Carmody wrote:#4 French literature is my joy and prime motivation for studying this language. If anyone knows of good contemporary French literature that they could recommend I am eager to hear of new titles.
.
Wow Carmody! What a great job you are doing on your French journey! Congratulations and you are giving me such motivation to do more! French literature was also my main motivation for re-learning French as an older adult. I took two French literature courses in college - and have wanted to be able ever since to be able to read it again!
Also, I recommend, if you haven't already, start a GoodReads account. I created two shelves just for my French literature, and based on my ratings, GoodReads recommends other books that i might like. I forget who, but someone here in our forum recommended this approach, and it was a life saver during the last SC that I did. Also, several others in this forum have GoodReads accounts (my link is in my signature) and you can "friend" them on GoodReads to see what they are reading and the ratings.
I'm sure other will give you some ideas, but here are some of the (more) current authors
I have read or are on my "to-read" list. Michel Houellenbecq (Very controversial author) - I read "Extension du domaine de la lutte"
Patrick Modiano (Nobel Prize in Literature) - On my to-read list :" Rues des Boutiques Observe"
Jean Paul Sartre - "Les Jeux Sont Fait" (I'm about 1/2 done)
Marcel Pagnol - I think I saw you read "La Gloire de Mon Père". Two of my favorite reads were "Jean de Florette" et "Manon des Sources"
Vercours - "Le Silence de la Mer" a short story written in the 1940s during the Nazi occupation of French. Another favorite from my last Super Challenge!
If you want authors that are current, but more everyday language, consider the following authors . You will learn lots of colloquialisms and idioms. I classify these authors as "beach reads".
Marc Levy - I read "Le Premier Jour" and "La Première Nuit". I am currently reading "Et si c'était vrai"
Guillaume Musso - I read "L''appel de l'ange"
Others: Annie Ernaux I read "Journal du Dehors" and "La Première Gorgée de la Bière" by Phillips Delerme. I enjoyed these both, but I didn't necessarily learn "current language" like Musso and Levy.
I think I recall that you don't care for policiers - I happen to love them. If you want some recommendations there, please let me know. Others I'm sure will give you recommendations, and I look forward to them. These are what I can recommend of what I've read that have been written in the fairly recent pass.