After rereading A Year in Provence, my next logical book to read was Toujours Provence, Peter Mayle's follow-up to the wildly successful A Year in Provence. To be honest, while I could remember reading the first book, I had no recollection of reading Toujours Provence and now I remember why.::: When a Sequel Isn't a Sequel :::A Year in Provence dealt with Mayle and his wife's move to Provence, near the Lubéron, their struggles with the language, their interesting neighbors, and the renovations they were making to their house while they explored their new neighborhood. That book progressed logically a month at a time; relationships developed over periods of months; and renovations progress or don't progress as the year goes by.Toujours Provence takes the familiar neighbors, workmen, and narrative structure and tosses them all right out the window. No longer is there any sort of continuity to Mayle's writing, but rather a collection of short vignettes, some of which might tie into an earlier story or theme, but most that just seem like a glimpse into lives we were given a front-row seat to in A Year in Provence.Chapters in Toujours Provence are given actual titles, a departure from the month titles of the previous book, and it's very telling. The titles feel like titles to magazine articles, which each short section might very well be. We get short stories without much follow-through, and as the book progresses, the readers is left to feel almost as if they are being pushed back from an interesting scene by a police barricade. A first glimpse of the Mayles' life as Madame Mayle adopts a new dog (bringing their total to three) toward the beginning of the book gives way to fewer and fewer mentions of Madame Mayle, fewer interactions with the fascinating neighbors like Massot and Faustin we met in A Year in Provence, and more and more of a feeling that Mayle is saying the "nos" to his readers that he isn't able to say to the guests who invite themselves for vacations at his house.::: Is It Horrible? :::Toujours Provence is in no means a horrible book, and if expectations after A Year in Provence weren't so high, it would probably be a very decent read: witty and interesting. But I don't find it odd at all that there were several reviews of the first book, which won awards, and no reviews of Toujours Provence, because it just isn't that memorable a book. I think that Mayle kept the reader at too far a distance with this book for it to be the must-read that its predecessor was, and that's a great loss.This review previously published at Epinions: http://www.epinions.com/review/Toujou...
Симпатична и приятна за четене книга, даваща прекрасна възможност на "книжните пътешественици" като мен да получат доза бягство от забързания ни начин на живот. С характерното си свежо чувство за хумор, познато ни от "Една година в Прованс", Питър Мейл продължава да обрисува живописно ежедневието си на англичанин, предпочел безвремието на френския юг пред вечно мрачната британска действителност. Прелиствайки страниците, почти можеш да усетиш аромата на лавандуловите храсти, да си представиш вкуса на прекрасните френски вина и изящните ястия, да се насладиш на дребните /и не толкова/ удоволствия на френския провинциален живот. Написана с много топлина и привързаност към Прованс и неговите хора, "Прованс завинаги" зарежда читателя с характерната за провансалеца любов към живота.
What do You think about Toujours Provence (1992)?
Surrender to the quintessence of Provence! A Year in Provence and Toujour Provence, in respective order, chronicle Mayle’s real-life experiences following his family’s (wife and dogs) move from England to Provence. Their pages offer an entertaining and light-hearted narrative of everyday life — the people, the climate, the landscapes, and mainly the acclaimed Provençal art of eating! — from the perspective of a British “long-term tourist” (as Mayle puts it). The Provence series is usually located in the “Travel” section at most bookstores; yet the discriminating reader will happily discover that these are more novel than guide. Mayle’s storey-telling skills are top-notch and keep you reading until the book is done. This, coupled with his clever facetiousness, is a winning combination. Any avid fan of “dry British humour” will enjoy Mayle’s witty anecdotes as he puzzles over the sometimes eccentric antics of his Provençal neighbours. These two gems, A Year in Provence and Toujour Provence, are amongst the prized possessions in my bookshelf!
—bookyeti
I'm so happy I took this book from the outcasts from the staff room. I enjoyed the constant reference to food. There a part in the book where Peter is describing his experience of wine tasting with a wine seller. He was amazed that lunch lasted 4 hours and the only conversation they had was about the food they were eating, the food they ate and the food they were going to eat. There was no room at the table for unappetizing topics such as politics and the economy. I think I need to move to Provence. Maybe they will like my empanadas. What do you think?
—Eleni
This book is an enjoyable follow-up to "A Year in Provence" and goes more into the details of daily life and life's adventures, and frustrations, in living in a Mediterranean country. I can understand the frustration of dealing with the seemingly unfathomable bureaucracy involved in getting anything accomplished and the difficulty for an Anglo in trying to adapt to the "C'est la vie" way of thinking. One drawback for me is what seems a pedantic overuse of French words and expressions (irony here) interspersed throughout the book. Not being a native speaker of French, I find myself going to the French/English dictionary frequently because I just HAVE to know what each word means! Truthfully, an understanding of French is not necessary to appreciate the idyll in the south of France, and it is enjoyable and enviable.
—Tom
