaking to Francesca's husband in Chapter 23, Van says of the bookstore, "Our concept is radical. It is a revolution in cultural behavior. Everybody nowadays agrees that too many uninteresting books are published. We think this phenomenon is like a pollution of the mind, and we are simply saying: enough. Let us refuse to see our taste polluted. Let's refresh the air. Let's breathe. We think we have a good chance of finding followers."
What I am taking from the book is the importance of literature to our lives. Good literature helps us understand the world around us and our reactions to it and can inspire us to learn and do more.
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Hi
I wanted to join you but was too attached to the Odyssey to let go of that discussion. Now that it has ended I can read this book (I purchased it when the discussion began). I have kept up with your discussion on this site and have looked at a lot of the suggested videos. Also have read nearly all of the books you have mentioned i.e.all of Stendhall, The Sea by Bancroft etc. Most of the books I liked, especially Stendhal. One book I didn't like was "The Elegance of the Hedgehog".
Be that as it may I will commence with the reading and hopefully will join you when I catch up to where you are now. That should be by Monday.
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Hooray, Jude! I'm so glad to hear that you'll be joining us! I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
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"What does the Novel Bookstore mean to Van and Francesca? "
Marcie, I'm thinking the bookstore means much the same to both of them. They each want to feel they have accomplished something with their lives - and they share a passion for books - for novels in particular. It's an enjoyable discourse on the importance, the relevance of novels to our lives that novels teach us, or prepare us for life. Reading novels is not a frivolous way to past time. I really liked seeing that here in a discussion of choosing and reading good literature.
"Good literature helps us understand the world around us and our reactions to it and can inspire us to learn and do more." You put it so well, Marcie. I remember how I used to be on my second son all the time - for spending so much time reading instead of - everything else. Years ago, Bruce and I concluded that he had educated himself - and had done a great job of it.
I contine to watch Van and Francesca and their shared passion. Don't you see them a more of a match - than whatever it is that attracts Van to Anis. I guess I keep saying that - but as we read on, this impression seems to grow. Van is watching Francesca closely - admiring her, her eyes especially - what she's wearing... Anis keeps herself from him...maybe that's why he doesn't have much to say about her - except that she is young, pink and exquisite - like someone out of a fairytale. How do you see her?
I looked up the author Noelle Revas, so admired by Anis...and see that she is a living author, had published "Rapport aux bêtes" (Report on Brutes) in 2002. Is this why some of you think that Anis was abused by a "brute" at some point in her life?
Do you see why Van is attracted to Anis - is that why he is pursuing her? Maybe because she is so evasive - this role is not familiar to Van.
I don't think he knows it yet but it's Francesca that has his attention. It's clear there is nothing left of her marriage. I'd say her husband does not want her to succeed. what does he care? Is he the one who wants the "business" to fail? I see Heffner asking the same question. Maybe he is jealous of the time she's spending with Van? But again, why does he care?
"For six years she has never slept more than one or two hours...What happened six years ago? Can someone remind me, please?
Is Van attracted to the fragility of both of these women? Why hasn't he mentioned to Francesca that Anis is living in Paris - they share everything else...
Jude, so glad you are joing us - if you spot an author or a title to nominate for discussion in the Fall, will you say so here - maybe enter it in the Suggestion Box too?
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JoanP, thanks for expressing your thoughts so well. I concur with your thinking and am asking the same questions you are. Six years ago Francesca lost her teenage daughter. I won't say more until I check to see where in the book we learn that to make sure I don't give away details.
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I'm a dunce. I had bookmarked the isle that Francesca visited to give you all the link at the appropriate time. I had to take the book back and forgot why I bookmarked the darn thing. So now it has been deleted, and I cannot remember the name of the isle.
Hi JUDE! Glad you piped up. A few of the group had to drop out, and as I said, my book is back in the library so I need others' conversation and questions to jog my memory on some things.
I believe Van said he would lose interest once a woman actually showed signs of really liking him. I know someone who is similar; in his case he feels smothered if a female wants to gets to close. I guess two bad marriages and interfering Mothers can do that to a person. That does not, however, explain me who also likes my space.
JoanP, I hadn't looked into Noelle Revas' book. Is it about child abuse?
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Fry, I haven't found too much about Rapport aux betes - just that the movie based on it won a big Swiss award. that site described it as a story of domestic violence - "not limited to animals." From what I gather, a farmer in a remote area, cared more for his animals than his family. A stranger came to work on the farm and from what I can tell, he saved the family - humanized them.
Here's the only site I found on it -
Review of Rapport aux Betes (http://www.books.wapshere.com/review-of-rapport-aux-betes-by-noelle-revaz)
As I recall, it was the language the stranger used that enthralled her - his voice.
I guess it's up to us to conclude why Anis wants to read all of Revaz' books. I noted somewhere that Anis has detected the trait in Van - if she shows interest in him, he'll leave her. She can't risk that...
The island...hmmm, you'll have to remind me when Francesca left for an island. I'm afraid I don't remember. I've read about half of Part 3. Did she go there after the bookstore opened - or before. I'm afraid my memory is getting worse... Maybe Jude will remember tomorrow when she gets here. The story will be fresh in her mind.
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JoanP, I think it was in August that Francesca took the vacation. I don't remember the chapter. I remember the picture of it was of a tiny island that was practically all houses (or one very big house).
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Interesting thoughts about Van and Anis. It seems that both have issues with closeness.
I wonder if we haven't come to Francesca's island in our scheduled reading. It doesn't sound familiar (or my memory is going, which could be the case).
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Marcie, I think it showed up somewhere in Book 3.
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My first impression of this book:
I really like it. Find it hard to stop reading. That doesn't mean I like EVERYTHING in the book .
Probably my fondness arises because I too love bookstores and am quite addicted to them. (I'm known to some as the "Bookie Monster")
First I must mention two things I found jarring ,then I will write about the good things.
The author writes that she googled Police and up came J.K.Rawlings. Now there are no police in the Harry Potter books. I felt that it was a put down and the that Cosse would not have written that if she had read the seven book series. perhaps she is jealous of Rawlings phenomenal success.
Second thing was when she was mentioning foreign books for the store she mentioned "Oe". I felt she just looked up a list of Nobel Prize winners and had not read his works. (Or many of the other books mentioned except, of course the French books and the world classics).
I don't believe that one can rhapsodize over an almost unknown French author (Noelle Revas) and not say a word about Oe's brilliant body of work. She mentions his name but not his books.
Having said this I simply am enchanted by Francesca and wish to follow her through thick and thin. (By the way she mentions her island in Book 2). The other characters are painted in realistic manner as well but of course not as appealing as Francesca. I like the other people that come to work in the store as well. The author paints them well in a few brush strokes.
I haven't answered any of your qustions Marcie. Just getting first impressions off my chest. More later.
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I am so glad you are part of the conversation Jude - sorry for going missing the last couple of days - just back from the Doc this morning - turned out I have pneumonia - no wonder I could not do anything but sleep all weekend with a blinding headache, sore chest and upset stomach - one shot this morning and I am already feeling human.
Opening a book account sounded like a breath of air didn't it - reminded me of years ago when local grocery stores and drug stores had a small library that a fee was charged for borrowing the book - I wonder what is the emotional difference opening an account at a favorite store as opposed to using a credit card which is a quick way to make a purchase?
Loved the description of Van during his hay days on TV - "With his allure of an inspired dunce, bird-catcher, and friend of fairies, he enchanted the viewers, and they asked for more."
Had any of you ever analyzed a love story as Francesco describes - shock, observation, despair, guesswork, calculation, hope - and then an accelerating impulse arrived by or with - accident, decisive gesture, tears, declaration - and then in spite of the foreboding towards a dark prediction there is immediate agreement and shared jubilation.
I wonder if we can use that list of events to describe the love story between Van and Annis or how about the love story between both Francesca, Van and Good Books - or could that list of events be used to describe this book that starts off with a sense of mystery that seems ominous and is lifted with the first days of success when the book store opens and then another or continued mystery descends...
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hmmm was Francesco's list of events in a love story forewarning us of things to come - is the exchange between Van and Anis starting on page 289 following her formula of - accident, decisive gesture, tears, declaration
There on the avenue de l'Observatoire, while walking he has an idea to analyze Anis's everyword - his calculation is to throw caution to the wind he repeats some of her words - he lets her go and turns to observe her - The tears fill her eyes and he makes the connection - in face of her despair and shocking response he writes to her his declaration of love and that he will let her go - hopeless the task of renewing the life of a flower with water is difficult. Returning home Anis on his doorstep is followed by a jubilation, an embracing for an eternity that nearly makes them fall.
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At the end of Part 2 on page 193 - "At the end of July all the work was done. Surplus stock of the books was stored in the basement. Francesca left for a few days on the Island of San Giulio, Lago d'Orta, where she had a villa she needed to air out, she said. "I'm joking," she amended. "It's a house where I used to go on vacation every year, as a child. I cannot spend a whole summer without at least sleeping there for a few nights. The villa is by the water. From my room, all night long, I can hear the lapping of the lake."
Than later in Part 3 on Christmas Day, Van and Francesca are walking after the lunch she arranged in a hunting lodge in the middle of the forest of Marley. They walk "through the immense silence, among the gigantic black trees, cracking the frozen ground beneath their feet."
The description of the Island is so like the first few chapters describing Pineta della Gualdana in An Enigma by the Sea but Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini - which is a mystery and the authors are mentioned in the book on page 81 - I could not find the titles offered in the book translated into English but I did find An Enigma by the Sea.
In The Novel Bookstore is mentioned their book A che punto è la notte - evidently it must have been a movie - here is the YouTube link to the song entitled A che punto è la notte (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNT6aSEdhrA) It is quite hypnotic
Near as I can figure out the other book mention L'amante senza fissa dimora is a political fantasy that includes a love story - something about Iraq after 9/11
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Translated using Babel.
"A being dull and routine, filling six pages each day on six subjects, with the same words, the same formulas, the same tone, the same securities." A "general incompetence of" extolling the virtues of local elected officials, s 'ecstasies before the imperishable paintings of the artist's thought crowned "Prince of the color palette of gold, silver wreath, crystal cup."
In any case, defined by the narrator of les bottes rouges (Red Boots) directed by Franz Bartelt, in a novel iconoclastic and compassionate.
Exercises his talents as junk in the regional daily L'Est rainy, but with only a passion, "peeling potatoes", which "elevates man to the upper terraces of serenity," our Localia would like to blend into the surrounding gloom. His neighbor Basile, storekeeper who has deceived his wife Rose and wants to reclaim the wife scorned, leaves him little time to devote to meditation vegetable.
Using it as a potential mediator, but the resulting in a series of daily disasters recounted in the comic mode, his friend Basil projects on roads, to regions where nothing really happens and where the sweet bloom of metaphysical transcendence.
With this mixture of black humor and nostalgia not a bitter trademark of his imagination very British, Franz Bartelt treats us to a crazy story, or point tenderness disillusioned and lucid reflection on our difficult relations with our neighbors. It's irresistible humor and a sincere seriousness.
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another review using Babel of Franz Bartelt's Les Bottes Rouge
The narrator is corresponding room d' a newspaper of “l' Is rainy”. When his/her best friend, Basile, storekeeper, announce qu' to him; it has just misled his wife, Rose, with a young trainee of l' machine, it advises to him to persevere in l' adultery. But Basile feels guilty, because Rose, having discovered her connection, sank in a deep depression. The novel tells the long one and heroic reconquest of Rose by her husband, who n' will not go without dramas and adventures. Basile has a high idea of his mission of storekeeper, marital happiness and Belgian beer. The narrator, consequently, n' more qu' has; a haste: to leave the village for s' to install in an area where it does not occur really anything. It will be able to be finally devoted to its favorite occupation, l' weeding of potatoes… The readers of Franz Bartelt will find l' here; at the same time black and laughing universe of the preceding novels, their cocassery, their shingling clearness. There is a fraternal melancholy whose bitter savour persists after reading - lit sad smiles or frank funs.
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Thanks for finding the Island of San Giulio in the Lago d'Orta, Barbara. Frybabe will be happy. Didn't you think it was a bit odd that Francesca would take off so soon before the opening of the bookstore? The only reason I could think of was the fact that Anis is now in Paris - thought Van has made a point not to tell Francesca this. If she's found out, she may want to distance herself from the two.
I haven't finished Part 3 yet, Barbara...but must say that your tireless research dazzles! You are tying together details - in a way that Cosse probably expects all of her readers to notice. Thank heaven we have you! Hope you are feeling better.
Jude, I'm with you - love Francesca - but oh so fragile. In a different way than Anis. I don't know why, but I think Francesca stands more of a chance of getting hurt. Don't you see her growing more and more attached to Van? At the end of Chapter 28 -
"Francesca had her eyes on Van; she was vibrant, serious, smiling...was illuminated in one instant, the way a gray day is illuminated when, without warning, the sun shines through and changes it entirely."
She's telling Heffner about him in this way for a whole page - "...And then comes a period where one goes from bedazzlement to bedazzlement...Afterwards, one remembers this succession of blissful moments as if it were a marvelous story that happened to other people."
How different this story would have been, had there NOT been Anis!
Are you finding any titles you'd like to discuss in these chapters? What of Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall?
Off to read Part 3 and the metaphor hunt!
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Ah, there it is. Thanks, Barb. The Island of St. Guilio has an interesting history, legend attached to it.
http://www.orta.net/eng1/isolasgiulioe.htm
An Enigma by the Sea: The only customer review on Amazon for the book makes it sound so inviting. The only books available are used.
I never thought of Anis as fragile. She is a survivor.
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Barbara, I hope you continue to feel better. Thank you for those links and translations.
Joan, it does seem that Van and Francisca are a good match. Anis is hardly in the picture but Van is holding on to the thought of being with her. It seems odd.
Frybabe, what an interesting history behind the island. Thanks for finding and sharing that.
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Wow what a great web site for 'Island of St. Guilio' thanks Frybabe -
And yes, I often buy a book used from amazon - the neat thing is they back anyone selling so, if the book does not arrive they refund all your money - over the years I have had that happen 3 times however, after adding the $4 for the delivery, since a used book does not fall under the Amazon free 2 day delivery, a book in 'good' or 'nearly new' condition, including delivery is sometimes a much better price especially on expensive books - I have recently order a used book for $16 plus $4 delivery that is like new where as a new book from Amazon is $29.85 with no delivery charge but still that is over $9 in savings. And then some of these that are out of print or international rather than the high cost again, a used book works.
The copy of An Enigma by the Sea was advertised in very good condition - it arrived tight, no markings, clean, no tears - the only thing - when the book is closed you do not notice but when a page is open you notice the very edge of each page is about a quarter of an inch of fading yellow - probably discolored from time stored someplace maybe in the sun.
My very favorite used books is to find those cloth covered hardbacks from the turn of the twentieth century - purchased a Thackeray book for a couple of dollars - 'used' but for me a treasure - and then a book that I will probably read once and get rid of or, if it is a book that runs over $50 then I usually buy it used for a quarter of the price including shipping.
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The Novel Bookstore can be an expensive proposition, can't it? So many suggested titles... It's a good thing that our local library is so well stocked! I've spent the evening trying to find a connection between the titles mentioned in the opening chapter of Part III - though with only little success. I'm going to have to rely on you all to connect the dots...Did you see any significance attached to these two titles?
1. On opening day, both Anis and Francesca each made a purchase.
Did you notice that Van is so carried away with sales that he hardly notices her - or her comment, which was described as "the scratch of a nail on oak bark." She selects Grace Paley's Enormous Changes at the Last Minute.
In Grace Paley’s Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, identity is a personal and a social issue in the struggle for a peaceful world. Most of the characters in this short-story collection are middle-aged women, such as Faith Darwin, who resembles, but is not intended to be, Paley’s alter ego; others are simply those about whom stories are told—the children who have died or suffered from neglect, poverty, drug abuse, and the Vietnam War.
The main characters in these stories act with defiance and hope. In “Enormous Changes at the Last Minute,”...
http://www.enotes.com/enormous-changes-last-minute-salem/enormous-changes-last-minute
Why does Anis buy this particular book?
Frybabe, I've been thinking about why I see Anis as fragile - and you see her as a survivor. In a sense I see your point- she's a survivor as long as she keeps to herself, does not allow herself to love and take a chance on Van. This is not an easy decision for her - why else would she be crying so much?
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2. Francesca purchased Daniel Arsand's En Silence , described as "The cruel account of a family forced to leave their life in the French countryside at the turn of the last century, En silence evokes a period in history in which men and women were filled with impatience, new desires, and an avidity for freedom whose dangers were as of yet undiscovered. It is in this setting that Daniel Arsand paints the portraits of three women, a mother and her two daughters, who are completely unprepared for what awaits them in the city. With his exceptional literary style, Arsand depicts the challenges they encounter as each woman struggles to adapt to her new life in a different way. En Silence has been nominated for the Prix Interallié and the Prix Renaudot. "
http://www.frenchpubagency.com/Title-198844-Fiction-Literature/En-silence.html
Didn't you love the little "ballet"- the celebratory dance between the two of them? Suddenly Van doesn't know how to end it - one more movement they would have been in one another's arms...does Van know this?
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Marcie
One of the questions you asked is about a book that left you with the feeling about a book that was so powerful that you have never read anything like it.
Well as a young person (about 12) reading "A Death in Venice" by Thomas Mann.
About age 16 Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky.
At every life stage there is a book or rather an author who awakens me in a different way. Albert Camus the French Nobel Prize winner and Jose Saramago the Portugese Nobel Prize winner and Kensaburo Oe, the Japanese genius writer (also Nobel Prize winner).When I discover a writer I usually read all of their body of work.
I don't compare one writer to another. They simply fill different voids.
Oh yes-one other beloved writer-Orham Pamuk . He is the most difficult to read but well worth the effort.
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Now to the personalities of Anis and Francesca.
In Part three it is told clearly that Anis was abused by her step-father. The author alludes to but doesn't state outright that it was sexual abuse. However it would certainly explain all of her behavioral patterns. In fact the explanation, when it is given. seems almost too pat and simplistic. I think it is done to make us, the readers, feel compassion for her and forgive her for the often bizarre behavior she exhibits.
Francesca, on the other hand, comes across (To me at least) as a real person and not a stereotype. She has experienced a different kind of tragedy. This tragedy has left her both vulnerable and at the same time strong. Her husband is a real question mark still. Perhaps he will be explained in Part four. Francesca is the heart and soul of The Bookstore. Without her there would be no such place. She is a truly talented and admirable person. At the same time there are wisps of tragedy (the past and perhaps the future) that wrap themselves around her. The author does a good job of hinting at the dark forces that are being unleashed by Francescas project.
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Jude so glad to know some of the books you have read that made a difference in your life - it is difficult for me to remember the impact a book made - there are a couple that I've read over and over but they are not novels -
Of the novels that made a huge impact I can remember when I first read Kafka - The Castle and then The Trial were the two that had me by the tail and then Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five blew me away - and laughing aloud with Woodhouse when I should have been doing homework - I cannot go a year without re-reading A Child's Christmas in Wales - the use of language to me is still a wonder - There were many of the Russians - especially Chekhov, his short stories and his plays - there was Salinger, again, during my high school years. I had a Zooey door for years - I wasn't a fan of Hemingway but his Old Man and the Sea said so much to me. And Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth oh yes, and Welty's Ponder Heart There are many wonderful writers but these are the books that hit me in the solar plexus so that my view of the world shifted.
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Didn't you love the little "ballet"- the celebratory dance between the two of them? Suddenly Van doesn't know how to end it - one more movement they would have been in one another's arms...does Van know this?
hmmm rather than characters fascinated with each other and loving each other in a way they are faintly expressing - I wonder if they each are a metaphor - do you notice all the numbers, math that Van gets himself involved with - what does that mean - it seems to be such a concrete controlled view of the world as compared to Francesca's artistic view of the world - hmmm you are prompting me to look at these two and their characteristics rather than as two characters.
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I've caught up - finished Part III this afternoon. Barb, I do see Van and Francesca as living breathing characters now...their attraction is something I can understand.
That Christmas day in the woods - "walking without talking" - Van and Francesca BOTH "repressing a terrible desire."
But then, there's this business with Anis - "Little Anis" -
Even Heffner senses the metaphor that describes Francesca's feelings for Van -
"She was illuminated the way a gray day is illuminated when without warning the sun shines through and changes it entirely."
Her blue eyes dazzle when she looks at him - and fill with tears.
I'm thinking that if someone had such an effect on me, could cheer me just by quietly walking with me, I'd give Anis some competition. I guess that's not Francesca's way. But don't you see Van's interest in Francesca as well?
Is there a reason for his frequent comments about how thin she is?
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Jude, the titles that you loved are all probably in the bookstore, don't you think? Good novels. I'm watching closely for possibilities for future discussions. Thomas Mann's Death in Venice is one such title. Can't remember how long it's been since I read it. Eudora Welty - she's been mentioned here more than once. The Ponder Heart? .
It's supposed to be quite funny. I'll confess I've never read Eudora - I would like to. Would you be interested in proposing it for discussion?
Pamuk's Snow - and Red too- I agree, these should be included on the lists, Jude.
I'm a bit confused at one of the descriptions of the Good Novel bookstore found in the heading -
‘The Good Novel’, a bookshop that will stock only, well written French fiction." That certainly isn't true, is it? Maybe all the books are translated into French?
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Jude, Barbara and Joan, I understand what each of you are saying about Van's relationships.
I'm wondering if I'm missing things because I'm not aware of the subtleties of French culture. I know the American boy meets girl variations but there could be clues about Van and Francesca's relationship and Van and Anis that are obvious to people in France that I just don't see.
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Wow, Jude. You read Thomas Mann when you were 12! I read his Magic Mountain but can't claim to have understood it all.
I would like to read it with a group here. Eudora Welty too.
I read some of the existentialists during my teen years. It might be interesting to read Camus', The Stranger, together.
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Marcie
The French Existentialists had the greatest influence on me of all the genres and authors. I was enamored of Camus especially since he was both a writer , a philosopher and a Soccer hero who grew up in a household in Algiers where everyone but him was illiterate.
"The Stranger has remained my favorite book of all time though many people will think that "strange".
I have never read Eudora Welty but am familiar with the name.
If this Bookstore which we are reading about is only for French or translated into French authors , no mention is made of Camus, Sarte, Simone de Beauvoir or other authors of the war years. I wonder why? We are inundated with titles of the new crop of French writers none of whom are known to me. Is the author trying to awaken me to them?
Perhaps that is her hidden agenda.
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These links came from the Good Novel website. Is this Cosse's website? I'm a bit confused about where the titles come from - but the list is said to include the titles on the shelves in the Bookstore - this is a fictional book store, right? The fiction is Cosse's - so these are her picks? As I say, I'm confused about who had input into this list - other than the author of "A Novel Bookstore."
Two quick observations from the following list - Camus is included, Jude, though not Sartre and Simone de B.. Also, Eudora Welty is NOT on the list - thought I read about that in the novel - didn't you? Will have to reread Part 3 to find out what was said about her. Last night I checked my shelves and found, "Optimist's Daughter - stayed up late reading it - and liked it! I'm still going to mention her "Ponder Heart" in the Suggestion Box for future discussion.
Here's the list:
The Good Novel Website - list of books carried in the Bookstore (http://www.thegoodnovel.com/?page_id=8)
Another link to the Good Novel Website - Staff Picks (Van & Francesca) (http://www.thegoodnovel.com/?page_id=6)
ps. Another name NOT on the list - Thomas Mann. Marcie, I remember that SeniorNet discussion of Magic Mountain! Wasn't that a difficult, but rewarding book? It would be on my list - had I been asked to submit one. I feel like recommending his "Death in Venice" - along with Eudora Welty for future discussion - even if not for sale n the Novel Bookstore! ;)
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Marcie, that's an interesting question you ask about the subtleties of French culture - and romance. There were several comments that I had questioned -
about Van and Francesca's "terrible repressed desire," Francesca's obvious "bedazzlement" in Van's presence - Heffner notices, surely Van does too.
"Do men not prefer women who don't rush things?" This question found in Chapter 25. I remember wondering about it at the time. Neither Francesca nor Anis can be accused of rushing things with Van. Is this universally true - or more so en France? Did the question cause you to pause?
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Joan P.
Thanks so much for the website of "The Good Novel".
I perused the titles and found some missing books and writers. But then Francesca and Ivan didn't ask me for my opinion.
Anyhow no Thomas Mann and no Dickens? Perhaps they don't like long books.They included Camus "The Stranger" which is a short book but not "The Plague " which is a long book.
At the second site you found with Ivan and Francesca's personal picks, Francesca has almost all French books of, to me, unknown authors.
Now the interesting thing is that we are relating to Francesca and Ivan as if they were real. So indeed the author has done a great job of making her characters come alive.
On another note .I am reading an amazing book by Jose Saramago:"The Elephant's Journey". It takes place during the years of the Inquisition but tells of the story of an elephant named Solomon who is being sent across the continent as a wedding gift to the Royals of Vienna. The humor is fantastic and the people and settings are so believable that you are there.
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Judy, I just put a hold for "The Elephant's Journey" - it sounds wonderful! And it's not even on the list! ;)
I remembered there was a link in The Good Novel book site - where you can add your own suggestions. Shall we do that? When I went back to the link, I reread the sentence where the link occurs -
"You, too, can make a suggestion. Otherwise, just browse this partial list (an exhaustive one would be impractical) of good novels now available at The Good Novel."
So that helps - the list is only a partial list! Let's suggest some titles and see the response. Maybe they'll tell us they are included in the exhaustive list!
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I wanted to go to the site of suggestions for new book discussions. Tried yesterday and today but for some reason the site refused to come up. Actually the first page of the site comes up but all the other pages and the present one as well refuse to answer to my pressure.
Anyhow you can put the book on the list . It is only 200 pages long and has clever repartee and historical scenes that are both fun and insightful. This was the last book Saramago wrote before his death. He won the Nobel Prize for his body of work and especially "Blindness" and "The Cave". Both of the latter are really serious whereas this book is serious but also humorous. A rare combination.
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Blindness, I know - but as you say, the humor in Elephant's Journey sounds delightful - and unexpected. We had a discussion of Blindness way back in 2000 when we were SeniorNet - found it in the Archives - Archived discussion of Blindness by Jose Saramago (http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?board=52.0)
Please try once again to get into the Suggestion Box (http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=309.520). I don't know what the problem was the other day.
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I too will put Elephant's Journey on my list. Thanks, Jude.
I guess I've arrogantly assumed (without giving it thought) that all of the great books have been translated into English. So the books at A Novel Bookstore, being comprised of those translated into French or by French authors, did seem somewhat skewed by the number of recent French novels by people I'd not heard of. That was sort of odd but Van and Francesca did talk about their dream that other bookstores would open in other countries with preference for books in their respective languages. The more I think about it, this book is very much rooted in French culture and I realize that I'm filtering everything through my own American perspective.
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Welcome to our July Discussion of
A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/novelbookstore/novelbookstore.jpg) | What is a good novel? A classic, a book that was a landmark, a difficult book? We have all read books that include all the basics for a 'good' novel however, it became a novel without genius. Will ‘A Novel Bookstore’ move us toward a definition?
A Utopian Paris bookstore, without the constraints of market realities and financial constraints, triggers jealousies and threats in Cossé's self-described, elegantly written novel. Ivan "Van" Georg and Francesca Aldo-Valbelli, the heroes, establish ‘The Good Novel’, a bookshop that will stock only, well written French fiction.
A secret committee of eight French writers is conscripted to submit annual lists of titles that become the bookstore’s inventory. We, the readers are immediately thrust in the middle of solving secret attacks on the lives of three committee members. As the story continues, we join the friends of the ‘The Good Novel’ to also track down who is behind the attempts to de-rail the success of the bookstore that is protecting artistic excellence from being submerged by mediocrity.
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Links are underlined.
Lunchtime Literary Conversations (http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5687/prmID/2126): with Laurence Cossé (http://www.facebook.com/pages/LaurenceCoss%C3%A9/113618528648184) and author Hervé Le Tellier, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herv%C3%A9_Le_Tellier) moderated by Rakesh Satyal (http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/catalog.cfm?dest=dir&linkid=2437&linkon=subsection)
In French, with great photos illustrating her books… Laurence Cossé dans La Grande Librairie du 12 février 2009 (http://videos.france5.fr/video/iLyROoafJGes.html)
Quotes by Laurence Cossé (http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/783644.Laurence_Coss_)
Week 1: Part 1 and Part 2 through Chapter 14 (about 102 pages)
Week 2: Part 2 from Chapter 15 to the end (about 97 pages)
Week 3: Part 3 (about 123 pages)
Week 4: Part 4 (about 86 pages)
Discussion Leaders BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com) and Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 4 - PART 4
- We learn something about the writing process, and what constitutes a good novel, through discovering more about the committee members, especially the members who were attacked. What made an impression on you?
- What are some of the cynical aspects of the book publishing and book selling businesses that we learn about through the investigation of possible culprits? Have you experienced any negative aspects in your pursuit of books?
- What do we learn about Francesca? Is her situation, reactions and how she "took her leave" a reflection of novels you've read or heard about?
- What parallels are there in the relationships between Van and Anis and Van and Francesca?
- How do Van and Anis change after Francesca "takes her leave" and they read Francesca's notes?
- What are your thoughts as you finish reading the book?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 3 - PART 3
- How do the various settings – forest, hillside trail, mountain ski resort, Paris, hospitals, police station, a seventeenth-century building add mood, tone and meaning to the text?
- What recurring patterns, images/symbols, images, metaphors, similes, have you noticed and Why – What is their purpose – How do they develop or impact the characters?
- What clues made you suspect those behind the denigration of Francesco and Van
- How do the attacks on the values inherit in the book store remind you of other literary and scientific attacks
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 2
- In this section (middle to end of Part 2) we learn something about the personal lives of Van and Francesca. What impressions are you forming of them? What does the Bookstore mean to them?
- What do you make of Anis?
- What are your impressions of the 8 members of the committee?
- What are your thoughts about the importance of literature that Francesca learned from her grandfather?
"Literature is a source of pleasure, he said, it is one of the rare inexhaustible joys in life, but it's not only that. It must not be disassociated from reality. Everything is there. That is why I never use the word fiction. Every subtlety in life is material for a book. He insisted on the fact. Have you noticed, he'd say, that I'm talking about novels? Novels don't contain only exceptional situations, life or death choices, or major ordeals; there are also everyday difficulties, temptations, ordinary disappointments; and, in response, every human attitude, every type of behavior, from the finest to the most wretched. There are books where, as you read, you wonder: What would I have done? It's a question you have to ask yourself. Listen carefully: it is a way to learn to live. There are grown-ups who would say no, that literature is not life, that novels teach you nothing. They are wrong. Literature performs, instructs, it prepares you for life."
- Are there books that are mentioned in this section that you are thinking about reading?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 1
- Who is telling the story?
- How many stories within stories have you noticed? What books have you read that use a narrative embedded in the story, often told by a character in the story? This is sometimes called a Metadiegetic Narrative (a back story).
- On page 23 Marcellin heard Paul deliriously mutter “Mina green and pink.” When he spoke of it to Madame Huon, she assumed Paul “was referring to one of his visitors and the color of her eye shadow or her lingerie.” What was Paul referencing, and why is it important?
- Several of the names that are sprinkled in chapter 4 are names known to the French. Who among the names is a well-known skier and whose Sur name is a famous cookie even sold here in the US?
- What causes a chuckle reading the Doctor and Suzon attacking the beaufort? What is beaufort?
- What is the history of the name Montbrun?
- Suzon says Paul is a very cultured man who goes by the name Néant. In French Néant means ‘nothing - void’ which could describe what he lives on but more, how does his name link the concept of void to: ~ Charles Baudelaire ~ Alexandre Grothendieck, mathematician ~ a Cabaret ~ Phantasmagoria
- What book have you read that was so powerful when you finished reading you realized you never read anything like it? What about the book you read was outstanding? Was it the use of language, the unforgettable characters who spoke to you in a new way, a theme that reached beyond your imagination?
- Why does Armel write checks to Maritime Rescue or Handicap International?
- Van speaks highly of Armel as a storyteller. What is the difference between a storyteller and a stylist?
- What are the various meanings for Paul’s pseudonym, Brother Brandy?
- What motivates, scares, upsets Anne-Marie?
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Marcie, when Fran and Van were setting up the bookstore in earlier chapters, I thought I read that one third of the books would be French - the others translations from other books. Is that right?
"The more I think about it, this book is very much rooted in French culture and I realize that I'm filtering everything through my own American perspective." Marcie
I''ve been thinking about this too, Marcie. I've been thinking too about the question in the heading regarding the recurring metaphors throughout the book.
I've noticed the books exchanged between Van and Anis - and the books discussed by Francesca and Van, too - seem to parallel their lives, their conversations. It's almost as if the novels are metaphors for their lives. Or maybe, their lives are metaphors for the novels. I know I'm not expressing this well, but I feel strongly about the connection between the novels and their lives.
I'm reminded of the passage in which Francesca tells Van of her grandfather's view of the novel.
"It must not be dissociated from reality. Every subtlety in life is material for a book. Novels don't contain only exceptional situations, life or death choices, or major ordeals; there are also everyday difficulties, temptations, ordinary disappointments...
There are books where, as you read, you wonder" What would I have done? It's a question you have to ask yourself. Listen carefully: it is a way to live.
Literature informs, instructs, it prepares you for life."
Maybe the response to literature varies - depending on where one lives one's life, the culture. Perhaps Francesca and Van's passion for literature - passion for life is very French, different from our American attitudes towards literature, Marcie? And also the repressed expression of this passion. Perhaps we are used to acting out our passions?
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Joan, it does seem that there is a lot of "drama" in the lives of the main characters in the book. Perhaps that relates to repressed expression of passion.
I agree that the author seems to be using references to other books as a way to emphasize or elaborate on various characterizations and plot points.
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What I'm finding interesting - is that Anis seems to be the narrator - the "I" and the "me" we are reading now can be noone else - and Heffner seems to be the one keeping the story going, coaxing it out of the committee members, listening to Francesca and Van's every shred of memory. Don't you wonder how he has so much time for this? I suppose the case is a serious matter now because of the assault - and attempted murder. Not because a bookstore is targeted...
Anis and Heffner seem the most distant and cool-headed characters in the plot. Not sure why Anis tells Van she is not free. Is she still in some sort of trouble?
Question from the top of the page: What clues made you suspect those behind the denigration of Francesco and Van?
More and more it seems Francesca is the object of the attempts to discredit the bookstore. Although attempts are also made to expose Van's past to discredit the book store, he seems to handle that attacks on himself with ease.
The attacks are so carefully orchestrated - so much money is being spent on the campaign - it seems there is only one person with a motive and the means...and that's Francesca's husband. But why? And wouldn't that be too obvious? Can you think of anyone who would stand to gain anything if the Novel Book Store closed?
Can't help but think the real purpose for writing this novel is the situation with the bookselling business - and the story is merely to express how precarious small quality book stores are today. I read yesterday that all the Borders are set to close in the DC area now- not that Borders is one of the small quality book stores. But now that leaves Barnes & Noble in Virginia. Thank heavens Politics and Prose has found new owners. Will have to give them my business - though admit it is tempting to order from Amazon than to take a train into town. I do love to browse...
(Did you notice that the Olympic Committee is in Paris...everyone believes Paris has the best chance in 2012 to host the summer Olympics? We'll be in LONDON for the summer games next year...2012.)
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Did Barb say she was going to be away? I forget. She hasn't posted since the 20th.
What clues made you suspect those behind the denigration of Francesco and Van
Francesca's husband certainly had the attitude and the means to try to discredit her endeavor, however, I thought it was too easy to see him as the culprit. I couldn't think of anyone else who would be a suspect other than a vague notion of maybe a publisher or some book fanatic whose choice of reading didn't qualify under the criteria.
In case I forgot to mention, I was surprised to discover that Notre Dame Cathedral is on an island. I knew it was by the Seine, but didn't know about the island.
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Here's the funny thing about Notre Dame -
It is located on Ile de la Cite, one of two islands in the Seine in the heart of Paris. The region around Paris is called Ile de France because it is (nearly) surrounded by rivers; Notre Dame is in the Ile de France area, but not on it. Got it?
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Barbara has been a bit under the weather.
Joan, That is an interesting fact about Notre Dame. Confusing!
I think you're right about Anis being the narrator. It was an interesting choice for the author to have her tell the story. I'm not sure if it made the story more intimate than having an "omniscient narrator."
Frybabe and Joan, the husband is practically the only other character in the book that we know so it's likely that he would be the culprit. I guess all will be revealed in the last section.
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I finished the last part of the book. When can we discuss it?
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Has everyone else finished the book?
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A few notes on Part III first?
While listening to the comments from the book's characters, I feel I am listening to L. Cossé's personal beliefs and attitudes.
When she writes that 90% of the novels shortlisted for literary prizes are not found on the shelves of the Good Novel - she's expressing the belief that they are not "good novels." She writes, through Francesca that the secret of the success of the selected new books found in their store - "a rigorous selection of books."
I thought of this criticism of those who select the literary prize winners - and the Pen-Faulkner Foundation awards. I'm familiar with this prize because it is based at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. Here's a description of the panel of judges:
"Named for William Faulkner, who used his Nobel Prize funds to create an award for young writers, and affiliated with PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists), the international writers' organization, the PEN/Faulkner Award was founded by writers in 1980 to honor their peers. The award judges-working fiction writers all--each read approximately 300 novels and short story collections to select a winner and four nomineers."
Quickly I'll add here that the Foundation sends approximately 300 of these novels to the York Correctional Women's facility in Conn - collaborating with SeniorLearn, through our partnership with them in the Library of Congress' Reading Promotion Partners. Just had to squeeze that in here. Just as the committee for The Good Novel was made up of writers, the same with Pen-F.
That said, I've had serious questions about recent Man-Booker Prize winners - don't know who chooses those books.
Clearly, Cossé has a beef with at least one literary prize panel.
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- Then there's the point made by the Minister of Culture in France - when he said "the key word where culture and art are concerned is pleasure." I'm not sure I would come flat out and disagree with him as Van did. I mean, there has to be pleasure in reading, or why read? What did you think of those comments?
Yes, Marcie, I did finish the book - though not recently. I was going to read it again more closely when we get to it. Are we there now - week four?
At the end of Part III, Van notices that there is something wrong with Francesca. She's forgetful, not sleeping, not listening to him when he talks to her, walking different. What do you think is wrong with her. Do these symptoms add up to anything specific?
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JoanP, yes, especially in section Three, I found that Cosse seemed to be more overt in telling us what she thinks about the book publishing business and literary prizes. The idea that big marketing machines for "unworthy" books can drown out the presence of very good books, and make them almost invisible, was a shocking thought.
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Francesca was definitely ill, but I couldn't determine whether she was depressed or something else. I waited to see if she eventually told Van that she had a tumor or cancer, but she didn't.
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I too was wondering what was wrong with Francesca in Part 3. Perhaps the stress of the recent events are bringing back the stressful time of her daughter's death.
Let's start Part Four now.
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Here is a quote that struck me:
"And then, now I know how you try to woo someone who no longer believes in himself, how you must be patient, and trusting despite appearances, and it can take a long time."
-Anis
Seems we went full circle between Van and Anis. Remember at the beginning somewhere where Van, I think it was, remarked that he would lose interest in a woman if she showed signs of getting too attached? While I don't think this is strictly the case here because they were living together for some time, their roles in the relationship have reversed. Van appears to be going through a major depression now; he seems broken. Anis was broken in a different way. Van slowly, patiently mended her. Now it is her turn.
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I felt that part four was a mixed bag. The parts about the Committee was well written and interesting. There was a bit too much "muck raking" about the book industry. The facts are of course important but the story sometimes became secondary.
Possibly as a young person reading it,as I read "The Jungle" as a teen, I would be more impressed by finding out how the big ,bad world really works.But, being the jaded old person I am today I found it a bit too much.
I was happy that Francesca's husband was just a red herring and not the villain I suspected him to be. Francesca's death was a bit contrived but inevitable. The beautiful heroine must die and become a greater tragefy in death than she could possibly be in. life. Her love for Ivan was clear all the way through. Her journal was beautiful.
I still need time to weigh the overall impact of the book.
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Frybabe, I never did see Van and Anis together - especially after they moved in together and the hard-to-get game was over. I never saw the same passion and the same joy that Van and Francesca shared. Now that Francesca is gone, Van is inconsolable Finally, we are seeing the love story that has been there all along.
As Jude says, "a mixed bag". I'm not exactly sure what Cossé was trying to accomplish with this novel. Was she telling a love story? Was she using the love story to sustain interest in her views on the novel - or in bookstores?
Francesca asks who has the means to open three book stores on the rue Odeon. A very good question. Was it answered?
Heffner's investigation leads to a "frenzied individual" - Eric Erve - a disgruntled wriiter. Are we really expected to believe that he managed all of this himself? Surely not. Have you left Francesca's husband off the hook? Was he really the "winner" - having proved that quality doesn't win, only trash?
What did you think? Does Cosse expect that we will question Heffner's conclusions?
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I got the impression that Heffner's bosses came to the conclusion that there wasn't a case and so told Heffner to close it. I agree that it seems unreal that just one writer (considering they don't all make that much money) could pull all that off himself. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude one of two things. Either there really wasn't enough evidence to convict (what, not even for harassment?), or the bosses were put under duress to drop the case before something really did turn up.
I guess we will never know what was on Francesca's mind when she stepped out into the traffic. Was she in a fog from being ill and not getting enough sleep, or did she commit suicide? No one mentioned a suicide note, did they?
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I keep wracking my brain (is wracking a word?) - trying to remember a reference to a person in the beginning of the book who was suffering from a similar malady - with symptoms similar to Francesca's.
Van had just told her that he had a plan on how to revive sales at the bookstore. She hangs up and comes right away to the store. I don't think she was thinking about suicide when she stepped into the path of that bus, Frybabe, do you? No, I don't remember a suicide note.
Poor Van - imagine getting those "letters" AFTER her death. Would things have been different between them has she been able to talk to him about her feelings? Or was he so involved with Anis that he would never consider Francesca's feelings for him. I'm going to reread her last entry to see if there is a hint about how she was feeling at the end.
I think Henri was jealous of Francesca's attention and passion for the bookstore. Wasn't that a motive for wanting to see it fail?
ps. Just remembered that I took the book back to the Library - can someone reread Francesca's last message?
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Joan P.
The last paragraph of the diary is as follows:
"Everything is fine. there is nothing for me to find fault with, nothing at all. I hold no grudges, either with you or with her, of course, or even with myself. But what may happen, simply, is that the ordeal will get to be too much for me, and I may feel obliged to take my leave, out of weakness, or in a surge of energy, so that at last I can catch my breath."
This may or may not indicate that she was suicidal. She was depressed but had not yet planned her imminent death. She was more toying with the idea of suicide. That state of mind is about five times more common than that of those people who complete suicide. It is referred to as suicidal ideatiom and is very , very common.
However she was troubled by her unrequited love and the financial state of her pet project. She was hurt by the undermining of the other booksellers so she wasn't paying attention to the traffic. You might say she died of an overburdened mind or it simply was another traffic accident. The author leaves it open-ended.
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Joan,
ps. Just remembered that I took the book back to the Library - can someone reread Francesca's last message?
Joan, do you mean the notes that Francesa left behind that Anis read? "The last page of the notebook is dated January 20, 2006. It is the longest of the texts.... [THIS IS THE PART ABOUT HENRI.] My grandfather had been dead for three months, and I had no close family left, when I met Henri. I could hardly stand. He held out his hand. I didn't know where to go, and what he showed me was dazzling. He wasn't what he is now. He was an extremely intelligent senior executive, enterprising and creative. And then hew was stricken with the two viruses of money and power, and he became cynical. But that dazzling love when we first met -- that is something I remain faithful to. I no longer force myself. I am not free from it. It is not a principle, still less an effort of will. In those days I conceived of our love as something written in eternity. I do not conceive of it as anything else today the love we had then. What came later did not soil that period of our love. Time has had no hold on it, nor has death, since in a way, that love is truly dead....."
Henri's identity seems to be entwined with his success as a businessman and he was sure he was right... that her "dream" was not a viable business and it would fail. Francesca reports to Ivan that when she responded to Henri's question, telling him that their sales are steadily dropping, "What hurt most was his delight." Joan, it's possible that he was jealous of her passion for the bookstore and venture with Ivan and/or he could be pleased with himself that he was right all along.
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Jude, we were posting at the same time. I realize that you likely posted the part that Joan was asking about. I agree that Francesca didn't overtly plan her suicide but she was so despondent, as well as affected by the sleeping pills, that she wasn't paying attention.
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Francesca seems to represent a dream to me. To Ivan and Anis, she seems to be idealized. She's sort of synonymous with the bookstore and the lofty aims that all involved have for it.
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I always thought that Henri was opposed to the business, not because he thought it would be a failure, but that a woman run business was doomed to failure. He should have been delighted to offer help and suggestions (being a successful businessperson), mentoring if you will, to his wife. Instead he denigrated the business and her role in it from the beginning. She may even been something of an embarrassment to him because she chose to go into business. I remember that she said at some point that women of her economic stature (through her husband's success) were not expected to go into business and indeed were looked down upon for doing so. She didn't seem to have any friends outside the business. Did she ever mention friends and what they thought?
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Marcie, yes, Anis, dreamlike - I thought Francesca was too...
Frybabe, yes, Francesca did seem to be a loner - no friends, no family either.
For that matter, Van didn't seem to have friends or family, did he? Or Anis? She did come to Meribel with fellow students in the beginning, but other than that, she had no one in her life either. So Cossé has presented us with a cast of loners. Was that intended? Or did she not bother to flesh out her characters because they weren't the real focus of her book?
ps - just noticed new food for thought in the header - will chew on them and be back later!
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Joan p
Do you think the people you mentioned as loners love books because they are loners or that because they love books they are loners?
That is "what came first the chicken or the egg" question.
Though they are loners they get pretty attached to one another. However that may be because they all love books.
I am still not sure wether or not this is a "good novel". There are interesting characters and an interesting premise....yet... something is lacking . I haven't as yet figured it out.
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Jude, as far back as I can remember I've loved to read. I'd go off to my bedroom (because my sisters preferred to watch TV and I found that distracting) to read. I have rarely minded being by myself, and my circle of friends is not large. Do I consider myself a loner? Not really. But since I double checked the definition, maybe I am. It just says a preference to be by ones' self.
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I am still not sure wether or not this is a "good novel". There are interesting characters and an interesting premise....yet... something is lacking . I haven't as yet figured it out.
I think that I missed a lot in the book because I'm not familiar with French culture and didn't know quite a few of the books that were referenced throughout the story. I agree with you that the premise of the book is interesting but I don't know how well the author carried it out.
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I am in tune with all of your comments about loners and books. I myself am more comfortable with meeting characters in a wide variety of books than I am with meeting new people in person.
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The fact is that everyone on this site loves to read (read a lot I imagine). That in itself means you are not alone with a book in your hand. Very often people in real life are not as interesting as the people in books to us. That doesn't mean that we are loners.
Many loners don't like books. They simply don't like people or prefer not to compete with others or are very shy. Or are living in their heads and yes, even books are not welcome to intrude.
An extreme example of a loner is Ted Kaczinski. He couldn't bear to be among people and hatched plots to kill some of them.
I don't believe that people that communicate on a website about books are necessarily loners. In fact they like to communicate their thoughts to other "like minded" folk. Perhaps it is more a predilection to be among people who have the same interests as yourself.
Some people are just more introverted and feel comfortable with others who like to read. That is a far cry from a loner.
So don't lable yourself as a loner because on this site you are among friends.
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When I was young, in fact for many years, I never discovered people who liked to read or listen to classical music. Back then, I can't recall very many people carrying books with them to read. Now, I see readers everywhere. I'll ask about the book they are reading, is it good, etc., and often, we are off into a discussion of books in general and sometimes specific topics. Only a few are less responsive. One of the best spots for book conversations turns out to be while waiting for the car to get fixed or inspected. It is has been more difficult to connect with classical music fans. Imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered SeniorNet. I feel privileged to be a part of this group as it has evolved into Seniors and Friends and SeniorLearn.
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JudeS and Frybabe, I appreciate your thoughtful insights. Isn't it wonderful to meet others who appreciate books. Van and Francesca felt they had a higher mission in creating a bookstore that would offer good novels. It was one way of building a community of like-minds, much as we have here.
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"But what may happen, simply, is that the ordeal will get to be too much for me, and I may feel obliged to take my leave, out of weakness, or in a surge of energy, so that at last I can catch my breath"
Jude - those are Francesca's words I was trying to remember. Even though there is no proof that she was suicidal, she really couldn't see herself in the future with Van - and Anis at the book store.
What did you understand about her injuries? Her facial injuries? Were we supposed to question how the bus had hit her to cause such an injury? She may have been distracted, but I think there is reason to believe that she was being reckless because she really didn't care what happened to her. She was ready to "take her leave."
Frybabe - I can sense Francesca's joy in finding that Van shared her love for novels. She seems to have had no one in her life to share this interest. I didn't get the idea that this meant so much to Anis. And I felt that Van was interested in Anis for reasons other than their love of novels.
However, they all shared an interest in the bookstore.
Jude, I agree with this - Some people are just more introverted and feel comfortable with others who like to read. That doesn't mean they are loners. But there three don't seem to have any friends whatsoever. Marcie hit it when describing our book site , like The Good Novel -a community of shared minds.
Now what of Jude's question - is this a "good novel"? What do you think Cossé's purpose was in writing it?
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There is an interview with Laurence Cosse at http://www.europaeditions.com/archivio/libri/reading_group_guide_97.pdf
She indicates why she wrote the book by saying:
"Q: What inspired you to write A Novel Bookstore? Is The Good Novel based on an
actual bookstore?
A: For a long time, I planned to open a bookstore in Paris with the name “Au bon roman”
[The Good Novel] that sells novels, nothing but novels, and all of them excellent. But the
years passed by and my plan remained only a dream. I told myself that at the very least I
could write about it, I could tell the story of The Good Novel.
I often ask myself: Where did the idea for such a utopia come from? And my answer is that
it is not a utopia. In my mind, it was a plan, a real one, and one that I believed could be fully
realized. "
She also says why she made Anis the narrator:
"A: This is the small game within the big game called “a novel.” (I use the word “game” in its
fullest sense). I thought that it would be amusing for the reader if very early on he or she
were to say, ‘Wait a minute, who’s talking? Who is telling this story?’ And if they were not to
get an answer to this question until the very end. "
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Marcie
Re Franesca's suicidal ideation. There are considered to be three stages of suicidal ideation.
1) Thoughts like Francesca has about life, her situation etc.
2)An actual plan. That is you have the rope, gun, pills etc. in your drawer and are planning this event on a certain day, hour etc. You begin to give away personal possesions to friends, family or write a note with your last words.
3) You actually make an attempt at killing yourself. About half the attempts are stopped half way by various and sundry circumstances.
Most people can be talked out of an imminent plan. They also can be hospitalized for making an attempt or claiming that they are planning to kill themselves.
I know that these stages are not often portrayed in movies, novels, TV etc. However if you work in any mental health clinic, hospital etc. you know how common these processes are. As a small example when I worked in the Mental Health unit of Juvenile Hall we received at least ten imminent suicidal notices a day. (population 225) from the staff re the inmates.
The only completed suicide in the two years was by a boy who showed none of the outer signs we saw in all the others.
Yes, Francesca was weary and tired and you can chalk her accident up to many things but it was not a clear cut suicide.
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That's very helpful information, JudeS. I, too, don't think that the author meant us to see Francesca's death as a clear suicide. I don't think she would do that to Val, after she had experienced the suicide of her daughter.
As, JoanP, asked before, I'm not clear about the significance of the state of her skull after the accident.
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Since we are talking about Francesca's suicidal thoughts - or not - I'm reminded of a co-worker several years ago. She was married, had a young son who was her world. Her husband decided he no longer loved her - had a flashy new girlfriend and took the son on incredible outings with her - to the point he didn't want to go home to his mother when their weekend visits were over. My friend was clearly depressed at work. We had long discussions about what she could do with the boy - that didn't cost much money. She had next to nothing - he wasn't paying her the support he had promised. The courts were moving slowly - he had some sort of power to keep postponing hearings. Then she ended up in the hospital with some sort of pneumonia. Dad took the boy - refused to bring him back to her when she was released. She came into work for a day - learned her job was being eliminated -
On the way home, she had an "accident" on the Metro platform. She was seen far from where the train would stop - up near the tunnel where the train was coming from. She "fell" off the platform before the driver spotted her. Her death was called an accident.
An interesting interview, Marcie. I'll admit I was one who asked from the beginning - who is talking here? A few times I thought it was Anis - but didn't want it to be. I guess I really never took to Anis -wanted Van to wake up - wanted Anis to go away - certainly didn't want her to be in on the personal details of the store - if she turned out to be the narrator.
In deciding whether Cossé succeeded with this novel, it helps to know that she wanted to tell the story of the perfect bookstore like the one she dreamed about opening herself - and not necessarily the love story. Jude, did the author make that clear in the novel? You felt that something was missing. Perhaps the love story diverted our attention and interfered with the story of the perfect book store? I felt she should have stuck to the bookstore - thought the introduction of the three new bookstores on the block strained credibility. It was at that point that my attention turned to Francesca and her love for Van. And then she was gone. And the bookstore closed. I felt an empty feeling when the book ended - rather than satisfaction.
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JoanP
Your post help me to make clear what was bothering me about this book.
The charming Francesca is gone. She was the glue that held the tale together. She is gone now. her lovely bookstore is surroundedb y three other copies of itself. Lesser copies but still they are there.
Heffner was never fully fleshed out as a character. He had infinite possibilities.
Van and Anis-well , without Francesca, they are simply people who have found happiness with each other but I can't say that this has enchanted me.
The people on the committee too were wisps which might have enchanted if I knew more.
The two men who worked in the bookstore never fully came alive.
Yet the book was interesting. The settings well drawn. I can't say I wasted my time reading it.
AS far as your so sad coworker was concerned. I'm sure the accidental death was declared so that her son should not spend his life wondering if he caused his Mother to kill herself. If there are children and the death could be an accident it will be called that. Accident written on the death certificate saves a great deal of pain for the relatives.
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Joan and Jude, I appreciate your thinking aloud your reactions to the book. It's helped me to clarify mine. I do think that the relationship between Francisca and Van was intimately interwined with the bookstore. The fact that Van worked to keep the bookstore going, on an apparently self-sustaining model, is a tribute to what Francesca founded, with him. The story-line is a bit convoluted there (with Francesca's love for the "idea of her marriage" and Van's love for Anis --and Anis's attachment to Van, neither of which is very successfully explained).
I too think that the book was interesting and I'm glad I read it. It made me think about what I should spend my time reading.
I appreciate the participation and good discussion here with you all--Frybabe, JoanP, JudeS, Marjifay, Mippy, Kidsal and Barbara. Thanks, Barbara, especially for your thoughtful questions and informative links.
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And thank you, Marcie! And everyone! I'm wondering if any of the titles - or authors - seem to be "good novels" for book discussion here in SeniorLearn?
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Welcome to our July Discussion of
A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/novelbookstore/novelbookstore.jpg) | What is a good novel? A classic, a book that was a landmark, a difficult book? We have all read books that include all the basics for a 'good' novel however, it became a novel without genius. Will ‘A Novel Bookstore’ move us toward a definition?
A Utopian Paris bookstore, without the constraints of market realities and financial constraints, triggers jealousies and threats in Cossé's self-described, elegantly written novel. Ivan "Van" Georg and Francesca Aldo-Valbelli, the heroes, establish ‘The Good Novel’, a bookshop that will stock only, well written French fiction.
A secret committee of eight French writers is conscripted to submit annual lists of titles that become the bookstore’s inventory. We, the readers are immediately thrust in the middle of solving secret attacks on the lives of three committee members. As the story continues, we join the friends of the ‘The Good Novel’ to also track down who is behind the attempts to de-rail the success of the bookstore that is protecting artistic excellence from being submerged by mediocrity.
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Links are underlined.
Lunchtime Literary Conversations (http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5687/prmID/2126): with Laurence Cossé (http://www.facebook.com/pages/LaurenceCoss%C3%A9/113618528648184) and author Hervé Le Tellier, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herv%C3%A9_Le_Tellier) moderated by Rakesh Satyal (http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/catalog.cfm?dest=dir&linkid=2437&linkon=subsection)
In French, with great photos illustrating her books… Laurence Cossé dans La Grande Librairie du 12 février 2009 (http://videos.france5.fr/video/iLyROoafJGes.html)
Quotes by Laurence Cossé (http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/783644.Laurence_Coss_)
Week 1: Part 1 and Part 2 through Chapter 14 (about 102 pages)
Week 2: Part 2 from Chapter 15 to the end (about 97 pages)
Week 3: Part 3 (about 123 pages)
Week 4: Part 4 (about 86 pages)
Discussion Leaders BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com) and Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 4 - PART 4
- We learn something about the writing process, and what constitutes a good novel, through discovering more about the committee members, especially the members who were attacked. What made an impression on you?
- What are some of the cynical aspects of the book publishing and book selling businesses that we learn about through the investigation of possible culprits? Have you experienced any negative aspects in your pursuit of books?
- What do we learn about Francesca? Is her situation, reactions and how she "took her leave" a reflection of novels you've read or heard about?
- What parallels are there in the relationships between Van and Anis and Van and Francesca?
- How do Van and Anis change after Francesca "takes her leave" and they read Francesca's notes?
- What are your thoughts as you finish reading the book?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 3 - PART 3
- How do the various settings – forest, hillside trail, mountain ski resort, Paris, hospitals, police station, a seventeenth-century building add mood, tone and meaning to the text?
- What recurring patterns, images/symbols, images, metaphors, similes, have you noticed and Why – What is their purpose – How do they develop or impact the characters?
- What clues made you suspect those behind the denigration of Francesco and Van
- How do the attacks on the values inherit in the book store remind you of other literary and scientific attacks
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 2
- In this section (middle to end of Part 2) we learn something about the personal lives of Van and Francesca. What impressions are you forming of them? What does the Bookstore mean to them?
- What do you make of Anis?
- What are your impressions of the 8 members of the committee?
- What are your thoughts about the importance of literature that Francesca learned from her grandfather?
"Literature is a source of pleasure, he said, it is one of the rare inexhaustible joys in life, but it's not only that. It must not be disassociated from reality. Everything is there. That is why I never use the word fiction. Every subtlety in life is material for a book. He insisted on the fact. Have you noticed, he'd say, that I'm talking about novels? Novels don't contain only exceptional situations, life or death choices, or major ordeals; there are also everyday difficulties, temptations, ordinary disappointments; and, in response, every human attitude, every type of behavior, from the finest to the most wretched. There are books where, as you read, you wonder: What would I have done? It's a question you have to ask yourself. Listen carefully: it is a way to learn to live. There are grown-ups who would say no, that literature is not life, that novels teach you nothing. They are wrong. Literature performs, instructs, it prepares you for life."
- Are there books that are mentioned in this section that you are thinking about reading?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 1
- Who is telling the story?
- How many stories within stories have you noticed? What books have you read that use a narrative embedded in the story, often told by a character in the story? This is sometimes called a Metadiegetic Narrative (a back story).
- On page 23 Marcellin heard Paul deliriously mutter “Mina green and pink.” When he spoke of it to Madame Huon, she assumed Paul “was referring to one of his visitors and the color of her eye shadow or her lingerie.” What was Paul referencing, and why is it important?
- Several of the names that are sprinkled in chapter 4 are names known to the French. Who among the names is a well-known skier and whose Sur name is a famous cookie even sold here in the US?
- What causes a chuckle reading the Doctor and Suzon attacking the beaufort? What is beaufort?
- What is the history of the name Montbrun?
- Suzon says Paul is a very cultured man who goes by the name Néant. In French Néant means ‘nothing - void’ which could describe what he lives on but more, how does his name link the concept of void to: ~ Charles Baudelaire ~ Alexandre Grothendieck, mathematician ~ a Cabaret ~ Phantasmagoria
- What book have you read that was so powerful when you finished reading you realized you never read anything like it? What about the book you read was outstanding? Was it the use of language, the unforgettable characters who spoke to you in a new way, a theme that reached beyond your imagination?
- Why does Armel write checks to Maritime Rescue or Handicap International?
- Van speaks highly of Armel as a storyteller. What is the difference between a storyteller and a stylist?
- What are the various meanings for Paul’s pseudonym, Brother Brandy?
- What motivates, scares, upsets Anne-Marie?
Thanks, Barb and Marcie, and the rest who have participated.
I can't say that I am entirely happy with the ending. I would have liked to see the perpetrator(s) of the harassment punished, or at least exposed to their detriment. I knew that Van was infatuated with Anis, but I never got any feeling of great passion from him or Anis, did you? He pursued her, but the whole relationship seemed kind of flat to me. In fact, the whole book seemed kind of flat, emotionally, the whole way through. That could have been on purpose, after all, most of the story was being told after the fact, not as it was happening, by Anis who wasn't a direct party to many of the events. While the book didn't elicit many emotional highs or lows, it was most interesting and thought provoking.
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Frybabe, now that you say that, I agree that the whole book was pretty flat emotionally. Everyone was somewhat damaged. Their love for books potentially healed or, at least, consoled them. More could have been done about the power of specific books. It's possible it was done but since I am not familiar with many of the books mentioned (many by French authors), I can't judge.
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I just checked to see if Cosse has a new book in the works...
Apparently not - Novel Bookstore was the last one published in 2009. ~
"She was first a journalist in the French newspaper Le Quotidien de Paris and then at the French public radio France Culture. Most of her novels were published by the French publishing house Gallimard. Her most famous novel to date, Le Coin du voile (1996), was translated as A Corner of the veil in American English (as well as in five other languages).
Although she published one poetic novel (Les Chambres du Sud) and one historical novel (La Femme du premier ministre), most of her latest novels evoke the contemporary French society, often in a critical or ironical manner."
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I think I will see if my Library has A Corner of the Veil. It sounds interesting and I want to see if it also seems "flat".
It all reminds me of my old English Comp I teacher, who told me I wrote like a textbook. In other words, my writing also lacked emotional content. What did he expect. Most of my reading had been non-fiction or textbooks. I could tell a good story, but it was flat. He wasn't, apparently, well liked with the department chair because he was more interested in just getting students to not be afraid to write and to put some emotion and descriptive their writing than he was getting the spelling right or the correct punctuation. That, I think, came from his interest in theatrics. I appreciated it, but then I didn't need a lot of help with punctuation or spelling or sentence structure.
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My library doesn't have "Corner" but they did have Joanna Trollope's, The Choir, so I ordered that. They also have Justen Evans', The White Devil, but both copies are out on loan. No hurry.
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Frybabe, thanks for nudging me. I've put in a request for A Corner of the Veil at my library. The summary says "The discovery by a French priest that God exists throws the world in turmoil. If everyone starts believing and behaving well, what need for priests and policemen? Church and State unite to hush up the discovery so as to keep their jobs." It sounds like it could be fun.