Fashion, book, movie and music addicts!

This week was literary week as we had two readings and a lecture on our schedules.
On Monday, we made our way to Theatre Montansier in Versailles for a “lecture” of Olga, a play written by Jean Claude de Brisville. Having never been to a French “lecture”, I took it to mean a sort of reading, no different to the readings I am accustomed to. I was in for a surprise as a French lecture is indeed a reading, not of a small part to whet the appetite but of the entire play! In our case we had Michaël Lonsdale, Edith Scob and Jean-Daniel Laval reading Olga on a bare stage. After the initial surprise, I settled down and what is challenging is paying attention to the play as it unfolds without barely any movement on stage except for inevitable shift by the actors as they make themselves comfortable. Olga is the story of Anton Chekhov and Olga, a young actress who would become his wife and their fateful summer in Yalta. In essence it is a dialogue between the two on art and literature and its role in their respective lives. Not much comes to pass in terms of action but the real pleasure to be derived in the play is its ruminative take on art and the way it intertwines with life. To my mind, Lonsdale was perfectly cast as the aging, increasingly tired Chekhov who wants nothing more than to be left alone to create his work. On the other hand, it was a bit disconcerting to watch Edit Scob, (who is undoubtedly a good actress) play a much younger woman given that she is certainly already of a certain age. An interesting night altogether and well worth the trip to Versailles.

This week, I also had the opportunity to meet two authors at their readings at my favorite Anglophone bookstore. Maybe it’s the groupie in me but I was so excited to meet Cara Black and Amy Bloom. I love Amy Bloom’s writing and it was a pleasure to hear her read from Away, her latest novel. It’s always interesting to hear authors read their own work as it gives an added dimension to the characters and readings always give you an opportunity to discuss with them. What is even more interesting is to have a behind the scenes kind of glimpse of their work especially since both undertake an enormous amount of research for their books. In writing Away for example, Amy took a trip to Alaska 4 times and was privy to all manner of journals and memorabilia of early 20th century. According to her, those journals are even more incredible than fiction since they were true stories. Cara on the other hand, sets her stories in Paris and her research leads her to all sorts of nooks and crannies of our city. Who knew for example that the 10th arrondissement used to have over 60 stores dealing solely in crystal? Or that it was the Turkish district? Up until I read her book, I certainly didn’t.


Here's Amy with her rapt audience



And Cara reading from her book...