I don't know about you? But I could sure use a vacation. A change of scenery. New faces, new places. A little wine and good food at an outdoor cafe with a beautiful city serving as a backdrop. This week it feels like early spring with chilly winds and rain, but apparently in a week (the forecast promises) near summerlike temperatures are in store. I would be happy with a little in between weather, but we never get enough of the comfortable, enjoyable stuff. So, since summer is coming, it is time to make plans for my summer reading project, or in these days of staying at home, a little armchair travel is in the works!
Where do you think I am packing for? Oui, mes amis, je voyage en France. Paris, the French countryside, maybe the Pyrenees? I am pulling books from my shelves even now, so wherever they take me, I am going. Contemporary, classic, historical, maybe a little mystery or danger (French crime!). I have lots of books, I just need to find them in my piles. I am leaning more towards books translated from French, but I might find a few with a French setting and a tempting story written in English.
Last year I spent a good part of my summer "reading Japan" and was quite pleased by the many wonderful books I read and discovered and have acquired. And this year? I recently watched a French Film called Spellbound (Les envoutes), which is based on a short (ghost) story by Henry James called The Way It Came (on my list to find and read). I loved the movie, it was mesmerizing in its way, but it was also wonderfully atmospheric--the mist hanging over this house in the Pyrenees, an unreliable narrator. The perfect setting for a ghost story--what more can you ask for in a good story? It put me in mind of choosing more French stories, et voila. I will stay there for a while.
On my stack I have a number of novels by Irene Nemirovsky, a couple by Anna Gavalda and Amelie Northomb. Others to dig out and discover (all those books I have but have not thought about in ages). Of course, I am always happy to hear about favorites you have read, so please share!
To kick things off I picked a book by Delphine de Vigan called Underground Time. It is a contemporary, award winning novel and maybe the perfect exploration of how we can lead lives of quiet desperation even while being among crowds of people and living in a large and vibrant city, like Paris. Her writing and characterization are excellent. A man and a woman are in difficult situations, both carrying heavy burdens and feeling alone and lonely acutely. It is a story that is easy to relate to and emotions we all encounter even if the situations may vary greatly. The premise is that perhaps even in such a large city two lost souls might come together and lift each other up. This is a sliding doors sort of story. Will their paths cross. Will they look up across a platform and catch each others eye?
Potential spoiler--I promise no neat, tidy or even happy ending. I won't say if they make eye contact. I will only say this is a story I appreciated, but living in the world we now live in, it was not always comfortable reading about these two lives, their stories told in parallel. Expect a certain amount of emotional anguish, and not all problems are resolved. But I do want to read more by de Vigan. End Spoilers.
I will have to create my own sidewalk cafe scenario. Maybe find a bottle of French wine and some bakery selling French-inspired pastry. Imagination is a strong thing and I will rely on that and some good books, if all else fails. I am now reading Elaine Dundy's The Dud Avocado with its 1950s Paris setting. And I am trying to decide on my next French novel. Maybe something by Irene Nemirovsky as there are several shorter novels on hand. Are you armchair traveling this summer?