Revisiter Le port de tête

Je ne sais pas trop quand je vais revoir Montréal, avec tout ce qui se passe avec la pandémie ça risque d'être plus tard que je le voudrais. Quand j'y retournerai, j'espère avoir le temps de bouquiner dans les librairies où j'allais d'habitude, mais aussi celles que j'ai à peine eu le temps de découvrir quand j'y suis retourné. Dont notamment Le Port de tête. C'est un tout petit commerce, une librairie comme on n'en fait plus, mais j'y ai toujours trouvé au moins un titre que je voulais acheter. J'espère que la pandémie ne leur a pas fait trop mal.

Le Port de tête en un dessin

J'ai vu cette illustration aujourd'hui sur mon fil Facebook, ça venait de la page de la librairie Le Port de tête. C'est de l'artiste Michel Hellman. J'ai vraiment beaucoup aimé. D'abord parce que je trouve que le dessin illustre très bien l'atmosphère de la librairie et de ses alentours immédiats, ainsi que de la faune humaine du Plateau, plus particulièrement dans ses habitudes de lecture. Je la partage donc ici ce soir. Ça me donne le goût de la revisiter lors de notre prochain séjour à Montréal.

Rediscovering independent bookshops

I have mentioned recently that I was pleasantly surprised, during my last trip to Montreal, to see that the bookshops on the Plateau appeared to he striving. Not only second-hand bookshops, which always did very well in this neighborhood, but also, or at least it seems, other independent bookshops selling "new" books, and not only bestsellers, but lesser known treasures and forgotten classics of all genres. I had visited Le port de tête before, but only truly discovered it this time. I did not visit Olivieri, something I kept promising myself to do, but I feel less ashamed as I now have a proper independent bookshop to go to. And it is exclusively a bookshop, it is not also a bistro or a café, it sells books, period. This inspired me to start looking for independent places like Le port de tête on this side of the pond.

One more book to find

While I was in one of the many bookshops of Montreal (this one to be precise), I found Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel. A crime fiction novel, set in Montreal, with a beautiful book cover as well... Yet I didn't buy it. Because the novel was the translated version published by Rivages. I already have issues with translated novels, but having Montreal take the French accent and vocabulary through a translation in French, it is too much for me. So I have decided to set myself to buy it here in the original language. With a title like this one, it speaks to me on so many levels. And it will be the second crime fiction novel set in Montreal I own. My last trip home has been rich in discoveries.