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The Secret Paris Cinema Club (2012)

by Nicolas Barreau(Favorite Author)

3.63 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1782069593 (ISBN13: 9781782069591)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Quercus Publishing Plc

review 1: When I saw this book in the Quercus Books Catalogue I was super excited. The book claims to be a 'Parisian Notting Hill with all the charm of Chocolat' which is, considering Notting Hill is one of my all-time favourite films, a big comparison to make. I absolutely love anything set in Paris and the whole premise of the book is wonderful. The owner of an arthouse cinema falls in love with one of his loyal customers who disappears soon after their first date. It sounded like a mixture of romance and mystery and I was intrigued. Unfortunately it wasn't quite what I was expecting.It's probably easier if I break down this review into good and not-so-good points.First, the good:1. The setting.I love Paris. I have only been once but I would go back in a heartbeat. I would very mu... morech like to go to the Cinema Paradis and I wish it was a real place. It sounds like my idea of a perfect cinema. I can't stand it when I go to watch a film and all I can hear is popcorn crunching, sweet packets rustling and ice cubes rattling. I can watch a film without eating and drinking. It's only a couple of hours. I have never understood why cinemas insist on selling the noisiest food in a place where you are supposed to be quiet?! Okay, okay, rant over. I am a miserable old woman who hates everything. Fact.2. The characters.I think Barreau has created some fantastic characters in this book. They do verge on being caricatures but most of them are just the right side of silly. Alain is a true romantic. You can't help but like him even when he is being a bit neurotic about things. You really do want him to find Melanie and for them to live happily ever after. My favourite character, though, was Solene Avril. I just thought she was wonderful. I tend to gravitate towards the slightly-wicked characters in a book and she was the perfect balance of glamour and spirit. Her actions were often questionable but I liked her and I found myself really sympathising with her towards the end. And speaking of the end...I spent several chapters getting quite annoyed at the predictability of what I thought was going to be the ending but, to my surprise (and delight) the story took yet another twist and things were soon going in another direction. I think had it ended where I thought it would then I probably would have rated this book a lot less.Now for the not-so-good. The first is a minor point which is something that bugs me in general so it probably won't be an issue for other people.1. Allan Woods.Allan Woods? Really? A horn-rimmed, kooky American director who has fallen out with his daughter and just so happens to be called Allan Woods which, if you turn it around, becomes Woody Allen? This was the one thing that wound me up. I know that the author couldn't use Woody Allen as his director in the book, fine, but to create a character that basically is him but with a slightly different name just wasn't necessary. It took away from the authenticity of the other characters.However, in my opinion, the main thing wrong with this book was that...2. It just wasn't believable.Some parts of the book were so contrived and so unrealistic that I couldn't believe the story. There were far too many coincidences and whilst I know that most books in this genre do rely quite heavily on chance and circumstance I just thought it was bit much. When you get to the part about the male names and everything that follows then you will know what I mean. Unfortunately the whole story was full of improbable scenarios and it was quite hard to get past them. In reality if you went on a date with someone ONCE and they didn't turn up to the second date you would probably just give up on them. I found Alain and Melanie's attraction to one another sweet and I loved their chemistry as a couple but I just can't get behind 'love at first sight' stories. He has admired her from afar and then after they spend an evening together he suddenly knows he is in love with her? I don't think it works like that but, who knows, maybe I'm wrong?I will admit I found this review quite hard to write because it was such an up-and-down read for me. I started off loving everything about it but halfway through I was bored and even thought about putting it down and starting something else. I'm glad I didn't though because the ending really made up for the lull in the middle and it really is a charming love story. Alain and Melanie are a very likeable couple even if their insta-love is a bit far-fetched. Ironically, I think The Secret Paris Cinema Club would make a wonderful film. I don't think that the book quite captured the magic it was hoping for but I can imagine that a big screen adaptation would flow a lot better and scenes that seemed forced or nonsensical in the book would fall into place. I would definitely go and watch it.
review 2: Un po' meglio di Con te fino alla fine del mondo, se non altro perché allo schema ormai noto (single dalla vita brillante a Parigi con esperienze amorose più o meno negative che si innamora di una persona senza praticamente conoscerla) si aggiunge un vago elemento "mistery" che rende la trama leggermente più robusta del solito: Non si tratta più semplicemente di capire chi e' la donna misteriosa (come in Con te) ma occorre proprio trovarla fisicamente. Resto dell'idea che sia un libro confezionato a tavolino per piacere, a prescindere dal fatto che Barreau sia o no una persona reale. Libro poco impegnativo, comunque, per trascorrere qualche ora senza pensieri irrobustendo quel luogo comune che vede Parigi come la città dell'amore.Probabilmente, la cosa più interessante del libro e' l'elenco dei film (reali) che il protagonista proietta nel suo cinema. less

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