NYT Book Review: Learning to Love the French as They Are

[kskiska]

After graduating from high school, I went on my mandatory military service, which was an obligation for all French boys when they turned 18," recalls Robert Arbor, now a New York restaurateur, in the introduction to his new book, "Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living" (Simon & Schuster).

"I chose to serve in one of France's overseas territories — Tahiti," Mr. Arbor continues. "There I observed and took part in eight underground nuclear tests. A more interesting skill I acquired was how to cook fresh fish wrapped in banana leaves in an outdoor oven."

(snip)

Or Ms. Barlow asked, "Why does everybody keep correcting my French? How can you have a whole country full of rude people? Or are they rude?"
Over the next two years Mr. Nadeau produced, sometimes with Ms. Barlow's help, 23 reports, each 5,000 to 7,000 words long. He wrote about hiking in the Alps and visiting a mosque; about why the French give almost nothing to charity and how the country still lives in the shadow of World War II. The articles became a launching pad for their book, which is published by Sourcebooks, in Naperville, Ill.
Little by little they found themselves seduced by France's oddities and contradictions, which acquired logic and consistency as they learned about how the country's institutions developed. The book barely mentions the country's literature, art and restaurants — the tourist's France — but focuses on the systems and structures that define the French.
Mr. Nadeau and Ms. Barlow discovered, however, somewhat to their surprise, that they did like the French. When it was time to leave they wanted to stay. But by then they appreciated the French system well enough to know they couldn't.

more…
http://nytimes.com/2003/07/14/books/14FREN.html