 |
| January in Muskoka by Richard Karon |
THE CROWD OF FRIENDS AND CUSTOMERS WHO MAKE THE SHOP EXPERIENCE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT OLD STUFF THAT INSPIRES CONVERSATION AND DEBATE
FOR SOME OF THE READERS, WHO HAVE JUST RECENTLY JOINED THIS BLOG-SITE, I PLAN ON RE-RUNNING A MULIT-PART SERIES, FROM A YEAR AGO, ABOUT TWO HISTORIC BOOKSHOPS IN PARIS, FRANCE, THAT OPERATED FROM THE EARLY 1900'S. THEY REPRESENT A CORNERSTONE OF THE WORLD'S LITERARY HERITAGE, YET THEY WERE SIMPLY APPOINTED, TO MEET THE BASIC AND "SPECIALTY" BOOK NEEDS OF READERS. INCLUDED IN THOSE READERS, HOWEVER, WERE SOME OF THE MOST REVERED AUTHORS IN EUROPE, AT THE TIME, AND STILL THE NAME JAMES JOYCE REVERBERATES AMONGST THE STUDENTS OF LITERATURE. HE WAS JUST ONE OF THE MANY IMPORTANT AND CURIOUS GUESTS, WHO HAUNTED THESE STORIED BOOKSHOPS.
From our first antique shop, in Bracebridge, back in the 1990's, to the present store-front here in Gravenhurst, we have always been enthralled by the folks who have found them safe havens; places to pass the time, browse, and engage us in interesting conversation. In Bracebridge, on winter days like this, full of snow and bluster, I used to enjoy it so much, when some of my cronies would drop by for a visit in the afternoon. Asgar Thrane would even bring me soup, and Jack Kiernan would grab me a coffee. Brian Milne would come in and see if I had broken anything, so he could repair it, and Dick Ivy would engage us all in a tutorial on the Second World War. I can't compare this to the two historic bookshops mentioned above, but in a small town sense, it was remarkable for what it produced in discovery. Each of us had our layers of experience, and when we got deep in discussion, it was all pretty insightful amidst the relics of the past.....that being of course, the antique collection in the background. What would happen then, over the course of the afternoon, was that other customers would wander in, for a gad-about, and inevitably add their opinions and experience to the mix...and that might have included historians, authors, collectors, artists, politicians, house mothers and fathers, candlestick makers and all kinds of trades folk, who also dabbled in antiques and collectables. I can remember one day, having a store full of customers and hangers-on, while there was a blizzard blowing outside, and you know, it was just one of those contenting moments that made me quite happy, to be the proprietor of such a happening place. No one really wanted to go out in the storm, so we just had a really big conversation, about all kinds of things, including debates on local and national politics, and of course, about the horrible weather. I think I even sold a few pieces as well. On a day like this, I was just happy to have some company. I was seldom alone in that former shop, and it was almost impossible to get complacent. Then one of my pickers, would pick that time of day and year, to deliver a truck-full of antiques. My guests would help with the load-in. They'd run the shop if I had to step out. Brian Milne would go over to Bracebridge Public School, to pick up Andrew and Robert; or help me with a delivery. Great folks I couldn't have done without. I have a new crew these days, but they are just as willing to help out, as that old gang of mine.
Today, in random, exciting, insightful conversation, it's just about the same; although sadly, I don't get many from those days of the mid-1990's, and I'm sorry to say, a few have passed away. But we operate on pretty much the same standard, and that includes the interest in what our patrons have to say. Now that our antique business, has come to companion with Andrew and Robert's Vintage Music business, (which always seems to be crowded with friends and neighbors), we seldom have to worry about the sound of silence driving us nuts. It is that "place out of the cold," and we quite enjoy having some good company. The antique business has always attracted story-spinners and folklorists, and we can match anything we hear, with stories from our own years of antique adventures, motoring all over this region. We like talking about regional history, and always enjoy discussing antiques and collectables. The conversations however, often stray far beyond what we might predict, when we welcome you to the shop. It's all very spontaneous, and what we call, socially-cultural. We could write a book about it, but hey, these conversations are in-house and private. Well, sort of, because inevitably, before one debate is finished, another one as started, and before long, we might have five or six different participants. It's all very casual and homespun, and no one has to be an expert, to cast an opinion.
As we continue to develop the vintage and out-of-print portion of our Gravenhurst business, we expect to entertain a more scholarly grouping, as we did in our Bracebridge shop, particularly because we had a large regional heritage selection...and the fact I was using the shop as my writing studio as well. I used to conduct interviews for historical features, for my regular column, published in a weekend paper, known then as "The Muskoka Advance," and I wrote manuscripts for four books in between customers. I had a lot more time between customers in the winter months obviously. I'm doing much the same here in Gravenhurst, although to this point, we have been low-key on the Muskoka component of our books and historic paper. It's not that I don't have it, because I've got boxes full. Truth is, we've just been trying to work our way into the routine of running a shop again, after an 18 year hiatus. From doing antique shows and sales, and selling vintage wares online, back to a shop, has taken a little getting used to....especially finding inventory to satisfy a very general audience. In the past few decades, we've concentrated on books and ephemera, versus furnishings, for more convenient shipping and handling for our online buyers. We've had to re-write our game plan a couple of times already, because we're a little rusty guageing the demands of the walk-in trade. But one thing has stayed the same, wherever our shop has been located; and that's the audience of folks who like to shop, but also enjoy some old fashioned conversation. It's always interesting to hear the diverse opinions and information being exchanged, from one side of the counter to the other, and I can't tell you how charming it is, to be handed a hot cup of coffee, someone has brought for us; or a box of cookies to share with our customers. I don't think of it as a meeting place, but I would never object to anyone saying it was.....because of what they experienced here, during their visit.
In my own years as an antique shop clerk, I have talked with well known and accomplished writers, historians, bibliophiles of note, actors, musicians, hockey players and antique dealers who by the way, literally wrote the book. I've had these authors take pictures of items in our collection, to be included in their guidebooks. Now that's always flattering. I can't reveal these people, because their privacy is guaranteed when they shop here. It hasn't stopped me from asking for autographs, at the end of our conversation or transaction, and I've never had one of these folks, reject my request. If the conversation gets comfortable enough, I usually congratulate them on their television and movie work, or let them know I either have their book, or their record, of which I have garnered much pleasure. I have been given informal lectures by Canadian historians, who happened to drop in, and tutorials from major art dealers and book collectors, who enjoyed the opportunity to share information. I've talked with hundreds of artists and crafters, some with legendary reputations in their field, and have occasionally chatted, with clenched jaw, to political candidates stumping prior to an election. You see, we've got a store full of conversation-starters, and the same goes for our lads, up front in the shop. We'd be awfully disappointed if our collection didn't inspire some dialogue; along with the opportunity to handle the artifacts, play the guitars and banjos, and pound on the drums. It's all part of the daily mosaic, that is the life of an antique shop attendant.
It isn't a fair comparison, to offer our antique shop, as a parallel to the two books shops you will read about in today's blog. We hardly fall into the social, cultural, literary league of these internationally known book shops. Yet even as a smattering of similarity, we do share the good graces, of being a gathering place for the exchange of ideas, a platform for the expression of opinion, and a modest stage, to address issues, past, present and future. There is no demand, placed upon the visitor, to converse with fervor, or is there any requirement for accuracy, when spinning a story for our benefit. It is our pleasure, to have guests, who feel so comfortable within, that they adopt the casual approach, and plop themselves down on one of our couches. We are better, for having shared with others. We hope our guests feel the same upon leaving; not thinking we have been too judgmental or too forward.
There's something inspiring about such informal meetings, in the midst of our collected history, that over-rides the negatives and deficits of everyday labours and frustrations. If you would rather just browse, and enjoy the solitude...with a side of Mozart, then we hope you will feel free to ignore those of us, who have initiated a friendly debate about municipal taxes; or about the price of groceries. We're not locked on history or literature, for something to talk about. We're free range debaters.
I hope you will enjoy the next few editions of this blog, featuring some insights about these two well known book shops.....as much a part of literature, as the books they had on their shelves.
THE OLD BOOKSHOP AS A MEETING PLACE OF AUTHORS, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIANS, POETS AND PHILOSOPHERS
THE REAL HAUNTED BOOK SHOP, AND PLEASANTLY SO……
AS A MATTER OF CURIOSITY, AS IT DOES RELATE SOMEWHAT TO THIS BLOG, AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE TORONTO STAR TODAY, JANUARY 31ST, ENTITLED "FINNEGANS WAKE SELLS OUT IN CHINA," SEEMED WORTH INCLUDING, IF JUST A MENTION. IT SEEMS IRISH WRITER JAMES JOYCE, IS STILL POPULAR AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, ESPECIALLY SO IN CHINA. IT WAS THE FIRST CHINESE TRANSLATION, AND 8,000 COPIES WERE SOLD. ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW THAT WE STILL HAVE RESPECT FOR BOOKS AND GREAT AUTHORS…..DESPITE THE FACT, A STORY IN THE STAR EARLIER IN THE WEEK, WAS DEALING WITH BOOKS AS "DECORATOR ITEMS," IN THIS MODERN ERA OF ELECTRONIC READERS…..BUT BIG INTEREST IN MAKING THE DIGS LOOK GREAT. SO READING THIS STORY ABOUT JOYCE TODAY, WARMS A BIBLIOPHILE'S HEART. EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT MUCH FOR FICTION, I STILL HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR THE CLASSICS, AND THE MOST REVERED AUTHORS IN HISTORY, OF WHICH JOYCE IS WELL UP THERE. THE BLOG TODAY WILL PUT JAMES JOYCE, BACK QUITE A FEW DECADES, AT TWO VERY IMPORTANT BOOKSHOPS IN PARIS, FRANCE……ONE OF THE TWO SHOPS, WHICH ACTUALLY FINANCED PRINTING COSTS OF "ULLYSES," ANOTHER OF JOYCE'S WORKS
MY HARDCOVER COPY OF "THE VERY RICH HOURS OF ADRIENNE MONNIER," THE TRANSLATED ENGLISH COPY (ORIGINAL IN FRENCH) BY RICHARD MCDOUGALL, IS PRETTY BEAT-UP AND THE DUSTJACKET IS TORN TO SHREDS, BUT IT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT REFERENCE BOOKS I OWN. IT IS THE BOOK, PUBLISHED IN 1976, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, NEW YORK, THAT I ROUTINELY CALL UPON WHEN I START QUESTIONING MY RELATIONSHIP WITH OLD BOOKS AND WELL, THE OLD WAYS OF PACKAGED PRINT. THE BOOK JACKET, SHOWING A CASUAL ADRIENE MONNIER, AT HER DINING TABLE, IS, AS IT CLAIMS, A BIOGRAPHY OFFERING "AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT OF THE LITERARY AND ARTISTIC LIFE IN PARIS BETWEEN THE WARS."
IT IS ANOTHER BIOGRAPHY EVERY BOOKSELLER SHOULD OWN, AND HOLD CLOSE, AS IT OFFERS SO MUCH INSPIRATION, WHETHER YOU ARE A MAJOR SELLER, OR JUST A HOBBYIST WITH A BOOTH IN AN ANTIQUE MALL. IT'S THE PROFESSION THAT IS SO WONDERFULLY ADDRESSED IN THIS BIOGRAPHY. IT'S THE COMPANY THAT MISS MONNIER KEPT, THAT IS WHAT COMPELS ME TO COME BACK TO THE BOOK, TIME AND AGAIN; AND WHAT INSPIRES ME TO NEVER TAKE A DAY FOR GRANTED IN THE ANTIQUE BUSINESS. I LOOK UP EAGERLY, FROM BEHIND OUR SHOP COUNTER, WHENEVER THE DOOR OPENS, AND ANOTHER INTERESTING SOUL WANDERS INTO OUR COLLECTION OF BOOKS, AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT KEEPS AN ANTIQUE DEALER IN BUSINESS. WHILE I'M A MILLION MILES FROM THE CALIBRE OF THE PARIS BOOKSELLERs, AND MY GUESTS HAVEN'T BEEN INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHORS, OR SO I SUSPECT, I HAVE NONE THE LESS, MET SOME FABULOUSLY INTERESTING FOLKS…..AND THE BOOK BUSINESS IN PARTICULAR, IS FAMOUS FOR THIS. BUT IF I COULD TIME TRAVEL, FOLKS, I'D WANT TO BE IN EITHER OF THESE HISTORIC BOOK SHOPS, WITH MY HAND OUTSTRETCHED, AS A VOLUNTEER GREETER, BECAUSE THEY HAD SUCH A FABULOUS ALLURE EVEN THEN…..FOR SOME OF THE GREATEST WRITERS IN HISTORY. SO LET'S NOT BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH ANY LONGER. WE'LL CATCH A TIME WARP FOR A LITTLE VISIT OF OUR OWN…..TO PARIS, FRANCE AT AROUND 1915.
"ADRIENNE MONNIER WAS THE OWNER OF THE BOOKSHOP, LA MAISON DES AMIS LIVRES, IN PARIS, A CENTER FOR THE BEST CONTEMPORARY FRENCH WRITING AND FOR ITS AUTHORS; ANDREW BRETON, GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE, JULES ROMAINS, ADRE GIDE. THROUGH HER FRIEND SYLVIA BEACH, WHOSE SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY WAS JUST ACROSS THE STREET, SHE BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH HEMINGWAY, FITZGERALD AND OTHER AMERICANS IN PARIS. ABOUT THE WORK AND LIVES OF THE WRITERS OF THE PAST AS WELL, SHE WROTE WITH GRACE AND THE INSIGHT OF ONE WHO WAS PERFECTLY AT HOME IN LITERATURE. THE THEATRE HAD FOR HER AN ALMOST MAGIC CHARM (SHE REMEMBERS MAETERLINCK, DE MAX, AND BERNHARDT), AS DID THE CIRCUS, THE FOLIES-BERGERE, AND ALL THE SPECTACLES OF PARIS. SHE PUBLISHED PAUL VALERY, SPONSORED JAMES JOYCE IN FRANCE, AND PAID T.S. ELIOT A RETURN VISIT TO LONDON, SHE REMAINED VERY MUCH A COUNTRY PERSON, SURE OF HER ROOTS IN SAVOY WHERE EVERY SUMMER WITH SYLVIA BEACH, SHE RETURNED. HER CHRONICLE FAITHFULLY ILLUMINATES AN ERA."
IN THE INTRODUCTION, AS WRITTEN BY RICHARD MCDOUGALL, HE WRITES, "BUT WE ARE CONCERNED WITH A MUCH LATER ERA, ONE THAT BEGAN IN THE SECOND YEAR OF WORLD WAR I, IN NOVEMBER, 1915, WHEN AS A YOUNG WOMAN OF TWENTY-THREE, ADRIENNE MONNIER, THE FOUNDER AND CHRONICLER OF ODEONIA, THE NAME IS HER OWN INVENTION, OPENED HER BOOKSHOP, LATER TO BE CALLED LA MAISON DES AMIS DES LIVRES, AT NUMBER 7 RUE DE L'ODIEN, ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE STREET GOING UP TOWARD THE PLACE DE L'ODEON. 'BUILT IN A TIME OF DESTRUCTION,' AS SHE SAYS IN HER ARTICLE THAT TAKES ITS NAME, THE BOOKSHOP, THROUGH WHAT COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN THE SHEER COURAGE AND INTELLIGENCE OF ITS OWNER, ENDURED THROUGH THE WAR AS ONE OF THE FEW INTELLECTUAL CENTERS OF THE BESIEGED CITY, A PLACE WHERE WRITERS, SOME OF THEM, LIKE ANDRE BRETON AND GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE, IN UNIFORM - COULD GATHER AND, AT MEETINGS, ARRANGED BY ADRIENNE MONNIER, READ FROM THEIR OWN WORKS. AND IT WAS HERE ONE DAY TOWARD THE END OF THE WAR, THAT SHE WAS PROVIDENTIALLY VISITED BY THE AMERICAN, SYLVIA BEACH, WHO WITH MONNIER'S ENCOURAGEMENT FOUNDED HER ENGLISH-LANGUAGE BOOKSHOP, SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY IN 1919 - ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT DATE IN THE HISTORY OF ODEONIA - AT 8 RUE DUPUYTREN, JUST AROUND THE CORNER FROM ADRIENNE MONNIER.
"IN THE SUMMER OF 1921, WHEN THE TWO WOMEN WERE ALREADY CLOSE FRIENDS, WHEN SYLVIA BEACH HAD ALREADY UNDERTAKEN THE PUBLISHING OF JAMES JOYCE'S ULYSSES, THE PROUDEST ADVENTURE OF HER CAREER, SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY MOVED TO NUMBER 12 RUE DE L'ODEON, ACROSS THE STREET FROM LA MAISON DES AMIS DES LIVRES. THE MOVE WAS AS SYMBOLIC AS IT WAS PRACTICAL, FOR THE CLOSENESS OF THE TWO SHOPS WAS TO STAND FOR AS WELL, AS TO FURTHER CONTACTS BETWEEN THE FRENCH WRITERS WHO FREQUENTED ADRIENNE MONNIER AND THE ENGLISH SPEAKING PATRONS OF SYLVIA BEACH; IT REPRESENTED AS WELL THE ENDURING FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO WOMEN AND CONSOLIDATED THE PHYSICAL REGION OF THAT COUNTRY OF THE SPIRIT."
AN OVERVIEW OF RUE DE L'ODEON THROUGH THE EYES OF JUSTIN O'BRIEN
THE BOOK CONTAINS AN OVERVIEW SECTION, WRITTEN BY JUSTIN O'BRIEN, "THE SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATOR OF FRENCH LITERATURE. ALTHOUGH HE WAS RELATIVELY A LATECOMER TO THE STREET, HIS IMPRESSIONS HOLD TRUE FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD BETWEEN THE TWO WARS," WRITES RICHARD MCDOUGALL. THE ARTICLE BY O'BRIEN WAS PUBLISHED IN JANUARY 1956, IN THE MERCURE DE FRANCE, AND WAS WRITTEN IN HOMAGE TO ADRIENNE MONIER:
"For the young American in the thirties, the Rue de l'Odeon was the intellectual centre of Paris. On the right side going up the street, he stopped first before the narrow shop window of Shakespeare and Company, which was filled with books in his language, but most often in editions that he had not encountered anywhere else. The volumes by T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Virginia Woolf stood near limited Parisian editions and the enormous paperbound 'Ulysses'….Almost opposite Shakespeare and Company, La Maison de Amis des Liveres, perhaps even more attractive for him who had everything to know about the French domain, revealed to him the latest Gide, the latest Valery, the latest Fargue, along with the avant-garde reviews and books thirty, or fifty years old, but for him absolutely new.
"From time to time, entering one or the other of those welcoming houses, he could see up close - what he used to dream about in New York - some of this gods. James Joyce in dark glasses and with a light-colored moustache, Gide arrayed in his flowing cape, Cocteau with his prestidigitator's hands. Even those whom he did not see there were present, thanks to the fascinating pictures hung on the walls."
O'Brien writes, "Le Maison des Amis des Liveres, was well named, for Adrienne Monnier received there with an equal goodwill all those who really loved books. There was only, in the matter of hierarchy, those who knew from farm back, the mistress of that salon covered with books and with who she conversed at length, sitting in front of a big table spread with papers. From the day when she invited the young American to take a place near her, between the table and the stove, her rosy race with its mauve-blue eyes became the symbol of that friendly house. Those conversations by fits and starts, in the course of which Adrienne Monnier informed herself about his readings and suggested others to him with that so communicative enthusiasm, of which she had the secret, were precious initiation for him to all the best that modern literature offers."
In the same issue of the mercer de France, German writer, Siegfried Kracauer, noted of Adrienne Monnier, that " She listened more than she spoke and looked at you often, attentive, before answering or drawing your attention to an idea that had come into her mind while she was listening. Her eyes, were they blue? I know only that her look came from a depth that seemed to me to be not easily accessible. The brightness of her outer aspect, of the room, and even of her voice, was not an ordinary brightness, but the covering of the form of an inner self that was lost in the shadows. Perhaps it was this interference of a foreground and a background, of a luminous exterior and a secret spiritual ground that thus drew me to her.
"I made myself a precise image of her. The character trait to which my veneration and my love went out, it remains forever engraved in my heart - was that mixture of rusticity and aristocracy that Proust never wearied of praising in the old Francoise and the Duchesse de Guermantes. Around these characters there is still the good smell of French soil, and as they personify in their bearing and their language, centuries of ancestral traditions, how would it be possible that they were not of an authentic distinction. It is thus that I see Adrienne Monnier before me."
We will return to Le Maison des Amis des Livres, and both Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier again tomorrow…..two bookshops that extend well beyond the definition of legend. Thanks for joining me today for this little bookshop adventure. Much more to come in future blogs.
No comments:
Post a Comment