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Metrostop Paris: History from the City's Heart
Gregor Dallas
256 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2008
18 people are currently reading
345 people want to read
About the author
Gregor Dallas
11 books7 followersGregor Dallas attended Sherborne School in Dorset, received a BA at the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
July 30, 2014
Looking through my notebooks, the chapter that stuck with me most out of this interesting book of Paris anecdotes was the one dedicated to Anaïs Nin. The story in here is mainly about her affair with Otto Rank, and fascinating it is too. But in the middle of it, a name appeared which I did not expect:
Rebecca West! In connection with Anaïs Nin of all people…I was delighted and amazed. I pulled down my copy of Deirdre Bair's not-especially-well-liked biography of Anaïs Nin, which I read years ago and which apparently I had forgotten. It was interesting to see that West's admiration of Nin's writing was not reciprocal: apparently Anaïs thought West wrote ‘like a man and I don't like it’. No surprise there – Rebecca West thought that whether you were male or female should be a trivial concern in life, and no concern at all in literature; whereas Anaïs Nin thought women should dedicate their lives to creative male geniuses and write accordingly. Thinking about it, it's amazing they didn't explode in an antimatter singularity when they came together.
The story of how they met is a wonderful demonstration of both their characters: West concisely brilliant, Anaïs totally bonkers. This is how Bair tells it:
Their accounts of the meeting differ somewhat. The way West remembers it:
It was Rebecca West who seemed to make Anaïs first realise that she could write better than most of the men she was sleeping with on a semi-regular basis.
The two of them became quite good, if unlikely, friends. West took Anaïs to a dinner party in her (West's) honour in New York, but Anaïs ended up pulling Norman Bel Geddes over cocktails and launching a brief affair, which didn't go down too well. Still, West ended up visiting her in France the next year, and they had a little holiday together which is frankly rather difficult to imagine:
Rebecca West and Anaïs Nin painting each other's nails? Unlikely Scenes From Literary History #54887.
In the end, as she did with most people, Anaïs pushed Rebecca away. When she came to publish her famous diaries, West asked for all references to her to be removed on threat of legal proceedings. In the proofs, which West sent to her lawyer, there was a long section in which West supposedly confessed to being sexually abused by her own father. West recognised this as being Anaïs's own ‘latent, highly disguised, sexual fantasy’ (Nin apparently really did seduce her own father, or at least found the notion extremely compelling, and she replays the scenario endlessly in her work and her diaries).
‘What do I do about this?’ West wrote to her lawyer. ‘Where should I park a disclaimer of all this nonsense?’
Two fascinating people. I'm pleased they interacted.
(It feels strange to quote Bair's book so often in a putative review of someone else's, but since Dallas's book is inherently anecdotal and tangential anyway, I'm allowing myself the liberty.)
Anaïs spent much of her energy trying to get Henry's first novel, The Tropic of Cancer, published; her chief link here was Rebecca West who kept a posh place in London and cultivated relations with the grand London literary agent, A. D. Peters. But nobody seemed to appreciate Henry's efforts; Rebecca told Anaïs that she wrote better, and that is what Anaïs thought, too.
Rebecca West! In connection with Anaïs Nin of all people…I was delighted and amazed. I pulled down my copy of Deirdre Bair's not-especially-well-liked biography of Anaïs Nin, which I read years ago and which apparently I had forgotten. It was interesting to see that West's admiration of Nin's writing was not reciprocal: apparently Anaïs thought West wrote ‘like a man and I don't like it’. No surprise there – Rebecca West thought that whether you were male or female should be a trivial concern in life, and no concern at all in literature; whereas Anaïs Nin thought women should dedicate their lives to creative male geniuses and write accordingly. Thinking about it, it's amazing they didn't explode in an antimatter singularity when they came together.
The story of how they met is a wonderful demonstration of both their characters: West concisely brilliant, Anaïs totally bonkers. This is how Bair tells it:
[Anaïs Nin] first wrote to the English critic and novelist Rebecca West in the autumn of 1932, after West had written brief praise for her book on Lawrence. Anaïs read West's most recent novel, Harriet Hume, and sent a letter of appreciation, thanking West in return for hers. West did not reply. Nin waited a month, then wrote again, saying she rarely sought out strangers, but having read Harriet Hume, seeking to know its author was a ‘logical outcome’. Once more, West did not reply.
In March 1934, Anaïs wrote yet again, asking West if she would read Henry [Miller]'s Lawrence book and recommend it to a British publisher. This time West replied with a two-word cable: ‘Why? How?’ Incredibly, it was all the encouragement Anaïs needed to go to London. She persuaded Hugo [her husband] to give her enough money for a week's stay and went at once.
Their accounts of the meeting differ somewhat. The way West remembers it:
Despite West's best efforts not to receive it, Anaïs succeeded in presenting her with Henry's Lawrence manuscript. She read a few pages and decided it was ‘a farrago of nonsense’, but she liked Anaïs, and feeling sorry for her, all alone in London, gave an impromptu dinner party, took her to the theater to see Charles Laughton's Othello, and invited her to a family lunch. ‘We gave her a full and happy four days,’ West recalled, ‘and as she was a total stranger I don't think I did badly for her.’
Anaïs's account consumes many pages in her unpublished diary, starting with [...] her initial impression of West as ‘Pola Negri without beauty and English teeth…. She is deeply uneasy. She's intimidated by me.’ Anaïs said that at luncheon, she was ‘more and more disillusioned by [West's] sexlessness, her domesticity and by her last book on St. Augustine…Naturally she admired Henry's book on Lawrence and passed over Black Spring in silence.’
It was Rebecca West who seemed to make Anaïs first realise that she could write better than most of the men she was sleeping with on a semi-regular basis.
Rebecca supposedly said, ‘[...] you're a so much better writer than [Henry Miller] is, so much more mature.’ ‘I was mute with surprise [Anaïs says in her diary]....It stunned me. No, she must be prejudiced. NO, NO. She's wrong.’ Later, she added, ‘Henry will never forgive me for this – if he knew. I realized suddenly that Henry would not want me greater.’
The two of them became quite good, if unlikely, friends. West took Anaïs to a dinner party in her (West's) honour in New York, but Anaïs ended up pulling Norman Bel Geddes over cocktails and launching a brief affair, which didn't go down too well. Still, West ended up visiting her in France the next year, and they had a little holiday together which is frankly rather difficult to imagine:
She read Anaïs's burgeoning manuscript and made thoughtful comments; Anaïs instructed her in the art of applying false eyelashes and mascara. The two women painted each other's nails and compared their analyses, their husbands, and their lovers.
Rebecca West and Anaïs Nin painting each other's nails? Unlikely Scenes From Literary History #54887.
In the end, as she did with most people, Anaïs pushed Rebecca away. When she came to publish her famous diaries, West asked for all references to her to be removed on threat of legal proceedings. In the proofs, which West sent to her lawyer, there was a long section in which West supposedly confessed to being sexually abused by her own father. West recognised this as being Anaïs's own ‘latent, highly disguised, sexual fantasy’ (Nin apparently really did seduce her own father, or at least found the notion extremely compelling, and she replays the scenario endlessly in her work and her diaries).
‘What do I do about this?’ West wrote to her lawyer. ‘Where should I park a disclaimer of all this nonsense?’
Two fascinating people. I'm pleased they interacted.
(It feels strange to quote Bair's book so often in a putative review of someone else's, but since Dallas's book is inherently anecdotal and tangential anyway, I'm allowing myself the liberty.)
April 2, 2012
There are 300 stations in Paris’ sprawling metro system. Gregor Dallas chose twelve of them. In a map in the front of the book, the twelve stations seem rather evenly spaced circling the city. I thought the underground history promised in the title would be contemporary, that Dallas would take us through the spindles, each in turn, and introduce us to the bakers and the buskers, the plen air painters that I imagine give each city its color. And the book looks like it could deliver that. Twelve chapters begin with our arrival at each selected station; each chapter in turn adorned with a single, grainy black and white photograph or etching. Very Sebald-y in appearance. I thought it might prove a travel guide, but with an artistic flair, such that I could go there, take the train, and have a feel for what the locals see.
But it’s not quite that. Dallas is an expatriated English historian. His books are often entertaining, but typically rife with errors. History, but written in his sense of things. Here, at each station, we disembark, look around, and are treated to a mini-biography of some notable who lost a head here, was buried there, or found a bed much more to his or her liking than the one risen from that morning.
He chose characters wisely. There is Sartre in the German occupation and his conversion to communism. We learn how St. Denis lost his head. No, really. There’s a statue of him near Porte de Clignancourt holding his head. Zola writing Le Ventre. Debussy, writing opera scenes that mirrored his own infidelity. Jim Morrison’s body is no longer in the cemetery at Pere Lachaise, but Oscar Wilde’s tomb is, and people can’t stop writing wishes of love in lipstick on the granite.
At one stop, we are introduced to Antoine Bourdelle, the sculptor of The Dying Centaur. Bourdelle was asked why the centaur dies. “He dies like all the gods,” Bourdelle replied, “because no one believes in him any more”.
Dallas has an eye for the prurient, but never as much as when he tells of the time Anais Nin knocks on Otto Rank’s door. Doctor, doctor, can you help me?
You can read this in pieces, as I did. There are bald statements – “In the twentieth century, belief became the central issue” – which are facially ridiculous. I would have liked more buskers.
But it’s not quite that. Dallas is an expatriated English historian. His books are often entertaining, but typically rife with errors. History, but written in his sense of things. Here, at each station, we disembark, look around, and are treated to a mini-biography of some notable who lost a head here, was buried there, or found a bed much more to his or her liking than the one risen from that morning.
He chose characters wisely. There is Sartre in the German occupation and his conversion to communism. We learn how St. Denis lost his head. No, really. There’s a statue of him near Porte de Clignancourt holding his head. Zola writing Le Ventre. Debussy, writing opera scenes that mirrored his own infidelity. Jim Morrison’s body is no longer in the cemetery at Pere Lachaise, but Oscar Wilde’s tomb is, and people can’t stop writing wishes of love in lipstick on the granite.
At one stop, we are introduced to Antoine Bourdelle, the sculptor of The Dying Centaur. Bourdelle was asked why the centaur dies. “He dies like all the gods,” Bourdelle replied, “because no one believes in him any more”.
Dallas has an eye for the prurient, but never as much as when he tells of the time Anais Nin knocks on Otto Rank’s door. Doctor, doctor, can you help me?
You can read this in pieces, as I did. There are bald statements – “In the twentieth century, belief became the central issue” – which are facially ridiculous. I would have liked more buskers.
January 22, 2012
An irritating, superficial book, opinionated in the worst way (i.e. without substantiation) and poorly-written, with a faux-familiarity that set my teeth on edge from the first few pages. The only reason I have for giving it more than one star is that it's occasionally redeemed by the odd interesting fact. But how reliable is a writer who confuses Shakespeare with Pope, and Socrates with Freud? Dallas is incensed by so much - communism, Islam, psychoanalysis, immigrants, the Nobel Prize committee - there are times when the book reads more like a Daily Mail editorial than a study of Paris. Even the 'big idea' - basing a history of the city on the underground - is poorly handled. Paris deserves better. A book like Graham Robb's Parisians, for example.Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris
March 26, 2010
Good premise, bad/boring ecriture.
August 10, 2017
I don't think this book delivered much on the premise of history behind the names of the metro stops in Paris. More a rambling history on unconnected aspects of literary history.
September 6, 2010
Walking through my local library recently, I happened upon a book that rang out with familiarity, immediately transporting me back to my one summer in Paris three years ago in which I stood outside the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore near Notre Dame and listed to a memorable little Englishman read his work to attentive bibliophiles, and passersby.
That author, Gregor Dallas, opens his book with an appeal for his meandering approach to French history, writing, "The more history I wrote, the more I realized that history is travelling: if you don't see the places where the major events of the past occurred, you get lost in the abstractions, system-building and theories that have so distorted our view of the past over the last few decades...some historians write history as if the event they describe could have occurred anywhere on the globe."
Unfortunately, while the process of writing the book may have invoked a travelers romanticism for its author, Dallas does not likewise fully immerse and gratify his readers’ senses--his descriptions of physical place are superficial at best, and the use of the Paris metro stops is never illustrative and well justified. Often, Dallas begins with a brief description of space couched in an argument for its philosophical importance—lost in beautiful abstractions about creativity and life and death—and then he too quickly deviates into historical accounts, no longer orienting readers around street corners let alone near the metro stop names that serve as each chapter title.
Still, consider this a mere packaging problem. It does not hurt the book once one lays aside the expectation for a sensorial ride through underground Paris. What shines in the book is the way it lays together many Parisian stories (depicting everyone from Oscar Wilde to Catherine de Medici and Sartre to Debussy), allowing them to play a part in a larger epic narrative. Where Dallas misses opportunities to unite a sense of place, he more than compensates with his insight into character. One begins to imagine time layered on top of itself, and its major players read like the Gods of Greek mythology.
So, while the book is not a complete success (and perhaps ends too abruptly), it does manage to make lives jump from the page, and serves as a meeting place for those who have been there and can remember the sights and smells enough to indulge in their own memories, and feel like part of a story greater than their own.
That author, Gregor Dallas, opens his book with an appeal for his meandering approach to French history, writing, "The more history I wrote, the more I realized that history is travelling: if you don't see the places where the major events of the past occurred, you get lost in the abstractions, system-building and theories that have so distorted our view of the past over the last few decades...some historians write history as if the event they describe could have occurred anywhere on the globe."
Unfortunately, while the process of writing the book may have invoked a travelers romanticism for its author, Dallas does not likewise fully immerse and gratify his readers’ senses--his descriptions of physical place are superficial at best, and the use of the Paris metro stops is never illustrative and well justified. Often, Dallas begins with a brief description of space couched in an argument for its philosophical importance—lost in beautiful abstractions about creativity and life and death—and then he too quickly deviates into historical accounts, no longer orienting readers around street corners let alone near the metro stop names that serve as each chapter title.
Still, consider this a mere packaging problem. It does not hurt the book once one lays aside the expectation for a sensorial ride through underground Paris. What shines in the book is the way it lays together many Parisian stories (depicting everyone from Oscar Wilde to Catherine de Medici and Sartre to Debussy), allowing them to play a part in a larger epic narrative. Where Dallas misses opportunities to unite a sense of place, he more than compensates with his insight into character. One begins to imagine time layered on top of itself, and its major players read like the Gods of Greek mythology.
So, while the book is not a complete success (and perhaps ends too abruptly), it does manage to make lives jump from the page, and serves as a meeting place for those who have been there and can remember the sights and smells enough to indulge in their own memories, and feel like part of a story greater than their own.
July 17, 2009
I really like this book! In an engaging way, Gregor Dallas takes us to several historically, esthetically important places in Paris on the Metro (albeit imaginary, in the case of our readers). Dallas tells us so many things about the places that tie Paris from the past to the present, from the times of the Romans to the French Revolution to Oscar Wilde, Anais Nin, Andre Gide... The book is, in short, entertaining while enlightening at the same time.
I have some notes, though:
1) This book lacks pictures. For someone who's never been to Paris like me, this is a major drawback, especially when he talks about something as if every reader has seen it.
2) The ending is abrupt; the book ends just like... that. I'd expect some closing lines or last chapter that would give us the feeling 'Aaaah, how great Paris is!', not just a sentence of how Oscar Wilde pathetically closed his face with his hands.
I have some notes, though:
1) This book lacks pictures. For someone who's never been to Paris like me, this is a major drawback, especially when he talks about something as if every reader has seen it.
2) The ending is abrupt; the book ends just like... that. I'd expect some closing lines or last chapter that would give us the feeling 'Aaaah, how great Paris is!', not just a sentence of how Oscar Wilde pathetically closed his face with his hands.
January 13, 2023
A drip into the history of France and Paris through 12 stops along the Metro.
Starting at *Demfert-Richereau, it looks at cemeteries, the danse macabre and the guillotine of the Revolution.
*Gare du Nord with Vincent de Paul and the Sisters of Charity with the abandonment of unwanted children and sending them into the rural areas with nurses and eventual labor
*Trocadéro with Otto Rank, a colleague of Sigmund Freud that broke with him as their foundational sources for psychoanalysis differed and the works of Anaïs Nin.
*Montparnasse which was the American quarter during the 1920's, the artists and writers and sculptures. The building of the Théâtre de Champs-Elysés.
*Saint-Germain-des-Prés which has Dallas talk of Sartre, his philosophical works, the post WWII occupation and political connections to Soviet Communism.
*Porte de Clignancourt which reaches back to Roman Gaul and the Germanic tribes. The Merovingian kings, Clovis as well as the Arian vs. Chalcedonian (Trinitarian) Christianity.
*Châtelet-Les Halles which was the covered market at the center of Paris and Emile Zola's writings of life and death, poor and rich, urban vs rural.
*Porte de la Villette and the Parisian cowboy de More who focused on the Jews as the 'middlemen' that needed to be eliminated as they were parasites on the poor.
*Opéra and Claude Debussy. The opera was not necessarily the building itself but the performance company.
*Palais-Royal which is the center of most of Paris' postcard tourism and the lead-up to the Revolution. And also where it could have become a constitutional monarchy if only. . . . .
*Saint-Paul and the death of Henry II by Gabriel de Montgomery during a joust celebrating the marriages of two allies/children. Dallas also goes into the Protestant - namely Huguenot sect (their name came from the conspirators from Hugues who wanted to capture the royal children and set up a regency without the Queen, Catherine de Medici) and the brutality on both sides that led to the near-extermination of the Huguenots at Le Rochelle.
*Père Lachaise which brings the traveler near the largest city cemetery with over a million burials including Oscar Wilde. It is Wilde's - as well as Alfred Dreyfus' - prison terms that changed the men afterwards.
It's a interesting way to look at various snapshots of French history.
2023-008
Starting at *Demfert-Richereau, it looks at cemeteries, the danse macabre and the guillotine of the Revolution.
*Gare du Nord with Vincent de Paul and the Sisters of Charity with the abandonment of unwanted children and sending them into the rural areas with nurses and eventual labor
*Trocadéro with Otto Rank, a colleague of Sigmund Freud that broke with him as their foundational sources for psychoanalysis differed and the works of Anaïs Nin.
*Montparnasse which was the American quarter during the 1920's, the artists and writers and sculptures. The building of the Théâtre de Champs-Elysés.
*Saint-Germain-des-Prés which has Dallas talk of Sartre, his philosophical works, the post WWII occupation and political connections to Soviet Communism.
*Porte de Clignancourt which reaches back to Roman Gaul and the Germanic tribes. The Merovingian kings, Clovis as well as the Arian vs. Chalcedonian (Trinitarian) Christianity.
*Châtelet-Les Halles which was the covered market at the center of Paris and Emile Zola's writings of life and death, poor and rich, urban vs rural.
*Porte de la Villette and the Parisian cowboy de More who focused on the Jews as the 'middlemen' that needed to be eliminated as they were parasites on the poor.
*Opéra and Claude Debussy. The opera was not necessarily the building itself but the performance company.
*Palais-Royal which is the center of most of Paris' postcard tourism and the lead-up to the Revolution. And also where it could have become a constitutional monarchy if only. . . . .
*Saint-Paul and the death of Henry II by Gabriel de Montgomery during a joust celebrating the marriages of two allies/children. Dallas also goes into the Protestant - namely Huguenot sect (their name came from the conspirators from Hugues who wanted to capture the royal children and set up a regency without the Queen, Catherine de Medici) and the brutality on both sides that led to the near-extermination of the Huguenots at Le Rochelle.
*Père Lachaise which brings the traveler near the largest city cemetery with over a million burials including Oscar Wilde. It is Wilde's - as well as Alfred Dreyfus' - prison terms that changed the men afterwards.
It's a interesting way to look at various snapshots of French history.
2023-008
December 31, 2014
When I picked this book up (at the gift shop at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Bordeaux last March) I seem to remember assuming it was a history of the Paris Metro...how the Metro was funded, built, etc. But it is actually a collection of historical essays. Each chapter describes a Paris metro stop and its current environs ("current" being circa 2008) and then relates a story about an important historical event that happened in that area, or a pivotal Parisian historical figure who used to frequent that neighborhood.
If you know me at all, you know I'm a dedicated Francophile and I love French history, so I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Some chapters were more interesting to me than others. My favorites were Denfert-Rochereau (which describes why & how the catacombs were created); Trocadéro(which tells the story of Anaïs Nin and her psychoanalyst & lover Otto Rank); Saint-Germain-des-Prés (a bit about Sartre and the Communists); and Châtelet-Les Halles (about Émile Zola & how he came to write Le Ventre de Paris). Less interesting to me were the chapters that focused on war and religion. Clearly my bias is towards the literary.
The author's writing style tends toward the convoluted and he assumes a broader working knowledge of European history than most American readers (at least this American reader) will likely have at their disposal. This makes for some confusion/murky narrative at times.
Overall, I did enjoy the book, although I'd say that it's best sampled a single chapter at a time, over time.
If you know me at all, you know I'm a dedicated Francophile and I love French history, so I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Some chapters were more interesting to me than others. My favorites were Denfert-Rochereau (which describes why & how the catacombs were created); Trocadéro(which tells the story of Anaïs Nin and her psychoanalyst & lover Otto Rank); Saint-Germain-des-Prés (a bit about Sartre and the Communists); and Châtelet-Les Halles (about Émile Zola & how he came to write Le Ventre de Paris). Less interesting to me were the chapters that focused on war and religion. Clearly my bias is towards the literary.
The author's writing style tends toward the convoluted and he assumes a broader working knowledge of European history than most American readers (at least this American reader) will likely have at their disposal. This makes for some confusion/murky narrative at times.
Overall, I did enjoy the book, although I'd say that it's best sampled a single chapter at a time, over time.
March 20, 2018
I found this rather disappointing and full of sweeping generalisations. Apparently all Marxists have "no time for Emile Zola". Actually, I rather liked Therese Raquin. So there.
Mr Dallas really doesn't like left wing politics. I mean REALLY doesn't like them. He rants quite a lot about Communism and in particular how wrong it was of Sartre to support/join, with no attempt to explain why he may have done so. But I felt he seems to gloss over those who were more attracted to the far right, or offers explanations for them (like why Oscar Wilde chose to side with anti-Semites during the Dreyfus affair).
And in what way is Petain an "anti-hero"? Isn't the opposite of a hero a villain? Isn't an anti-hero the fictional guy you ought not to root for but do, like, say, JR Ewing in "Dallas" (OK, not the best or most literary example, but thinking on my feet here). Not someone who was a bona fide Nazi collaborator. In real life.
There are some interesting facts in here, but overall I didn't really enjoy it.
Mr Dallas really doesn't like left wing politics. I mean REALLY doesn't like them. He rants quite a lot about Communism and in particular how wrong it was of Sartre to support/join, with no attempt to explain why he may have done so. But I felt he seems to gloss over those who were more attracted to the far right, or offers explanations for them (like why Oscar Wilde chose to side with anti-Semites during the Dreyfus affair).
And in what way is Petain an "anti-hero"? Isn't the opposite of a hero a villain? Isn't an anti-hero the fictional guy you ought not to root for but do, like, say, JR Ewing in "Dallas" (OK, not the best or most literary example, but thinking on my feet here). Not someone who was a bona fide Nazi collaborator. In real life.
There are some interesting facts in here, but overall I didn't really enjoy it.
June 26, 2009
Wonderful book! At first, one might think that this book would be about the metro, but it uses the metro stops as a point of departure to learn the history of given areas of Paris. For example, the chapter on Pere Lachaise mostly deals with Oscar Wilde, who is buried there, contrasting his trials (literally) with his contemporary, Dreyfus. It is just packed with historical information about figures from St. Vincent dePaul to Marie deMedici.
August 13, 2009
A history philosophy travel guide of Paris told through the Metro stops beginning the the catacombs where the many of the church graves of all the city were moved. The stone from these underground quarries provided the building material for the buildings of Paris.
Religion and revolution are also covered as we travel to the various stops.
An enjoyable read.
Religion and revolution are also covered as we travel to the various stops.
An enjoyable read.
August 13, 2016
Trying to get into this, but it doesn't feel cohesive and sometimes he goes too deep into one particular story that I may not even be interested in. I expected a nice, educational spin on French History based on the areas where Metro stops now happen to be but I wouldn't call it "nice." Not sure that I'll finish it.
Update, I did finish it. Some chapters were better than others.
Update, I did finish it. Some chapters were better than others.
May 15, 2009
This was fascinating. I loved reading about the history of Paris that doesn't show up in text books. The first chapter had my imagination going to such an extent that I had nightmares after reading it. Overall, its a fantastic historical book.
August 3, 2009
Well, I love to read anything about Paris, but this author tended to go on and on (and on). For a book that was supposed to be about the metro in Paris, it was more general history, and a disapointment.
March 20, 2020
This book was not what I thought it was going to be. Each chapter focused on a person or event tangentially related to Paris, told as if one were riding the Metro throughout the city. Some chapters were better than others, but overall, this was a disappointment. C’est dommage.
August 23, 2008
Fascinating historical information about Paris from an unusual viewpoint.
December 4, 2018
This book was strongest in discussing interesting personalities that have called Paris home. I have learned about so many new and different historic figures including Anaïs Nin, Marquis de Morès, and Gabriel de Montgomery. As well as a few I learned more about - Debussy, Oscar Wilde, Émile Zola, and Louis Phillips Joseph, Duc d’Orleans. All through the lens of the modern Metro stops. It was an interesting view into the modern infrastructure.
What I didn’t like about this book was just a few smaller things. One being that at the beginning of each chapter the author kind of discusses the modern Metro stops and area as if you are there. While that was definitely a stylistic choice, it didn’t work well for me, someone who has only been to Paris a few times and didn’t really know what he was referring to. I think this style would be best if someone was in Paris and had the opportunity to read each Chapter at their respective Metro stops. Additionally, there were a few chapters that were just not as interesting to me... although that may be my own personal preferences.
Overall, I liked how diverse the subjects and time periods discussed in this book were and I loved how it brought past events into present Paris.
What I didn’t like about this book was just a few smaller things. One being that at the beginning of each chapter the author kind of discusses the modern Metro stops and area as if you are there. While that was definitely a stylistic choice, it didn’t work well for me, someone who has only been to Paris a few times and didn’t really know what he was referring to. I think this style would be best if someone was in Paris and had the opportunity to read each Chapter at their respective Metro stops. Additionally, there were a few chapters that were just not as interesting to me... although that may be my own personal preferences.
Overall, I liked how diverse the subjects and time periods discussed in this book were and I loved how it brought past events into present Paris.
March 16, 2023
I've rated it with two stars, which may be a little harsh, but given that I actually thought about not finishing it, I think it's the right call. I've been picking up books about Paris in preparation for my upcoming trip, and this definitely isn't the typical Paris memoir/travelogue. The publisher did try to sell it to prospective tourists inside the jacket cover, which probably wasn't fair to the book. The title itself is another disservice, as the idea of associating the history pieces to the Métro stops doesn't really deliver. (My sympathies to the other reviewers who thought it was going to be about the Métro!) I did enjoy the sections on the Revolution and the Dreyfus Affair, but can't say the same about some of the other chapters. And I really didn't need to hear about Anaïs Nin's abortion. Lastly, while I can't stand some of today's progressive language choices (think "pregnant people") I do suspect that even in 2008, the word "coolies" was past its prime.
May 1, 2019
Dallas’s Metrostop was not exactly what I thought it would be, but I still enjoyed it an average amount. As a big fan of Paris, I always find it pleasant to read tales and historical facts.
The author chose 12 emblematic locations (NOT metro stations) and gave away a few anecdotes on each, going back and forth in time, sharing historical facts from the Middle Ages to 1970’ies.
Some chapters are very focused on some particular story: the Opera chapter should be named “Claude Debussy”, as the entire chapter delivers Debussy’s divorce and love triangle. The “Pere Lachaise” chapter should be named “Oscar Wilde & Andre Gide’s enigmatic friendship”. The book was published in 2009, and Dallas mentions that Jim Morrison’s remains were transferred to his hometown. I think this hasn’t happened to this day (2019).
The author chose 12 emblematic locations (NOT metro stations) and gave away a few anecdotes on each, going back and forth in time, sharing historical facts from the Middle Ages to 1970’ies.
Some chapters are very focused on some particular story: the Opera chapter should be named “Claude Debussy”, as the entire chapter delivers Debussy’s divorce and love triangle. The “Pere Lachaise” chapter should be named “Oscar Wilde & Andre Gide’s enigmatic friendship”. The book was published in 2009, and Dallas mentions that Jim Morrison’s remains were transferred to his hometown. I think this hasn’t happened to this day (2019).
December 28, 2024
Thematically disjointed, anecdotal and with many annoying factual errors - i.e. pg. 209 states that Jim Morrison’s body was moved to California from Paris(not true) - one of too many basic factual errors that undermine the book and author’s credibility. I wanted to like this book, but it’s just poorly written and researched and failed to deliver the promise of its subtitle: “An Underground History of the City of Light.”
Big thumbs down!
Big thumbs down!
January 22, 2026
A nice short read. I was mainly interested in it because I was reading about the first performance of the “Rites of Spring” and wanted a bit more context about the Theatre des Champs-Élysées. I found it in this book, and more! Being a lover of music, I enjoyed the short background of Debussy as well. If you’re looking for a deep-dive book, this isn’t for you - it’s more of a short wade in the water. Very light, but I enjoyed the read.
May 18, 2018
If you're the type of person who explores cities via public transportation, this is a great book to take a look at. Some sections were a bit slow for me, but that was just due to my lack of interest in those areas.
April 27, 2022
This is an interesting tour of some of the metro-stops of Paris. It includes some historical and literary anecdotes and some information that would be useful on a walking tour of the various areas. Some of the characters are a little obscure, but still of interest.
March 22, 2020
Sometimes hard to follow, and barely mentioning the metros the history was interesting. Though a more linear travel would have helped.
April 23, 2021
I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I do wish there could have been pictures and illustrations, more than just the one, incomplete map.
July 20, 2024
Illuminating, interesting conceit. I had no idea about, eg, Parisian cowboys.
November 28, 2013
This was a fascinating book, but it's more like having a conversation with a professor than reading an actual researched, edited, and fact-checked book. I almost wrote it off in the intro because his writing style was so loose and hard to follow, and he threw in multiple analogies to historical events without explaining them--how pretentious! As a Francophile, though, I'm glad I persevered. This writing got more engaging, and his interpretations of events made me rethink what I had originally learned. My favorite chapters were La Villette, about a French cowboy, the Marquis de Morès, who was a hero of the butchers of La Villette, expert dueler, and all-around badass; Palais-Royal, about Philippe Egalité, the real-life model for Valmont of Dangerous Liaisons, who might have prevented the bloodshed of the French Revolution; and Saint-Paul, about the always-fascinating Bartholomew's Day Massacre, engineered by Catherine de Medici to destroy the Protestant leaders who came to the wedding of her new son-in-law, Henri de Navarre.
July 31, 2012
Metrostop Paris by Gregor Dallas is a pleasant guide to the city for someone who already knows it very well - like London, you do tend to navigate yourself around in relation to which metrostop you're closest to - however, I found myself wondering how those who don't know Paris so well enjoy Dallas' frequent tangents off into realms of time and space unknown that veer wildly away from the metro stations themselves. I personally enjoyed reading a little fact for a change, bombarding the boyfriend with particularly fascinating snippets and thoroughly enjoying the random points, obscure characters and themes in the city's history. However, I am, I have realised, a literary fiction girl through and through and I very naughtily skipped one chapter towards the end, desperate to leave the real world behind and return to some make believe instead......tralala.
http://relishreads.blogspot.co.uk/201...
http://relishreads.blogspot.co.uk/201...
December 18, 2012
The device here is to use twelve metro stops to delve a bit into Paris history. The book achieves its goal in some of the chapters, less so in others. It is an interesting concept and an engaging book for picking up and reading one chapter at a time, and it can be easily read that way. The author provides the reader with some interesting information, and a nice touch is that the book has an index in case you just want a particular topic or want to return to something you read in the book. Not all books are well-indexed. If you are looking for a wanderer's history in some interesting parts of Paris, this fits the purpose. If you are looking for a comprehensive history, you will need to seek further.
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