March 13, 2005
I KNOW WHAT GAULS LIKE:
D.B. Light notes the dust-up over a new book on Jean Genet, which dwells on his Nazism. But how can anyone be surprised that a Frenchman, much less a despicable one like Genet, was pro-Nazi? As Robert Brasillach snarled in contempt at his countrymen, during his 1945 show trial: "We have slept with the Germans, and liked much of it."
Posted by Orrin Judd at March 13, 2005 7:50 AMThanks, guys.
What struck me most about the Genet review was just how damn bloodthirsty he was. He really did get off on the violence.
Posted by: Dale Light at March 13, 2005 11:19 AMIf you remember that the genesis of both the Khmer Rouge and the Ba'athists was the Sorbonne, it becomes easier.
Posted by: Bart at March 13, 2005 12:41 PMGenet was to Sartre what that murderer was to Norman Mailer or vice versa.
Kill them all, pull down the walls, plow the land and sow it with salt.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at March 13, 2005 2:46 PM. . . pull down the walls, plow the land and sow it with salt.
I dunno, that seems a little extreme. There's quite a bit worth preserving as-is: the cathedrals (Chartres, Notre Dame), castles, museums with classical art collections, high-end restaurants, Omaha Beach, EuroDisney, most of the women under 35. The rest of it, well, it's still got possibilities. Tear down the gawdawful oil-derrick thingy and the refinery (Pompidou Center) to improve the skyline. Put some specialty retail and a couple storefront Baptist churches on the Left Bank, and re-develop Le Mans as a NASCAR venue. Drop the cités on the outskirts and use the land for some decent starter homes and a couple of strip shopping centers (the Winn-Dixie/Wal-Mart/Home Depot kind). Add MLB and NFL franchises and a nice convention center to give it that all-important "big city" cachet. It could work!
Posted by: Mike Morley at March 13, 2005 11:39 PMMike,
Two things. All decent sized metro areas have the high-end restaurants. What makes Paris, or anyplace else in France, distinct is the quality low-end restaurants where you can chow down on great food for under $20 with wine.
Also, strange as it may sound, French women aren't very attractive as a rule until they get to be about 30. Until then, appearance is mostly a matter of genetics and the French don't have the curvaceousness of Mediterranean women nor the athleticism of German or Slavic women. They look kinda dumpy. But when they get to about 30, the same age when formerly beautiful Italian women start looking like Samoans, Frenchwomen develop enough sophistication and style to make it work. This runs from age 30 to about 45, when age, wine and unfiltered cigarettes start to take their toll.
Posted by: Bart at March 14, 2005 9:50 AM