I've mentioned a time or two that I'm a huge Francophile, so my eye was caught by
Metropolitain, An Ode to the Paris Metro, which is part of today's Daily Deal in the US, and matched at Kobo US.
The author is Andrew Martin, who is better known, to me at least, as the author of a mystery series featuring Jim Stringer, a British railroad worker and amateur sleuth, but has also written several non-fiction books about trains. I just now read the sample for this book, and was amused to learn that Martin's dad worked for British Rail, which somewhat explains the railway-ish flavor of both his non-fiction and his fiction
.
In any case, Martin's
Metropolitain (he also explains in the intro why he left off the accent aigu on the "e") is on sale right now in the US for $2.99, and also in the UK for £2.99.
Kindle US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTLQVQSJ
Kobo US:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/metropolitain-2
Kindle UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BTLQVQSJ
Spoiler:
Quote:
Andrew Martin has been described as 'the laureate of railways', having written many books with railway themes. But Andrew has always been obsessed with the Paris Metro, hence Metropolitain: An Ode to the Paris Metro, the first English history of the Metro for the general reader.
Metropolitain is as stylish as the Metro itself and laced with cultural references. Andrew explains why Last Tango in Paris is a great Metro film, and what the Metro chase scene in the classic thriller, Le Samourai, says about Parisian culture. He describes how he came to appreciate the beauty of Guimard's sinuous green Metro entrances when he bought a lily of the valley and observed it flowering on his desk. We meet Andrew's half-English, half-French friend, Julian, who runs a society dedicated to Metro history. He tells Andrew, 'A Metro station is like the wine cellar of chateau, which is a very nice thing to be reminded of.'
The book takes the reader on a constant tour of Paris, both underground and over. But Paris, and the Metro, is changing, undergoing a huge expansion. This, and the imminence of the Paris Olympics, make this a timely title.
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