Hayley Reviews~ No. 91/92: notes on a Parisian commute by Lauren Elkin

Written across the months from September 2014 to May 2015, No. 91/92: notes on a Parisian commute is a collection of iPhone ‘notes’ jotted down by Elkin during her morning and evening commutes on the public transport of Paris. An American teacher working at a Parisian university, Elkin had become frustrated with her attachment to her phone and tendency to sink her time spent commuting into aimlessly scrolling through social media. Inspired by writers such as Virginia Woolf and Annie Ernaux, Elkin decided instead to use her phone to document her daily thoughts and observations. Through this simple but effective contemporary approach to journaling, Elkin captures a less glamorous side of Paris, and instead offers an intimate insight into the ordinary moments that shaped her days.

I was initially drawn to the book by it’s unusual shape - a slightly elongated paperback, it is aptly more similar in size to a smartphone than a book. Many of Elkin’s entries are no longer than a page but she manages to closely capture the emotion or anecdote she is recalling. I was impressed by how clearly I could picture the scenes she describes and how immersed in the experience I felt from only a few lines of writing. Autocorrected words, typos, and missed punctuation have all been preserved, retaining the spontaneity of Elkin transcribing these observations as they occurred. This also gives the reader a vaguely voyeuristic experience - you often feel as if you are sat on the bus beside her. In the first half of the book Elkin recalls fairly ordinary but familiar experiences. Her concerns are relatable – she nearly misses the bus and worries about getting to work on time, she is tired and still has marking to do when she gets home, she passes judgement about her fellow passengers and then feels guilty about those judgements.

The second half of the book takes place shortly after the Charlie Hebdo attack which occurred on 7th January 2015. Here, Elkin’s approach changes, moving away from the details of her day and instead she reflects on the city more broadly. Rather than positioning herself as an observer, she instead writes about how she feels united with her fellow passengers and through incredibly moving passages she describes how the experience of the attack has brought the people of Paris together in their shock, fear, and grief. Through these descriptions she and the city begin to mirror each other, and through her interpretations of the city and the anxieties of the people around her, she begins to unpack her own anxieties.

As well as her impressions of the city, Elkin talks a lot about the literary influences that have inspired the project. I enjoyed seeing how these influences were reflected in her writing, particularly when she discussed a journaling technique used by writer Georges Perec. Whenever he visited a city and wanted to get a better understanding of it he would find a cafe in the centre of town and sit and write down everything he could see, to try to capture everything that was going on around him. He felt that from seeing people going about their day-to-day lives and documenting what was really happening, this would give him the best impression of a place. Elkin encourages her students to go out and do this, and they note how difficult this exercise becomes when you try to write down absolutely everything. It made me think a lot about what Elkin herself was choosing to write about and about what kind of story she was trying to tell through what she would include or leave out.

I really enjoyed this book; it’s full of humour and as well as emotional depth, and I particularly liked how Elkin’s writing style feels very unique but still pays homage to the authors that have inspired her.