A French Book Reading Resource

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kanewai
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby kanewai » Tue Nov 19, 2019 10:41 pm

Here' some pretty French writing for you all. It's translated from the Arabic, from Ibrahim al-Koni's Saharan epic Les mages (The Animists). I'm only about 60 pages into the book, but I'm already captivated by it's dream-like nature. Each chapter so far has been a miniature story about a member of the tribe of humans who live on the plains, or of one of the djinns who live in the mountains.

In this selection, the young djinn Ouadad spends his days in the mountains trying to catch sight of l'oiseau du paradis. He's never seen the bird, only heard her song. He also fights with his mother over his refusal to get married, and they are currently not speaking to each other.

Back in his tent, in an attempt to make peace, his mother asks him to sing ... and the world hears his voice for the first time:

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- Pourquoi ne me fais-tu entendre ta voix? Fais-moi entendre le chant que t’a prêté ton oiseau caché?

Alors il chantait, surprenant les démones dans leur retraite des caverns; il dansait avec les plus belles au paradis, illuminait les ténèbres de la nuit, insufflait la vie aux figures des ancêtres inscrites sur la pierre et tirait le desert de son incursion dans le néant.


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- Why don't you let me hear your voice? Let me hear the song that your hidden bird has taught you.

And so he sang, surprising the demons in their secret caverns; he danced with the most beautiful ones of paradise, illuminated the shadows of the night, breathed life into the figures of the ancestors carved into the stone, and pulled the desert out of its foray into nothingness.

-----------------------------------------

I imagine that this would be beautiful in a poetic language like Arabic. It does pretty well in French! I don't know if English has the same magic.
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby lusan » Sat Nov 23, 2019 1:20 am

After finishing all the Harry Potter books in French, I want to drink more from that well. Does anyone has any recommendations on Fantasy books in French. I prefer series and the longer the books the better for vocabulary sake. Thanks.
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby DaveAgain » Sat Nov 23, 2019 7:28 am

lusan wrote:After finishing all the Harry Potter books in French, I want to drink more from that well. Does anyone has any recommendations on Fantasy books in French. I prefer series and the longer the books the better for vocabulary sake. Thanks.
I like the world in Pierre Pevel's Paris des Merveilles series, but of the three books the first was far and away the best for me. The other two being just OK.
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Mon Nov 25, 2019 8:23 pm

lusan wrote:
After finishing all the Harry Potter books in French, I want to drink more from that well. Does anyone has any recommendations on Fantasy books in French. I prefer series and the longer the books the better for vocabulary sake. Thanks.


Congratulations to DaveAgain on an excellent suggestion.

I am currently reading: Le Monde enchanté de Pink Lodge by Jacqueline Demange, a Canadian author. It is definitely a Teen level book of fantasy and is part of a series but the books and the series are much shorter than the Potter series. It also has some illustrations in color in it.

At this point I am only half way through it and it is difficult to give it a grade but I would guess that it is a 6/10.

I have read the Potter books and I believe them probably more exciting than Jacqueline Demange who is slower paced.

Another book worthy of your consideration is L'Armoire Magique by C.S. Lewis. One never hears of C.S. Lewis anymore but he did write a lot of good fantasy, so don't forget to check him out.

Congratulations of reading Teen level books. I find them an excellent source for reading and building confidence and since my confidence needs a lot of building I read them at every opportunity I can.

Good luck with whatever choice you make, and do let us hear what you finally decide on.
:D
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Mon Nov 25, 2019 10:43 pm

Have you ever checked out French PhD reading lists? They are usually broken down by time period, so you can head straight to your preferred era.

Here is just one example, but Google has many more:

https://french.ucla.edu/graduate/progra ... ing-lists/
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby lusan » Mon Nov 25, 2019 11:29 pm

DaveAgain wrote: I like the world in Pierre Pevel's Paris des Merveilles series, but of the three books the first was far and away the best for me. The other two being just OK.


Thanks. I will check it out.


Carmody wrote:
I am currently reading: Le Monde enchanté de Pink Lodge by Jacqueline Demange, a Canadian author. It is definitely a Teen level book of fantasy and is part of a series but the books and the series are much shorter than the Potter series. It also has some illustrations in color in it.

Another book worthy of your consideration is L'Armoire Magique by C.S. Lewis. One never hears of C.S. Lewis anymore but he did write a lot of good fantasy, so don't forget to check him out.

:D


Thanks. I will look into them.

I am finishing the first vol of Le Livre des étoiles by Erik L'homme. I have 3 vols; they are somewhat boring but I will read them anyway because I am learning a bunch of new words. I am realizing that reading in French paperbacks could be very expensive if bought from US, so I purchased today a Kindle Paperwhite and I will télécharge into the digital world.
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Wed Nov 27, 2019 11:58 pm

Well, I have finished reading Le Monde enchanté de Pink Lodge by Jacqueline Demange, a Canadian author. It is a fantasy/fairy tale of a small girl that goes to visit her grandparents in the Northern woods. It is definitely a Teen book along the lines of Wrinkle in Time by CS Lewis, but certainly not of that caliber. It was good for some vocabulary words but I would not suggest people read this. I found it at a local library used book sale, so it was only a dollar or so.

My attempt in this thread is to share really fun and interesting titles so I am always disappointed when a book is not an 8-9/10 in scoring but rather a

score of: 4/10
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby rdearman » Thu Nov 28, 2019 9:30 am

Do you mean, "A wrinkle in time" by Madeleine L'Engle
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Thu Nov 28, 2019 10:30 am

Thanks for the correction; I was totally wrong. I meant to say: L'Armoire Magique by C.S. Lewis.
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Thu Dec 05, 2019 9:13 pm

I am always challenged to find out about good books to read and at long last have a good source for that.

The complete review is a very effective time - saving tool for researching books.

http://www.complete-review.com/maindex/french.htm
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