#Paris In July Labiche

• Author:  Eugene Labiche (1815-1888)
• Genre:  play
• Title:  La Cangotte (the kitty in a card game)
• Published:  1864
• #ParisInJuly

• This play is a farce or comedy of errors
• as it contains multiple misunderstandings and mistaken identities.
• It uses comedy of manners.
• Labicche ridicules the manners of a particular society
• …in this case the the upper class provincials who decide to visit Paris!
• They want to spend the $$ in the “la Cangotte” but their
• adventure “partir en sucette” (gets out of hand)

Conclusion:

• Plot: intricate and farcical
• involving coincidences
• multiple misunderstandings and mistaken identities.
• meetings both missed and accidental.
• Characters: exaggerated bumpkins who are out of their depth in Paris
• Features: horseplay, slapstick, physical comedy

Last thoughts:

• I never heard of Eugene Labiche!
• He wrote 56 plays during the 19th C.
• Weak point: chatter dialogue that doesn’t usually go anywhere
• There is no verbal wit as you find in Oscar Wilde’s plays.
• La Cangotte felt like a pie without the filling
• …crust is good but there must be more.

• I had difficulty following the conversation.
• It is fired off like rounds of bullets in a machine gun
• in bursts of half sentences, phrases and exclamations.
• Who is who? The 3 main male character’s names all begin with C
• …is he the farmer, pensioner or the pharmacist?
• I needed a list to keep me on track.

• The play must be seen on stage to appreciate it’s strong point
• ….physical comedy!
• So would I read any more plays by Labiche?
• No….
• Molière is the playwright with the best credentials!

#Paris In July Honoré Balzac

• Author:  Honoré Balzac
• Genre:  novella
• Title:  La Maison du Chat Qui Pelote
• Published:  1830
• #ParisInJuly

• I’m starting this month of Paris in July by reading a few books
• written in “L’âge d’or du roman 19th C”.
• The major literary work I do not have the courage to read
• is Balzac’s La Comédie Humaine.
• Why? …because it will take a lifetime to read in French!
• It contains nearly 100 novels and plays.
• The vast numbers of characters Blazac created
• represent an entire society in his head!
• The completed Comédie Humaine totalled
• 2472 named characters and 566 unnamed characters.

• I at least read the first words (novella) of La Comédie Humaine
• La Maison du Chat Qui Pelote. (95 pages).
• You can find all the plot information on the Wikipedia page.

Conclusion:

• The novella felt like I was reading Sense and Sensibility
• …but with a sad ending.
• Thank goodness Ms Austen always gives
• us the “happy ever after” last chapter.
• Blazac uses the basic construction of opposites:
• 2 sisters – Virginie is sweet, patient; Augustine is a coquette, flirt
• 2 lovers – Joseph is a reliable businessman; Théo is a flamboyant artist
• 2 marriages – “mariage de convenance” – “mariage d’amour”
• Augustine seems bound for happiness and
• Virginie for a dreary life.
• But destiny has surprises in store.

• Despite all the risks of marriage, and there are many as Balzac reveals
• …still the author wants to leave us this message:
• …a marriage that is short and passionate is worth more
• …than one that is predictable and banal.
• In the eyes of the main character Augustine:
• ” « dix-huit mois de bonheur »
• valent « mille existences » banales”
• #Classic and a quick read to brush up on your French language skills!

• The book starts with the artist Théodore observing the shop
• where Augustine lives with her father and family.

• Climax: Augustine confronts the courtesan Duchesse de Carigliano
• …it is all about that portrait on the wall!

#Paris In July 2021

• Oh, is it July already?
• Let’s have a glass of wine and
• think of some things to do for…
• #ParisInJuly

2018  POSTS:  

..some great French cooking from

…Rachel Khoo’s The Little Paris Kitchen…is the best!

1. Paris in July Food Journal
2. Crème du Citron
3. French Wine
4. Biscuits Breton
5. Cocktail: Kir Royale
6. Cocktail: Soixante-quinze ’75’
7. Cocktail: What do I do with Campari, Marguerite Duras?
8. Cocktail: Who Pays the Bartender?
9. Madeleines
10. Biography: Berthe Morisot
11. Quiche Lorraine
12. List of French Books
13. Retour à Killybegs – S. Chalandon (2019)
14. Mousse aux éclats de chocolat (2019)
15. Je suis fou de toi  (2019) – D. Bona
16. Le Grand Meaulnes (2019) – Alain-Fournier

Paris in July

1. Paris in July is a French themed blogging
2. …experience running from the 1^st – 31^st July this year.
3. The aim of the month is to celebrate our French experiences through
4. actual visits, or through reading, watching, listening,
5. observing, cooking and eating all things French!
6. For more instructions how to share your posts go to Thyme for Tea.

1. There will be no rules or targets …just blog about anything French
2. …and you can join in! Some ideas might include;
3. reading a French themed book – fiction or non-fiction,
4. watching a French movie,
5. listening to French music,
6. cooking French food,
7. experiencing French, art, architecture and travel.
8. #ParisInJuly

What are my plans for 2021?

1. Book:  Une ami de la famille by Jean-Marie Laclavetine winner Prix Marguerite Duras 2019
2. Book:  Âme brisée by Akira Mizubayashi finalist  Prix Jean Giono 2019
3. Book: Paul Morand by Pauline Dreyfus winner Prix Le Goncourt de la biographie 2021.
4. Book: Henri Micheaux by Jean-Pierre Martin (NF) biography
5. Book: Charlotte by David Foenkinos winner Prix Prix Goncourt des Lycéens 2014
6. and winner Prix Renaudot 2014
7. Book: Le Dossier 113 – E. Gaboriau (classic)
8. Book: Mélodie – Akira Mizubayashi
9. Book: Le manuscrit inachevé: Thriller – Franck Thilliez

#Irish literature Deromt Bolger

---

11 short stories by a Irish writer you

probably NEVER heard of.

This is a GEM!

Secrets:

plagiarism, adultery, abuse, James Joyce, WW I, Dublin hotel

…a man’s dying wish.

30% (3 stories) = masterpieces

70% (…the rest) = excellent

Writing style? You can compare Dermot Bolger (1959)

with the iconic Irish short story writer, William Trevor (1928-2016)

AbsoluteJoy…to read.

#CF Rex Stout

CF: crime and thrillers, both of which

have been granted something of a literary pass in recent years.

Popular formule: male protagonist has some personal issues

Nero Wolfe …never leaves the house to investigate a crime!

NW: orchid fancying ‘enfant terrible’

NW: eccentric/maverick who doesn’t follow the rules

NW: drinks beer and saves the bottle caps (why?)

NW: sidekick = Archie Goodwin optimistic-cynical dogsbody

I enjoyed this book….many suspects have secrets that create

unexpected twists and turns in the plot!

Feedback @Tracy Bitter Tea and Mystery

Tracy, I’m having great fun discovering all the crime fiction can offer! Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout did not disappoint!! I’ve never really ready many CF…thinking I have to rend NF (politics, news) or classics. But there is an art to creating a riveting plot, false clues, believable characters and snappy dialogue! The humor Agatha Christie inserts in Hercule Poirot novels is delightful. I feel like a kid with a box of candy…open he cover and which one shall I choose now? You will see I’m often prowling around your blog (archive) and and loving 2013 From CF to Film and the ABC of CF. My reviews are short b/c I know there are so many experts who can supply us with insightful comments. I’m just happy to enjoy the experience “riding on your CF coattails!”

#Non-fiction Carol Leonnig

No one does research like The Washington Post’s investigative

journalist Carol Leonnig.

She never disappoints!

This is a eye-opening account of the rise and fall of the Secret Service

…from JFK to Trump.

Some sections were less interesting than others

due to my knowledge of the events during Nixon and Clinton’s era.

There are still some very interesting ‘tidbits’ to discover!

Personally…I never knew that Secret Service agents

were out ‘hard’ boozing the night before they were to protect JFK in Dallas.

#DerelictionOfDuty

The US President Joe Biden in now on his first foreign trip to UK

for G7 meeting.

I’m watching the images of the Secret Service closely

and with respect for what they do.

Great read (published May 2021) for the non-fiction lovers!

#Non-fiction Ronan Farrow

Catch and Kill (Ronan Farrow) …is his bombshell exposé (Oct 2017)

about serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests

hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost

… from Hollywood to Washington and beyond.

The main focus is on Harvey Weinstien

….and his sexual abuse of many young women.

Riveting to read how Farrow’s article was blocked by NBC News.

Farrow was spied upon by ex Mossad operatives and he finally

published the article in the brave magazine The New Yorker.

Weinstein? powerful man…but still brought to his knees by the truth!

If you love details…this is your book.

If you just “want the facts”

then I’d recommend reading Ronan Farrow’s article

dd. 10 October 2017 in The New Yorker.

So whatever your preference…the book/article is worth reading!

Catch and Kill: Fast-burning page turner,

I couldn’t put it down

…intelligent #InvestigativeJournalism.

#CF William Shaw

The book started out with a very clever “hook”

that keeps the reader guessing!

Subplot ‘birdwatching with young 15 yr girl’ (daughter of copper)

was a too drawn out.

Listening to a Gen Z teenager complain

about her school does not drive the plot at all!

I felt the flashbacks to “The Troubles” in No Ireland

at times broke the flow of the mystery at hand.

All in all a good read….but not great.

I enjoyed Agatha Christie’s “Mrs. Mcginty’s Dead” much more!

She is still #QueenOfMystery!

#CF Agatha Christie

I don’t read many CF books.

Real CF aficionados mention that this is NOT

Agatha Christie’s best work.

Well, I am in for a treat!

I thought this book was wonderful….

…and if it was not her best book

…I’m looking forward to more of Ms Christie’s

mysteries!

BravoAgatha!

#AWW2021 Reaching Tin River

It’s hard to dislike this book b/c 
I admire Thea Astley as a writer
…but it is hard to defend it.

Ms Astely’s first novels were dazzling….
filled with autobiographical tidbits and
a dense almost poetic style.

“Reachng Tin River” was her last novel
and she felt pressured to produce a novel
every 2 years..or you’re dead meat.

Ms Astely wrote 5 drafts of this book and
I am afraid that was not enough to create a 
book I will long remember. On the contrary
…I’ll forget this one after today.