Sarah Turnbull's new book - All Good Things

All Good Things (from Paris to Tahiti) - Sarah Turnbull

Early readers of my blog will know that I LOVE books about life in France. But I don't like fiction. I only like reading memories or (auto)biographies or stories which are at least based on aspects of the author's real life.

I just finished watching the (Steve) Jobs movie and it really made me want to read the book (which is something I meant to do ages ago but never found the time for since it's pretty long).

But then I suddenly wondered if there were any new books about life in France and I google my old 'friend' Sarah Turnbull. I say 'friend' only because we both come from Sydney, Australia.

Here on SMH is an article about her latest book 'All Good Things'. But if you don't want any spoilers about the book or her life, don't read more than halfway down. Stupid writer says they don't to give it away and then proceeds to tell us the ending of the story (I hate that!) Anyway, it won't prevent me from wanting to read the book though.

The hardcover version only came out in September 2013 and the softcover one won't be here till April-May 2014.

I still really want to read Memoirs of a Showgirl by Shay Stafford (Bryce Corbett's wife) and this new book Naples: Way of love by Lisa Clifford (and photographed by Sydneysider Carla Coulson) which is not about Paris or France, but nonetheless interesting for a Sydney expat travel lover girl like me. Neither of these books are available on Amazon or Bookdepository though :(

When I actually get around to reading any of these 3 books, I'll be sure to write a review about them. In the meantime, be sure to check out my previous book reviews here.

and if I don't talk to you before then, Bonne Année !! :)

(image from here)

Paris vs New York - Vahram Muratyan book review

I have a whole heap of overdue book reviews to write up... so stay tuned!

I can never understand those people who say "I hate Facebook" and refuse to use it.. without it I wouldn't be able to find out about new and interesting things, and I wouldn't have found out about this awesome little book.

Perhaps you've seen this awesome image before: Macaron vs Cupcake. I had. Except I never bothered to look into who created it or why/how it was created, etc. Well it's created by the genius that is Vahram Muratyan. The Parisian graphic artist has made an indepth cultural observation and comparison between two great cities, Paris and New York, by way of some simple and gorgeous illustrations.

Look at this image for example. If you were going to compare these two big airports Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and John F Kennedy (JFK) what would you think of drawing? An airport? Some planes taking off? Some people pulling suitcases? He doesn't. That's why I call him a genius. He draws the path of a plane in the shape of a profile of the person the airport was named after. Is that not genius? He makes something complicated (like how would you draw an airport exactly anyway?) simple and easy to understand. And beautiful.

Despite the fact that you can see many of his works on his blog (link below) this was a book I simply had to have, being a lover of Paris and large cities in general, and all things graphical and beautiful. :)

I read it with my Parisian boyfriend this weekend and we tried to work out the meanings and links between the images. Sometimes it's not so obvious as there are abbreviations and slang and you have to know Parisian/French and American culture well. We got all of them except one or two.

As I'm so fascinated, I found some articles about this guy and his book:

* Interview in English
* Another interview in English. Page 1 | Page 2
* Interviews (and videos) in French (also pasted below)






* Buy the book here on Amazon Paris versus New York: A tale of two cities
* Buy the prints (pack of 100 postcards) Paris versus New York Postcard Box: A Tally of Two Cities in 100 Postcards
* Read the blog The blog: Paris vs New York

Disclaimer: I have no connection at all to the author or publisher but love this amazing little book so much I highly recommend you get your own copy to keep! :D

(top picture from here)

Bilingual French English puns

I bought this book second hand.. It's a book of random English phrases, for French learners of English.

Here are some really lame French/English puns:

Once upon a time in winter three french cats, called Un, Deux and Trois, went skating on a pond. The ice gave way and Un, Deux, Trois cats sank.

Why does Mitterrand only have one egg for breakfast?
Because un oeuf est un oeuf.

There was a class having a lesson, and one boy said:
"Miss, can we do French now?"
The teacher replied, "Mais oui."
The boy said, "Sorry, may we do French now?"

Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Green Films

Earth from Above - Yann Arthus-Bertrand

I was reading this interview with Yann Arthus-Bertrand by the Guardian... Now I have to say that he is my hero! I love his work. I love his beautiful aerial landscape photos taken all around the world (turned into a book "Earth from Above" ), his film "Home"  and all the messages he tries to convey about the world, ecology, sustainability, etc. It's timely that I come across this interview with him, given the situation in Japan now and all those recent worldwide disasters... :(

You should have a read of the article.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand isn't just an aerial photographer: he's on a mission to save mankind by teaching us to love our beautiful planet. To many, he is France's answer to Al Gore, but why do some think he's an "enormous idiot"? ...

Anyway, as I was reading it, it occurred to me that did the interview in English and his English isn't quite perfect and they left his mistakes in which I thought was rather 'cute' and authentic. (not so 'cute' about leaving his wife though ;) ) Examples:

"Together we have made a safari park (which lasted?) for 10 years"

"I quit left my first wife, and went to live with my second wife and her two children in Kenya"...

I love this quote. The reporter asks, "How, I wonder, does he now measure his success, beyond sales figures?" and he says:

"I don't think it is necessary to measure it exactly," he says. "You want to spread the message. To have success in your professional life is not so hard. To succeed as a man is more difficult. What I am doing now helps me to succeed as a man."

Watch Home on YouTube

Buy the French version of Earth from Above (La Terre Vue du Ciel)


And on the same topic, recently I wanted to go to the Festival du Film Vert (Green Film Festival) in Geneva (and all over Switzerland), but couldn't make it. It was a Film Festival screening films with an environmental/sustainability message. I wish I could've seen them all as this topic interests me a great deal.


Films with a Green Message
You could also use them for French listening practice ;)


A la découverte de l'énergie (Discovery of energy)



Blue gold - world water war



Chomsky et compagnie (Chomsky and company)



Déchets, le cauchemar du nucléaire (The nightmare of nuclear waste)



Dive! (Dumpster Diving)


Dive! Trailer from Compeller on Vimeo.

Du poison dans nos vêtements (From the Poison in our clothes)


Du poison dans nos vêtements 1/3 by Wakeup-

Etre éco-citoyen (Be an eco-citizen)

(can't find video for this)

Food Inc.



Fresh



Hold up sur l'écologie (Hold up on ecology)



Home

(as above)

I bought a rainforest



Il était une fois... notre Terre (Once upon a time... our land)



Jura, instants volés (Jura, stolen moments)



La fin de la pauvreté ? (The end of poverty?)



La vie sauvage en Suisse (Life in the wild in Switzerland)


Trailer WILDNIS SCHWEIZ I LA VIE SAUVAGE EN SUISSE from Roger Maeder on Vimeo.

Le pouvoir de la communauté (The Power of Community)



Main basse sur le riz (Take over of rice)



Mister Carbone



Notre poison quotidien (Our daily poison)



Pig Business



RAS nucléaire: rien à signaler (RAS Nuclear: Nothing to Signal)



Solutions locales pour un désordre global (Local solutions for a global disaster)



Sous les pavés, la terre (Under the pavers, the earth)



Taking root, the vision of Wangari Maathai



Tchernobyl, une histoire naturelle? (Tchernobyl, a natural story?)



Un avenir? A quel prix... (A future? At what price...)



Water makes money

I also remember this book Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker, from my childhood. The book is composed of 3D collages where all the images are made from objects found in the natural environment. It won numerous awards. Even back then in the 1980s-early 1990s the "saving the environment" message was out there.

It really angers me when people don't think about these issues which affect all of us and just go about their daily lives ignoring the harsh realities of our future, consuming and consuming, making 'progress' and polluting... ugh. It's just too depressing really.

Books about Life in France - book reviews

Books about Life in France written by expats


* Buying a piece of Paris - Ellie Nielsen
  Review (31 juillet 2009)
  Amazon


* Almost French - Sarah Turnbull
  Review (6 août 2009)
  Amazon


* La Vie Parisienne - Janelle McCulloch
  Review (7 août 2009)
  Amazon


* My French Connection - Sheryle Bagwell
  Review (20 août 2009)
  Amazon


* A Town like Paris - Bryce Corbett
  Review (23 novembre 2009)
  Amazon


* Petite Anglaise - Catherine Sanderson
  Review (29 novembre 2009)
  Amazon


* Lunch in Paris - Elizabeth Bard
  Review (14 février 2010)
  Amazon


* The Secret Life of France - Lucy Wadham
  Review (9 mars 2010)
  Amazon


* Veuve Taylor/Escaping and Lavender and Linen - Henrietta Taylor
  Reviews (19 mars 2010)
  Amazon: Escaping
  Amazon: Lavender and Linen


* All you need to be impossibly French - Helena Frith-Powell
  Review (29 mars 2010)
  Amazon

* A year in the Merde - Stephen Clarke

  Review (30 avril 2010)

  Amazon

* Merde Happens
  Review (31 mai 2010)

  Amazon

* In the Merde for Love
  Amazon

* Words in a French life - Kristin Espinasse
  Amazon

* Extremely pale rose: A Very French Adventure - Jamie Ivey
  Amazon

* The sharper your knife, the less you cry - Kathleen Flinn
  Amazon

* Julie and Julia - Julie Powell
  Amazon



* A Year in Provence - Peter Mayle
  Amazon


* Paris to the Moon - Adam Gopnik
  Amazon

* Tout Sweet: Hanging Up my High Heels for a New Life in France - Karen Wheeler

  Amazon

* Foreign Tongue: A novel of life and love in Paris - Vanina Marsot

  Amazon

* Au Revoir: Running away from home at Fifty - Mary Moody

  Amazon

* Last Tango in Toulouse - Mary Moody

  Amazon

* Left Bank Waltz: The Australian Bookshop in Paris - Elaine Lewis

  Amazon

* From France with Love: A Love Story with Baggage - Nadine Williams

  Amazon

* Snowfall in Paris: A Young Woman's Pursuit of Adventure - Josette Laurence
  Amazon

* Au Paris: True Tales of an American Nanny in Paris - Rachel Spencer
  Amazon

* I'll never be French no matter what I do - Mark Greenside
  Amazon

* Blame it on Paris - Laura Florand
  Amazon

* Paris Hangover - Kirsten Lobe
  Amazon

* Paris: The Collected Traveler: An Inspired Anthology and Travel Resource - Barrie Kerper
  Amazon

* An Englishman in Paris - Michael Sadler
  Amazon

* Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co. - Jeremy Mercer
  Amazon

* A Corner in the Marais: Memoir of a Paris Neighborhood - Alex Karmel
  Amazon

* The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier - Thaddeus Carhart

  Amazon

Merde Happens - Stephen Clarke - book review

Previous related post

So I recently finished reading one of the sequels to "A Year in the Merde" (see my link above for my comments about that book) called "Merde Happens".

Since I skipped a book I don't know what happened in between but in this one Paul travels across the United States so basically instead of mocking France he is now mocking the US of A.

These are the chapters to give you an idea of where he travels (with Alexa and Jake, his two trusty companions who also appear in his other books):

Paris and London
New York
Boston
New York to Florida
Miami
Miami Twice
To New Orleans
Las Vegas
Leaving Las Vegas
Los Angeles

I admit that halfway through the Boston chapter I was already getting bored. Then I persisted and then got bored again by the start of the Las Vegas chapter.

I started getting a really strong sense of déjà vu (so fitting that I am using that word since it's French ;) ). Not long after the movie of the same name came out, I bought the book Forrest Gump and the sequel Gump & Co. by Winston Groom.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I read both these books but I'll give a quick overview. Stay with me. There is a point to me bringing up these books. The book is similar to the movie but is (obviously) much more detailed. Also, there are many words purposely spelt wrong to give you an idea of the way Forrest talks with his southern accent. Even without having seen the movie you can imagine the way he talks. (on that note I imagine the book would be rather difficult for a non-native English speaker to read because of all the purposely misspelt words).

The second book was much of the same, except, the situations became more and more unbelievable. All I can remember was that after he went to the moon (about halfway through) I stopped reading the book. It was just too much. If you thought the situations in Forrest Gump were a little hard to believe, the sequel is just downright outrageously unbelievable.

OK, so where was I?

It was the same scenario with Stephen Clarke's books. Merde Happens was very similar to A Year in the Merde except it was now the USA instead of France, but the situations just became more and more unbelievable. The whole time I was reading the book I imagined it as a screwball slapstick comedy movie. The situations just got more and more out of hand, so much so that it became boring to read.

Another reason it reminded me of the Forrest Gump books was because there were also many instances of purposely misspelt words from the Jake character. This was actually kind of fun to read because I had fun figuring out what the word (in French or a mixture of French/English or Franglais) was supposed to be.

In the end I did finish the book but admit I actually only skim read certain paragraphs or pages just to get the gist of what was happening and find out the main points.

So compared to his first book, this one was quite a disappointment and the ending is open-ended which of course makes it obvious there is another book to follow, in this case Dial M for Merde.

The most fascinating part of the book though (I will end this on a positive note :) ) is this Jake character who talks like an Anglophone who's been living in France for too long. Some parts I thought were interesting regarding the French language and culture (may contain spoilers):

p. 187. 'Come, Paul, we must leave the happy couple alone. Jesus has been so impatient to see his fiancée.'

I'm not sure if this is intentional or what.. but actually only about a week or so ago I remember searching online for the French equivalent of "looking forward to" which I am told is "j'attends avec impatience" (I wait with impatience). Although the sentence above makes perfect sense in English I wonder if it's Stephen Clarke's Frenchied brain causing him to write it like that, or did he want Jake to speak like that, or, am I reading too much into this???

p. 192. I'd splurged on a new shirt in one of the discount stores near the hotel. Well, it was more a tableau than a shirt...'

OK so it appears that tableau is an English word too but my first thought was, did he actually mean painting? He talks about the shirt being brightly coloured and loud.

p.251. '...I must tell her. I want to change my name to Rimbaud.'
'But he's Italian,' Juliana objected.
Again, I had to translate. Jake was not talking about the character played in the movies by Sylvester Stallone, I explained. This one was spelt differently, and was a French poet.

I didn't get the joke at first (a bit slow there, you have to read it out loud) but after I realised, I thought this was hilarious and very very clever.

p. 347. 'Me fucking up?' I turned to face Larry. 'Me? In this country where oysters and hazelnuts are considered as dangerous as bullets? Where you can't sleep with a woman without going on three dates, but you can fire a Nazi machine gun? Where you can't compliment a female colleague without getting fired for sexual harassment, but where waitresses all have to show their boobs? Where everyone books a window seat and then refuses to look out the window? You call me fucked up?'

This has got nothing to do with French but I thought it was very insightful and funny (about Americans).

p. 378. She'd said that I needed dreams. But she wanted my dreams to be planned. It was the French way. If you want a dream, you go to dream school and get your diploma in dreams.

Hahaha!

Where to learn French slang and colloquialisms

L'argot et le langage familier


Here are some ways to learn French colloquialisms. Some obvious, some not so obvious.

1. Speak to a native French speaker as often as you can (ie listen to them carefully, really pay attention to seemingly simple but unfamiliar words and ask them to explain them to you)
2. Failing that, speak to a native French speaker online via Skype
3. Failing that (no microphone, crap computer, slow connection for example), "speak" to them by chatting (typing) online
4. Watch a whole heap of French movies, or even English movies with French subtitles
5. Find clips on YouTube (if you click my tags/etiquettes 'youtube' you will find some, I've done the work for you) and watch them
6. Read the comments on YouTube (also on blogs and forums)
7. Have a native French speaker write emails to you in French. You'll see learn a whole heap of new expressions that you never learnt from a textbook or in class!
8. Be-friend a native French speaker on Facebook (even better if you know them from real life ;) ) and read what is written on their wall. I've learnt a whole heap of various argot, and a lot of contractions.
9. Have native French people send you a texto (text message/SMS).

Real life examples from me:

Probably one of the first slang words I learnt was by chatting on Skype: boulot (travail/métier/etc : job/work/profession). On that same theme, I later learn bosser (travailler : work) reading something online.
I also learnt c'est chiant/merdique (that's annoying/shitty), ça craint (that sux (literally: that scares (me)) from this friend.

One of my French friends has texted me "Coucou" (Hi there) and "Tiens-moi au courant" (Keep me up to date). The latter seems to be very very common phrase. That, or "Je te tiens au courant" (I will keep you up to date). I then later texted another French friend "Dis-moi au courant" (forgetting what the phrase should have been) and he laughed.

I've seen appart (apartment) mentioned so many times. I 'introduced' my appartment as "Voilà ! Mon appart" and my French friend said I sounded like a real Française hehe

From movies: I've learnt that "Ne t'inquiète pas" > "T'inquiète pas" > "T'inquiète" (Don't worry)


From a friend, no two friends now: des fois (sometimes). I had never learnt or seen this before prior to hearing it and asking about it. I had only ever seen/used parfois and quelquefois before talking to these new friends.



I could go on and on, this is not meant to be a vocabulary lesson ;) but the funniest thing is, most people don't remember things they've said to me (but I do) and they definitely don't realise I've retained what they told me several weeks ago so when I come out with these phrases they seem really surprised and impressed.

Also, when I learn something from friend 1 and use it when talking to friend 2 they seem to think I just picked it up from thin air and they seem really really impressed (I don't think they realise I have several French friends - oooh how sneaky of me!). I don't know what it is about that! I obviously can't impress anyone with my so-so pronunciation or accent, but every French person just seems super impressed when I use colloquialisms, slang, abbreviations, etc! They actually think it's funny too and I was always being asked/told by one of my French friends, "Where did you learnt that?", "How come you know that word?", "Oh you know that one?" etc.

Obviously I don't think you can impress people with this once you are living in France (or maybe you can? I don't know yet) I guess it's impressive because 1) I'm mostly a self-taught learner and 2) everybody knows you never learn these words or phrases in a language school!

You can, however, learn it from a book but I think this method is less effective than the ones I mentioned above.










Picture from Argot Français

Finding France in Australia - book

Found out about this book Finding France in Australia on the Escape to Paris blog.
I wish there was a preview or something. I can't tell if it's any good or not but anyway I hope they appreciate me giving them free advertising! ;)

Julie & Julia - film review

Julie & Julia

I wrote about the book way back in September last year but still haven't read it and only got around to watching the movie now! As far as movies and stories go I really enjoyed it. It was "fun" to watch. Meryl Streep was of course exceptional in her role as Julia Child and Amy Adams did a good job as Julie Powell, too.

The film is two stories in one. One of Julia's which takes place in the 50s mostly in Paris, and one of Julie's in the 00s in New York city. We see a lot of parallels in their lives but also a lot of differences. For one thing, Julia lived through WWII, and was married at 34, whereas Julie was married much younger (I'm not sure exactly when but I think early-mid 20s).

Julie Powell is your average 30 year old woman in New York City. She's just moved into a new apartment in the outer 'burbs of New York city with her husband Eric. By day she works for the government in an office listening to people's sob stories after 9/11 and by night she uses cooking as a sort of therapy to make her tiresome day seem brighter.  I could relate well to Julie and I'm sure all my friends can relate too, who are all around the same age as her, and stuck in boring office jobs.

She tries to re-invent her life by creating a blog, showcasing her cooking and using Julia Child's cook book "Mastering the art of French cooking" as a guide. She plans to take one year to cook all the 500+ recipes.

Meanwhile, Julia Child is re-inventing her life by finding a purpose. It was completely normal to be a (childless) housewife in the 1950s and not work, and having grown up rather rich where her family had cooks, she didn't know much about the culinary arts so she enrols herself at the (now) famed Cordon Bleu school of cooking and enters into the male-dominated field of professional cooking.

I think the film (by Nora Ephron) is clever in the way it infuses 2 separate stories to create one seamless story.

I had a lot of random thoughts running through my head whilst watching this film:

* Both Julie and Julia seemed to be lucky to find a wonderful guy to marry and who are/were very supportive of their endeavours. It almost seems rare these days to hear of happy marriages so I guess that left me feeling good.
* Paris is even more beautiful in the 50s than now! I love the clothes from the 1930-1960s era, the cute round, "bubbly" shaped cars.. life just seemed so much simpler and easier back then and I would've love to see Paris in the 50s. As well as that, I often read of comparisons between the way Parisians/French people dress compared to Americans/Anglos and it seems (if this film is anything to go by) that in the 1950s everyone dressed well. Indeed, it's something that I miss. I really miss well-structured zippered clothes instead of everything being lycra/elastic.
* I was happy to find out that parts of the film were filmed in Paris and that it wasn't all just a fake set in New York somewhere.
* Julie talks about her blog being an outlet and even though she set herself the hard challenge of cooking over 500 recipes in a year (365 days) she didn't feel that it was a chore because she really enjoyed it and it made her happy (and it probably took her away from the misery surrounding her stressful office job).
* The unfailing optimism and cheeriness of Julia is just amazing and was probably infectuous. I guess both she and Paul were overall optimistic people who loved and supported each other dearly, and I'm sure this has something to do with them living to the ripe old ages of 91 and 92.
* I'm not a cook and don't aspire to be one, however I am always in complete awe and envy of those who can cook well.

I think if you love cooking, France, Paris or "chick flicks" you would probably love this film. All the main stars are superb in their roles, including Stanley Tucci as Julia's husband, Paul.

7/10.

I did quite a bit of reading after watching the film and it seems that a lot of people despise Julia Powell. I haven't read any of her books, nor have I read her blog in any great detail but it'll be interesting to form my own opinion once I've done so.

I admit I had no idea who Julia Child was prior to me coming across the book and the film, not being American and not being that into cooking but the more I find out about her, the more intrigued I am. She seems delightful and after reading the extract on Amazon.com I am now dying to read her "My Life in France" book!





Julie & Julia official movie site
imdb: Julie & Julia

Amazon: Julie & Julia

Amazon: Cleaving (Julie Powell's 2nd autobiographical book)
Amazon: My life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme
Wikipedia: My Life in France
Julie Powell's original blog
Julie Powell's current blog
Chowhound: Discussion about Julie & Julia
Paris.fr: filming photos location shots
imdb: interesting discussion 1
imdb: interesting discussion 2
Design Sponge: Julie & Julia

The Promise - Lisa Clifford - book review

This review and the links will contain spoilers.. I hate spoilers myself so I thought I'd warn you in advance.

The Promise - Lisa Clifford

I went to the library to return some books and to see if there was anything interesting in the France section. Didn't see anything worthy of my attention that I hadn't already read so I skimmed the shelves of the nearby Italy section. If I wanted to read books about Italy I would've started a long time ago but I've so far only limited myself to books about France.

I did read Eat Pray Love as I've mentioned several times already and I have wanted to travel to Italy for a really long time so when I saw this book on the shelf I thought, "What the heck, I'll borrow it."

It almost reads like an Italian version of Sarah Turnbull's Almost French. Here is yet another female journalist from Sydney who goes to Italy (this time) and meets a man...

The only difference is that Sarah is 27 when she goes to France, but Lisa is only 17 when she goes to Italy (Florence).

From the aspect of being a Sydneysider, the book was very easy to read. All the places, suburbs, and very Sydney 'things' she mentions throughout the book, I know exactly what she's talking about. I know where all the places are on a map and I know the typical Australian culture.

I do know some things about the Italian culture too as I had some Italian friends when I was in high school and I knew that most of them lived with their extended family all together in one big house. However, there were many things I was yet to learn, which I did through the help of this book.

Lisa is a likeable character and the book is easy enough to read. At the young and impressionable age of 17, and not having finished high school, she goes to Florence, which is her first time overseas without her parents.

Her mother is a celebrity in her own right, June Dally-Watkins of the famed modelling and etiquette school. Lisa neglects to mention this at the beginning of the book as she stresses she wanted to be her own person and was sick of being regarded simply as her mother's daughter.

The book is a look at Lisa's life over the next 18-20 years where she goes back and forth between Sydney and Florence, starting and stopping and starting her career, and being confused about her love for Paolo, and whether or not their relationship will ever work because she doesn't feel 100% at home in Florence, and he would never feel 100% home in Sydney (and their cultural differences, obviously!).

It's an interesting dilemma and I'm sure many couples of today face. I know quite a few couples like that where one has to give up everything they ever know (family, friends, familiarity and culture) to live overseas with their one true love. But at the end of it all I guess if you can conquer such a huge challenge, your relationship will more than likely last the test of time :)

Links (don't read if you don't want spoilers)


Lisa Clifford's official site
Lisa's Facebook and the first chapter of the book
Interview with Lisa on the Florentine
Photo of Lisa
Interview with Lisa, ABC radio

A year in the merde - Stephen Clarke - book review

A Year in the Merde

I bought this book many months ago and started to read it. Then I kind of forgot about it and only recently picked it up again a few days ago. Once I got into it, I couldn't put it down! It was so hilarious. Anybody with a sense of humour could understand and like this book but it is far more fun and rewarding to read if you understand 1) the French culture and 2) the French language.

There are so many word plays and so many instances where French words are inserted into otherwise English sentences, with no explanation or translation so if you didn't know French I think the book would be less funny.

It is obvious the author, Stephen Clarke, has lived in France for some time to make all these observations and in that regard I found some of the observations in the book a bit too deep for someone ("Paul West") who had only lived there for 9 months total.

One of my French friends actually told me he read one of Stephen Clarke's books (not this first one though) and found it funny and I thought to myself, if a French person finds it funny then surely it must be good!

I get the feeling that at least 80% of the story is based upon his own life and the other stuff is fabricated or embellished. It basically takes the piss out of everything French but not in a nasty way, just in an interesting and fun(ny) way. It's nothing like any of the other books about France I have read and it's just a hilarious feel-good read when you are feeling crap (like I am/was).

When I found videos of Stephen Clark on YouTube (below) I was a bit shocked that he appeared so old, because the main character in his books, Paul West, is only 27. Stephen also appears to be quite softly spoken and humble, which is not what Paul West is like! Ha! In some ways this book reminded me of A town like Paris by Bryce Corbett because it was about a man around the same age, whose main goal in Paris (it seems) is to find beautiful girls to 'shag'. There were so many sexual jokes and innuendo which didn't offend me, but I'm sure it might offend others.

I went to my local library and am currently reading one of the sequels Merde Happens.

Here's the list of books in chronological order:

1. A Year in the Merde (2005)
2. Merde Actually (UK title) / In the Merde for Love (US title) (2006)
3. Merde Happens (2008)
4. Dial M for Merde (2008).


Stephen Clark - A Year in the Merde interview




Stephen Clark - Merde Happens and Talk to the snail interview/promotion




If you haven't read it yet, please check it out! It'll have you in stitches!

PS the cover image I've posted here is the cover that I have, but the US version is different.


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Edited to add French version of the same book "God Save La France" review.
Merde Happens book review

All You Need to Be Impossibly French by Helena Frith-Powell

All You Need to Be Impossibly French - a book review

A couple of weeks ago I went to a few op shops (opportunity shops, charity shops, thrift stores, second hand stores) for no particular reason other than to have a look as I hadn't been to them for years. I got some great bargains including some French related books!

I got: Reflets Methode Francaise: Level 2 textbook and workbook  and
Two Lipsticks and a Lover (Helena Frith Powell)
for $2 each at one store, and 
Language and Learning: An Introduction for Teaching (Emmitt, Pollock and Komesaroff) published by Oxford Press, 
Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris (Sarah Turnbull) and 
French Kissing (Catherine Sanderson)
for 50c each at another store!

I couldn't believe my luck as I usually never find any decent second hand books that I'm interested in.

I just finished reading Two Lipsticks and a Lover which is apparently the same book as All You Need to Be Impossibly French: A Witty Investigation into the Lives, Lusts, and Little Secrets of French Women.

It was an interesting read but contained nothing new that I hadn't read before in all the other French books, magazines, blogs and websites I've read. I wouldn't say it's an especially good book but not a bad one either. Her writing style is very easy to read and she's a likeable person/author/character but the whole book almost seems an article for a university newspaper featuring interviews, rather than a book with any especially insightful comments.

The thing I found most interesting was the chapter on childbirth and childrearing! Helena is English, and there, I have to agree with her on all the points she makes in this chapter. She says that French people find it bizarre if you don't want to find out the sex of your baby ASAP, if you want to breastfeed and if you want to deliver naturally and drug-free. I don't know if this is true or not but she writes:

Back at the natural birthing centre in Crowborough Sussex, they practically won't allow you in unless you promise to breastfeed. In some countries, like Sweden and Australia, bottle feeding a newborn is akin to some minor crimes, in fact some major ones. In Australia women regularly breastfeed for a year. I was desperate to talk to these French women and tell them they were depriving their babies of the best possible start in life...

To me, feeding your baby cow's milk (or even worse, powdered crap) instead of what mother nature intended is just plain stupid! There are so many pros for doing so and very very few cons. I won't give away the reason why French women do this. Read the book and find out why. You might find it shocking, funny or just plain stupid and selfish.

There were some other insighful things in the book too.. so if you're interested in the lives of (upper middle class) French women (or Parisians rather) you should read this book.

Bonne lecture!

Veuve Taylor/Escaping and Lavender and Linen by Henrietta Taylor - book review

Veuve Taylor: A New Life, New Love and Three Guesthouse in a Small French Village
Escaping: A New Life, New Love and Three Guesthouse in a Small French Village
Lavender and Linen: Living life to the full in a Small French village


The day I checked out the French section at a big bookstore I found a book called "Escaping". I read the blurb on the back and it appealed to me because (as I mentioned many times already on this blog) I am always looking for true stories/memoirs about (single) women moving to, working, and living in France. When I find books like this I eat them right up.

I have been trying to conserve my finances and always see if my library has a book before I buy it. Luckily for me, my library had this book (formerly called "Veuve Taylor") as well as the sequel "Lavender and Linen".

I was in luck!

I was tempted to borrow them both in one go but I know I have a habit of buying or borrowing way too many books and not having enough time to get through them all so I decided to just borrow the first, see if I liked it first, and then go back for the second.

It took me a while to even start "Veuve Taylor" (re-released as "Escaping" by the publishers for unknown reasons) and when I started to read it I actually had forgotten what the book was about, and the title didn't 'click' so it was a shock and surprise to read she becomes a widow. (I haven't really given anything away as this is all in the blurb on the back cover).

The book is a true story and takes place (in the beginning) in Sydney in suburbs, areas and schools I am extremely knowledgeable about, having grown up not too far away. And the author is right, Balmoral Beach is the most stunning beach ever, all year round.

The book starts when she is about 20 and ends when she is in her early 40s. For all this time she acts about 2/3 of her age. Example, when she is 20, she acts 14. When she is 40 she acts 25.

I did enjoy the book and her story but I found her character soooooooooo annoying I seriously wanted to slap her! If it was a character it would be easier to deal with but she's a real person! ARGH. She goes through life making out she is incompetent and incapable of every little thing. Apparently she can't do anything. She can't give directions, she can't drive well, she isn't studious, she's a terrible mother, she's forgetful, she overdoses on drugs, she's an alcoholic, she's not good with cars, nor with computers,... need I go on? It's amazing that she knows how to clean (which she admits is the only thing she knows how to do well).

Throughout the book she makes lists which are blockquoted and italicised. I wanted to make my own list. Namely:

1. Will she ever grow up and act her age?
2. Will she ever be a decent mother, instead of having her kids look after her?
3. Will she ever learn some new skills and be good at something?
4. Will she always be an alcoholic?
5. Will she continue to go to her father forever?
6. Will she be a compulsive shopper and be in debt forever?
7. Will she ever dump this guys she calls her 'Latin Lover' but which I'd rather called the 'Latin Loser'?

I know this sounds super harsh and it's not as if I dislike this woman, but more that I pity her. She seems to have come from a rather normal (and somewhat affluent) family yet she turned out... well... not so good. I know I should give her some slack given she was a grieving widow with 2 young children to look after but even many many years later, she still seems to act pretty much the same way - irresponsible, immature, naive, and bimboish for lack of a better word.

The second book is a continuation of the first and written in the exact same style (with fewer lists). She does grow up a bit (not much) and more things happen but I still kept wondering to myself, "When the heck is she going to dump this Loser Ray?" (who she met in her early 20s and now it's 20 years later and he's still a loser!) The funny and interesting thing is that the first book is dedicated to him (and to her children and late husband) but the second one is not. Ha!

I can tell you that in the second book, most of my questions (though not all) are finally answered. For example, she is in debt so she thinks of selling one of her properties only to end up acquiring another one and despite all this debt she seems to be able to afford a lot trips back home to Sydney (which, as you would expect is expensive. The airfare alone is about $2000) so on the finance front my question was never answered... but at least I'm satisfied that most of the others are.

Even though this woman is annoying I would still recommend this book if you like similar ones (that I have already mentioned numerous times - "Almost French", "Lunch in Paris" for example). You may not find her as annoying as I did ;) It is still an interesting story after all, especially when she goes from being needy, incapable person going through dark, dark, depressive days as a new widow, to being a competent, capable, self reliant single mother of two. In a way it's a powerful story of one person's journey through life with its ups and downs...

However annoying she was, she is still a much more interesting person to read about than Ellie Neilsen. At least she learns how to do things, how to make new friends and make the most of her life in France. Ellie just seemed like a bimbo with her head in the clouds and wanting her husband to solve all her problems. (ARGH).

On another note, I found Henrietta's use of 'install' interesting as I don't often hear people use this word for people in English.. ie that person installed themself in the bedroom... I have noticed in other books and on blogs too that people use words like 'recount' (a story) or 'pose' (a question). I know these words exist in English but it's far more common to say 'tell a story' or 'ask a question' and I dare say that speaking French makes peoples' brains become Frenchified (almost typed Frenchifried!).

On a final note, she mentions her childrens' asthma problems and how when they move to Provence their symptoms cease, and when they go back to Sydney they start up again. This is actually one reason I want to move away from Australia so badly as it gives me asthma (rarely now) and hayfever allergies constantly to live here, and my problems always decrease or even disappear as soon as I go overseas!

Henrietta's guesthouses website
Harper Collins (publisher)
Interview with Henrietta Taylor (2005)
Review of her guesthouses and the Saignon area (by same journalist as above) (2005).