April in Paris

My heart was heavy and my thoughts troubled when I finished reading Sarah’s Key a few weeks ago. Like most readers, I love a happy ending; a sigh as I tread softly on the words in the epilogue, a smile and a hop to my step. Sarah’s Key, however, left me with a sad heart and with an interest in learning more about Nazi occupied Paris and the French Resistance. As I rumbled about finding the next book to read, there on the very bottom of the pile was a book I managed to retrieve for $1 from a library bin, thinking it was Midnight in Paris, and discovering it was something quite different.

Quite different, indeed.

Roth is a German soldier stationed at a translator’s desk in a back office of Paris in 1943 where he transcribes innocuous papers. When it is discovered that he not only speaks fluent French, but that he speaks it without an accent, he is abruptly reassigned to SS headquarters where he translates for the Nazis during brutal interrogations of French Resistance fighters.

In his free time, Roth takes to donning civilian clothes, against military regulations, and wandering the streets of Paris, pretending to be a French citizen, Antoine. He sees a beautiful French woman outside of an antiquarian book store and becomes obsessed with meeting her. Chantal is not all she seems to be, however, and the story takes on dangerous multiple identities, putting Roth in compromising situations as he realizes Chantal is involved with the French Resistance – and she realizes he is a German soldier.

Michael Wallner’s book was at times pleasant as Roth wandered the street of Paris, and it was a quick read. It was also a troubling account of the Nazi interrogations and brutality, the fear and suspicion of the French citizens living under Nazi domination, and a glimpse into the seedier side of the salons and back streets of Paris nightlife.

While I would not say that this is the best written novel, it is a page turner that I suspect will be made into a movie. Wallner is a German actor and screenwriter. It is, however, a compelling and suspenseful read. I found the descriptions of Paris in 1943 engaging, especially as Wallner took us along with Roth down the side streets and the hidden spaces of the French Resistance.

There was also a brief scene where Roth, beaten and fighting for his life – for the Nazis do discover his duplicitous behavior and suspect him of collaborating with the Resistance – reflects on how he has spent his time riding between the two sides of wartime Paris, witnessing horrific interrogations as he sits and translates from one language to another, never expressing emotions, then pretending to be a Frenchman a short time later. I gave me time to pause and reflect on how we often straddle the fence on issues both large and small. How easy it is to tilt one’s head to the side and pretend to not see what is really there. How it is often easier to just let someone else worry or take care of “it”.  A good book, if not a great book, should give the reader a chance to pause and reflect and to endeavor to be a better person for reading it, don’t you agree?

Clarification: In saying that this is not the best written novel, I mean that some of the subplots I think could have been better developed and I had the feeling this was written with a movie in mind. Having said that, I must also say that this is a translation of a book originally written in German. I find it to be a very good translation, but, translations can sometimes miss certain meanings and such from the original. It is, at the end of the day, er read, a very good book. I hope you will read it.

There is a reference in the book to Maurice Chevalier singing a song about April in Paris (not the Doris Day song). I did a little hunting, and found this early recording that you might enjoy.

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In Time

I’ve been on a book buying diet, restricting my appetite for books, books, and more books, trying to use the library as much as possible. Of course, this holds its own temptations. I currently have seven books from three separate libraries lolling about, taking up room on the night stand and the back seat of the car. I always travel with a book. One never knows when a freight train will roll by.

With all the books at my disposal, I was in a bit of a quandary this weekend over what to read next. Does this ever happen to you, where nothing on the pile you so carefully acquired calls out? I kept picking up books and putting them down, frustrated at having some time to read and not finding quite what I wanted. I finally settled on a book I bought last summer for $1 in a book sale bin. April in Paris by Michael Wallner. It is another page turner in spite of its uncomfortable subject matter and after just finishing Sarah’s Key.

One thing led to another today as I pottered about here on the computer, deleting bookmarks no longer relevant, which is how I came across this YouTube video from the television series, The Twilight Zone. Did you ever watch the Twilight Zone? It was often frightening to me as a child and I still remember many of the episodes. There it was, bookmarked for some reason I no longer recall, waiting to be opened, reminding me to savor whatever time I have to read a book.

This one was featured on another blog some time ago. I can’t remember where I saw it, so, if it was yours, I hope you don’t mind me using it here. 

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While composing my thoughts

The weather has been beautiful here on the Cutoff and life on it a tad hectic. I thought you might like to see a few pictures until I have a have a chance to compose my thoughts.

Click on the pictures for better views.

We’ve seen quite a few equestrians trotting up and down our little road from the stable around the bend. When we first moved here, they would ride past, then seem to disappear. It took months for us to realize there was a narrow path into the forest preserves that they slipped into. I suspect that once into the deep, dark woods, they turn into unicorns.

Upon at late afternoon at the end of the week, I sat in the arbor, sipping on an iced tea, and finishing a my book. Sarah’s Key was a troubling read, though I couldn’t seem to put it down. When I finished, I sighed, looked up, and, as if to catch my mood, shadows crept upon the lawn. I needed to go for a walk.

It felt good to stretch my legs and shake the cobwebs out of my mind. Camera in hand, I walked to the front yard to see what nature had in store for me.

There are always surprises in a garden, don’t you agree? Tight buds in the morning can burst into flower by mid afternoon. Where blossoms once held court with their sweet bouquet on a gnarled branch, apples appear. In the blink of an afternoon, chives wear purple hats and start spreading their seeds and baby robins are suddenly fledglings while a swallowtail butterfly flutters by.

I walked about, taking pictures, oohing and exclaiming “aha”, pulling weeds, there are always weeds, and enjoying the warmth of the sun and the blooms of the peonies, starting to open . . .

. . . and anticipating what will soon “pop” open on this nodding stem.

What’s blooming these days near you?

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