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Flâneuse: Frauen erobern die Stadt - in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venedig und London by Lauren Elkin
skyeingram's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
mindthebook's review against another edition
5.0
En bok jag alltid vill ha i min närhet och jag sörjer att den nu är utläst.
Radioprogram: Litteraturens städer byggs av män
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/avsnitt/848630?programid=503
Radioprogram: Litteraturens städer byggs av män
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/avsnitt/848630?programid=503
chailatte18's review against another edition
2.0
From a young urban planner's perspective, this book was disappointing.
It was touted by urban planning media and newsgroups as an urban planning book that talks about women and their experiences walking in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London. And sure, the very first chapter really went into some urban planning history in New York and that got me SUPER excited. Beyond that first chapter, though...the rest of the book was a huge letdown.
What I expected was a book about different women who live in these places [in the modern era] to explain their experiences of living in and exploring these cities by foot. What you get is the author telling you HER experiences and then throwing in unknown female artists from decades to centuries ago (photographers, videographers and filmmakers, literary writers, etc) and quoting what flaneusing meant to them....except 90% of the time, it wasn't about explaining what flaneusing was, but rather, what their personal lives were like (who they married, where they traveled, where their homes were...it was basically a book of Lauren raving about these women artists and their lives, highlighting particularly on the Parisian artists).
I didn't pick up this book to read about the personal lives of artists I've never heard of. I picked it up to learn what is a modern woman's experience walking in these cities (I'm completely aware that women felt unsafe walking around in large cities in the 1800s and weren't allowed to go traipsing around on their own most times because...men). I also picked it up to get some urban planning history maybe thrown in ("a woman's experience walking in London is like this because the streets were designed as such..."). THAT is an example of what I wanted to find. I did not find that in this book, and so for that I give it two stars. I should give it less because the chapter on Tokyo was especially disheartening (Lady, I don't care how much you hated Tokyo and let your boyfriend at the time sour your experience there...I also don't care how much you love Paris and want to live there so goddamn bad and cried at a customs officer who asked you why you're in Paris and you tell him "I'm not here illegally, I consider Paris home as much as you do! Just leave me alone to wallow in self-pity for having to travel back home to my family in New York because my visa expired and the French government refuses to accept my application for citizenship! Life fucking blows!").
If you want to read a book about one lady's EXTREME love of Paris (she brings it up in EVERY chapter even though she was supposed to be focusing on Italy, or England, or the US, or Japan....she kept derailing and going back to Paris because she loves it so much) and have 90% of the book just be her discussing the artistic viewpoints of women artists from the 1800-1900s (I don't care about why this movie was filmed the way it was or why this photograph was taken and what it represents), then this is totally for you! Obviously, I hated this book. It might suit others, but for me it just wasn't my taste and ended up being a big fat disappointment. Sorry.
It was touted by urban planning media and newsgroups as an urban planning book that talks about women and their experiences walking in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London. And sure, the very first chapter really went into some urban planning history in New York and that got me SUPER excited. Beyond that first chapter, though...the rest of the book was a huge letdown.
What I expected was a book about different women who live in these places [in the modern era] to explain their experiences of living in and exploring these cities by foot. What you get is the author telling you HER experiences and then throwing in unknown female artists from decades to centuries ago (photographers, videographers and filmmakers, literary writers, etc) and quoting what flaneusing meant to them....except 90% of the time, it wasn't about explaining what flaneusing was, but rather, what their personal lives were like (who they married, where they traveled, where their homes were...it was basically a book of Lauren raving about these women artists and their lives, highlighting particularly on the Parisian artists).
I didn't pick up this book to read about the personal lives of artists I've never heard of. I picked it up to learn what is a modern woman's experience walking in these cities (I'm completely aware that women felt unsafe walking around in large cities in the 1800s and weren't allowed to go traipsing around on their own most times because...men). I also picked it up to get some urban planning history maybe thrown in ("a woman's experience walking in London is like this because the streets were designed as such..."). THAT is an example of what I wanted to find. I did not find that in this book, and so for that I give it two stars. I should give it less because the chapter on Tokyo was especially disheartening (Lady, I don't care how much you hated Tokyo and let your boyfriend at the time sour your experience there...I also don't care how much you love Paris and want to live there so goddamn bad and cried at a customs officer who asked you why you're in Paris and you tell him "I'm not here illegally, I consider Paris home as much as you do! Just leave me alone to wallow in self-pity for having to travel back home to my family in New York because my visa expired and the French government refuses to accept my application for citizenship! Life fucking blows!").
If you want to read a book about one lady's EXTREME love of Paris (she brings it up in EVERY chapter even though she was supposed to be focusing on Italy, or England, or the US, or Japan....she kept derailing and going back to Paris because she loves it so much) and have 90% of the book just be her discussing the artistic viewpoints of women artists from the 1800-1900s (I don't care about why this movie was filmed the way it was or why this photograph was taken and what it represents), then this is totally for you! Obviously, I hated this book. It might suit others, but for me it just wasn't my taste and ended up being a big fat disappointment. Sorry.
juli_mod's review
3.0
Wäre ich mit anderen Erwartungen an dieses Buch gegangen, hätte es mir dann besser gefallen? Erhofft hatte ich mir einen Band, in dem die Autorin ihre eigenen Eindrücke beim Flanieren an verschiedenen Orten schildert oder Essays über die Kunst des Flanierens. Und in den Momenten, in denen das Buch am besten ist (Vorwort, Tokio), sind wir auch besonders nah an Lauren Elkins Gefühlswelt dran.
Lange Strecken dazwischen bilden jedoch essayhafte Literaturbetrachtungen über Schriftstellerinnen, die durch Orte wandelten. Das gefiel mir mal richtig gut (Woolf in London), meistens aber nicht (alle Pariskapitel). Die Idee, diese Frauen als Trittbrett für eigene geistige Abenteuer zu nutzen, zündet leider oft nicht, sodass dieses Buch über weite Strecken langweilt. Aber vielleicht ist da so, wenn man durch ein gedankenvolles Buch flaniert, ist das ähnlich wie ein Spaziergang durch eine Innenstadt. Nicht jeder Meter ist denkwürdig, aber ab und zu taucht ein besonderer Moment des Innenhaltens auf.
Lange Strecken dazwischen bilden jedoch essayhafte Literaturbetrachtungen über Schriftstellerinnen, die durch Orte wandelten. Das gefiel mir mal richtig gut (Woolf in London), meistens aber nicht (alle Pariskapitel). Die Idee, diese Frauen als Trittbrett für eigene geistige Abenteuer zu nutzen, zündet leider oft nicht, sodass dieses Buch über weite Strecken langweilt. Aber vielleicht ist da so, wenn man durch ein gedankenvolles Buch flaniert, ist das ähnlich wie ein Spaziergang durch eine Innenstadt. Nicht jeder Meter ist denkwürdig, aber ab und zu taucht ein besonderer Moment des Innenhaltens auf.