Impossible City

Paris in the Twenty-First Century

By: Simon Kuper

Narrated by: Tim Frances

An entertaining and openhearted tale of a naïf eventually getting to understand a complex, glittering, beautiful and often cruel society - at least a little.

When Simon Kuper left London for Paris in his early thirties, he wasn't planning to make a permanent move. Paris, however, had other
plans. Kuper has grown middle-aged there, eaten the croissants, seen his American wife through life-threatening cancer, taken his children to countless football matches on freezing Saturday mornings in the city's notorious banlieues, and in 2015 lived through two terrorist attacks on their neighborhood. Over two decades of becoming something of a cantankerous Parisian himself, Kuper has watched the city change.

This century, it has globalized, gentrified, and been shocked into realizing its role as the crucible of civilizational conflict. Sometimes it's a multicultural paradise, and sometimes it isn't. This decade, Parisians have lived through a sequence of shocks: terrorist attacks, record floods and heatwaves, the burning of Notre Dame, the storming of the city by gilets jaunes, and then the pandemic. Now, as the Olympics come to town, France is busy executing the "Grand Paris" project: the most serious attempt yet to knit together the bejewelled city with its neglected suburbs.

This is a captivating memoir of the Paris of today, without the Parisian clichés.

Excellent inside view

This gets behind the scenes of what we know of Paris from television, etc. it cracks the code of the elite scene and describes what it is like to eventually find friends in Paris. Its explanation of the culture seems to make sense with the history of 18 century elite culture, one still being played out today.

It was great to hear about the plan to include the suburbs in the city in the Grand Paris plan. There are also a lot of interesting updates about what is going on in Paris in the 21st-century.

Interesting, excellent book.

Excellent insights into Parisian codes

I quickly became absorbed by this book which is both a recent history of Paris and an expat memoire. He shares insider knowledge of Parisian culture and helps to crack their quirky codes. Love it!

Great story! Wish I didn’t end!

Having a dispersed identity myself after living in a few countries, I love how relatable Simon’s story is. The complexities of integrating oneself as a foreigner self-made-local in a new city come alive through his anecdotes. Almost makes me want to move to Paris, but at the same time makes me equally appreciate my adapted Valènciano identity.