Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French

Paperback - May, 2003 - Sourcebooks
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By: Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow
ISBN: 1402200455

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Reviews by readers

Outstanding, A Must Read

This book was such a welcome addition to my collection of books on France. This journalist/author/couple reveal many aspects about French behavior, sometimes referred to as the "codes" that are unspoken but understood among the French, and now revealed for an American audience. After reading this book, I felt I had a much better depth of understanding that has helped me to appreciate more fully the articles on France in journals like the Econmist. It is useful, for preparing for a trip to France, or in understanding current events reported in the news involving France. While the book was written from a heavily Paris-centric point of view, it covers alot of territory, literally and figuratively, which help Americans to understand and appreciate cultural differences between themselves and the French. I was particularly intrigued by their explanation of the French love of rhetoric, and how French citizens influence the policy process through public protests.

Un bon livre

This year in my French 4 class, we had to read most of the chapters from this book. It actually turned out to be very interesting rather than a chore though! If you want to know exactly why the French are French, this is a pretty accurate book. There are some generalizations as with any book on such a large topic would have to have. Also, two actual teachers from France came to my class and we asked them questions specifically from this book and some things were less than true at least for the two of them. However, this book is about the experiences of the two authors, so don't let that discourage you. If you want to learn more about the culture of the French, this book will do the job. You could always travel there and find out for yourself as well!

book review

When I started reading the book published by Source Books Inc. called Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong by Jean Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow, I thought it was just going to be another boring book I had to read for class. Much to my surprise it is quite interesting and has a creative way of helping the reader understand why the French are perceived as conceited. It involves a husband and wife, Jean Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow and their two year journey through France. They are a bilingual, cross cultural couple who wanted to learn more about the French and why they live their lives the way they do.
This book is split up into three different sections, separated by chapters. The first part of the book is I think the most interesting. It talks about the values of the French and their rich heritage. Their land, privacy and their love for grandeur are some of the key points in the chapters that help describe why we should never try to understand the French. In chapter two, "land on their mind," describes a situation in southern France when a McDonald's restaurant was being built in a small town. The locals did not like this idea of such a commercial fast food restaurant being built in their town. They decided to protest and destroyed the building. Most people in the media thought this protest was against globalization but they were wrong, it was about protecting their land. The
place where this McDonalds was built is the home of the one of a kind Roquefort cheese. They are trying to protect their industry in this town and they view the McDonalds as something that makes their land not as special. It almost devalues it. When is the last time you ever thought about protesting as a McDonalds was being built down the street? I know all I think is that it will be good when it opens so I can get a McGriddle in the mornings. This is one of the main points that the book gets across to its readers. There is a huge difference in the way the French people think and the way North Americans think. The spirit of the French and preserving their culture is abundant throughout the country and the first couple chapters of the book describe why they are so arrogant and reluctant to change.
The second part of the book deals with the structure of the country, government and some of the past wars they have been involved in as a country. This part of the book was kind of boring. It was extremely informative but seemed a little too wordy to retain any real knowledge of the history. I found my mind wandering a lot while trying to get through this part of the book. It basically explains WWII and the French role in the war and how the French came to the point of the importance of their version of state. In America we have a completely different view of what the term state means. We have the federal government then the states have individual rights. In France it is run a littledifferently. They don't really have a local government. One of the stories that stick out in my head was about a Frenchman not picking up after his dog when
he did his business on the street. In America, you get a hefty fine and ticket for something like that but in France they do not have anyone enforcing these laws. This is because the French "people pay high taxes and expect the state to do its job." The French believe there is only one government in France and do not understand our version of state and local governments with different laws.
The Third part of the book is split up into chapters that explain the changing world around France and their views on things such as immigration, economics, and the wealth of the country. Some countries believe that France is resisting globalization but really they are developing in their own way. Apparently, only 10 percent of the country was using the internet in 1999. That is a really small number for such a fast growing technology service. This is because they developed their own system called Minitel which is similar to the internet. The French have their own way of going about things and this is one of them. The immigration policy in France is minimal. The French do have a high Muslim population but a lot of the immigrated population lives in French ghettos. I found it interesting that the government can not ask about race or origin on any documents so France has no records of how many different nationalities there are. In the US everything we fill out has the boxes to fill out race. Only about 3.5 million people are immigrants in France and most of them lie on the census forms and say they were natural born citizens. Reading this book really helped me realize and understand why the French are the way they are. I finished reading this book a while after I visited
Paris, France. While I was in Paris I wondered why no one freely spoke English to me. I know I read some information online about France and was warned that they will only speak English if you speak French first. I really didn't think that would be an issue until I got there. When we arrived in France I was starving. There was a little place that made sandwiches right next to our hotel. I went up to the man working there and asked for a sandwich in English. He looked at me blankly. I was embarrassed that I did not know the language so I started looking through my pocket dictionary trying to tech myself how to ask for a sandwich. If it weren't for Christina and her minimal French I would have starved. After I received the sandwich the man revealed that he knew a little bit of English. Ever since that moment I realized the people who warned me about trying to speak the language were right. I learned the term "je voodray" very quickly. It helped open the doors of communication. As we visited the school in Paris, I got a good feel for what the culture was like from the lecture we listened to. The teacher told us "do not try to understand the French people; you will waste your time." This I quickly learned was true. One thing that the book helped me with was finding a better understanding on why I shouldn't try to understand the French. It gave me a good background on the culture and government. It seems that everything the French do has some sort of hidden meaning or purpose for preserving their rich culture. There are no questions asked, things are the way they are. During Jean Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow's trip they had a chance to make friends, visit different places and really get engulfed in the culture. They asked so many questions I would not even dreamed of but they asked them and explained them in a way the reader can understand. I wish I would have read this book before my trip to Paris because I would not have gotten so flustered when I tried to order a sandwich. I had a great time in Paris and it got me excited to learn more about the culture and come back, knowing the French Language and getting more out of the experience. If I would have known what I read in the book I would have looked at the trip a little differently. Paris was defiantly different than all the other places that we visited. In Germany, they are all so eager to use their English and get to know you but in France you have to ask the questions and have to try and develop a relationship with people. I think that is why France was my favorite place to visit on our European excursion, because we had to try harder to be a part of the culture. It makes you appreciate things more.
Most of the book Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong was really good. I suggest anyone who goes to France to read it. It will give you a good outlook on the French people and will try and help you have a better understanding of the culture which is needed if you have never been there before. You can also read the book out of order. The chapters are set up in a way that is easy to skip around if you want to learn about something different. Although some parts of the book were kind of dry I am glad I had a chance to read it, and it helps me prepare for my next trip to Paris!

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