Re: moveable feast
Tim O'Connor (tim@roughdraft.org)
Mon, 05 Jan 1998 18:06:54 -0500
Will said:
> I agree, but admit I had the opportunity to read this fine text while in
> paris 20 years ago and not doing much more than writing and learning to
> smoke gallioses...will
I fall somewhere in-between. I read it when I was a teenager without
passport or money or will to travel, but with a determination to write
fiction -- and I read it many times after that. It (and The Sun Also
Rises) shaped my image of Paris in every way before I actually went there.
Even now, I can't walk anywhere in that fine city without some phrase or
another from the book rattling in my head. The smell of the Metro, the
smell of the city (which must be infinitely nicer in these days of
merde-mobiles!), the smell of the wind in the Luxembourg Gardens ... all
this seems to be to come right out of this book.
And I cannot count the number of times I have jump-started my imagination
by trying to write "one true declarative sentence."
And eaten a mandarin orange.
And tried to light a fire in the fireplace.
And on and on.
Susan said:
> > It makes me want to go to Paris, fall in love, drink
> > whiskey and write write write. I urge--no, command--everyone to get to
> > the library and find this book. And then open a new bottle of ink and
> > smile when it gets on your sleeves.
I have to say that it colored my notion of the city a million times more
than anything else I have read. The first time I visited Paris, I didn't
even read a "Let's Go" book or any guidebook; I stayed with a friend and
learned my way around on foot and by Metro.
In other words, this is very wise advice. 8-)
--tim