Flâneuse

I have a hard time rating this book. I liked the concept, I liked the passages where she talks about her own experiences abroad and “Flaneusing” through the city, but then it would get bogged down with thoughts on films, books and fictional characters that didn't quite have the same impact. Part of this was due to the fact that I had not read any of the books she referenced, watched any the films or was even remotely familiar with the characters she mentioned, so I was a bit lost when she delved heavily into those subjects. I still understood what she was trying to get across, but it had less of an impact on me personally, having not read any of the reference material and thus having the ability to agree or disagree based on my own knowledge of it. Obviously her true love is for Paris, as she spends a good 75% or more of the book fixated on that city with odd sides in New York, Tokyo, Venice and London. This also bothered me a bit, as the title suggests focus across all these cities, but Lauren Elkin definitely has a soft spot for France and particularly Paris. Overall I still enjoyed the book, even though there were some passages I had to slog through. Her unique look at women's roll as an observer in cities and how that influences those around her and influences her own personal journey was definitely the draw to the book and I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect. If you're well read in her reference material, you may find the book more fulfilling than I did personally, but I struggled with that part and thus found I couldn't give it quite as high a rating as I would have liked.