1 comments about Cool Restaurants Paris (Cool Restaurants).

1. I would love to review this book, if I could only get it! The website says it is "in stock" but the shipping date when I ordered it was December. I have seen it in stores, so it isn't as if it hasn't been released. Very suspect.

1 comments about Insight Guide Burgundy (Insight Guides Burgundy).

1. This has been and is a very good guide to Burgundy giving good insights and details of all the different regions. I believe you can only get it used and personally I think it needs to be re-published. I am a professor and taking a group of students to the area, and it's the best guide specifically to the Burgundy I could find (covering culture, history, and current locations of interest). Maps are helpful as well as details about places. It could be laid out a little more helpfully in a bullet point fashion in some areas but for the most part it's worth a "look-over" if your headed to that region.

5 comments about Slowness.

1. 
   Ironically, Slowness is a brisk read. The book is 156 pages long, and it could easily be read in one or two sittings. I, however, took my time, impelled, in part, by the theme of the book-slowwwnesss. And yes, the book can be enjoyed at a slow pace-that is until you hit the latter 100 pages, when the plot turns into a farce, and the prose reads so easily, so joyfully really, that you cannot help but finish quickly.
   
   As always with Kundera novels many specific lines struck me, and I commemorated them with dog-eared pages. One quote seemed to be lifted from another Kundera novel, Immortality. In Slowness Kundera writes, "...beyond their practical function, all gestures have a meaning that exceeds the intention of those who make them. When people in bathing suits fling themselves into the water, it is joy itself that shows in the gesture, notwithstanding any sadness the divers may actually feel."
   
   Kundera is talking abut Immaculata, a character who has just jumped into a pool fully clothed, but he could just as easily be talking about Agnes, the heroine of Immortality: "the essence of her charm, revealed itself for a second in that gesture and dazzled me."
   
   Reading Immortality, you sense Kundera's compassion for Agnes; reading Slowness, with Immaculata, and the various other characters, you sense Kundera's contempt (although this may be too strong a word: in Kundera's terms, most of the characters here aren't even deserving of contempt.)
   
   But Kundera does show compassion for several characters from an 18th century novel, characters who seem to embody the ancient idea of slowness-an idea all but lost to the modern characters of Slowness, all of who seem to be caught up in various fiascos. (These fiascos culminate in a ridiculous scene at the side of a swimming pool in a château.)
   
   I read the book during the course of several mornings, and then I finished the last 100 pages in one sitting, in the evening. It is a good book for Kundera fans, although I am not sure I can agree with the critics line, quoted on the front cover of the book: "audacity, wit, and sheer brilliance." What does Kundera have to do to earn some mediocre praise?



2. Let this be only the first of Kundera's books you read. It was my first, and now I've read everything of his that has been translated into English and if there's more I'm willing to learn another language to get to it. This book is humorous, but that is the least of it. I've never read an author with such perception, such a wily mind. It's impossible to get his characters or their lives out of your mind. Reading Kundera makes life, other people, and the whole world make more sense. And less sense, at the same time.



3. I struggled to give this book 4 Stars. I rather feel like 3, but that would put it in the league of far less intelligent books. Slowness is a very inspiring reflection on speed and memory, lust and enjoyment, truth and fiction, individuality and acting. It is also an ironic commentary on today's intellectuals and the media. And it is a story about love and eroticism. Maybe that's the problem with this book: It is too much that Kundera tried to convey in just about 150 pages. If you read closely, you get the point, but whereas Kundera preaches slowness and enjoyment, he practices speed and overload. His style is usually witty, sparkling, elegant and yet full of meaning - elements that are also occasionally present in Slowness. But here they have a hard time to stand out between passages of smart-aleck feuilettonism and the unconvincing attempt to be erotic, provocative and psychoanalytic simultaneously (it rather comes off as quite funny but both pretentious and vulgar at the same time). Even Kundera's usually refreshing experiments with form and style seem somewhat contrived. This book is still a notworthy read - philosophically inspiring, frequently quite funny and definitely original - but it's well below the esprit and stylistic brilliance of Immortality or Unberable Lightness of Being.



4. Those familiar with Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" may find "Slowness" a bit of a leisurely letdown, and yet, like its more prominent predecessor, it is also an intriguing exploration of sexual relationships, but told this time more from those aspects of pleasure. Kundera's first novel written in his second language, French, "Slowness" pays homage to a classic like "Les Liasons Dangeureuses" in its elegant depiction of 18th Century French sexuality, but also has more than a nod or two to current Czech and French history. Miraculously, Kundera manages to keep these seemingly disparate storylines intact up to a most improbable conclusion that - for want of a better term - ends as some sort of dream-like fantasy. Much to his credit, Kundera excels in his depiction of slight details which render both tales rather realistic in their depictions of relationships, but readers may wonder whether Kundera has focused too much on such depiction while forsaking the establishment of meaningful plots. Still, I found much to behold in Kundera's translated prose, and recognize that it is still a very important book in his entire oeuvre.



5. Slowness offers a lesson for these fast-paced times, where "time is money," multi-tasking is a talent, and couples must schedule time together for their sexual interludes. Published after his better-known novels The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Immortality, Milan Kundera's 1993 book, Slowness (La Lenteur), is more of a meditation on the effects of contemporary life and technology on memory and sensuality than a traditional novel. "Why has the pleasure of slowness disappeared," Kundera (as narrator) considers as he tells two parallel tales of seduction separated by more than two-hundred years. Through multi-layered plot lines, Kundera (his wife Vera refers to him as "Milanku") visits a country chateau-turned-hotel, while a young, 18th-century French Chevalier also visits the same chateau for an unforgettable night of slow sensual pleasure with his mistress, Madame de T (described as a "Loveable lover of pleasure"). Meanwhile, Kundera's friend, Vincent, arrives at the hotel on his motorcycle, where he joylessly pursues a "quickie" with a girl he met in a bar. A "dancer" named Berck is so caught up in getting things done that he is unable to enjoy his life. The novel ends with a brilliant and unexpected plot twist, with the 18th-century nobleman having a "morning-after" encounter with his modern-day counterpart, Vincent. Ultimately, Slowness is about the modern desire to experience life quickly without the benefit of reflection. Kundera equates slowness to pleasure and remembering, and speed to vulgarity, forgetting, and failure. Slowness reveals Kundera's brilliant mind at work, and as its title suggests, Kundera's short novel is meant to be savored slowly.
   
   G. Merritt

3 comments about Frommer's Memorable Walks in Paris (Memorable Walks).

1. I took a group to Paris and used this book as my bible. All the books have the basic facts, but this one takes you down the side streets the other books pass by. I also like to tell all the tales of the city from the factual to the gruesome. This book helped me do that. If you're looking to explore Paris beyond just the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre you'll adore this book!



2. The Frommer's book has many walks in popular areas, with interesting and not overwhelming historical, architectural, snacking, and sightseeing notes. Especially good for the first or second-time visitor, or someone who needs a refresher course on Paris.



3. Paris is a perfect city to explore by foot and by public transportation. Divided into historical, artistic and literary themes, and using black-and-white maps (and no photographs), this basic-but-comprehensive guide offers eleven walking tours (each about three hours in length) that cover the city's most most interesting neighborhoods, including the intellectual Latin Quarter, artsy Montmartre, the Ile de la Cité on which Notre Dame is situated, the Marais district, St-Germain-des-Pres, and even the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, where Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, and Proust are buried. Unlike other guides, this walking guide lacks helpful information on where to catch the Metro (Paris's subway) or bus along the way, but includes reliable recommendations for places to stop and shop, eat, drink, and sightsee along the way. Having completed several of the guided walks included in this guide during a recent visit to Paris, I can highly recommend this book for the first-time visitor to Paris not interested in wandering too far off the beaten Paris path.
   
   
   G. Merritt

No comments about Paris: Photographs from a Time That Was (Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago).

2 comments about Knopf Guide: Ireland (Knopf Guides Ireland).

1. Don't expect to find nice hotels or a good place to eat with these guides - they focus on the art, history and culture of the country. I used this guide, along with a "practical" one while traveling in Ireland and found it very handy for gaining a deeper understanding of Ireland. The background information "Ireland as seen by writers" in particular, is especially insightful. In a nutshell - use Lets Go or something for hotels, but use this to get the most out of your trip.



2. I cannot reccomend this book highly enough!
   
   This book is not so much a travel guide (although it is that too to an extent) as it is a pocket sized, crash course in everything you need to know to truly appreciate your trip to Ireland.
   
   This book is filled with wonderfull artwork and photograpy and contains sections on history, cuisine, geology, arts, flora and fauna, just about everything you'd want to know about Ireland and what makes it a special place to visit.
   
   You will feel that you have a much broader general understanding of Ireland after you read this book.
   
   The book itself is nicely sized for travel, with a solid, vinyl cover.
   
   You will need a more detailed "travel guide" to compliment this book on your trip as this book does not go into many specifics such as directions to individual sites, route planners, times, fees etc. It is also lacking detailed local maps. For these things pick up a "Fodors Guide" which has them and IMHO makes the best Travel Guide series.

5 comments about Legion of the Lost: The True Experience of An American in the French Foreign Legion.

1. This book is an account of a well-off american in the French Foreign Legion. Its really got nothing new to say about the Legion that has not been said endlessly in other sources. But its a fun "lite" read. Lots of stories about getting drunk, the absurdities of military life in peacetime and the charcters that are part of a force like the Legion.
   
   Don't expect any excitment though. What you get is an account of garrison duty in the france during peacetime. About the closest there is to any action is when the author deserts the legion and he deserts fast.
   
   Salazar (the author) doesn't come across as a very likeable character in the book. But he has a casual style in writing that made me forget all the things about him that were not all that great.



2. I wouldn't go so far as to place blame upon the author; however, the story telling is heavy skewed in the writers favor. Please do not consider this book to be representative of life in the Legion or the 2°REG.



3. Salazar could'nt finish what he started and appears to have written a book with the hopes of turning it into a movie. Much of what is written is not necessary to the story and serves no purpose other than to prop up Salazar's ego after he failed to serve with Honor and Fidelity. Every other book about the Legion is better reading. Buy Simon Murray's book instead.



4. This is the story of a bored, Generation X-er, who after reading too many adventure novels, decides to test his manhood and seek adventure in the military. Lacking military experience, he had not yet developed the healthy skepticism necessary for assessing military recruiters' promises of excitement and adventure. But instead of making a small mistake by enlisting in the U.S. Army and ending up peeling potatoes at Ft. Benning, he makes a bigger mistake and joins the French Foreign Legion for a five year tour.
   The book is at its best when it describes the sadistic treatment of new recruits. Drunken NCOs savagely beat the recruits on a whim. Training is Spartan, equipment third-rate, and the rations kept near the starvation level. The other aspirants of the kepis blancs, unlike the author, have few opportunities in life. Some are refugees of Eastern Europe or North Africa, some veterans of other countries' military units. To them even the meager pay of a legionnaire is welcome. The author finds himself at a disadvantage with his civility and pampered upbringing. Those readers with military experience will find themselves comparing and contrasting their own basic training to this tortuous ordeal.
   The author writes well and does a fine job inserting historical anecdotes about the Legion Etrangere. However, the publisher could have done a better job catching the many typos throughout the book. The author is obvious proud that he earned his kepi blanc. The book is at its worse in the latter phases when he describes, with obvious pride, his female conquests while on leave. The Paris bistros serve as the only battlefield for the drunken bravado he has acquired in his few months of training. In the end the author deserts before his first year is out. No tales of adventure or combat here. One wonders what took him so long.



5. An amusing study in narcissism and delusional self-flattery. Jaime Salazar is absurd. He seems to fancy himself a cultured, intellectual, gentleman soldier but the bullsh** in this book is so shamefully thick that instead he comes across as a rather pitiful, self-conscious and insecure man-child. Seriously, this book is a farce.

No comments about Vegetarian France: Over 150 Places to Eat and Sleep (Veggie Guides).

1 comments about Drive Around Brittany and Normandy, 2nd: Your Guide to Great Drives (Drive Around - Thomas Cook).

1. Written from a British point of view, this book is full of details, side trips, decent maps and estimated travel times. What it lacks is consistancy (some areas are rated highly for scenery, history, or food while other areas don't even refer to those categories, substituting child friendly or historic). While one person's trash is another's treasure, this guide avoids any real distinction between "absolutely must see" and "nice if you have spare time" in its itineraries . . . little help to those who have only a few days to travel.

5 comments about Little Money Street: In Search of Gypsies and Their Music in the South of France.

1. A somewhat random disjointed description of gypsy life in southern France. The author romanticizes the sad squalid existence of a culture in decline. The gypsy neighborhood reminds me of an Indian reservation in the southwest USA. The book is 'OK' but not enthralling.



2. This book offers a peek into a culture that interests many people but which is a mystery to most. Fernanda Eberstadt has dispelled some of the stubborn myths, both good and bad, that plague the Gypsies and in some instances replaced them with painful truths that make me wish for the mythical again.
   The history of Gypsy music, the process by which it is born, and the dicotomy in the attitudes of dismissal and respect the Gypsy people show it is, in itself, a great read. I can't wait to listen to some of the music mentioned. I'm familiar with the Gypsy Kings but I want to hear the truer, less polished version of this art form.
   Eberstadt shows the tragedy and comedy of the Gypsies and believe me they can soar high and fall fast. But I was left with the feeling that as long as they feel a sense of control over their lives the Gypsies will always be Gypsies.



3. I read this book because I lived in Spain for a few years as a young adult where I learned to despise gypsies. I grew up in New York and was never mugged or had my pocket picked, yet, in Spain, I was mugged and pick-pocketed -- by gypsies.
   
   I read Little Money Street hoping to learn something about the gypsy culture that would make me more sympathetic to them, but that didn't happen: Ms. Eberstadt summed it up when she wrote that the gypsies of Little Money Street pride themselves on being illiterate and uneducated, unable to get their kids to school in spite of the government bending over backwards to accommodate them, yet, somehow they are able to avail themselves of every government handout, which requires that they fill out mountains of complicated paperwork. Not a culture worthy of admiration.
   
   I give the book two stars because it was well-written and interesting, but I won't be rushing off to ingratiate myself upon any gypsy family anytime soon.



4. Gypsy culture is a misunderstood, fascinating ,sad and rich culture that is explored with keen insight by author Fernanda Eberstadt;she presents all facets, warts and all. The pretext for writing this book was the exploration of the music of the Perpignan band Tekameli Religious Gypsy Songs who reside in southern France, specifically in the Gypsy homeland of St. Jacques which is a section of Perpignan, home of the largest Gypsy population in Western Europe. She uprooted her family for her project and the result is an investigative bit of journalism that is part history, part social commentary and all appreciation for a culture that is a paradox. Eberstadt's writing style is entertaining and keeps the account of her life among the Gypsies completely enthralling. Her descriptions of daily life and the characters involved brings everything to life. Her year and a half exploration is funneled into snippets of time that stretch the duration, revealing glimpses into a secret society that lives on the fringes of society, complete with outcasts comes all the epidemics associated with poverty; drugs, alcoholism and AIDS are just some of the afflictions affecting these outsiders. There is no romantic vision drawn by the author but rather a vivid portrayl as close to real life as you can get without being there I suppose. She befriends the lead singer of Tekameli, Moise and his wife Diane and a cast of characters that all seem to interrelated in her quest for learning more about Gypsies. Along the way she makes friends with various family members, learns about their childrens prearranged marriages and lots of other familial practices. Children are not children in the western sense as they grow up very quickly, even marrying while still teenagers. The sense of the world is shrouded in generations old traditions that value family more than money. Ambition is almost a foreign word and practically nonexistent. Men are chauvinistic and women accept their role for the most part; married men have numerous women while young women must go through a ritual before marriage to prove her virginity that would make medieval times seem modern. Some of the things revealed are almost beyond twenty first century comprehension. Nonetheless the author has a way with words that captures the imagination; it is a vivid,colorful, visceral world the Gipsies inhabit in Perpignan. An example would be her description of attending a cockfight that is superb(I've seen a few myself)and when asked if she enjoyed it she "begins sifting through layers of interest, boredom,, exquisite discomfort, squemishness and self-disgust" which is a perfect description of feelings that matches her perceptible description of the action she saw. It is this type of language(I'll spare you the description of the cockfight)that is used throughout the book that brings the culture to life. Besides thoroughly enjoying the book I really had a good time listening to Ida Y Vuelta. Their spiritual music is uplifting in it's praise to the Lord but much like the Gypsies themselves, hard to understand how such beautiful music can come from such upheaval. The diversity of the Gypies is another point examined in this entertaining book that is an easy read that can be read quickly, especially if you like the subject. Recommened for anyone wanting to know more about Gypsy culture and the beautiful music they produce.



5. Reviewed by Diana Bocco
   
   NYC socialist Fernanda Eberstadt moved to Perpignan, France with her family in 1998. She arrived without many expectations besides a quiet countryside life and the chance to work on her new book (she was already an acclaimed novelist at the time). What she found there was a rich cultural life that changed everything she ever thought true about Gypsy life and culture. A fan of Gypsy music, Eberstadt soon found herself tracking the roots of Gypsy band Tekameli, whose members still lived and worked in the area. The internationally acclaimed band had maintained a local focus, surrounding themselves with only their own culture and thus pushing popularity, fame and richness away.
   
   I've always been fascinated by Gypsy culture, and I truly hoped the book would shed some light on the mystery of a culture that has evaded classification and stayed outside mainstream society for centuries. While Eberstadt does delve into the lives of the Gypsies she meets, her observations are often too superficial to explain anything. We soon learn that gypsies don't send their children to school, don't allow girls to mix with boys (not even to talk), consider working a "disease of modern society" and are proud to live on welfare their whole lives.
   
   What we never learn is how the author (or even the Gypsies themselves) feels about this. Because this is a memoir, I was expecting strong emotions throughout it, but Eberstadt seems to turn a blind eye to the abuse, the alcoholism and the teen marriages that occur all around her. She lacks the passion to react to what happens, and at some point in the narrative even drifts away from everybody without giving us any good reason for it.
   
   I wasn't so much interested in the pursuing of Tekameli members as I was in learning more about Gypsyes in general (which the title of the book suggests the story is about), but somehow didn't get much of that from the book.
   
   Little Money Street is still a great read, and I would have given it three stars except for one major problem: the book is riddled with spelling mistakes, dropped words and incomplete sentences. This may be a problem of the paperback edition (I haven't seen this mentioned on reviews of the hardback), but it's so severe that it quickly becomes a problem, interfering with the understanding of the text. If you can get past that (it's not as easy as it sounds), the book can be a quick fun weekend read.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: A book with a great story that is affected by lack of proofreading/editing.