Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris

The biographer of Hugo, Rimbaud, and Balzac, Graham Robb is about the best qualified English-language writer imaginable to present this history in snapshots of Paris which takes the form of nineteen vignettes, many of which are told in different styles, from the lives of important historical and literary personages. It starts with Napoleon's first visit to the city (to his lose his virginity with a prostitute before mobilizing with the army), and proceeds through characters as disparate as Marie Antoinette, the original of the Count of Monte Cristo, Vidocq, the Zolas, Jean-Paul Sartre, Charles de Gaulle, and even Hitler (an enthusiastic fan of the city for years before he visits the conquered metropolis for the first time). The stories are often elegantly told and usually surprising. It is true that some work less well than others (though one, written as a kind of closet screenplay, is pretty much a flop); and Robb relies too often near the beginning on the weary trick of withholding the identity of an important historical figure toward late in the story (which Paul Rudnick in the New York Times once called the "And that child grew up to become... Helen Hayes" gimmick). But most of the stories are quite graceful, with important undertold stories about the building and unbuilding of modern Paris, from the bolstering of the weakening tunnels under the city by means of the creation of the Catacombs in the late eighteenth century to Marville's photographic documentation of the neighborhoods about to be swept away by the grand avenues of Baron de Haussmann. And some are genuinely touching, such as the lovely little story of Madame Zola's forgiveness of her husband's philanderings. It's hard to imagine what kind of enjoyment anyone would take in this if he or she first didn't have some basic understanding of late 18th and 19th and 20th century French history, which Robb consistently assumes in his readers: although I did pretty well with everything up until 1968, the later chapters made reference to developments in very recent French history and Parisian planning of which I was pretty ignorant. (There's also no glossary for the plethora of French terms Robb uses, nor a map of the city, nor a final catalogue of characters, all of which would have been quite helpful.) This book works best for people who know France and French fairly well.

I love the style of Robb's writing.

Arrived on time. Excellent read!

Graham Robb sure knows his Paris. He knows it a lot better than you, and he’d like to make you painfully aware of that. He’s definitely more interested in lording over you with his encyclopedic knowledge than he is in actually sharing any of it. My wife and I spent part of our honeymoon in Paris and this book, which I had read just beforehand, did slightly more than nothing to enrich the experience (don’t feel bad for me -- Paris was wonderful, and the Lonely Planet picked up the slack).Robb seems to have the same disdain for his reader that Parisian waiters in the popular stereotype have for tourists (fortunately, I have found that stereotype to be false in my experience). He sprinkles French phrases throughout Parisians without bothering to translate them in the footnotes. For the past few years, I’ve been studying French on and off so some of it I could understand but some of it I couldn’t. What is the point of including text that most of your readers can’t understand (other than a little flavor)? Furthermore, what would be the harm of translating it for your readers in the footnotes? That way, the readers would get the flavor and the meaning and they just might learn some French.Again, I know something of French history, literature and culture, but I’m no expert -- that’s why I bought this book. It seems like this book is written for an audience who already knows everything there is to know about Paris’s notables. It’s one thing to assume your audience is familiar with Napoleon Bonaparte and Marie Antoinette, but maybe you should throw some of your less worthy readers a bone when you’re talking about Emile Zola or Juliette Greco. I don’t like to make trips to Wikipedia to educate myself about the historical figures of Paris while I’m reading a book that is supposed to educate me about the historical figures of Paris (or maybe the book’s purpose is not to educate but simply to obfuscate and frustrate). It might have been nice if each chapter had started out by introducing the main figure and then, over the course of the chapter, give us an idea of their significance and maybe tell us about their most famous works. Maybe that’s not as “clever” as not revealing who your protagonist is until halfway through the story, but it might have made me want to learn more about these people and read some of their work. The way it was written inspired me to do no such thing however. What a waste of an opportunity for someone who is so passionate about French culture.I don’t mean to imply in the title of this review that Robb purports to know more about Paris than he does. I’m beyond convinced he’s no pretender at that. I’m referring to the writing style which seems to pretend at being that of a novelist. That was a mistake. He should have saved that for an actual historical novel. I have nothing against being a little experimental in your writing, but in writing, unlike in science, you don’t need to publish the results when your experiment fails. The prose some impressionable readers have praised is nothing more than cheap tricks (writing about past events in present tense to make them seem more immediate and exciting), even cheaper, worn-out gimmicks (I know “the young lieutenant” is Napoleon! Just tell us on the first page and be done with it.) and execrable metaphors (“the Saturn Vs of the Sacre-Coeur” -- blech!).I gave this book two stars because a few of the stories were actually pretty good, and I actually learned a thing or two from them -- particularly “The Man Who Saved Paris”, “The Notre Dame Equation” (a tale so unbelievable I had to look up some of the details on Wikipedia {they checked out}) and “The Day of the Fox”. In these stories, it seemed like Robb was actually trying to tell the reader about something like the significance of some figure or event rather than impressing whoever he was trying to impress.Unlike other dissatisfied readers, I read this book to the bitter freakin’ end and learning just a thing or two in 400+ pages is hardly worth the investment. If you find another book that tackles the admirable goal of taking the reader on a tour of Paris past and present and introducing us to her more notable residents living or dead, and said book doesn’t insist the reader already speak French and have a degree in Paris studies to fully appreciate, let me know in the comments. I would love to read it.

I thought his history of France was excellent so I bought Parisians. This book is made up of long, boring stories. I had to give it up at about the 50% mark. Kept falling asleep and couldn't keep all the names straight. Nor did I much want to keep them straight.

If visiting Paris - or after visiting, this book helps put a lot of the sights in context. Written well in a reader friendly style- would recommend to anyone who prefers a more than a superficial experience of Paris. Not a travel guide but fascinating to relive events in the various districts of Paris- some relatively recent.Robb is an excellent writer and his other book is also recommended- outlining the history of French language, bureaucracy and mapping over all geographic areas of France.

I think Mr. Robb is a great writer and he surely knows about Parisian history or at least he's a master researcher on the subject. I do also like the concept of being presented with a different story through Parisian years and centuries based on the lives of certain characters. I did however found the book very hard to read, sometimes I would get lost in the narrative without really understanding the point of the story. I thought the description of Hitler visiting Paris was fascinating, it was almost as if I was there, I never knew that his visit happened as it is told in the book, but truly fascinating. I found the story about Miles Davis, Sartre and Juliette Greco insufferable, pedantic and without a point in being told in the form of a film script.

Excellent series of stories about the “City of Light”. Highly recommend for those visiting for first time as it gives a great feel for the city. Prose is often confusing with many French phrases and quotes but highly readable.

I know Parisian history quite well but this book is confusing. The stories mostly begins without the actual name of the character nor the time. They only give a small hint of the actual events which makes the book confusing. While the concept of remodelling historical events into fiction like TV or movie drama, the execution does not live up to the true events that happened in real places that you can still find in paris today.

Such a sad letdown after his gripping 'Discovery of France', Graham Robb has produced a book which stumbles along, repeating many rather obvious facts about famous Frenchpersons in a slightly fey 'guess who this person is' style that is simply frustrating. I don't want history as regurgitated pap, I want to hear new and intriguing facts. None were forthcoming and eventually I gave up hope of reading anything either new or entertaining. I bought this as an ebook, didn't finish it (unlike his first book, which I have re-read,and would recommend to everyone) and have deleted it from my kindle.

I like others bought this on the strength of having read and enjoyed The Making of France.The style of writing which varies from anecdotal to factual confused me at first.That being said it was full of information, which whilst not necessarily applicable to todays Paris makes for interesting reading if you have been or intend going there.

I took this book to Paris and read it aloud to my partner there. It is full of unexpected stories and really very interesting. One or two chapters I found a bit heavy going (one in the form of a script) but probably I am missing references and other people wouldn't be puzzled.

An excellent book - Robb brings these characters to warm life and gives us a fascinating insider's view of some well-known, and lesser known, Parisian characters. Essential reading before a visit to Paris, both for first-time visitors and perhaps even more for those, like me, who thought they knew something of its history. Thoroughly recommended.