TOW #24 - Paris to the Moon 2

For my third IRB, I read Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik, a popular staff writer for the New Yorker, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Originally, I believed that Gopnik was going to be sharing short stories and various memories from his time spent in Paris with his wife and son, something that I still found interesting and was excited to read about. However, Gopnik not only delves deep into describing the various cultural phenomenons of France, but also analyzes and compares them to American culture. I absolutely loved the book and his drawing of lines between the two made it all of the more enjoyable. To his dedicated readers, Adam Gopnik uses both imagery and cultural comparisons  to relate his life in Paris with his life back in New York and to paint a vivid picture for his audience of his experiences while in France. The author uses imagery to help the reader understand his experiences in France. His son, Luke, loved the famous Luxembourg Gardens, and every day, he wanted to ride the carousel. Gopnik describes, "He rides the carousel, the fallen leaves piled neatly all around it, and though bent-up it is a beauty. The animals are chipped, the paint is peeling, the giraffe and elephant are missing hooves and tusks, and the carousel is musicless and graceless" (38). Gopnik includes many descriptive sentences such as this to talk about things that were significant to his experience in France. His use of imagery helps him bring the reader along with him on his day to day life. Gopnik also often makes comparisons between various aspects of French and American Life. One day, he had ordered a turkey from a rôtisseur, but due to a major labor strike, its delivery was delayed. He says, "When the turkey arrived at last, a week after the strike began, I got an excited call inviting me to come see it, and when I arrived, the rôtisseur, showing ti off, pointed out to me how different it was from any bird in an American supermarket. It wasn’t frozen, pumped full of cooking oil, or raised in a shed" (34). By using this example, Gopnik illustrates how something as basic and familiar as food and the process of growing and cultivating it can vary between different places. I also think that this comparison does an excellent job of showing the true nature of the food industry in France. Freshness and quality are emphasized there, while in America, almost everything we consume is processed. Overall, I believe that Gopnik did an excellent job at achieving his purpose. This book really spoke to me and I was able to relate with many of the authors ideas. An extremely well written book about the daily life and culture of an American in France, Paris to the Moon has something for everyone and is one of the best books I've read in a long time. But let's be real; a book about France could never be bad!