Paris France (novel) - Relationship To Stein's Personal Life

Relationship To Stein's Personal Life

The novel is entirely connected to Stein's personal life. She begins the novel with her earliest memories of Paris and anything French she experienced throughout her childhood in San Francisco. She lived in Paris, France her entire adult life and it is quite obvious that she is deeply connected to the city, country and entire culture. She has made several stereotypes about the French culture that may have helped aided with her obsession with France.

There are constant statements about how the French are logical and fashionable while also saying that they are civilized and everything is exciting and calm. The war is a significant part of her life in France; there are constant references to it throughout the book. At one point she refers to war 14 times in four pages. The book does not make it quite clear what time during the war she is talking about, because the book was published in 1940 and the war made official in France in 1940 but Poland was invaded in 1939. It is clear that the war had a great impact on her life, but with only a year in between the invasion of Poland and publishing of the book there is no real way to determine what parts of it she is referring to.