expendablemudge's review
5.0
Rating: 4.75* of five
Oh goddesses. I miss this kind of book. An erudite, educated woman of talent has a hobbyhorse...Belle Epoque Paris in this case...studies up on it, learns the nuances and the subtleties of it, applies its lessons and felicities, its warnings and infelicities, to her own time, and serves a potage soufflé (which yes yes I know is an oxymoron) of delight and wonder to her readers.
All five hundred of us.
The last time I know of that this sort of book was brought out by a major publisher was [b:Butterfly Cooing Like a Dove|1715771|Butterfly Cooing Like a Dove|Miriam Rothschild|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387715190s/1715771.jpg|1713079], or permaybehaps the kids' books by Danielle Steel when I worked as a production manager at Delacorte Books for Young Readers. In neither of those cases did I receive the pleasure that this bagatelle of a book gave me.
I wonder if most modern readers wouldn't be best advised to avoid it. The names won't mean much to them. The culture is as alien as the earth can offer. The need to know about the players of a game long, long over is negligible and the pleasures of a frivolous class of wealthy people can be readily accessed on social media. Doesn't sound like something that'll roar up the bestseller lists, even on Amazon.
Monoglot Anglophones *strongly* cautioned.
Oh goddesses. I miss this kind of book. An erudite, educated woman of talent has a hobbyhorse...Belle Epoque Paris in this case...studies up on it, learns the nuances and the subtleties of it, applies its lessons and felicities, its warnings and infelicities, to her own time, and serves a potage soufflé (which yes yes I know is an oxymoron) of delight and wonder to her readers.
All five hundred of us.
The last time I know of that this sort of book was brought out by a major publisher was [b:Butterfly Cooing Like a Dove|1715771|Butterfly Cooing Like a Dove|Miriam Rothschild|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387715190s/1715771.jpg|1713079], or permaybehaps the kids' books by Danielle Steel when I worked as a production manager at Delacorte Books for Young Readers. In neither of those cases did I receive the pleasure that this bagatelle of a book gave me.
I wonder if most modern readers wouldn't be best advised to avoid it. The names won't mean much to them. The culture is as alien as the earth can offer. The need to know about the players of a game long, long over is negligible and the pleasures of a frivolous class of wealthy people can be readily accessed on social media. Doesn't sound like something that'll roar up the bestseller lists, even on Amazon.
Monoglot Anglophones *strongly* cautioned.
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