Contemplation of the beautiful book | Press

For me, all books are beautiful. Even those faded paperback editions with atrocious covers that I keep just because they’ve been with me for ages. But what we call a “beautiful book”, or more superficially “coffee table book” – today we could say an “instagrammable” book -, it is in a way a book in a gala dress, which takes us back to the early days of our reading life, when we only read books with pictures.

For a long time I did not own beautiful books, but over the years, I ended up patiently building my little collection. Let’s admit that when we are possessed by the attraction of books, our heart beats when we have our first Pleiad, right?

And it’s usually around the holiday season that I like to flip through them, partly because many are published just before the gift season. I also find that it is the most chic gift there is, a beautiful book, as long as we know the tastes of the person to whom it is given. In this Christmas when we do not really know how to get closer, here are some very personal suggestions to counter the isolation brought by the Omicron variant.

Kitsch Qc

I believe you can’t go wrong with offering Kitsch Qc by Roxanne Arsenault and Caroline Dubuc (at Fides), who provided me with flashbacks surprising, because everyone has visited a themed restaurant at least once, such as Swiss chalets or pop-Polynesian buffets. By recounting the history of kitsch restaurants in Quebec from the 1950s to the 1980s, Arsenault and Dubuc simultaneously recount our special relationship with gastronomy as well as the journey of several immigrants who have definitely changed our menus. It’s informative, funny, and the authors have managed to find photos that rekindle our memories in the most colorful way possible.

Falardeau album

L’Falardeau Album – We will have all death to sleep, at VLB Éditeur, came as a surprise. Created by his wife Manon Leriche and his son Jules Falardeau, he introduces us to a much more intimate Pierre Falardeau, and perfectly consistent with the character he was, however little inclined to human interest, as Michel Chartrand said. In fact, it is very moving to see him like this, in his childhood photos, as a student, as a traveler-photographer among Aboriginals or Algerians, as a father and spouse, and of course, as a filmmaker on the sets. filming, all interspersed with extracts from his publications and correspondence. It is a sensitive portrait of the man who was ultimately missing and to which Bernard Émond, Georges Privet, Alexis Martin, Céline Philippe, Sylvie Drapeau, Claude Palardy and Robin Philpot contributed. Falardeau deserved such a tribute.

Lemoyne – Outside Game

The exhibition Serge Lemoyne – Outside Game at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec was a great success in the fall in the Old Capital. For those who could not come to see it, the catalog of the exhibition is really complete and explains not only the career and the influence of this artist known especially for his series Bleu, blanc, rouge (but whose l work is even more dense), which will have done everything to democratize the visual arts. On this track, let’s be frank, I’m a little influenced by the fact that my late mother-in-law Jocelyne Lepage participated, since Lemoyne was her first boyfriend. But it’s a whole story of the avant-garde and the Quebec underground that unfolds here before our eyes in this book, which also contains an interview with the hockey player Ken Dryden, the character of the most famous canvas. famous of Lemoyne.

Montreal capital

For history buffs, another beautiful book concocted by a museum, that of Pointe-à-Callière, published by Éditions de l’Homme, cannot disappoint: Montreal capital details “the exceptional history of the archaeological site of the Sainte-Anne market and of the parliament of the province of Canada” when Montreal was indeed the capital of the country, from 1844 to 1849. More precisely until April 25, 1849, when rioters took over. burnt down parliament – even libraries will pass there, and only 200 books out of 22,000 will be saved. Historians and archaeologists tell us here about a troubled and surprising period, abundantly illustrated by archive images, photos of artefacts and maps of the places of the time. A bit as if talents and expertise came together to offer us a real journey through time!

Everything on Dune

Finally, if you have fans of Dune by Frank Herbert, or simply beginners who want to dive into it seriously after seeing the great adaptation of Denis Villeneuve, I warmly suggest Everything on Dune, directed by Lloyd Chéry, at L’Atalante & Lena. This book has been making me happy for several days, and it bears its title well: we learn tons of details about the universe created by Frank Herbert, because it is written by maniacs of the work. Biography of the author (a man not as sympathetic as we thought), genesis of the novels, in-depth portraits of the characters and descriptions of the political aspects of the forces in place, return to the adaptations up to that of Villeneuve who grants an interview to Lloyd Chéry, this collection of essays really does go full circle. If you are a little confused by the complexity of this fantasy world, I swear to you that after reading this book you will become a geek of Dune. As far as I am concerned, it is the pleasure that I am going to give myself during the Christmas holidays which should still be very quiet this year, but not boring with my pile of beautiful books.