The Red Notebook
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Romance, Humor & Entertainment
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Romance, Humor & Entertainment
Book Type: Paperback
Light as a feather, but very elegant and enjoyable.
OK, let's get this straight: this is not my usual thing. Reading for a book group (ooooh, the responsibility ...!!), I was sorely tempted to construct a brown-paper cover, to maintain my street-cred. Or cut the cover off a spare copy of a China Mieville or Jeff Vandermeer novel.
And ... I enjoyed it!
Possibly the Paris setting, which feels like it's written by someone who knows and loves the best and worst of Paris. (Not someone who is creating the "Paris" that tourists want to hear about.) Possibly because the two main characters are more complicated than I was expecting: both of them (for different reasons) sad individuals, who have been Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places, but not what I think of as typical romance-fodder at all. (Oh, yes, of course they are both drop-dead gorgeous, in a mature, low-key sort of way: they are French, for goodness sake. They take away your passport there, if you're not gorgeous ...)
But what I like is the way that Laurain handles his simple, gentle little story: woman is mugged, and loses her handbag. The mugger scores only 40 Euro and a cellphone, but she has lost all those precious little treasures that many of us cart around with us. Bookseller Laurent finds her discarded handbag -- wallet and cellphone, and all other identifying contents gone -- and becomes obsessed with finding its owner and restoring precious treasurers, including the eponymous red notebook, to her. Becomes obsessed with her, as a matter of fact. Cue confusions, and misunderstandings, and a gentle walk through the lives of some charming (and not-so-charming) Parisiens ...
Some reviewers have objected that Laurent's behavior is creepy -- borderline stalking -- aaaand, er, yeah. And no. Laurent knows what he's doing isn't exactly right, and his own shock at his "bad behavior" is part of what makes it interesting. For the second time in his life, he's doing something completely uncharacteristic. AND, if you think about it too hard, what Great Romance isn't borderline creepy? Abelard was Heloise's tutor (and much older ...). Juliet was 13 years old ...
I'd say, settle back and enjoy ...
OK, let's get this straight: this is not my usual thing. Reading for a book group (ooooh, the responsibility ...!!), I was sorely tempted to construct a brown-paper cover, to maintain my street-cred. Or cut the cover off a spare copy of a China Mieville or Jeff Vandermeer novel.
And ... I enjoyed it!
Possibly the Paris setting, which feels like it's written by someone who knows and loves the best and worst of Paris. (Not someone who is creating the "Paris" that tourists want to hear about.) Possibly because the two main characters are more complicated than I was expecting: both of them (for different reasons) sad individuals, who have been Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places, but not what I think of as typical romance-fodder at all. (Oh, yes, of course they are both drop-dead gorgeous, in a mature, low-key sort of way: they are French, for goodness sake. They take away your passport there, if you're not gorgeous ...)
But what I like is the way that Laurain handles his simple, gentle little story: woman is mugged, and loses her handbag. The mugger scores only 40 Euro and a cellphone, but she has lost all those precious little treasures that many of us cart around with us. Bookseller Laurent finds her discarded handbag -- wallet and cellphone, and all other identifying contents gone -- and becomes obsessed with finding its owner and restoring precious treasurers, including the eponymous red notebook, to her. Becomes obsessed with her, as a matter of fact. Cue confusions, and misunderstandings, and a gentle walk through the lives of some charming (and not-so-charming) Parisiens ...
Some reviewers have objected that Laurent's behavior is creepy -- borderline stalking -- aaaand, er, yeah. And no. Laurent knows what he's doing isn't exactly right, and his own shock at his "bad behavior" is part of what makes it interesting. For the second time in his life, he's doing something completely uncharacteristic. AND, if you think about it too hard, what Great Romance isn't borderline creepy? Abelard was Heloise's tutor (and much older ...). Juliet was 13 years old ...
I'd say, settle back and enjoy ...
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