A Literary Paris

Join Jamie this Friday night at the Phoenix French Alliance at 7pm for a lively discussion of great novels set in Paris and what makes some novel settings leap from the page while others fall flat. A Literary Paris always creates interesting discussion about Paris and it’s literary history for over 300 years. Join us.

To reserve a spot call The Great Phoenix French Alliance at 480-948-0728

go to their website at: http://afphx.org

Even today, the French love to talk of Colette. She redefined French society and long after her death, her presence is still felt.  Colette captured the struggles of strong women in a male dominated world of the early 1900s through both her fictional and autobiographical works.  With characters from the margins of French society and with the influence of her own mother, Colette both tackles and celebrates the battle between independent identity and passionate love.  This lecture will explore Colette’s work and the rippling effects of repressing female creativity and sensuality.

“By means of an image we are often able to hold on to our lost belongings.  But it is the desperateness of losing which picks the flowers of memory, binds the bouquet.”  Mes Apprentissage, 1936

OASIS is located at:  2099 East River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718   Phone: (520) 322-5627

While I typically write about literature, everyone knows I love to travel and those who know me especially well know I get lost easily. (I have no idea how I ever lived without a GPS.)  Now, I won’t go to Paris without this new Application by DK Publishing. It’s a digital tour of Paris.  But since I’m no expert, and barely able to manage my own computer, I’ll leave the impressive details  to writer Gregory Schmidt in his New York Times Gadgetwise article Just thought you might like to know.

Oh, and soon they will have a digital tour of London–just in time for A Literary London I hope!

The French Cultural Center of Boston has invited me to speak about my book A Literary Paris on Saturday, February 26 from 2-4pm. I have asked Marie Hartness,  a good friend and a French-English literary translator who kindly translated the excerpt from Colette’s Claudine in Paris, to join me for the event.  So, if you’re in the Boston area, come and enjoy a fun afternoon of great literary discussion.

Thank you to everyone at the French Alliance of St. Louis for hosting such a warm reception and welcoming me back to St. Louis.  I so enjoyed talking with all of you. If anyone in St. Louis is looking to learn French or anything about Paris, you should meet this group. They are a wealth of knowledge and information. If you love literature set in Paris, well, I hope you’ll also buy a copy of A Literary Paris.

Thanks also to the Borders in St. Louis for welcoming me with a signing at your Brentwood store (a suburb of St. Louis).

February 24, 2011 7:00pm Harvard Coop Bookstore, Cambridge, MA

February 26th, 2011 2-4pm, French Cultural Center, Boston, MA

March 11, 2011 7pm French Alliance of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ

March 12-13, 2011  Tucson Festival of Books, Tucson, AZ

March 24, 2011 University of Arizona Bookstore

April 28th, 2011 Cambridge Center of Adult Education, Cambridge, MA

April 29-30, 2011 Newburyport Literary Festival, Newburyport, MA

Next Spring, I will be giving a series of three literary lectures and the first of those three has been on my mind all week. I’ve titled the lecture Colette and the Female Identity, Passion and Repression. While I’m no expert on any of those very human traits, I have enjoyed studying Colette and reading her work. I used an excerpt from Claudine in Paris in my book A Literary Paris because of her childlike ability to see and tell things exactly as they seem to her. Her descriptions of Paris are spot on and for those who aren’t always thrilled with the idea of living in Paris, often comforting.

In her life and her writing, was completely uninhibited. She made a lasting impression on Paris and the world. Even today, the French love to talk of her. She redefined French society and long after her death, her presence is still felt.  Colette captured the struggles of strong women in a male dominated world of the early 1900s through both her fictional and autobiographical works.  With characters from the margins of French society and with the influence of her own mother, Colette both tackles and celebrates the battle between independent identity and passionate love.  My lecture is more of an exploration, since I am always learning too, and so I will continue to explore this woman’s work and the rippling effects her uninhibited creativity and sensuality has had on literature and society.

“By means of an image we are often able to hold on to our lost belongings.  But it is the desperateness of losing which picks the flowers of memory, binds the bouquet.”  Mes Apprentissage, 1936

In my new book, A Literary Paris I carefully selected the best writers who transported their readers to the City of Light in the most authentic way. However, as a mother of a four year old girl who loves to read and wants to travel even more than she already does, I am always looking for great children’s books that transport her as well.   These children with their with their adventurous spirits and indefatigable curiously and creative imaginations  need books that will transport them to all corners of the globe as well. While I’m not expert on children’s literature, I am a mom and I’ve done a lot of looking at children’s books too. I am always keeping an eye out for really good children’s books that transports my daughter’s mind and teaches her about new places, different cultures and ways of living and thinking.

As a child I did a lot of traveling by way of books and those books are some of my best memories.   Books took me to all the  places I wondered about and when I was grown and able to travel on my own I felt like a well traveled person already.  I attribute that feeling to good books. And since everyone knows (except possibly for kids) that traveling with children is more challenging, and exhausting (not to mention expensive) than traveling as a couple or even alone, good books are a treasure all children (and parents) should have.

There are a lot of children’s books out there, some great, good ones and some cause me to  wonder how in the world they ever got published.  It can be hard to find the best books out there for your kids, but in case you have a little one itching to be transported to Paris, I thought I’d mention a few great children’s books that do just that…. my list is far from complete and feel free to comment and add a book I’ve missed.

And for you parents who are itching to go the City of Light as well, don’t forget I’ve already done the work for in A Literary Paris with such a broad selection of great books, there is sure to be one just right for you.

BOOKS THAT WILL TRANSPORT YOUR CHILDREN’S MIND AND IMAGINATION TO PARIS

Eloise in Paris by Kay Thompson

Zat Cat by Chesley McLaren

Madeline (Madeline and the Cats of Rome is great to learn a little about Rome!) both by Ludwig Bemelmans

Charolette in Paris by Joan MacPhail

Linnea in Monet’s  Garden by Christina Bjork

Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt

The Mona Lisa Caper by Rick Jacobson

Katie Meets the Impressionists by James Mayhew

Picasso in the Spring in Paris by Joan Yolleck

Ignore what your English Professor Told You and Just Read — Literary fiction is far more enjoyable to read than you might think. All you really need to do is sit back, relax and leave the search for symbolism and over-analyzing to the academics.

We are taught early on as students that there are books we should read but might not enjoy and even more might not be smart enough to understand.  It’s just not true.  Everyone is smart enough to escape into and enjoy a well-written book. You don’t have to know the proper academic way to read great works of literature in order to enjoy them and make them your own.

I realized this in college when a professor told me to read Hemingway’s For Whom the Bells Toll and write a comprehensive analysis.  This novel was not just any novel for me. I had read it when I was fifteen. It took my imagination to Spain and then it inspired me to go there myself when I was seventeen.  Talk about a book that transports you!  But rereading the novel and dissecting every passage for double meanings and symbolism (something I usually enjoyed doing) took away some of the book’s essence for me.  What does this prove?  You don’t have to know literary theories or how to analyze fiction in order to enjoy great literature. I think it also proves that sometimes it’s even better if you don’t know.

This little book is your passport to the cafes, salons, and boulevards of Paris long ago, accompanied, as you stroll, 

by authors you’ve heard of, but who are now your friends and acquaintances. Do not tarry before they disappear around the next corner! 

They’re waiting for you inside A Literary Paris. 

Charles J. Shield 

Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee