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Cargando... (Not Quite) Mastering the Art of French Livingpor Mark Greenside
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Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. It's been about a decade since Greenside purchased his second home in the Brittany area of France. This book, rather that being strictly chronological, hits a lot of the high points over the years as he navigates social niceties, finance, medical care, accidents and the like in his second home. I liked hearing about the people who have become his good friends and how now, after all this time, Madame P can be Yvonne. Greenside presents a familiar tale of visiting France, falling in love with it, and purchasing a home there. You know the type, the American who buys a 100+ year old house, and then shortly thereafter writes a book about his experiences. The difference in this book is that he has continued spending his summers there for around twenty five years. The book draws on much deeper details than one of someone who has only been there a year or two. Greenside has spent enough time there that you think he should practically be a native, but, as he very capably describes, that hasn't happened. He admits the terrible time he has with the French language. The adventures in driving. The surprises he finds when needing medical attention, or dealing with banking. And the best part of all, the food. It seems the author is willing to eat anything! His descriptions make the book worth it by themselves. Through the years, he has found a core group of friends in France who are willing to help the American. With their help, he survives, maybe even thrives. He is unflinching in his descriptions of his mistakes, as well as the successes. In what I think makes a book a sucess, is the fact that I really think the author is someone who I could be friends with, who I can relate to, and who I would enjoy exploring with. To me, that is what I really want in a book. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
Every year upon arriving in Plobien, the small Breton town where he spends his summers, American writer Mark Greenside picks back up where he left off with his faux-pas-filled Francophile life. Mellowed and humbled, but not daunted (OK, slightly daunted), he faces imminent concerns: What does he cook for a French person? Who has the right-of-way when entering or exiting a roundabout? Where does he pay for a parking ticket? And most dauntingly of all, when can he touch the tomatoes? Despite the two decades that have passed since Greenside's snap decision to buy a house in Brittany and begin a bi-continental life, the quirks of French living still manage to confound him. Continuing the journey begun in his 2009 memoir about beginning life in France, (Not Quite) Mastering the Art of French Living details Greenside's daily adventures in his adopted French home, where the simplest tasks are never straightforward but always end in a great story. Through some hits and lots of misses, he learns the rules of engagement, how he gets what he needs-which is not necessarily what he thinks he wants-and how to be grateful and thankful when (especially when) he fails, which is more often than he can believe. Introducing the English-speaking world to the region of Brittany in the tradition of Peter Mayle's homage to Provence, Mark Greenside's first book, I'll Never Be French, continues to be among the bestselling books about the region today. Experienced Francophiles and armchair travelers alike will delight in this new chapter exploring the practical and philosophical questions of French life, vividly brought to life by Greenside's humor and affection for his community. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)944.10839092History and Geography Europe France and region Brittany; Maine; AnjouClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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