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The Parisian Café: A Literary Companion
The Parisian café has had a singular, timeless, seductive appeal since the nineteenth century. 'The Parisian Café: A Literary Companion' takes a whimsical look at the Parisian café as seen through the eyes of authors and artists over the past two centuries. Featuring a wide range of renowned women such as Guillaume, Apollinaire, Albert Camus, Lawrence Ferlinghem, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, this collection provides the reader with a swift and colourful impression of the rich and varied appearance that the Parisian café has made in literature and the arts. Drawing upon such diverse media as painting, photography, line drawing and engraving, this work includes some of the most influential artists of the last two centuries including Brassai, Andre Kerész, Edouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Vincent van Gogh and many others.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published December 13, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 8, 2024
I have only had one trip to Paris and that was many years ago when I spent my final evening in the city frequenting the cafés on the Champs-Élysées as I had saved money by staying with a French family and thus used up my francs wisely. Unfortunately the terrain was not as populated with literary and artistic celebrities as are shown in this delightful book ... and what's more nobody was taking photographs of us coffee drinkers that were sat there!
That is not the case in this book as it is full of atmospheric photographs, works of art and line drawings showing such as Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Manet, Georges Simenon (alluringly with Josephine Baker), Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and others either at work or play in one of the many Parisian cafés that adorn the pages. Maxims, the Dome, Café Des 4 Vents, Café de Flore and others are featured either with a hive of activity, lovers gazing into each others eyes or even such as Samuel Beckett sitting alone with his cup of coffee.
The photographs are accompanied by appropriate text from many great writers with, for example, Anais Nin writing, 'We sit very close in the café. We walk together very close. We are half sad. It is warm. He smells my perfume. I look at his beautiful face. We desire each other.' In true Anais Nin style, the accompanying photograph shows lovers playfully kissing one another in 1932.
Van Gogh's 'Café Terrace at Night' is one of the few images that is virtually deserted (the final sentence of the caption sums it up admirably, 'Night settled like a blue blanket over Paris) otherwise most of the café terraces show vibrant scenes with people partying and enjoying themselves. But it is acknowledged that throughout the centuries artists and writers have looked for, and often found, inspiration at the café, be it one in a Parisian side street or one in the heart of the city.
Sartre summed it all up when he wrote, 'It is certain that the café by itself with its patrons, its tables, its booths, its mirrors, its light, its smoky atmosphere, and the sounds of voices, rattling saucers, and footsteps which fill it - the café is a fullness of being.'
That is not the case in this book as it is full of atmospheric photographs, works of art and line drawings showing such as Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Manet, Georges Simenon (alluringly with Josephine Baker), Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and others either at work or play in one of the many Parisian cafés that adorn the pages. Maxims, the Dome, Café Des 4 Vents, Café de Flore and others are featured either with a hive of activity, lovers gazing into each others eyes or even such as Samuel Beckett sitting alone with his cup of coffee.
The photographs are accompanied by appropriate text from many great writers with, for example, Anais Nin writing, 'We sit very close in the café. We walk together very close. We are half sad. It is warm. He smells my perfume. I look at his beautiful face. We desire each other.' In true Anais Nin style, the accompanying photograph shows lovers playfully kissing one another in 1932.
Van Gogh's 'Café Terrace at Night' is one of the few images that is virtually deserted (the final sentence of the caption sums it up admirably, 'Night settled like a blue blanket over Paris) otherwise most of the café terraces show vibrant scenes with people partying and enjoying themselves. But it is acknowledged that throughout the centuries artists and writers have looked for, and often found, inspiration at the café, be it one in a Parisian side street or one in the heart of the city.
Sartre summed it all up when he wrote, 'It is certain that the café by itself with its patrons, its tables, its booths, its mirrors, its light, its smoky atmosphere, and the sounds of voices, rattling saucers, and footsteps which fill it - the café is a fullness of being.'
October 5, 2013
This is a very nice little photo essay about Parisian cafes and the artists, authors and other notables from the past who frequented them. Obviously, lots of art and literature were designed or fully constructed within the walls of these comforting oases. It would make an inviting, small, coffee table book. One could simply open it to any page to get some insight.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews