Exploring Paris Peasant by Louis Aragon

Paris Peasant by Louis Aragon was certainly an interesting read. It was unlike anything I have read before as a teen or young adult. The strange use of vocabulary, grammar, fonts, textures and the insertion of random signs and posters gave the book a childish feel although the messages within were anything but. This contributed to a sense of childish wonder throughout the story. As given away by the title, the book centres around Paris, and particularly the working class or “peasants” in Paris. The story exhibits Aragon’s love for traditional French Paris without the influence of other actors (such as the USA), and his childish wonder is what I think enhances this feeling.

While I got an overarching message from the text, it was definitely something that took a lot to get used to. I personally found, ‘Paris Peasant’, easier to read than, ‘Combray’, but it was still a difficult read. I think it was easier to read because I was more immersed in the story, however, Aragon’s thoughts jump from place to place so often that, ‘Paris Present’, reads as more of a diary than a published novel. In a weird way I enjoyed that fact though. While I’m sure it would take many, many reads to properly uncover what the story has to offer, I enjoyed the fact that it did not require me to remember much of the plot as the scene would change so often. Despite these changes, Aragon managed to keep bringing it back to Paris, and I think this did a wonderful job of giving life to a very specific part of a city and a place he clearly cared very deeply about during that time.

If I were to complain about anything, it would be Aragon’s perception and portrayal of the women and sex workers in his story. While I understand that it is a product of its time, I still found it difficult to ignore the way Aragon regards women, even those he loves. It felt as if women were more of a tool in his life, rather than actual people, which made me as a woman slightly uncomfortable. Of course there is the possibility that the translation made it worse, and I have also considered whether it is also a cultural difference which gave me this uncomfortable feeling. While obviously nothing can be changed, I think it is something that is wise to watch out for in texts such as this which were written a long time ago, when the social norms were completely different.

The temporality also had a very large part to play in the difficulty of understanding this text. One moment you would be speeding along the “passages” of Paris alongside Aragon, while the next you would be watching over his shoulder as he takes approximately four pages to break down something as simple as a shop for walking canes. While this contributes to the uniqueness of the story, it definitely challenged my perceptions of how time should work in literature.

My question for this book/blog post is: Do you prefer books that stick to more simple/straightforward timelines, or do you prefer when the timeline is more complicated like in ‘Paris Peasant’?