r/suggestmeabook • u/rainbowsforeverrr • 7h ago

Books about the Paris Catacombs

I read Skylark earlier this year and I can't stop thinking about it. I'd love to read more about the Catacombs of Paris-- fiction or nonfiction, any era.

9 Upvotes

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6

u/DietNarrow8275 7h ago

Pure, by Andrew Miller. A French engineer gets hired to remove the remains from one of Paris’ oldest cemetery, moving them to the catacombs. This is a few years before the French Revolution, historical fiction and very good.

3

u/crowquillnib 7h ago

Underland by Robert Macfarlane has a chapter about the catacombs. It’s non-fiction and beautifully written.

4

u/ardent_hellion 6h ago

Robert Macfarlane's brilliant, terrific collection of essays, Underland: A Deep Time Journey, has a long and super informative chapter on exploring the Paris catacombs. When you read it you can understand the appeal and also how unnerving the place can be.

4

u/ReddisaurusRex 6h ago

Not about the catacombs, but Les Miserables has a big part with this (plus the sewer system - oof.)

1

u/rainbowsforeverrr 6h ago

This has been on my TBR for years. I should go for it.

1

u/ReddisaurusRex 6h ago

It’s sadly a book still very relevant to our times. Great read when you can commit to it :)

2

u/riloky 7h ago

Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman includes the catacombs. It's a fantasy retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel where the aristocrats are vampires, and not something I'd usually read but I was doing a challenge that asked for colours in book titles 🙃

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u/MinervaAbsolute 7h ago

It’s not the French Catacombs, but if you like creepy tunnels you might enjoy John Connolly’s very spooky The Black Angel. It’s set around the Sedlec Ossuary (which is a real place in the Czech Republic). It’s part detective novel, part paranormal, part horror. The book is one in his Charlie Parker series, but I think you can read it as a standalone. He’s a terrific noir writer.

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u/unlovelyladybartleby 7h ago

There's a gut wrenching POV chapter in World War Z about the Paris catacombs.

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u/rainbowsforeverrr 6h ago

These all sound so good!

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u/ThePhantomStrikes 6h ago

Les Miserable!

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u/bikesbooksnbarks 5h ago

Killers of a Certain Age, by Deanna Raybourn tangentially involves the Paris catacombs. I agree: it's a compelling place!

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u/Columbia_redditor 1h ago

Mr. Monk is Miserable. A novel by the writer of the tv show Monk. A cozy, funny mystery with a good bit of history on the catacombs and Paris sewer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Monk_Is_Miserable

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u/ChiSquare1963 1h ago

Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly. At the turn of the 20th century, a Spanish vampire convinces a former spy to until down whoever is killing the vampires of London. The hunt takes them into the Paris catacombs at one point.