Julien Gracq, the most important writer in France, is also the only living writer whose complete works appear in a volume of the prestigiousPleiadeseditions. The most original of his later works is this book about Nantes, which is Gracq’s personal and profound response to Proust’s synthesis of memory, reverie, and realism.
The work begins with a quote from Baudelaire: “The shape of a city, as we all know, changes more quickly than the mortal heart.” The author writes of a child’s experience of the hierarchy of urban spaces: the radial avenues walked during school recreation periods, the districts between the axes, and the relationship to Nantes of those who lived there, including Breton and Rimbaud.
Julien Gracq, the most important writer in France, is also the only living writer whose complete works appear in a volume of the prestigiousPleiadeseditions. The most original of his later works is this book about Nantes, which is Gracq’s personal and profound response to Proust’s synthesis of memory, reverie, and realism.
The work begins with a quote from Baudelaire: “The shape of a city, as we all know, changes more quickly than the mortal heart.” The author writes of a child’s experience of the hierarchy of urban spaces: the radial avenues walked during school recreation periods, the districts between the axes, and the relationship to Nantes of those who lived there, including Breton and Rimbaud.
1. Evening honoring Gracq's work will be planned at The Alliance Francaise, NYC and possibly A.F. locations throughout the states. 2. Review coverage in places like The New York Review of Books 3. Will do a major marketing push on this and TPP's other three Gracq titles to all College French Literature Departments. 4. Will try for high profile blurbers 5. Postcard, White Box and ABA
1. Gracq is both heir to and challenged by Marcel Proust and l
![The Shape of a City [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/6/6/1/2_328225.jpg)