27 Beats Per Minute: Meditations on Life, Literature and Paris

(Paperback)

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'A very special book that I enjoyed enormously' Cees Nooteboom

A dazzling ode to life, literature and Paris, the French capital that even in emptiness and desolation will always be magnificent.

Soon after Henk Propper moves from Amsterdam to Paris, both the world and his heart almost come to a full stop. He undergoes major surgery and awakes in an empty city in lockdown. Paris is transformed into an abandoned stage. To quicken his recovery, Propper begins walking. He combs his immediate surroundings, he hunts for the past, discovering countless commemorative plaques and monuments that honour well- and lesser-known Parisians and keep their histories alive. Propper also reflects on his own life and the literature that has shaped him. In this way, he walks in the footsteps of literary heroes such as Victor Hugo, of Balzac and of Camus.

'One of the most moving and most invigorating autobiographies ever written. This is a finely polished gem worthy of admiration' Knack

'A concise masterpiece that summarises a life in the time of the pandemic in the personal, euphoric and precarious shades of one year. Without one's realising, it covers just about everything: thoughts, emotions, literature, films, loves, feelings, memories, annoyances and doubts' Vrij Nederland

'Philosophical, reflective, and with the pleasantly slow heartbeat of a writer who carries the reader through the city, European literature and history' het Parool

Translated by Emma Rault.

Epilogue translated by Sherry Macdonald.

Reviews

27 Beats per Minute is one of the most moving and most invigorating autobiographies ever written. This is a finely polished gem worthy of admiration * Knack *
A concise masterpiece that summarises a life in the time of the pandemic in the personal, euphoric and precarious shades of one year. Without one's realising, it covers just about everything: thoughts, emotions, literature, films, loves, feelings, memories, annoyances and doubts * Vrij Nederland *
Philosophical, reflective, and with the pleasantly slow heartbeat of a writer who carries the reader through the city, European literature and history * het Parool *
A very special book that I enjoyed enormously. All sorts of memories came up while reading , especially from the time I - an undescribed hitchhiker - discovered Paris as my first real foreign country -- Cees Nooteboom

Author Bio

HENK PROPPER has for forty years written about the literature and culture of France, the country where he was a diplomat and director in Paris of the Institut Neerlandais. He was director of the Dutch Foundation for Literature before becoming a distinguished Dutch publisher. Propper writes for de Volkskrant, mainly about French subjects.