Paris Noir: The Secret History of a City
Contents:
About the Author Jacques Yonnet was a French writer and poet. Dedalus Limited March 15, Language: Print edition purchase must be sold by Amazon. Thousands of books are eligible, including current and former best sellers. Look for the Kindle MatchBook icon on print and Kindle book detail pages of qualifying books.
Paris Noir: The Secret History of a City
Print edition must be purchased new and sold by Amazon. Gifting of the Kindle edition at the Kindle MatchBook price is not available.
Learn more about Kindle MatchBook. Start reading Paris Noir: Don't have a Kindle? Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features: Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Showing of 3 reviews.
- Slavery: Where Did It Come From?.
- Paris Noir: The Secret History of a City: Jacques Yonnet: www.farmersmarketmusic.com: Books?
- Living in Love.
- September Ten?
Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. This book is the most amazing books I've ever read and yet, it's constantly out of print.
- ?
- The Apostle (The Bethesda Wars Book 10).
- Paris Noir: The Secret History of a City by Jacques Yonnet!
- The Art and Life of Clarence Major!
It was written during the Vichy France by a member of the French Resistance. It has a fascinating collection of characters, including the city of Paris herself. Yet it is a book that refuses to be classified as a 'history' source book, a 'travel guide' or an 'account of the supernatural'. I can recommend it for WWII history students, people interested in Parisian history, Dan Brown lovers he stole from this book to , people who ask questions, people who like tall tales or accounts of the supernatural.
Please buy it, so that I can keep it in print for my great, great grandchildren's children! Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. I absolutely loved this book! The "real" Paris, before and during the War, written in a wonderful and interesting manner. I would highly recommend this if you are interested in the history of Paris. One person found this helpful. See all 3 reviews.
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. The Secret History of a City. Set up a giveaway. Customers who bought this item also bought. The History of an Occupation, The French Fight Against the Nazis. Pages with related products. The City as living organism! It's simply marvelous as both a record and something more, something larger, perhaps a desperate attempt to capture a transient snapshot during a moment in time when it was feasible that Paris as Yonnet knew it would cease to exist in a few years no matter how hard he was working to defuse that possibility.
How often can one say that about a book! The community he captures is fractured and wounded, attempting to find equilibrium from old models, while existing in new, damaged forms interesting how the Nazis, inadvertently, force solidarity among misfits. You will meet fags in the most honest sense , whores also in the most honest sense , junk dealers, and naive newcomers.
Frequently bought together
Lesbian chanteuses, drunks and fallen priests. All the human flotsam and jetsam, all the vagrants, street crazies, beggars and con-men are noted and recorded.
Fire-magic skills passed down through families in secret, but diminishing strength in the passing How often can one say that about a book! But he ought to shut up. Want to Read saving…. A hotel room which if occupied with the right woman will force only the truth to be spoken It makes me want to do two things: Eventually I felt as though I'd gotten enough of it, even though it's still fairly enjoyable.
Marvel at "The Sleeper", who heals people while he sleeps and his eventual undoing. Puzzle over "The Old Man Who Appears After Midnight" essentially, like a real-life, sardonic version of the old DC comic book character The Phantom Stranger who always appears and disappears unexpectedly, after providing a word of advice Real humans living real lives in real moments of time. Through breezy snapshots, you will hear murmurings of: Fire-magic skills passed down through families in secret, but diminishing strength in the passing A lesson in the obscure derivation of certain French words The sealed, ancient cellars of mystery on exploration divulging nothing, or possibly a terrible occult evil Tattoos Satanic bat tattoos, tattooed penises and their importance and the magical rituals used to empower them Squalid death and the honor of drunks and bums A certain avenue with many names but secretly known as Witchcraft Street A femme fatale whose luck runs out Gypsy magic, curses, secrets the true meaning of the Christian cross and why Gypsies are not constrained by time or space and cannibal rites to insure regal inheritance Special watches that run backwards to keep the owner young or halt their aging Random, coincidental and violent deaths Obscure, tiny drinking establishments hidden in antique stores Accidental hypnotic thralldom and its terrible repercussions A history of "The Bohemians" The "Temporal Void" and how to find it A British war scientist who collects occult artifacts and investigates secret societies, connected to a network of exorcists and defrocked priests A hotel room which if occupied with the right woman will force only the truth to be spoken A group of storytellers who help undermine the Nazis by circulating specially tailored, subversive tall tales Ritual sacrifice to restore the balance between "The Law" and "honest crooks" A prototype of the Sweeney Todd legend Shrimps fed on drowned suicides The power of mummified ears Revenge by puppet magic There's a lurching, charmingly ramshackle quality to the writing a book best read with a few under the belt, it should be noted , the imagery and dramatic absurdity, at times, seems informed by the Surrealists.
Social conventions are noted and undermined with a deft observational stroke. Yonnet is a wonderfully inquisitive interlocutor with his subjects, teasing out details. Also, one almost gets a sense that this endless recording and categorizing of scattershot stories acts as a stress release for him from the pressures of Resistance espionage at one point involving double agents and the need to quietly dismember a body.
Would that one could retroactively re-weave reality so that every city, every locale, at every time period, had such a document created that preserved its secret history so, inscribed with such patience and insight! Honestly, one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read! View all 5 comments. It is hard to fit this book into a single category; it could be either the author memoir of the years of Nazi occupation and post liberation, a collection of gothic tales or a study of Paris dark underbelly.
Jacques Yonnet was born in , an artist painter and sculptor as well as writer he was also a WWII French partisan, actively participating in the Resistance in Paris. The book is a portrait of a long-gone and colourful cast of characters who populated the city secret corners and used to congregate in the rundown and ill-reputed bars and cafes on the banks of the Seine: There are wonderful and extraordinary tales, often with dark undertones, there are stories of love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge, murder stories others are tall tales of the occult, belonging to an unreal world.
I found the language fascinating, I wish I could read the original but the English translation must suffice for me. Perhaps, it is best to let some lines speak for themselves; here are some examples: The Seine is sulking.
Paris Noir: The Secret History of a City - Jacques Yonnet - Google Книги
This river is no easy mistress. They get through life on the crutches of their dreams. Tramps laden with their bags emerged like moles out of dark warrens. It was the kind of light that rests on your shoulders the way a cat lies on your lap. A wholesale ragman these days. But he ought to shut up. And here is my favourite: He has the audacity to solicit at the entrance to the hotel opposite.
This human detritus claims to be an hermaphrodite. I never heard of Yonnet and I am glad to have found his book among GR recommendations. The stories of the supernatural view spoiler [ include exorcism hide spoiler ] are quite unbelievable and sceptic as I am I read these as creative make-believes. The book is not perfect; I found it a bit disjointed, i. Feb 17, Eamon Loingsigh rated it really liked it. This book is full of mysticism, sexuality and resistance.
I enjoyed it even as it meandered from one off-shoot story to the next background narrative. The resilience of the French after defeat from the Nazi onslaught was an artistic and wholly French affair where the ghost of Villon is conjured in order to aid the noble rebels to the slyest undermine of their occupiers. Dec 28, Clare rated it it was amazing. This is one of the great books of the twentieth centaury and yet, nobody has read it!
It is a complex book and defies classification; it is a travel guide, a collection of odd short stories, crime fiction, a useful historical source and a hymn to the city of Paris. I first read this book when I was studying the French Resistance during WWII, yet the book is far more than a historical account of a member of the Resistance.
It is haunting and secretive, as if Jacques was whispering directly in you This is one of the great books of the twentieth centaury and yet, nobody has read it! It is haunting and secretive, as if Jacques was whispering directly in your ear. Paris is her own complex character but all of the people metaphysical or not , are extremely well drawn.
If you can find a copy as it is often out of print , grab several copies as you will want to share this gift with every reader you meet. These reviews are all true! Nov 22, Mason Jones rated it liked it Shelves: This is a funny review because I'll give the book 3 stars even though I didn't quite finish it. If the book were half its length I'd rate it higher.