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Book news & reviews
Au Contraire! Figuring Out the French” by Gilles Asselin & Ruth Mastron (Intercultural Press, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London)
In 1990, American pharmaceutical lab Rorer merged with French giant, Rhône-Poulenc. The management immediately recognized that for the resulting company to succeed, profound inter-cultural understanding between American and French employees would have to be developed. A multiplicity of questions arose... Why do the French take so long to make a decision? Why do Americans ignore hierarchy? Why don’t the French mingle? Why are Americans so willing to entrust people with new things? In describing the process of cultural dissection Rhône-Poulenc-Rorer went through, “Au Contraire!” provides the closest thing yet to a field guide that decodes Frenchness and American-ness, both at work and at home. MH
“The Road to Verdun” by Ian Ousby (Jonathan Cape, London)
During WWI, a battle was fought which had no clear beginning, no clear ending, bore little or no strategic sense and killed more men more uselessly than any battle before or since. Verdun produced practically nothing contributing to the overall shape and direction of the larger War. In other words, an unmitigated disaster. And yet, this battle became a unique, deeply reverberating symbol to France. Ian Ousby, in harrowing detail, provides in his new history of the battle of Verdun a picture of how Germany and France became locked in this grim “dance of death,” neither able to advance nor recede — and yet out of this fiery crucible France was finally able to emerge halting the well-nigh out-of-control, post-Revolutionary political death-spiral it had known for nearly a century. MH
A Short Treatise on the Great Virtues by André Comte-Sponville (Henry Holt)
This book, which remained on France’s best-seller list for 14 months, has just been translated into English. Subtitling it “the uses of philosophy in everyday life,” the author — a Sorbonne professor, who emerged as part of a much celebrated new wave of young French philosophers — revisits such timeless themes as fidelity, justice and tolerance putting them in a contemporary context. Comte-Sponville’s explanation for the current interest in moral philosophy? “...the lack of ready-made answers in a country where the Roman Catholic church has lost much of its influence, where once-popular ideologies such as Marxism have fallen into disrepute, and where an earlier faith in social sciences has been eroded. People need values...What we are witnessing is not the return of philosophy but a return to philosophy.” BR
“Something to Declare” by Julian Barnes (Picador, London)
Somehow, Julian Barnes manages in this collection of essays about French literature, France and Frenchness, to say nothing about Flaubert — discounting the preface — until well into the fifth chapter. From there on, the slide Flaubertward steadily increases in both velocity and dimension. Yet, early on in “Something to Declare” Barnes touches with his usual deft sense of humor and intellectual honesty on topics ranging from literature to landscapes, from food and song to the Tour de France. From there, readers be forewarned, it’s “all Flaubert.” Nevertheless, despite what anyone might say about a latent singlemindeness, Barnes also possesses that Burgessian talent for making anything — literally anything — worth reading about. MH
The Poster in History by Max Gallo (Norton)
A profusely illustrated overview of posters from the French Revolution to the present. Max Gallo, known in France for his biographies and essays on Napoleon and Garibaldi, examines the social and political context of this medium. “Political and social history,” says Gallo, “are mirrored in the posters of the French revolution, the Nazi occupation of France... and the unrest in France in May 1968... the walls sometimes speak.” This book is an opportunity to hear what they’ve been saying over the last two centuries.” BR
The Best Places to Kiss in Paris by Thierry Soufflard (Parigramme)
A new English translation of a petite French classic just out for Valentine’s day, this “tongue in cheek” guide romps through all the clichés of romantic Paris while giving advice on such topics as how and where to kiss at museums (and keep out of sight of the attendants!)... Or, how to imitate Doisneau’s famous smooch shot “The Kiss at the Hotel de Ville.” BR
Lonely Planet Resto Guide 2002
The publisher of this renowned series of travelers guidebooks has just released a restoguide (in French). Proceeding arrondissement by arrondissement, this book covers over 500 restaurants, bars and cafés. It is an invitation to Parisians to discover their city’s best eating places, via menus ranging from classic French and international, to macrobiotic. BR
Local writers
Distant Wanderers, the search for planets beyond the solar system by Bruce Dorminey (Copernicus Books)
This book describes the new frontier of earth-like planets orbiting in distant solar systems. “Wanders,” is a short course on what’s new in astronomy written for the general public. It takes a look at current scientific thinking, and inspires speculation on whether life exists on other planets. BR
Reviews by Marc Heberden & Bob Roberts
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