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Available
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Publication
London, Faber and Faber, 1959
User reviews
LibraryThing member jcbrunner
The well connected WASP Sylvia Beach's English bookstore "Shakespeare and Company" served as a pied-à-terre for the American, British and French literati during the inter-war years. Everybody with literary aspirations stopped and hung out at Beach's bookstore. Her highest contribution to world
The current "Shakespeare and Company" bookstores in Paris and elsewhere (such as here in Vienna) carry that name in her homage. The commercial appeal of the bard which was elementary in the original naming process has not lost its magic either. Overall, an excellent read. The only downside is the book's abrupt ending with the WWII liberation of Paris. An editorial note about the later years of Sylvia Beach would have been helpful.
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literature was as the publisher of James Joyce's Ulysses. Her account of getting the manuscript into print as well as evading the US censors is the highlight of her memoirs. The propensity to censor was and remains strong in the land of the free and the first amendment. The stinking liberal Parisian air provided an outlet for many a promising American and British writer, among whom Hemingway naturally hogs the limelight (apart from the collection of Irish foibles that constitute the being called Joyce).The current "Shakespeare and Company" bookstores in Paris and elsewhere (such as here in Vienna) carry that name in her homage. The commercial appeal of the bard which was elementary in the original naming process has not lost its magic either. Overall, an excellent read. The only downside is the book's abrupt ending with the WWII liberation of Paris. An editorial note about the later years of Sylvia Beach would have been helpful.
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LibraryThing member lilithcat
If it weren't for Sylvia Beach, we wouldn't have James Joyce's Ulysses. Beach, an American expatriate who ran the bookshop Shakespeare and Company in Paris between the wars, published him when no one else would.
In this book, Ms. Beach describes that exploit, and reminisces about many literary
One of the things that's really interesting is to read how Beach had originally intended to open an American branch of Adrienne Monnier's La Maison des Amis des Livres in New York, but then decided instead to open an American bookstore in Paris. Monnier, who was also Beach's lover, helped and encouraged her throughout.
In this book, Ms. Beach describes that exploit, and reminisces about many literary
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luminaries of the period, including Hemingway, Gide, Robert McAlmon, Ezra Pound, et al.One of the things that's really interesting is to read how Beach had originally intended to open an American branch of Adrienne Monnier's La Maison des Amis des Livres in New York, but then decided instead to open an American bookstore in Paris. Monnier, who was also Beach's lover, helped and encouraged her throughout.
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LibraryThing member Carmenere
I stumbled upon this book very recently and naturally thought of 'The Haunted Bookshop' by Christopher Marley in that Ms. Beach's memoir is splattered with the names of authors and titles of books that one wants to jot down and search for in the future. Where it differs is that Shakespeare and
I found this memoir to be absorbing throughout. How fascinating to have lived and worked among some of the most influential writers of the day.
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Company is the very real, very interesting memoir of Sylvia Beach owner of the aforementioned bookstore in Paris, France during the early decades of the 20th century. She befriended many writers of the day such as Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Anderson and Ezra Pound. But no one more intimately than James Joyce and this is when the memoir is at its best. Ms. Beach offers many insights into the life of Joyce including his poor vision, his family and his extravagant lifestyle. Ms. Beach was extremely instrumental in publishing 'Ulysses]' when other publishers found it too obscene to print. As it was, Ulysses was banned in the United States and England for many years to follow. Other snippets that were equally amusing were her recollection of George and Ira Gershwin playing tunes on the piano at a party she attended in France, while their sister, Frances sang. Ernest Hemingway actually ridding the last of the Germans from her street in Paris at the end of WWII is another interesting memory.I found this memoir to be absorbing throughout. How fascinating to have lived and worked among some of the most influential writers of the day.
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LibraryThing member Bruce_Deming
The story of Sylvia Beach and her expatriot American clientele (such as Hemingway)
and the publication of James Joyce's Ullyses. Literary figures abound at this time which is interesting, though many authors of the time don't interest me so much.
Gertrude Stein, Andre Gide, Paul Vallery, Sylvia
1920's Paris. Fashionable place to be then.
and the publication of James Joyce's Ullyses. Literary figures abound at this time which is interesting, though many authors of the time don't interest me so much.
Gertrude Stein, Andre Gide, Paul Vallery, Sylvia
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Plath. 1920's Paris. Fashionable place to be then.
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LibraryThing member waldhaus1
It was a lot of fun to read a first person account about the literary ferment that went in in Paris of the early and mid 20s. James Joyce, T S Eliot and Ernest Hemingway were determined to change the English language into something they found more agreeable. There contributions to literature and
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poetry certainly left a major mark. We think and speak differently now at least partly because of them. The real test is whether our understanding of human nature was enhanced by there communicating skills. We may each have an answer for that question but time will be the final judge. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1956