Paris in July, 2025 - Shakespeare & Company - Memes

One of the reasons why I wanted to spend extra time in Paris was to follow in the footsteps of the many famous writers and artists living here in the 1920s. Before I venture into the Shakespeare & Company, visit the streets where the writers lived and worked, it might be interesting to know why - especially - the writers were called the lost generation.

In general, the term “The Lost Generation” is used for the young people who reached adulthood around World War I. In particular it was also used for the group of American expat writers living in Paris during the 1920s. The term was coined by Gertrude Stein, and was made popular by Ernest Hemingway when he used it in his novel The Sun Also Rises: “You are all a lost generation.” Here he refers to people who are “disoriented, wandering, directionless” which probably fit a lot of the survivors of the war.

Shakespeare & Company

The bookshop, who sold mostly books in English, was first opened by American expat Sylvia Beach on 19 November 1919, then at 8 rue Dupuytren. The store worked as a library as well as a bookstore. In 1921 Beach moved to a larger place at 12 rue de l’Odeon where it remained until it was closed down in December 1941.

Many of the then unknown, but later famous writers and artists, frequented her shop; like the Lost Generation writers Ernest Hemingway and F.Scott Fitzgerald, as well as Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Andersson, T.S. Eliot and artists like Man Ray, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Hemingway, as a poor young, aspiring writer used to come here and borrow books, and sit down and write in the rooms upstairs. Beach even had beds for those who did not have anywhere to sleep for the night.

Sylvia Beach was a patron for the writers and also helped publish James Joyce’s “Ulysses” in 1922, when nobody wanted to print it. When published it was banned in Britain and United States. She sold other books banned in those countries, like D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Sometimes she organised gatherings with writers, reading from their books.

The bookshop we see today at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, was founded by American George Whitman in 1951.

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"I created this bookstore like a man would write a novel, building each room like a chapter, and I like people to open the door the way they open a book, a book that leads into a magic world in their imaginations."

— George Whitman

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The building, where the store is today, was constructed in the early 17th century, and was originally a monastery. Whitman has kept up the tradition started by Sylvia Beach and has made the bookstore a center for expat literary life in Paris. Among his visitors to the store we find Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Anaïs Nin, Richard Wright, William Styron, Julio Cortázar, Henry Miller, William Saroyan, Lawrence Durrell, James Jones, and James Baldwin.

In 2002 Whitman’s daughter Sylvia returned to Paris and the bookstore and started helping her father. George Whitman passed away in 2011, but the bookstore is in the good hands of Sylvia. She has introduced many new endeavours and traditions and it is an interesting place to visit.

Not a long line this day

The rooms are small, bare concrete walls, filled with bookcases and books. You can find anything here. On the second floor are rooms in the style of Sylvia Beach, with sofas, tables and chairs and books that you can read while you take a brake from the busy streets of Paris.

The visitors are numerous and I had to wait in line outside for about 20 minutes. I was there in the afternoon. Just to come into the shop, see all the books, look at all the people around you who love books as much as you do, is a special feeling. Although it is not the same place as the original book store, you get a feeling for how it was in the old days. You can see Hemingway sitting at the desk, hammering on a typing machine. Taking down a book from the shelves and sit down in an armchair to read, maybe study something for his stories. Take a coffee and talk to a fellow writer. A small quiet corner in an otherwise busy life.

It was not allowed to take photos, but Shakespeare and Company has a website with photos and more information. There is even a link “Prepare your visit”. Did I buy something? I did buy three books and a tote bag. The books are not cheap, but I guess you also pay for the place and the possibility to wander around history for a while. When you enter the shop, to the left, there is a bookcase with books from The Lost Generation, if that is what you are looking for. I was pleased with my visit.