It took me some years to clear my head of what Paris wanted me to admire about it, and to notice what I preferred instead. Not power-ridden monuments, but individual buildings which tell a quieter story: the artist's studio, or the Belle Epoque house built by a forgotten financier for a just-remembered courtesan.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the importance of personal perception over societal expectations in appreciating beauty and art.
Julian Barnes highlights the journey of personal discovery in the context of art and architecture in Paris. Instead of being captivated by grand monuments that symbolize power, he encourages a focus on the lesser-known but richly storied individual buildings that reveal deeper, quieter narratives and a more personal connection to artistry and history.
In practice
In a discussion about travel experiences, one might refer to this quote to emphasize finding beauty in overlooked places.
(on grief) And you do come out of it, that’s true. After a year, after five. But you don’t come out of it like a train coming out of a tunnel, bursting through the downs into sunshine and that swift, rattling descent to the Channel; you come out of it as a gull comes out of an oil-slick. You are tarred and feathered for life.
Is despair wrong? Isn’t it the natural condition of life after a certain age? … After a number of events, what is there left but repetition and diminishment? Who wants to go on living? The eccentric, the religious, the artistic (sometimes); those with a false sense of their own worth. Soft cheeses collapse; firm cheeses endurate. Both go mouldy.
But I’ve been turning over in my mind the question of nostalgia, and whether I suffer from it. I certainly don’t get soggy at the memory of some childhood knickknack; nor do I want to deceive myself sentimentally about something that wasn’t even true at the time—love of the old school, and so on. But if nostalgia means the powerful recollection of strong emotions—and a regret that such feelings are no longer present in our lives—then I plead guilty.
And that's a life, isn't it? Some achievements and some disappointments. It's been interesting to me, though I wouldn't complain or be amazed if others found it less so. Maybe, in a way, Adrian knew what he was doing. Not that I would have missed my own life for anything, you understand. [pp.60-61]
Every love story is a potential grief story.
He feared me as many men fear women: because their mistresses (or their wives) understand them. They are scarcely adult, some men: they wish women to understand them, and to that end they tell them all their secrets; and then, when they are properly understood, they hate their women for understanding them.
Literature could be said to be a sort of disciplined technique for arousing certain emotions.
Poetry is not a civilizer, rather the reverse, for great poetry appeals to the most primitive instincts.
We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.
When I'm writing, the darkness is always there. I go where the pain is.
It's a slight stretch of the imagination but most people are alike in most ways so I've never had any trouble identifying with the character that I'm playing.
I wish you didn't have to design so often. Try to do quality and cut down on quantity. I think fashion is very, very important.
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