Writers & Writing
Memoir redefines the City of Light
“We’ll always have Paris,” Rick tells Ilsa in the classic film Casablanca in which Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman set for the ages Paris as a backdrop for romance. Some even consider the film as ginning up public support for the Allied invasion of North Africa in World War II.
While the impact of that classic film will likely never die, Paris as a mecca for lovers is redefined in the moving memoir Paris Lost and Found by Scott Dominic Carpenter, professor of French literature and creative writing at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. Carpenter recounts the place Paris had in his and his late wife Anne’s hearts, how that all began to change as Anne fell victim to Alzheimer’s, the virtual shutdown of Paris during the COVID pandemic and finally Carpenter’s rediscovery of Paris through the eyes of another partner.
As a professor of French literature at Carleton, Carpenter was probably better able to negotiate the cultural intricacies of Paris than most Americans. However, that did little to heal the pain he felt as Anne fell victim to her disease.
Despite that, Carpenter manages to use humor throughout the book like a bandage over the pain of loss and sorrow. As he negotiated through a labyrinth of French idiosyncrasies, we can begin to understand just how frustrating life was as he found light at the end of the tunnel in, of all places, the City of Light.
That light came when he met Bonnie, a woman whose background and tastes matched his own.
“Turned out, Bonnie had lost a mate, too. We compared notes and generally agreed that it sucks.”
In the end, it was their mutual ability to see Paris as it was that made them a perfect match.
“That’s what I’d been doing for Paris over the years – catching it with its makeup off. And now Bonnie was willing to do the same for me. Indeed, she embraced this new responsibility with gusto.”
Carpenter’s memoir can offer lessons for us all. Just as we may associate a certain place with a certain person, that can all change when that person is gone. However, if we are able to rediscover that same place through another’s eyes, life can take on new meaning.
Carpenter’s memoir is entertaining and moving, but without the meaningless romantic platitudes foisted upon us by travel agencies and the tourism industry. We see Paris as both gritty and beautiful.
And people can be the same.
Michael Tidemann writes from Estherville, Iowa. His website is michaeltidemann.my.canva.site.
