''Le Paysan de Paris'' is a

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

book about places in Paris. Written by

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...

, it was first published in 1926 by

Editions Gallimard Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Records ...

. The book was first published in English in 1971 under the title ''Paris Peasant'' by

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a British publishing firm headquartered in London and founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard (1893–1968) set up the publishing house in ...

, in a translation by Simon Watson Taylor, English member of the Surrealist movement. The book was dedicated to the Surrealist painter

André Masson André-Aimé-René Masson (; 4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Biography Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brus ...

and its

preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...

was on the theme of a modern mythology. The two main sections of the books describe two places in Paris in great detail: '' Le Passage de l'Opera'' and ''

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont The Parc des Buttes Chaumont (; English: Park of Buttes Chaumont) is a public park situated in northeastern Paris, France, in the 19th arrondissement. Occupying , it is the fifth-largest park in Paris, after the Bois de Vincennes, Bois de Boulo ...

''. The detailed descriptions provide a realistic backdrop for surrealist spectacles such as the transformation of a shop into a seascape in which a siren appears and then disappears. This literary device is '' le merveilleux quotidien'' — a contrast of the mundane with the marvellous.

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaborati ...

described the work as stimulating but uneven. He thought it the best of the six books which he bought in Paris when visiting there in 1927.

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( ; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western M ...

was deeply affected by the book, which became a point of departure for his unfinished magnum opus, ''

The Arcades Project ''Das Passagen-Werk'' or ''Arcades Project'' was an unfinished project of German philosopher and cultural critic Walter Benjamin, written between 1927 and his death in 1940. An enormous collection of writings on the city life of Paris in the 19t ...

''. Louis Aragon was disappointed with the book's reception by the French literary establishment which he considered too bourgeois and commercial.

References

1926 French novels Novels by Louis Aragon Surrealist novels Books about Paris Novels set in Paris Éditions Gallimard books {{1920s-novel-stub