Streetcorners

by Francis Carco, Gilbert Alter-Gilbert (Translator)

Streetcorners collects, for the first time in English, a number of Francis Carco’s renowned prose poems, works which defined the Paris scenes of Montmartre and Montparnasse for decades. The translator has brought together sixty pieces that reflect everything from rainy nights in Paris, to the world of music halls, seedy bars, the hairdresser’s, and houses of prostitution.

Genres: Poetry, French Literature

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

François Carcopino-Tusoli, dit Francis Carco, était un poète, écrivain, journaliste et auteur de chansons français d'origine corse. Il était aussi connu sous le pseudonyme de Jean d'Aiguières.

François Carcopino-Tusoli, known as Francis Carco, was a poet, writer, journalist and French song lyrics writer of corsican origine. He was also known by the pseudonym Jean d'Aiguières.

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished reading "Streetcorners" and it's a very straight forward prose poems on a particular (meaning Paris) location and a slightly sad or regretful mood. It also captures the bar life/cafe scene with the girls and fellow drinkers. It's very beautiful in that it excepts a mood swing that is thoughtful and kind of bluesy. It sort of reminds me of a Bryan Ferry song where the observer is sort of in a so-so mood and is observing the citizens of a neighborhood doing what they do best - having sex, drinking, smoking, and basically walking in the rain. He writes a lot about the essence of rain and how it affects the city visually.

Carco is also a hardboiled writer of sorts (see my review of his novel 'Perversity') and these prose pieces have a sense of that quality. It's not really cynical, but just accepts one's fate - and one has to deal with it when it comes. Haunting, and yet it is the iconic viewpoint of Paris at the sametime.




I read this on bus stops and the bus as well. It's a great little book to read while traveling on Public Transportation. Basically a collection of prose poems on Paris bars, girls, streets, and for some odd reason, rain in Paris. Very moody and also a great book to read while drinking wine at your local bar. To not share it with others, just enjoy the book in your little corner of the cafe.

[Todd Kalinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prose Poems of the Demi-Monde. Streetcorners. Taken from Instincts (1911) & La Boheme et Mon Coeur (1912), this little gem revolves around gaslights, shadows & rain, mostly in the dark, filled with booze, dancing, ladies of the night, johns on the make & the spectre of War hanging over everything. What more could you want?

[Robert S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

vivid passages of the faubourgs in Paris during the années folles