I'll Never Be French (No Matter What I Do): Living in a Small Village in Brittany

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I LIKE THIS MAN. His humor is understated and takes you by surprise many times. He paints vivid word pictures that stick in your mind days, weeks, months after you read them. If I had a tour guide for my trip to France, I would select this man.

Trying to set any bias aside (my friend here in NY is the author's niece) I was happily suprised by the humorous writings of her uncle who I swear I have never met (although I was once called on my friend's cell thinking she was calling her uncle of the same name, but I digress) but would like to one day. The book is a fun tale of a true life visit to France becoming a lifelong adventure. The descriptions of incidents are at times hilarious and I only can imagine there were many other events that could have, and should have, been included. It also gave me a new look on the "true" French and the kindness of their ways (except if you're British). As I was told this was a "good read" it truly turned out to be just that. Wonderful and a must read for anyone considering moving to the quieter regions of France. (Similar in style to "Desiring Paradise" by Schlesinger on the trials and joy of moving to St. John, VI). My only tiny problem, as the author's experience progresses so does his occasional use of French quotes increase without translation which lost me for one or two lines here and there.

Author Mark Greenside has written a delightful and insightful description of his experiences living in a small French village. Greenside's portrayals of his French neighbors belie the usual stereotypes and will make even those who dislike the French also want to go live in Brittany. Greenside's ability to make the reader laugh out loud (but always at himself, never at the expense of others) coupled with his open heart provides a very good reason to gift this little gem to any friend for any reason.

This is the funniest book in recent memory. I burst out laughing while reading in a restaurant, and after I got home, I continued reading, and laughed till my sides ached (the chapter about the insurance agent). But people shouldn't go immediately to that chapter; it is necessary (as they say in France) that one reads the earlier chapters first to set the scene and build up to it to get the full effect. I was sorry when the book ended, but it's such a gem that probably going on further would've detracted from the overall effect. The one point the author overlooked is in considering the people of the village French - don't ever forget that Brittany is CELTIC. I'm kind of curious as to how the author would make out in Paris. . .

Foolishly, I thought I would read a chapter to see what this book was like, only to find myself sliding through the first half dozen chapters unable to stop, laughing aloud, as if caught in a Chaplinesque journey of an Everyman in France, a Twain's Innocent Abroad in Brittany. To read this book is to become for a few delightful hours one's own Jacques Tati as one bumbles through a personal "Mr Hulot's Holiday" trying to fit in in France. To give this book is to give the gift of an interlude of a few hour's delight marked by laughter. The writing itself is seamless and transparent; the reading, a pleasure trip; the main flaw, an ending that arrives too soon.