Trains of Thought: Paris to Omaha Beach, Memories of a Wartime Youth - Softcover

"A literary masterpiece. Not only is it beautifully written, but it has a deeply moving story to tell." --The Wall Street Journal

"Penetrating [and] evocative but also honest and wholly unsentimental. . . . Trains of Thought, as well as being a singular memoir, is a work of not-inconsiderable art." --The Washington Post Book World

"Brombert writes with grace and balance. . . . [H]is story of his time in battle is as riveting as anything by Stephen Ambrose." --The Boston Globe

"[R]ich in descriptions of intimate domestic existence, memories of youthful thought, and experience of a social world defined by fine manners, high culture and extravagant freedoms." --San Francisco Chronicle

"Splendid . . . Brombert has achieved a luminous contemplative style. . . . A permanent addition to the literature of expatriation." --The New York Times Book Review

"Beautifully written. . . . [Brombert] tells his story neatly and directly."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Victor Brombert has . . . lots of charm. . . . It is impossible not to like [the book] and him." --The New York Review of Books

"Lavishly detailed. . . . Rich in descriptions. . . . Sounds, smells, tastes--the child's universe is rendered closely and very fully." --San Francisco Chronicle

"[Brombert] writes with brio and a sense of elegy, in command of every last scrap of cherished detail. He is a guardian of the flame, or one of those whom Stendhal called "the Happy Few." --The New Criterion

"Striking. . . . A beautifully written book."--The Times Literary Supplement (London)

"Elegant and absorbing. . . . An inspiring achievement." --The Guardian (London)

"Fascinating. . . . Wonderfully evocative. . . . This is not only an extraordinary story but a very candid examination of a life." --The Jewish Quarterly (UK)

"An impressionistic, Proustian memoir. . . . Brombert's prose sings. . . . Truthful and beautiful." --The New York Sun

"Compelling, lyrical, allusive, and engaging. . . . A book readers will not want to put down." --Choice

"Intelligent and beautifully written." --Jewish Chronicle (UK)

"Ranging from lush to poignant to erotic to horrifying. . . . A brilliant memoir illuminating a rich and complex life." --Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Evocative and luminous, a book to be savored."--Booklist

"Perceptive and ruminative. . . . There is much to be learned from this splendid and eminently readable memoir."--Trenton Times

A Princeton University literary professor recounts his life, from his Paris childhood marked by an overprotective mother, ill-fated romances, and love of trains; to his wartime experiences; to the discovery of his scholarly vocation. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.