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Must-read literature of modern French | ||
Tags: Literature | French | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading |  | |
| rggg Heptaglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 6316 days ago 373 posts - 426 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Indonesian, Malay Studies: Romanian, Catalan, Greek, German, Swedish | Message 17 of 53 03 October 2009 at 1:34am | IP Logged |
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I'm not ashamed to admit (well, just a little bit) that I read the short version of "Le Comte de Monte-Cristo" when I was starting to read in French, short versions are an option if you're worried about the time you're going to spend reading a book.
It depends on whether you do it just for practicing your reading skills in French or because you really want to enjoy the book itself (in that case, go for the original version, no matter how long it would be). Edited by rggg on 03 October 2009 at 1:35am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Risch Groupie United States Joined 5580 days ago 49 posts - 71 votes Speaks: English* | Message 18 of 53 03 October 2009 at 4:52am | IP Logged |
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This topic is sort of up my alley. For me, most of nineteenth and twentieth century literature is modern enough. I wonder though if I could solicit some advice from fluent and/or native Francophones. I'm at a lower intermediate level in French and want to improve in part by reading. There are several books I would like to read and I'd like to know which of these choices might have the simplest language for starting out in French literature. Here are four novels I am really eager to read. L'Eau des collines (Jean de Florette et Manon des sources) : Marcel Pagnol Les Misérables : Victor Hugo Germinal : Émile Zola Le Comte de Monte-Cristo : Alexandre Dumas 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| .automne Diglot Groupie Norway Joined 5819 days ago 56 posts - 57 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: French | Message 19 of 53 07 October 2009 at 12:06pm | IP Logged |
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Not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but I'd recommend Emmanuel Carrère - La Classe de Neige. A fairly dark tale, but a good read in my opinion. It's also quite short and not too difficult.
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| Languagelover Heptaglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 7367 days ago 41 posts - 50 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Ancient Greek Studies: Mandarin | Message 20 of 53 07 October 2009 at 5:28pm | IP Logged |
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For Les Misérables and Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, I would indeed recommend an abridged version. I don't think there is any shame in that. Those books were written for newspapers, with one chapter a week. The entire publishing of the Comte de Monte-Cristo took 2 years ! Those writers were not writing long books because of their concept of a work of art but because they were paid by the page.
Marcel Pagnol is a very good choice, not too hard and very French. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Anya Pentaglot Senior Member France Joined 5784 days ago 636 posts - 708 votes Speaks: Russian*, FrenchC1, English, Italian, Spanish Studies: German, Japanese, Hungarian, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Turkish, Mandarin Studies: Ancient Greek, Hindi | Message 21 of 53 07 October 2009 at 6:08pm | IP Logged |
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I really like Amelie Nothomb! I may also suggest Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt "L'Evangile selon Pilate"
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| Meadowmeal Pentaglot Groupie Netherlands Joined 5702 days ago 43 posts - 57 votes Speaks: Dutch*, French, English, German, Polish Studies: Romanian | Message 22 of 53 07 October 2009 at 11:39pm | IP Logged |
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I agree, Nothomb's clever short novels have never really disappointed me yet and "L'évangile selon Pilate" is simply beautiful.
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| Isarin Tetraglot Newbie Germany Joined 5630 days ago 34 posts - 41 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Japanese Studies: Czech, Mandarin, Italian | Message 23 of 53 10 October 2009 at 3:06am | IP Logged |
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What about
L'élégance du hérisson by Muriel Barbery? I haven't read it (yet), but supposedly it's very good + they already made it into a movie! Anna Gavalda & Marc Levy are really popular right now... 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| pfwillard Pro Member United States Joined 5690 days ago 169 posts - 205 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 24 of 53 10 October 2009 at 5:05am | IP Logged |
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I'm thinking of reading L'élégance du hérisson and then Stupeur et tremblements by Nothomb. I just read the English translation of L'élégance du hérisson. It's interesting for its style but the presentation of the characters kept me from enjoying it very much. I think it will be a good book for language study though.
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