Looking for a modern-day moveable feast.
February 19, 2012 9:51 PM Subscribe
What are your favorite books (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, etc) and films about contemporary life in Paris, Munich, and/or Zurich (or their environs)? (Translated into English, of course).
Later this year, we're headed on a trip to Europe--for Dr. Tully Monster, it will be a work trip; for me it will be a chance to wander around alone for a week at a time in Paris, Munich, and Zurich, respectively, and just absorb. I can't wait, needless to say. But I'd kind of like to get a feel for the cities as they are now.
I have read The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which is probably a good example of the kind of book I'm talking about. As far as movies go...kind of drawing a blank here, but looking for films that are kind of slice-of-lifeish--maybe like Fellini's Amarcord? I've been to Paris once, but Munich and Zurich never.
Later this year, we're headed on a trip to Europe--for Dr. Tully Monster, it will be a work trip; for me it will be a chance to wander around alone for a week at a time in Paris, Munich, and Zurich, respectively, and just absorb. I can't wait, needless to say. But I'd kind of like to get a feel for the cities as they are now.
I have read The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which is probably a good example of the kind of book I'm talking about. As far as movies go...kind of drawing a blank here, but looking for films that are kind of slice-of-lifeish--maybe like Fellini's Amarcord? I've been to Paris once, but Munich and Zurich never.
How recent is 'contemporary'? Is 1974 too old? Un Homme Qui Dort is fantastic. It's pretty much just a young man wondering the streets of Paris.
posted by The Discredited Ape at 10:49 PM on February 19, 2012
posted by The Discredited Ape at 10:49 PM on February 19, 2012
David Sedaris's pieces on Paris are hysterical but probably fairly accurate.
I found Gopnik's Paris to the Moon to be really evocative.
posted by Mchelly at 4:17 AM on February 20, 2012
I found Gopnik's Paris to the Moon to be really evocative.
posted by Mchelly at 4:17 AM on February 20, 2012
I liked Paris! Paris! [Irwin Shaw, illus by Searle] so much that I stayed in the same arrondissement that he describes in great detail but, published in 1977, it is not exactly contemporary.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:01 AM on February 20, 2012
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:01 AM on February 20, 2012
It’s not contemporary either, but a good deal of Die Zweite Heimat aka Heimat 2: Chronicle of a Generation is set in Munich.
posted by misteraitch at 6:19 AM on February 20, 2012
posted by misteraitch at 6:19 AM on February 20, 2012
Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda is a longish light novel (I guess it's a bit like Friends, with the twenty-something roommate characters) that features that slice-of-life feeling of being in Paris. There is also a movie. I read it right after Elegance of the Hedgehog and enjoyed both, though they have a different feel from one another.
A friend enjoyed Adam Gopnik's memoir, Paris to the Moon.
Richard Linklater's film Before Sunset features a lovely long stroll through Paris.
posted by kettleoffish at 8:28 PM on February 27, 2012
A friend enjoyed Adam Gopnik's memoir, Paris to the Moon.
Richard Linklater's film Before Sunset features a lovely long stroll through Paris.
posted by kettleoffish at 8:28 PM on February 27, 2012
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posted by bardic at 10:08 PM on February 19, 2012 [2 favorites]