My wife recently returned from a mission trip to Ecuador. While sharing the highlights of her trip with me, she mentioned seeing the film Midnight in Paris on her flight home. She said, "Greg, you've got to see this movie. You'll love it."
It wasn't long after that I received a note from a good friend saying that he and his wife had just seen the film Midnight in Paris. The note basically said, "Greg, you've got to see this movie. You'll love it."
They know that I love Paris! And this is true. I have a certain affinity for the artistic, bohemian lifestyle lived by those collectively known as the "Lost Generation". Granted, my notions of this life and time are romanticized, but still, it was a time of intense creativity. It was also a time that yielded some of my favorite writers, both in that circle of friends, and out. Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Somerset Maugham works are among those on my shelves.
Having two trusted recommendations, I rushed out and bought the film the day it became available. They were right, I loved it! I love the scenery and music. I love the ways the characters are drawn and the fanciful story of being able to visit a favorite bygone time. Near the end of the film there is a shot of Shakespeare and Company. This drew me back in time for a moment.
I always love the opportunity to visit Paris. I was first there just out of school and my wife and I honeymooned there. In later years I'd try to visit while living or working in Europe, but those times were few. But still, during these trips, and if time allowed, I loved visiting Shakespeare and Company. It provided me with a physical embodiment of my romanticized notions. Though the literal location of the shop is different from when Sylvia Beach first opened her lending library in 1919, I like to imagine the same ambiance is present. I like to think that huddled away in a corner of the present shop is the spirit of Hemingway plotting a new story or that upstairs James Joyce is revising Ulysses.
Sylvia's store was a gathering place for a generation between the wars who sought to push the envelop of creativity in art and literature. When George Whitman opened his shop in 1951, he sought to capture this same energy making it a center of activity for a new generation of writers and thinkers. In addition to selling books, he held readings downstairs, while upstairs he offered living and working space for young writers. His stacks, now managed by his daughter, almost defy description having books crammed into every available nook and cranny. They are laid out on tables and displayed in any other available space. Shakespeare and Company is not a place for the casual shopper or one who must make their way in and out in a very short time. It is a place that cries out to be explored.
A point of interest, for me at least, is that the shop at 37 Rue de la Bucherie is inside Kilometer Zero for France; the marker being located in the square of the main entrance to Notre Dame. When you purchase a book you can have it stamped indicating the book was purchased in the shop and within Kilometer Zero. Not knowing this, my first book doesn't bear the stamp. But on a return trip I made my way to the shop, spent an hour or so selecting just the right title, and then purchased Somerset Maugham's The Narrow Corner for 55 francs* and had it stamped. A treasure.
In an era when the printed word seems to be retreating and bookstores close for lack of patronage, Shakespeare and Company stands out as an example of what was, what is and what can still be. It is a place where the written word is explored and celebrated and shared with any who wish to step into its richness. It is its uniqueness that make it what it is. Still, I wish there were more shops, such as this, that beg us to come in and spend time. We would become better for having done it.
So yes, I enjoyed Midnight in Paris and loved being reminded of Shakespeare and Company. I have been gone far too long from a city I adore, and this brought me back for a moment. Now, you'll need to excuse me while I find my passport.
Greg
* sadly I have not been able to visit Shakespeare and Company since the introduction of the Euro. An oversight, I know, but one I hope remedy fairly soon.
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