Haussmann, or the Distinction
A Novel
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3.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Paul La Farge's stunning, imaginative novel about the great architect of Paris "full of artful prose, wit, and provocative ideas.” (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, who demolished and rebuilt Paris in the middle of the nineteenth century, was the first urbanist of the modern era--and perhaps the greatest. He presided over two decades of riches, peace, and progress in a city the likes of which no one had ever seen before, with boulevards monumentally conceived and brilliantly lit, clean water, public transportation, and sewers that were the envy of every nation in the world. Yet there is a story that, on his deathbed, Haussmann wished all his work undone. "Would that it had died with me!" he is supposed to have said. What is the secret of the baron's last regret?
To answer this question, Haussmann tells the story of Madeleine, a foundling who grew up in the magical, chaotic world that Haussmann destroyed; of de Fonce, one of the great artistes démolisseurs who tore Paris down and sold its rubble as antiques; and of a three-sided affair that pits love against ambition, architecture against flesh, and the living Parisians against Haussmann's unbuilt masterpiece, the Railroad of the Dead.
Although steeped in history, Paul La Farge's Haussmann, or the Distinction is a novel not bound by fact; it is an account of the hidden, sometimes fantastical life of the nineteenth century, a work that will make readers think of Borges as well as Balzac; it is a view of cities, of love, and of history itself from the other side of the mirror.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When one thinks of Paris, the images that come to mind are of grandeur, grace and sophistication: sweeping, tree-lined boulevards, the Champs-Elys es and the Opera House. But Paris was once as cramped and dingy as the rest of medieval Europe, and the man credited with cleaning it up (or ruining its charm, as some still see it) is Baron Georges-Eug ne Haussmann, who served as prefect of the Seine from 1853 to 1869. LaFarge (The Artist of the Missing) pays homage to this mystifying personage in his tremendous novel, which is every bit as grand, gracious and sophisticated as Paris itself. As LaFarge tells it, the story of Haussmann goes well beyond the man as city planner he is also embroiled in a love affair and political scandal. We meet Madeleine, a wistful orphan who escapes a convent and is rescued by M. de Fonce, a "demolition man" whose prominence comes from tearing the city apart and selling its treasures as collectibles. De Fonce's home is a frequent evening entertainment spot for Haussmann, and a romance soon develops between Madeleine and the baron. A predictably clandestine affair ensues, and once Madeleine is pregnant, Haussmann shuns her. But Madeleine is a woman with connections, and she is determined to seek revenge via Haussmann's demise. LaFarge, posing as translator (he even includes a "Note to the English Edition"), neatly integrates geographical and cultural references into the tale, making this as much an enlightening history of Paris as it is a tragic, affecting love story. An astonishing amount of research, a believable tone and a captivating story all come together to make this work a stunning success.
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