from FRANCE 24

Sales of Hemingway’s ‘A Moveable Feast’ surge after Paris attacks

by Rachel HOLMAN

© Patrick Kovarik, AFP

In the wake of the November 13 Paris attacks, Ernest Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast” has become a symbol of life in the French capital, climbing to the top of bestseller lists as it flies off the shelves of bookstores across France.

Published posthumously in 1964, “A Moveable Feast” is a memoir of Hemingway’s experiences living in Paris during the 1920s.

In the shocked aftermath of the November 13 attacks, which killed 130 people, copies of the book have been placed among the flowers and candles at makeshift memorials across the city.

The book’s sudden revival has been partly attributed to a woman known as “Grandma” Danielle, who evoked the tome during an interview with France’s BFM TV at a memorial outside of the Bataclan concert hall days after the attacks.

“It’s very important to bring flowers to our dead, it’s very important to read Hemingway’s book ‘A Moveable Feast’ over and over again,” said the woman who was only identified by her first name. “We are an ancient civilisation and we will uphold our values. We will fraternise with the 5 million Muslims who practise their religion freely and peacefully and we will fight against the 10,000 barbarians who kill, in the so-called name of Allah.”

Since then, “A Moveable Feast” (translated to “Paris est une fête”) has surged to the top of French retailer FNAC and Amazon France’s bestseller lists.

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