Something to Declare: Essays on France and French Culture (Vintage International)

Anyone who loves France (or just feels strongly about it), or has succumbed to the spell of Julian Barnes’s previous books, will be enraptured by this collection of essays on the country and its culture. Barnes’s appreciation extends from France’s vanishing peasantry to its hyper-literate pop singers, from the gleeful iconoclasm of __nouvelle vague__ cinema to the orgy of drugs and suffering that is the Tour de France. Above all, Barnes is an unparalleled connoisseur of French writing and writers. Here are the prolific and priapic Simenon, Baudelaire, Sand and Sartre, and several dazzling excursions on the prickly genius of Flaubert. Lively yet discriminating in its enthusiasm, seemingly infinite in its range of reference, and written in prose as stylish as __haute couture,__ **Something to Declare** is an unadulterated joy.

anyone Who Loves France (or Just Feels Strongly About It), Or Has Succumbed To The Spell Of Julian Barnes’s Previous Books, Will Be Enraptured By This Collection Of Essays On The Country And Its Culture.

barnes’s Appreciation Extends From France’s Vanishing Peasantry To Its Hyper-literate Pop Singers, From The Gleeful Iconoclasm Of nouvelle Vague Cinema To The Orgy Of Drugs And Suffering That Is The Tour De France. Above All, Barnes Is An Unparalleled Connoisseur Of French Writing And Writers. Here Are The Prolific And Priapic Simenon, Baudelaire, Sand And Sartre, And Several Dazzling Excursions On The Prickly Genius Of Flaubert. Lively Yet Discriminating In Its Enthusiasm, Seemingly Infinite In Its Range Of Reference, And Written In Prose As Stylish As haute Couture, something To Declare Is An Unadulterated Joy.

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dazzling, Clever And Immensely Knowledgeable, Barnes Is Best Known For His Novels, Including The Highly Inventive Flaubert's Parrot. The Author's Latest Book Documents His Long Love Affair With France, Collecting Twenty Years Of Essays On French Subjects. Barnes Discusses The Songs Of Boris Vian, Jacques Brel And Georges Brassens; The History Of And Controversy Surrounding The Tour De France; The Films Of François Truffaut And Jean-luc Godard; And The Literary Lives Of Charles Baudelaíre, Stéphane Mallarmé, Georges Simenon And George Sand. Many Of The Essays Are Devoted To Gustav Flaubert, Whom Barnes Considers The Writer's Writer Par Excellence, The Saint And Martyr Of Literature—the Creator Of The Modern Novel With Madame Bovary. These Pieces On The Great Nineteenth-century Novelist Offer Ample Rewards For The Curious And Interested. In Fact, The Final Essay, An Exquisite And Precise Analysis Of A Minor Character In Madame Bovary, Is One Of The Most Engaging And Useful Literary Pieces I've Ever Read. In His Nonfiction As In His Novels, Barnes Is Always A Masterful Host And Performer, A Writer With A Lively Mind Who Can Be Skeptical Yet Appreciative.

For anyone who loves France (or just feels strongly about it) comes a “beautifully written” collection of essays (The New York Times Book Review) on the country and its culture—from the bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of The Sense of an Ending. Julian Barnes's appreciation extends from France's vanishing peasantry to its hyper-literate pop singers, from the gleeful iconoclasm of nouvelle vague cinema to the orgy of drugs and suffering that is the Tour de France. Above all, Barnes is an unparalleled connoisseur of French writing and writers. Here are the prolific and priapic Simenon, Baudelaire, Sand and Sartre, and several dazzling excursions on the prickly genius of Flaubert. Lively yet discriminating in its enthusiasm, seemingly infinite in its range of reference, and written in prose as stylish as haute couture, Something to Declare is an unadulterated joy. Anyone who loves France (or just feels strongly about it), or has succumbed to the spell of Julian Barnes's previous books, will be enraptured by this collection of essays on the country and its culture. Barnes's appreciation extends from France's vanishing peasantry to its hyper-literate pop singers, from the gleeful iconoclasm of nouvelle vague cinema to the orgy of drugs and suffering that is the Tour de France. Above all, Barnes is an unparalleled connoisseur of French writing and writers. Here are the prolific and priapic Simenon, Baudelaire, Sand and Sartre, and several dazzling excursions on the prickly genius of Flaubert. Lively yet discriminating in its enthusiasm, seemingly infinite in its range of reference, and written in prose as stylish as haute couture, Something to Declare is an unadulterated joy.From the Trade Paperback edition. Anyone who loves France (or just feels strongly about it), or has succumbed to the spell of Julian Barnes?s previous books, will be enraptured by this collection of essays on the country and its culture. Barnes?s appreciation extends from France?s vanishing peasantry to its hyper-literate pop singers, from the gleeful iconoclasm of nouvelle vague cinema to the orgy of drugs and suffering that is the Tour de France. Above all, Barnes is an unparalleled connoisseur of French writing and writers. Here are the prolific and priapic Simenon, Baudelaire, Sand and Sartre, and several dazzling excursions on the prickly genius of Flaubert. Lively yet discriminating in its enthusiasm, seemingly infinite in its range of reference, and written in prose as stylish as haute couture, Something to Declare is an unadulterated joy. From the Trade Paperback edition Annotation Anyone who loves France (or just feels strongly about it), or has succumbed to the spell of Julian Barnes's previous books, will be enraptured by this collection of essays on the country and its culture. Barnes's appreciation extends from France's vanishing peasantry to its hyper-literate pop singers, from the gleeful iconoclasm of "nouvelle vague cinema to the orgy of drugs and suffering that is the Tour de France. Above all, Barnes is an unparalleled connoisseur of French writing and writers. Here are the prolific and priapic Simenon, Baudelaire, Sand and Sartre, and several dazzling excursions on the prickly genius of Flaubert. Lively yet discriminating in its enthusiasm, seemingly infinite in its range of reference, and written in prose as stylish as "haute couture, Something to Declare is an unadulterated joy In the spring of 1998 I was on a walking holiday in the Vercors, south of Grenoble.