Shakespeare and Company — Attraction in Paris

O quiet house of words, once open as a meadow, I return to find you changed— no longer the haven I knew, no longer the dusty chapel of thought and time.

Once, I entered like wind off the river, no barrier, no eyes watching— the door swung wide, and inside, the old floor creaked its welcome.

A few readers sat scattered like birds, and the wine passed gently from hand to hand, and all were friends in the silence of books.

But now— I stand in a line of strangers under the sun, pressed between bricks and bodies, watched by a figure at the door.

He paces, snarling through a black shirt and bitter mouth, his voice sharp as iron: Do not touch the glass! Do not linger near the window! He guards the entrance like a devil at the gate of a ruined paradise.

O bookstore, O beautiful, you have been captured. The crowd surges, not in worship, but in conquest.

Phones raised like weapons, the flash of images, the chatter of conquest— and none stay long enough to know your soul.

Where are the poets now? Where are the wanderers, the dreamers who sat beneath your crooked lamps, who read aloud to no one, and heard the world answer back?

O Shakespeare! O ghosts of joy and solitude! I mourn for what was— not just the space, but the spirit. The hush. The kindness. The freedom to simply be among books, without price, without permission.

You have become a monument to yourself, your beating heart turned to stone. And still I grieve you, as one grieves a friend who yet lives, but whose eyes no longer...

Shakespeare and Co has so much history, especially for American expat writers. The original location founded by Sylvia Beach no longer exists after the German occupation of Paris during WWII. A lot of writers frequented this store Hemingway, Fitzgerald and James Joyce. This current location was actually opened by George Whitman and pays homage to Beach’s original store

The Shakespeare and Co Book of Interviews was recently published to include interviews with writers and thinkers. Hemingway’s A Movable Feast also references this famous bookstore. You’ll find both copies of these books here.

It’s pretty easy to find this bookstore - you can’t miss the queue of people lining in to enter on the bank of the Seine, across from the Notre Dame. To be fair, this line didn’t exist when I first visited Paris over a decade ago…Although this is a bit of a double edged sword in the sense that it’s very touristy now and you’re probably not going to get the calm book browsing experience of most bookstores, Shakespeare and Co did fall into challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic and almost closed down. I personally think their selection of books is great, and this store is worth a stop to experience a piece of literary history. There’s also an upstairs area with a reading room to explore, and aspiring writers used to sleep there in exchange for helping at the bookstore.

Staff is also pretty friendly. If you purchase a book, you can get it stamped with the...

I love this bookstore so much! It's so cozy and chill; I love going there just for the experience. This place inspires me to read and write—it's like every writer and reader's dream come true.

Unfortunately for this review (but very fortunately for the integrity and ambiance of the bookstore itself, in my opinion—it's a way of preserving its charm), taking pictures inside is not allowed. I personally really appreciate the variety of languages spoken due to the presence of many tourists; it’s music to my ears (granted, I’m very passionate about languages). Don’t get me wrong, though—it’s not noisy inside at all; on the contrary, it’s a very calm place.

The staff are very friendly, though a few might not be as personable. The only minor hiccup is that, since it’s an English bookshop in Paris, if you speak both French and English, you might feel a bit unsure about which language to use when interacting with them. This can make me personally anxious—I tend to avoid interactions altogether, haha. But this isn’t a downside at all, just a quirky observation.

If you’re visiting Paris and love books, Shakespeare and Company is an absolute must,...