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There are currently 13 member reviews
for A Passion for Paris
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Sherrill B. (Columbia City, IN)
A trip to Paris
it is a travelogue and history combined. It mentions famous people including Victor hugo, George Sand, Nadar, Balzac and their escapades. Also has photos which adds realism. It is about the literature, art, and music of the romantic age. My daughter took 3 years of French in high school and is very excited about reading this book.
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Anna S. (Auburn, AL)
A Passion for Paris
I loved this wonderful, informative, frustrating book about a city that I love, and it could only have been written by someone who knows the city inside and out. What I found frustrating was the author's tendency to bounce from one person to another and from one era to another without much transition.
The highest praise I can give, however, is that Downie has inspired me to re-read some of the classics of French literature that I haven't read since college. I can't wait!
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Dorothy G. (Naperville, IL)
A passion for Paris.
I have been lucky to have visited Paris several times in my life. Each time I have found something new. Now I feel as if I never really saw Paris...at least not now that I have read A Passion For Paris. The insight the author brings into the lives of the authors and artists makes another trip a must. Unique and personal. I really appreciated his threading of today's Paris with that of the beautiful, artistic histories of yesteryear. I will now have to brush up on my French literature!
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Deb Y. (Parkersburg, WV)
Travel? You bet!
I am going to Paris just because I read this book (only in my dreams, but I would if I could)!
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Carol C. (Troy, NY)
A Passion for Paris
This book provides a tour of 19th Century Paris with the writers of the day as the "tour guides." The author intersperses his own exploration of the Parisian sites inhabited by the likes of Balzac, Baudelaire, Liszt, and Flaubert with the Paris in which they lived, loved and died. The author focuses on the Romantics - and the romanticism the city evokes. If not intimately familiar with Paris, having a map of the city at hand is helpful as the author moves across the city, following his subjects in their various neighborhoods and haunts. If not familiar with the authors, artists and composers, this book will provide a gossipy insight into their 19th Century lives as well as a look at the Paris of the time.
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Karen L. (Wilton, IA)
Happy to be done!
I love Paris and I have always wanted to travel to France. I also enjoy history.I thought I would like this book but I found it difficult to finish. It was boring to me and made me sleepy. I only liked small parts of the book. The parts that were more about Paris and less about all the artists, writers, and people of the romantic age. This would be a good book for people who are interested in reading about Victor Hugo, George Sand, Chopin, and their contemporaries in great detail. It might also be a good book for people who suffer from insomnia.
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