Orphic Paris | A Modern Meditation on Paris | Required Reading | Top 100 Ep. 21

In this episode of our Top 100 series, we’re reviewing Orphic Paris by Henri Cole, a lyrical and reflective book about Paris, poetry, solitude, memory, art, friendship, and the strange inner life of the wandering writer. Orphic Paris is not a conventional memoir, travel book, or essay collection. Instead, it feels like a poet’s notebook: fragmented, intimate, observant, and deeply shaped by the city around him. In this review, we talk about Cole’s portrait of Paris, the book’s meditations on art and loneliness, and whether its quiet, literary style makes it a rewarding read or a difficult one. Have you read Orphic Paris? Did you find it beautiful, too elusive, or somewhere in between? Let us know in the comments.