On Curious George.

Curious George in Paris

Having a very curious (and not-so-humble) George as a roommate, I’m obviously no impartial reader, but I thought this NYTimes piece was pretty well-written. Lately I’ve found its articles and editorials to be not terribly interesting, with some really poorly-chosen subjects (a feature story on a pair of twins living in NYC looking for jobs was a particularly awful one). It’s such that, if they transition to subscription-only, I’m not sure whether I would subscribe.

But on occasion, there is a gem or two, like this:

He imitates gestures, examines objects. He sees a hat, he puts it on his head; he sees a seagull and is determined to fly himself; he sees a telephone and dials, accidentally summoning the fire department; he sees house painters and decides to paint.

His misadventures, particularly in the early books, are ignited by impulse and inquiry, the consequences of wanting to see and to know, and the books’ charm is that they don’t condemn this curiosity; they relish it. Reality’s hard knocks — the chases, the falls, the breaking of limbs and objects — are ultimately taken care of by the nameless man in the yellow hat, who never seems to learn that you don’t leave such a childlike creature alone with a new bike, saying, “Keep close to the house while I am gone.”

In early September 1939, just after World War II began, the Reys — a husband-and-wife team of German Jews living in Paris — sought refuge at Château Feuga, an old castle owned by some friends in southern France. At such a time, Hans A. Rey wrote in a letter, “it feels ridiculous to be thinking about children’s books.” But that is what they were doing, prolifically, including a book about a monkey named Fifi, who later became known as Curious George.

“Little monkeys sometimes forget,” we read of the warnings he regularly violates. Seeing something interesting, George, of course, “could not resist.” He lifts a lid on a pot of spaghetti, plays tricks on his bicycle, races down a fire escape, climbs a tree in a natural history museum. His curiosity is clever, but consequences are never foreseen: he seems to be a fearless 5-year-old.

Yet his romps began at a place and time —Europe in 1939 — when consequences were all, when almost nothing about the world could be relied on, and when curiosity had to take second place to survival. One reason the Jewish Museum has created this exhibition (and why the new Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco will later show it) is that the Reys were not only Jewish, but they also had lives whose trajectory was a consequence of their identity.

The whole article is worth a read. It changes the way one sees Curious George. I didn’t know, for instance, that his parents were Jewish, or that he was born in France! Goodness, it’s a good thing I brought him.

Also, it must be a whole lot of fun researching for/curating something like this. One gets the chance to read through all the primary documents: letters, agendas, journals, photos. It’s the work behind the display that is fascinating.

Museum list for organizational purposes.

Right Bank:

75001 Musée du Louvre
75001 Musée des Arts Decoratifs
75001 Musée de l’Orangerie
75003 Musée Picasso
75004 Centre Pompidou
75004 Carnavalet
75009 Musée Gustave Moreau, 14 Rue de La Rochefoucauld
75009 Musée de la vie romantique
75009 Parfumerie-Fragonard

Left Bank:

75005 Musée Cluny
75006 Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
75007 Musée Maillol
75007 Musée d’Orsay

Tuileries/Champs Elysée area:

75008 Musée de Petit-Palais
75008 Galeries nationales du Grand Palais
75008 Pinacothèque
750116 Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris
750116 Musée d’art moderne

Paris update #3

Missed church this morning, woke up late. Ended up going to Mass instead this evening. I’ve never been to Catholic Mass before, and now I can say that my first Mass was held at la Cathédrale de Notre Dame. Not bad, yeah?

Asides from that, walked around le Marais in 4eme arr. Passed le Musée national Picasso, will go another time. All those shop windows, so much temptation. And I don’t even love to buy usually.

Paris update #2

Loving Paris. What a beautiful, beautiful city.

Today, took a quick tour of the Beaubourg area of the 3rd arrondissement with Mme Julan. Lots and lots of boulangeries. I feared that Paris mightn’t be as convenient as, say, Austin where we can easily drive to HEB, the Domain, Best Buy, etc. Ha! I live within a ten minute walk from Les Halles, a Monoprix (like CVS except it also sells baguettes, breads of all sorts, and has food upstairs), Starbucks, two cinemas, le Centre Georges Pompidou (modern/contemporary art exhibitions), l’Atelier Brancusi, and a street or two with Chinese grocery stores/bakeries/restaurants, five banks, three subway lines, and, of course, the Seine. All within ten walking minutes.

Another 15 or so minutes takes me to Ile de la Cité (location of la Cathédrale de Notre Dame), île Saint-Louis, le Musée du Louvre (I’m a member now!), le Jardin du Luxembourg, and la Sorbonne (Quatier Latin and St. Germain-des-Pres). The Paris Panthéon is nearby as well.

Tomorrow, going to a church in the 19th arrondissement. I might also try to go to Cimetière du Père-Lachaise. If not, perhaps I will go to the Picasso Museum.

Oh, and so much for expensive Paris shopping. I have never seen boots selling so cheaply before, ever. And they are everywhere. Found a pair for 15 euros. I’m sure the quality is terrible and it’ll fall apart soon, but 15 euros…and not even the cheapest that I saw.

Oh, I also live right next to a cinema that shows a lot of Italian films. I’ll go and watch one sometime.

Paris update #1

Took oral yesterday morning, then walked around the 6, 4, 3 arrondissements all afternoon, including Ile de la Cité and Saint Louis, the two little islands in the Seine. The walk along the Seine is so beautiful! School is in the Quartier Latin very close to Jardin du Luxembourg and La Sorbonne. Home is 5 minutes from Centre Pompidou and Les Halles. There’s an Atelier Brancusi next to Pompidou! And an H&M in Les Halles, for those interested lol. Today’s possible walking destinations:

Musée du Louvre
Musée Picasso
La Pinacotheque (I’m dreadfully disappointed by this one. I missed an exhibit called ‘L’âge d’Or hollandais’ by two weeks! It was in partnership with the Reijksmuseum in Amsterdam! But it’s not so bad because there’s an Edvard Munch exhibition, l’Anti-Cri, starting today.)