{"id":138014,"date":"2019-07-16T13:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T17:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=138014"},"modified":"2019-07-16T12:33:34","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T16:33:34","slug":"redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"Redux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week, the editors of\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u00a0lift the paywall on a selection of interviews, stories, poems, and more from the magazine\u2019s archive. You can have these unlocked pieces delivered straight to your inbox every Sunday by\u00a0signing up for the Redux newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Simone de Beauvoir.<\/p><\/div>\n

In honor of Bastille Day this past Sunday, The Paris Review<\/em> is returning to its expatriate roots by highlighting some of the many French authors whose work resides within the archive. Read on for Simone de Beauvoir\u2019s Art of Fiction interview<\/a>, as well as Baudelaire\u2019s poem \u201cParisian Dream<\/a>\u201d and Andre de Mandiargues\u2019s brief story \u201cThe Bath of Madame Mauriac<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you enjoy these free interviews, stories, and poems, why not\u00a0subscribe to read the entire archive<\/a>? You\u2019ll also get four new issues of the quarterly delivered straight to your door.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Simone de Beauvoir, The Art of Fiction No. 35<\/a>
\nIssue no. 34 (Spring\u2013Summer 1965)<\/em><\/p>\n

When one has an existentialist view of the world, like mine, the paradox of human life is precisely that one tries to be<\/em> and, in the long run, merely exists. It\u2019s because of this discrepancy that when you\u2019ve laid your stake on being\u2014and, in a way you always do when you make plans, even if you actually know that you can\u2019t succeed in being\u2014when you turn around and look back on your life, you see that you\u2019ve simply existed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parisian Dream<\/a>
\nBy Charles Baudelaire
\nIssue no. 82 (Winter 1981)<\/em><\/p>\n

It is a terrible terrain
\n..<\/span>no mortal eye has seen
\nwhose image still seduces me
\n..<\/span>this morning as it fades \u2026<\/p>\n

Sleep is full of miracles!
\n..<\/span>Some impulse in my dream
\nbad rid the region I devised
\n..<\/span>of every growing thing.<\/p>\n

and proud of the resulting scene
\n..<\/span>I savored in my art
\nthe rapturous monotony
\n..<\/span>of metal, water, stone \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Bath of Madame Mauriac<\/a>
\nBy Andre de Mandiargues
\nIssue no. 76 (Fall 1979)<\/em><\/p>\n

I know a woman who takes mouse baths. It is true that they are white mice, that she is a singer, and that she only does so before going off to sing Tha\u00efs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you like what you read,\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to both\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>The New York Review of Books\u00a0for just $99.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In honor of Bastille Day, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on pieces by three of the many French writers who appear in our archive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31006],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-redux"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRedux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone by The Paris Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In honor of Bastille Day, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on archive pieces by three of the many French writers who appear in our archive.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Redux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone by The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"July 16, 2019 \u2013 In honor of Bastille Day, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on pieces by three of the many French writers who appear in our archive.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-16T17:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/simone.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e\"},\"headline\":\"Redux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-16T17:00:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/\"},\"wordCount\":393,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/simone.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Redux\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/\",\"name\":\"Redux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone by The Paris Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/simone.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-16T17:00:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"In honor of Bastille Day, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on archive pieces by three of the many French writers who appear in our archive.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/simone.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/simone.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":750,\"caption\":\"Simone de Beauvoir.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Redux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/parisreview\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Redux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone by The Paris Review","description":"In honor of Bastille Day, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on archive pieces by three of the many French writers who appear in our archive.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Redux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone by The Paris Review","og_description":"July 16, 2019 \u2013 In honor of Bastille Day, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on pieces by three of the many French writers who appear in our archive.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2019-07-16T17:00:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":750,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/simone.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"The Paris Review","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Paris Review","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/"},"author":{"name":"The Paris Review","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e"},"headline":"Redux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone","datePublished":"2019-07-16T17:00:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/"},"wordCount":393,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/simone.png","articleSection":["Redux"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/","name":"Redux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone by The Paris Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/simone.png","datePublished":"2019-07-16T17:00:17+00:00","description":"In honor of Bastille Day, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on archive pieces by three of the many French writers who appear in our archive.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/simone.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/simone.png","width":1000,"height":750,"caption":"Simone de Beauvoir."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/redux-the-rapturous-monotony-of-metal-water-stone\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Redux: The Rapturous Monotony of Metal, Water, Stone"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e","name":"The Paris Review","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Paris Review"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/parisreview\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138014"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138043,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138014\/revisions\/138043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}