6/11/2023 0 Comments The flaneur by edmund white![]() ![]() In it, Benjamin speculates on the significance of the “Flaneur”, a French word meaning “stroller” or “saunterer”. It included a 1929 review called “The Return of the Flâneur”. ![]() I first became familiar with the word “Flaneur” when a collection of Walter Benjamin’s writings called “The Arcade Projects” was published in 1999. Along the way we learn everything from the latest debates among French lawmakers to the juicy details of Colette's life. ![]() The Flâneur leads us to bookshops and boutiques, monuments and palaces, giving us a glimpse into the inner human drama. In the hands of the learned White, a walk through Paris is both a tour of its lush, sometimes prurient history and an evocation of the city's spirit. Edmund White, who lived in Paris for sixteen years, wanders through the streets and avenues and along the quays, into parts of Paris virtually unknown to visitors and indeed to many Parisians. "One has the impression, reading The Flâneur, of having fallen into the hands of a highly distractible, somewhat eccentric poet and professor who is determined to show you a Paris you wouldn't otherwise see…Edmund White tells such a good story that I'm ready to listen to anything he wants to talk about."― New York Times Book ReviewĪ flâneur is a stroller, a loiterer, someone who ambles through city streets in search of adventure and fulfillment. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |