Policy Statement:
This thread is not about me; it is about people sharing interests in reading French with others similarly inclined. So please feel free to post, share, discuss what you read in French.
My own interests are 20th and 21st century fiction and non-fiction books by French authors but that is just me-one person.
Others should feel free to discuss with people whatever genre they choose.
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MorkTheFiddle » Wed Oct 16, 2019 1:37 pm
You are one of the best read and most widely read members here in French, so it is not always clear how to engage you. You seem to prefer the 20th and 21st centuries, and I am with you on that. The long-winded novels of the 19th century, French and English and Spanish, wear me out, though for whatever reason the works of Austen, Dostoevsky and Tolsoy get a bye. The Hugos, Balzacs, Sands, and Zolas of the French scene all have their moments, but by and large, they are all bores to me. (But so are Dickens and George Eliot, for that matter).
My interests also have always been equally divided between fiction and nonfiction, and my extensive reading has been confined to my youth and my retirement days. The major hurdle, which you seem to face as well, is knowing what to read. As a young man I seemed to pick up titles to read by osmosis. (The same thing happened with popular music. ) Do the French have a contemporary Stephen J. Gould or Richard Feynman or Lynn Margulis?
For the moment, I have started Hugo's Quatrevingt-treize, taking Kanawai's judgment that Hugo's focus stays sharper than with his other novels. Also, as I have said before, Hugo's poetry is a different story from his novels. Hugo keeps his wits about himself when he writes poetry. I don't know where I am going with this. Maybe moving to France for a few years is the only answer for me, though that is not going to happen.
Many thanks for sharing your tastes and experiences; I always learn greatly and am grateful for whenever you contribute.
In the interests of full disclosure and transparency I think I should probably tell you who it is I am and am not.
I have read
Thérèse Desqueyroux of François Mauriac at least three times over the past 50 years and so am pretty familiar with it. I am totally prepared to discuss it in detail with anyone choosing to do so. In fact I welcome the opportunity. I mention him here because I find this work symptomatic of the very palpable strain of melancholia and depression that runs through much of French literature past and present.
See Michel Houellebecq's work and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jUMxJDQgiQBoth Mauriac and Houellebecq luxuriate in melancholia. But melancholia, for me at least, like most things is probably best handled in moderation.
Victor Hugo's
L'Homme Qui Rit (The Man Who Laughs) has his major character throw himself off a ship at the very end of the book. I have had this book
repeatedly suggested to me by a teacher of French literature in a high school in Strassbourg, France. However, knowing that the leading character commits suicide from the beginning pretty much puts a damper on the idea of my ever reading the book.
The plot line for Victor Hugo's
Quatrevingt-treizeis for me very complex. I doubt I could read it in English and understand it. So that is another book I won't be reading.
see also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8Mx-sY5aeE Anyone who likes ice cream or literature must by definition have favorite likes and dislikes. All I have done here is mention a few of my dislikes and why. I sincerely welcome people explaining where I am wrong and I will seek to learn. But a person has to start somewhere and these comments are a starting point of sorts showing people my interests.
On the other hand, there are many French authors that I really do enjoy. Among them are:
-A. Nothomb***
-Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
-Blandine Le Callet ***
-O. Mirbeau ***
-F. Sagan ***
-H. Malot ***
-B. Vian ***
-M. Duras ***
-A. Gide***
-and many more.