This is another one of those books that I picked up at some distant point in the past. There’s a good chance it’s pre-2010, as I can’t find anything on here showing when I obtained it. It is a used book, it has a library stamp on the page edges and there’s a decent chance it came from Harvard Book Store as there was a bookmark stuck in it.
I know for a fact I would’ve picked it up because it has a bookshop in the title. Other than that, I have no idea why I would’ve grabbed it. Picking it up to read it was wild because I dove right in without re-reading the back and was caught off guard by the story.
The protagonist, Jean, runs a book apothecary from an old industrial boat in the Seine in Paris. He’s spent the last 20 or so years just existing and providing book remedies for the people of Paris to help cure their ailments. He’s found one book that has helped him with his grief, but hasn’t been able to move on. I thought the story was going to be about finding himself and a new love, and it was, but to me it was more about male friendship and platonic love than it was about finding romantic love.
In juxtaposition to the present tense story of Jean, we read Manon’s journal entries from the time she met Jean and left Jean. It’s bittersweet because we know how it ends and what sets of Jean’s journey from Paris and I found it to be a good break from the primary storyline. However, I wasn’t the biggest fan of how heavy it got as the primary storyline got lighter. It was very The Last Five Years vibes with stories going opposite directions, but less the stories than their experiences of the world. (Yes, I’m being purposefully vague.)
The minor characters really made the novel. Jean was great, but his traveling companions Max, an author that had an overwhelmingly successful debut novel and lives in the same building as Jean but avoids the world, and Salvatore, a chef chasing the impossible woman who he met once on the river, really brought life to the boat and helped Jean heal in ways that no book has been able to help him in the 20 years. Max helped Jean reflect on his own relationship with his parents and Salvatore provided the nourishing food and life experience that Jean’s state of just existence kept him from experiencing for so long in his stupor. Samy might’ve been my favorite character, but you’ll have to read the book to learn about them. They just brought a whimsical and (positively) chaotic vibe to the story that felt missing from the first part of the novel as the structure of Jean’s life was starting to become pliable.
There was an undercurrent of fantasticalness that bordered on the magic of Joanne Harris’ Chocolat, but never quite tipping into the truly magical. This came mostly from the characters and the changing nature of their relationships with themselves and each other. That to me is what made it worth reading. So many authors write characters through changes, but they rarely feel so natural and magical at the same time. In addition, the book apothecary providing books for healing and Jean’s encyclopedia of emotions, provided a bit of whimsy even from the very beginning when the book felt more sepia-toned with more colors slowly introduced until the novel bursts into full color and Jean begins truly living his life again.
Recommendation: Worth the read, but it takes quite a while to get going. George did an excellent job of walking the fine line between fantastical whimsy and structure. I was a little concerned in the beginning because of how slow it starts, but George (and credit is due to Simon Pare who translated the original German to English) did such a wonderful job of expanding Jean’s world with color and whimsy I couldn’t help but enjoy the read.
Opening Line: “How on earth could I have let them talk me into it?”
Closing Line: “He is making an entry under K: “Kitchen solace—the feeling that a delicious meal is simmering on the kitchen stove, misting up the windows, and that at any moment your lover will sit down to dinner with you, and between mouthfuls, gaze happily into your eyes. (Also known as living.)” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
Additional Quotes from The Little Paris Bookshop
“Books keep stupidity at bay. And vain hopes. And vain men. They undress you with love, strength and knowledge. It’s love from within. Make your choice: book or . . .” (13)
“When the stars imploded billions of years ago, iron and silver, gold and carbon came raining down. And the iron from that stardust is in us today—in our mitochondria. Mothers pass on the stars and their iron to their children. Who knows, Jean, you and I might be made of the dust from one and the same star, and maybe we recognized each other by its light. We were searching for each other. We are star seekers.” (136)
“But it’s well known that reading makes people impudent, and tomorrow’s world is going to need some people who aren’t shy to speak their minds, don’t you think?” (193)
“Do you know that there’s a halfway world between each ending and each new beginning? It’s called the hurting time, Jean Perdu. It’s a bog; it’s where your dreams and worries and forgotten plans gather. your steps are heavier during that time. Don’t underestimate the transition, Jeanno, between farewell and new departure. Give yourself the time you need. Some thresholds are too wide to be taken in one stride.” (301)
