Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Very well done, 10 Nov 2004
"Almost French" is the story of a woman who goes to France to visit a French lawyer she has only met a couple times before and barely knows. Of course, she gets caught up in the romance of the city and stays on to live there. Despite this description this is not some drippy love story but rather a wonderfully observant series of accounts told from a journalists point of view. For those who have visited Paris, and those yet to make the trip, this book will amaze and entertain you. Turnbull comes to the realization that despite the fact that she will never fit in perfectly in Paris, her life is in and of itself perfect. I especially enjoyed the day to day accounts of regular everyday life - dinner parties, meeting friends, finding employment, traveling, cooking, shopping, etc. The accounts of her dog are very amusing. I hope to see a follow up book from this author! From the author of The Difference Now.
|
|
|
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
A Cure for Culture Shock, 13 Jan 2004
An young Aussie journalist charges into France, determined to win it over. France resists.Some of the best non-fiction of any kind is written by journalists. Turnbull's open and straightforward style works well here. Her narrative reads like a series of letters from a good friend, but the writing is too good for it to have been dashed off. I loved reading about her dinner parties (disaster), getting along with her future in-laws (disaster), and learning to reconcile Australian casualness with Parisian attention to appearance (less of a disaster once her boyfriend talked her into tossing the sweat pants). I was especially taken with how Turnbull managed to re-started her career in a country whose language she had flunked in college. What determination!
|
|
|
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
Learn how to get on in Paris..., 19 April 2006
On her backpacking travels around Europe, 20 something Australian, Sarah Turnbull, meets Frenchman, Frederic, who invites her to Paris for a week. A week turns into eight years as she finds herself married to Frederic and throwing out her beloved tracksuit bottoms in a bid to look more sophisticated in one of the most fashion conscious capitals of the world!
Relocating to another country proves to be quite a trial for Sarah Turnbull as she comes across inevitable differences in culture and a different way of life which are at first testing, but which she comes to embrace.
This non-fiction novel offers an insightful and often witty account from an expat's point of view. We follow her on her journey as she commits faux pas ranging from being too gregarious at swank parties and not pampering her pooch to the Parisian standard to wearing her "pantaloons de jogging" on her early morning run to the bakery (wrong, wrong, wrong!) and laughing too loudly! Things that she takes for granted in Sydney are not quite so acceptable in Paris, but she comes to learn, understand and accept how things work.
Over the years, she gets work as a freelance journalist, learns how to conduct herself at Parisian dinner parties and how to evade strict planning permission laws. She also gets used to the heavy bureaucracy and waiting her turn in the cheese shop. Eventually, Sarah becomes accustomed to the French way of life and overcomes her difficulties to become almost French.
This book would appeal to anyone who has an interest in France, and in particular, Paris. It is educational, without being patronising or disrespectful towards the French. Each chapter is informative, and I for one learnt a number of things that I wasn't aware of before, such as why in many cases it takes time to befriend the Parisians and how attached the French are to the region they grew up in. Sarah Turnbull presents a fair, and warm story, dispelling some French stereotypes, and proving others.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book, particularly the sections on fashion (namely haute couture), Parisian women, food and the general descriptions of Paris and it's many "arrondissements", or neighbourhoods. There is a lot of attention to detail, with every place, person and object described to paint a vivid picture in the mind of the reader.
"Almost French, a New Life in Paris" is an easy read, and if you plan to visit France, or Paris for a prolonged period of time, then definitely give this book a read, after all, you never know, a week's stay might just turn into eight years...
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
(31)
£7.49
(8)
£4.99
(1)
£8.44
![More More France Please: The Little Lusts and Secrets of Life in France [NEW UPDATED EDITION 100 NEW PAGES]: The Little Lusts and Secrets of Life in France](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51A7tEOoqFL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
(16 customer reviews)
(1)
(
