Sunday, April 25, 2010

Paris in the Spring with Picasso

Paris in the Spring with PicassoParis in the Spring with Picasso
by Marjorie Priceman, pictures by Marjorie Priceman, Schwartz & Wade, 2010.

This is a book that I thought was going to be right up my alley and on a certain level, it succeeds. I confess, even my French major, literature clogged memory had to wrestle quite a bit to recall the works of Guillaume Apollinaire.

Having made numerous personal pilgrimages to Shakespeare and Company in Paris, I truly embraced the spirit of this book.

For young readers, one has the sense that these artists and writers were "somebody?" but the lovely meander through early 20th century Paris does not evoke much unless you are already familiar with the personalities here. I highly recommend the book for students of the Montparnasse artists, poets and writers. I think this is a book that would be a great addition to a high school library where art, literature and language students will benefit.

So, "good on ya" for folks in the know and a "wha?" for elementary readers who will probably not appreciate the Montparnasse artistic movement depicted here.

I DID adore Marjorie Priceman's illustrations. They evoke Paris with every stroke. Ses illustrations sont tout à fait géniales et très beaux!

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