Paris Journal, 1944-1955: The Celebrated New Yorker Letter from Paris on Postwar Arts and Politics

by Janet Flanner, William Shawn

Here is a continuation of selections from Flanner's celebrated "Letter from Paris," a series that appeared in the New Yorker from 1925 to 1975 over the signature " Genêt." With clarity and authority, Flanner writes about the arts, the politics, and the economy of postwar Paris. This is the era in which Roosevelt and Matisse die, Françoise Sagan bursts on the literary scene, and Josephine Baker stages a comeback. Index.

Genres: History, France, Nonfiction, Travel, Essays, Journalism

324 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 1988

About the author

Janet Tyler Flanner was an American writer and journalist who served as the Paris correspondent of The New Yorker magazine from 1925 until she retired in 1975.
She wrote under the pen name "Genêt". and published a single novel, "The Cubical City", set in New York City.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these Janet Flanner journals ,they read in diary form and the headlines of the news of the time mark the days. such bravery during the war and such clever ways of getting by no matter what or how i am in awe of peoples survival and courage and hope i could be just a tiny bit as bold and savy. so interesting and heart wrenching-i treasure the three books.

[Jim Woolwine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paris as it recovers from the scars of World War II through the eyes of the resident New Yorker correspondent. In retrospect many of the cultural icons Flanner chronicles have not survived the test of time. Who are some of these French authors, playwrights, and even composers? Many forgettable politicians as well. Paris' recovery was painstakingly slow -seems hard to believe. Insightful political commentary on the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community, groundwork for the 5th Republic, the tragedy of the Vietnam conflict. Superb writing with editing credit to William Shawn, so the best of the best!

[Eric Byrd]

Didn't get very far with this. The excitement and sparkle, the wit and humor and lurid raconterie of her prewar dispatches are gone; and quite understandably so. 70% of the columns she devotes to the chaos of postwar French politics--very, very boring, although probably fascinating to a more serious student of the Cold War than I happen to be; the scattered cultural events she notes, with the exception of the New Wave films, are funerary or commemoratory; retrospectives, embalmings, twilight musings. Flanner is never a sloppy writer...but, to say it simply, sadness is dull.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I'm reading is Paris Journal-1944-1965. Apparently, there are now two books comprising this single 600-pager. I'm so impressed by her rather encyclopedic knowledge of France, Paris, politics, and art. Her love for the country is obvious---however, I've come across words that are completely new to me, e.g., lupanarian. It is by no means a quick read, but it's so interesting on so many levels that the need to re-read certain Proust-like sentences is just fine with me.

[catinca.ciornei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs Janet Flanner was an American journalist, corespondent in Paris for the New Yorker magazine from 1925 to 1975. The journals I've had the happy chance to read record what she saw in the city of Paris and in France from 1944 onwards - a combination journal & magazine article, the writing is sparkly and fun (and, for us in 2020, sometimes tediously filled with not so relevant details; but of course a weekly magazine article requires those). It was amazing to read what it was like in those times - how Paris recovered from the war, how long it took (decades!), how chaotic the politics were, how the EU came to be shaped in the early days after WWII, how important the US was, how what today seems new and important actually arose decades in the past. The volumes (this and its continuation until 1965) offer a beautiful glimpse into the past and reminded me a general though: rarely what we live today is young & fresh, usually it is a continuation of events long ago (for example, the UK was an unhappy member of EU even before its birth). The past is not history, it is with us today, powerful and deep. And one has the duty, if one wishes to at least have a chance of becoming wise, to deeply study the past, through those who were observantly writing then.

[Jeanette Michalets · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished the original version of this book, a 600-page tome in hardcover, that I discovered in a used book store. I found the author of the book's columns, Janet Flanner, an American journalist who lived in Paris for decades, to be a knowledgeable writer who revealed much that was new to me concerning the post World War II years in France. Often with subtle humor, she made history come alive. I especially enjoyed the sections of her journal dedicated to literature and the other arts. It was as if I were hearing about the works of such great writers and artists as Albert Camus, Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Edith Piaf, Andre Gide, Francois Mauriac and many others in "real time." I also lerned much about the unstable governments or "republics" that followed the war , as well as a great deal about Charles De Gaulle and his role in French politics that came after his years as a war hero. I also had my eyes opened as to what transpired in the many French colonies in Africa and Indo China.

While this book is not for everyone, I would recommend it to true Francophiles who wish to learn more about their beloved France, especially Paris.