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A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke
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A Year in the Merde

by Stephen Clarke

Series: Merde (1)

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1,011253,908 (3.29)15
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English (23)  French (2)  All languages (25)
Showing 1-5 of 23 (next | show all)
This is the story of Paul West, an Englishman who decides to live (and work)in France.Written with humour, it does stick to the truth .Anyone wanting to live in France should read it : it is as simple as that. ( )
  rainbowiris | Sep 26, 2009 |
My travelling companion read three of Stephen Clarke’s Merde books in quick succession between Paris Gare de Lyon and La Grande Motte on the Mediterranean. Not only did she laugh frequently, but she would read bits out prefaced with phrases such as, ‘Ah, this is what was going on the other day.’

We were in France at the start of September and the phrase la rentrée was everywhere. We’d gathered that it signified the equivalent of our Back to School, with added intensity gained from the fact that an awful lot of enterprises shut down for summer holidays and open again at rentrée. But this book explained it from the point of view of someone working in Paris, and certainly enriched our grasp of its meaning – a time for resolutions and new beginnings, etc.

Then there was the mysterious siren we heard exactly at midday in a small village during our walk on the Loire. Completely mystifying until – in [Merde actually] – we learned that at midday on a certain day every month all the airraid sirens of France have a practice run and are completely ignored by everyone except ignorant tourists. (We can vouch for the ignoring bit.)

I was confirmed in my impression that one asks for un carafe d’eau rather than simply de l’eau at a cafe unless one wants to pay for mineral water.

Apart from these useful snippets of information, and interesting bits of language artfully disguised as comedy, the book is a well-executed romp. I don’t plan to read the others, but if you’re travelling to France you could do a lot worse by way of preparatory or companionable reading. ( )
  shawjonathan | Sep 18, 2009 |
I felt a bit disloyal to my french heritage to read this send up of French businesspeople. very light
  mochap | Sep 15, 2009 |
Like Bridget Jones for men, only not as well-written. Interesting insights into Paris and Parisians, but that's about it. ( )
  aviva4 | Jun 24, 2009 |
This is a fictional story about an Englishman brought to Paris by the VD company to open up some English tea rooms. This is pretty much a typical fish out of water story, with the English guy, Paul, trying to figure out how to get along with Parisians and learn the language and get laid. The latter being his main goal.

There were some laugh out loud moments and this was a pretty quick read. The plot was okay, somewhat disappearing with Paul's quest for French woman. ( )
2 vote manadabomb | Feb 17, 2009 |
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Epigraph
Dedication
The author would like to thank the French government for introducing the thirty-five-hour week and giving him time to do more interesting things on a Friday afternoon than work. Merci.
First words
The year does not begin in January.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Not to be confused with the Paul West book with the same name.
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Book description

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 972233428X, Paperback)

Sinopse: A Year in the Merde relata a hilariante desmistificação dos lugares-comuns com que nos iludimos ao idealizar Paris e a França em geral. Os leitores que têm lido este livro não resistem ao humor que ele irradia. Nem os próprios franceses resistem às «farpas» que o autor lhes lança ironicamente. A história que Stephen Clarke nos conta começa com um jovem britânico, Paul West, que aceita uma proposta de trabalho de um empresário francês, para lançar uma cadeia de salões de chá ingleses. Fascinado pelo lado romântico de trabalhar no país do «charme», apercebe-se rapidamente de como lhe é difícil sobreviver emocionalmente às idiossincrasias dos franceses. Mesmo assim, o nosso herói sucumbe ao pitoresco daqueles tiques tão irritantes! A favor disso jogam a maneira fácil como se pode manobrar por entre a falta de espaço habitacional parisiense, quando a filha do patrão é estudante universitária e sexualmente liberalíssima! Sem esquecer a suavidade da lingerie francesa e o gosto do amour francês que ele irá provando junto das sucessivas namoradas. E já que falamos de gosto, como não se deliciar com a cuisine francesa e outras artes sofisticadas? Quando Paul, literalmente, consegue assentar os pés na terra sem escorregar, descobre o que afinal se esconde por detrás da fachada que o emérito empresário montou, fachada essa da qual Paul acaba por fazer parte... Este é sobretudo um magnífico livro para os que descobrem nele uma outra maneira de olhar o mundo. Nº de Páginas: 256

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:10 -0400)

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