Paris France (novel) - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

Paris France is a memoir written in a “stream of consciousness” style. It is interpreted as Gertrude Stein’s personal view of France as a country, and the French people. She observes the French eating, drinking, crossing the street, and carrying out their day in no other way that deviates from their "french-ness". The word "French" quickly becomes a state of being or state of existence. A noun and an adjective.

Throughout the novel, the idea of being French in France is communicated to the reader in a raw, confident, matter of fact way. Because of this, some critics believe the novel was not meant to be written as a completely accurate view of the French culture. Stein refers often to fashion, autonomy, logic, tradition and civilization as crucial parts of the French state of being, any straying of which would be straying from being French, regardless of actual nationality.

Stein places the state of France within the context of past wars and the possible impending war and the war’s effect on the “Frenchness” of the French, as well as the ideal/real French reaction to war. Stein nonchalantly recalls anecdotes she deems relevant to the topic at hand, each bringing reference to other anecdotal stories having a purpose and place within the progression of the novel. Stein freely follows the tangents of thoughts and life stories (or stories from others’ lives) but always returns to the driving purpose of the novel, identifying the French qualities and paying homage to England and France.