Sunday, November 7, marks what would have been the 108th birthday of Nobel Prize winner, Albert Camus. During World War II, Camus joined the French Resistance, a movement dedicated to overthrowing the Germans. Camus lent his genius to the clandestine effort by working as a journalist and underground newspaper editor.…
One is hard-pressed to think of a tale as widely known and with as many versions as Little Red Riding Hood. First published in France, in 1697 the story remains popular to this day. It’s difficult to imagine any piece of modern-day writing receiving as much recognition. What is it…
We all love underdogs: the urban breakdancer that one day makes it on Broadway; the business school dropout that becomes a millionaire; the single parent who takes on the school board and wins; the whistleblower who exposes corporate or governmental corruption. Yet few of us have the stamina to undertake…
My series of posts about a new exposition featuring the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris only covered a small fraction of the subjects tackled by the entire exhibit. There is much more to say and if you enjoyed the series, I hope you find time to visit the online exposition.…
I recently read Suite Française, a poignant novel by Irene Némirovsky that would have remained hidden from history were it not for the courageous actions of her daughter, Denise Epstein. In 2004, sixty-two years after Némirovsky’s death in Auschwitz, Suite Française appeared in French libraries for the first time. It…
Last year, when Patrick Modiano won the Nobel Prize in literature, I had never heard of him. It’s not surprising. None of my friends, many of whom who are far more well-read than I, had heard of him either. As it turns out, not many of his works had been translated…
