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The River that Made Paris
by Elaine Sciolino
Book Reviewed by:A vibrant, enchanting tour of the Seine from longtime New York Times foreign correspondent and best-selling author Elaine Sciolino.
Elaine Sciolino came to Paris as a young foreign correspondent and was seduced by a river. In The Seine, she tells the story of that river from its source on a remote plateau of Burgundy to the wide estuary where its waters meet the sea, and the cities, tributaries, islands, ports, and bridges in between.
Sciolino explores the Seine through its rich history and lively characters: a bargewoman, a riverbank bookseller, a houseboat dweller, a famous cinematographer known for capturing the river's light. She discovers the story of Sequana―the Gallo-Roman healing goddess who gave the Seine its name―and follows the river through Paris, where it determined the city's destiny and now snakes through all aspects of daily life. She patrols with river police, rows with a restorer of antique boats, sips champagne at a vineyard along the river, and even dares to go for a swim. She finds the Seine in art, literature, music, and movies from Renoir and Les Misérables to Puccini and La La Land. Along the way, she reveals how the river that created Paris has touched her own life. A powerful afterword tells the dramatic story of how water from the depths of the Seine saved Notre-Dame from destruction during the devastating fire in April 2019.
A "storyteller at heart" (June Sawyers, Chicago Tribune) with a "sumptuous eye for detail" (Sinclair McKay, Daily Telegraph), Sciolino braids memoir, travelogue, and history through the Seine's winding route. The Seine offers a love letter to Paris and the most romantic river in the world, and invites readers to explore its magic for themselves.
There are so many interesting things about the Seine that one would never think of. Even if one has never seen it, Sciolino brings the river to life. A good book prompts questions and explorations, and I can easily imagine a book group discussion on the many topics discussed here...continued
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(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).
In her fifth book, The Seine: The River that Made Paris, New York Times foreign correspondent Elaine Sciolino explores the history of one of the world's most famous rivers and its impact on the capital of France.
The 777-kilometer-long (483 mi) river runs from its source near Dijon in northeastern France, through Paris, toward its estuary in the English Channel (known to the French as La Manche, "The Sleeve"). It can be divided into five distinct parts: the Petite Seine ("Small Seine"), from the source in Burgundy to Montereau-Fault-Yonne; the Haute Seine ("Upper Seine"), from Montereau-Fault-Yonne to Paris; the Traversée de Paris ("Paris waterway"); the Basse Seine ("Lower Seine"), from Paris to Rouen; and the ...
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Idealism increases in direct proportion to one's distance from the problem.
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David A. Bell, Lapidus Professor of History at Princeton University
This beautifully written and deeply personal book captures something profound, not just about the Seine and France, but about people's lives and how important rivers are to them…Elaine Sciolino writes with the authority of a historian, the sleuthing skills of a journalist, and the voice of a storyteller eager to recount the tales of those who have been touched by the Seine.
