A French Book Reading Resource

[Carmody]

Ok, here goes with something entirely different. In the 4 years I have been posting to A French Book Reading Resource I have always finished a book; mostly because I choose what the books I want to read. But now that I am reading books that are being given to me things are different; a bit of a tectonic shift.

I started reading Pietre-le-Letton by Simenon about 5 days ago. Georges Joseph Christian Simenon was a Belgian writer, most famous for his fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most popular authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 novels, 21 volumes of memoirs and many short stories, selling over 500 million copies.

And folks, try as I might, I just can not continue to bludgeon myself. Mind you, I know I am wrong and he is right and very popular but I just find it too boring. As a genre, detective stories just don't do it for me in general, and this one in particular has Maigret going tediously from pillar to post looking for the culprit who will in good French style just commit suicide in the end anyway. So I will leave this to Simenon fans and move on with my reading elsewhere.

On a positive note, I was also given La petite fille de Monsieur Linh by Philippe Claudel and have hopes I do better with that

[Le Baron]

On a positive note, I was also given La petite fille de Monsieur Linh by Philippe Claudel and have hopes I do better with that

I believe she jumps off a cliff at the end after the suicide of her dear father.

Okay I'm joking.

[rdearman]

On a positive note, I was also given La petite fille de Monsieur Linh by Philippe Claudel and have hopes I do better with that

I believe she jumps off a cliff at the end after the suicide of her dear father.

Okay I'm joking.

That is the traditional ending for a french novel isn't it?

[Le Baron]

On a positive note, I was also given La petite fille de Monsieur Linh by Philippe Claudel and have hopes I do better with that

I believe she jumps off a cliff at the end after the suicide of her dear father.

Okay I'm joking.

That is the traditional ending for a french novel isn't it?

Yes, I think they consider it a happy ending if only one person dies.

[kanewai]

On a positive note, I was also given La petite fille de Monsieur Linh by Philippe Claudel and have hopes I do better with that

I believe she jumps off a cliff at the end after the suicide of her dear father.
Okay I'm joking.

That is the traditional ending for a french novel isn't it?

I was watching a French indie film in the 90s that was supposed to be a comedy, but 3/4 of the way through a major character committed suicide. There was no foreshadowing, just suddenly there he was hanging from a rope. And I started laughing, because it was the most stupidly cliched artsy-fartsy indie plot twist - of course the director couldn't make anything as simple as a normal comedy. My friends were horrified that I was giggling at this horrible scene.

But the plot twist was just so *French, and it was hard to explain to my friends.

*Though now that I think about it, a lot of Spanish indie movies in the 90s also had random acts of violence in the middle of "comedies."

[Carmody]

Le Baron » Tue Mar 14, 2023 3:27 am
rdearman wrote:

Le Baron wrote:

Carmody wrote:
On a positive note, I was also given La petite fille de Monsieur Linh by Philippe Claudel and have hopes I do better with that

I believe she jumps off a cliff at the end after the suicide of her dear father.

Okay I'm joking.

That is the traditional ending for a french novel isn't it?

Yes, I think they consider it a happy ending if only one person dies.

Well, on the last page of my book, the main character gets run over by a car in the street. Seriously; what is a guy to do....

[jeffers]

On a positive note, I was also given La petite fille de Monsieur Linh by Philippe Claudel and have hopes I do better with that

I believe she jumps off a cliff at the end after the suicide of her dear father.
Okay I'm joking.

That is the traditional ending for a french novel isn't it?

I was watching a French indie film in the 90s that was supposed to be a comedy, but 3/4 of the way through a major character committed suicide. There was no foreshadowing, just suddenly there he was hanging from a rope. And I started laughing, because it was the most stupidly cliched artsy-fartsy indie plot twist - of course the director couldn't make anything as simple as a normal comedy. My friends were horrified that I was giggling at this horrible scene.

But the plot twist was just so *French, and it was hard to explain to my friends.

*Though now that I think about it, a lot of Spanish indie movies in the 90s also had random acts of violence in the middle of "comedies."

Something similar happened in a Bollywood comedy, but without any foreshadowing. It literally happens at the end of an upbeat song. The film was making a point about the pressure put on university students, and Bollywood films like to drive their points in with a sledgehammer.

[Le Baron]

Something similar happened in a Bollywood comedy, but without any foreshadowing. It literally happens at the end of an upbeat song. The film was making a point about the pressure put on university students, and Bollywood films like to drive their points in with a sledgehammer.

And a song (with dancing), just in case you didn't get the point.

[Carmody]

La petite fille de Monsieur Linh by Philippe Claudel

It is not a happy book but then again what French author is. The French of the 20th century celebrate in their food not in their fiction. It is who they are.

The book’s main character is Monsieur Linh is a South-East Asian — probably Vietnamese — refugee to France. His son and daughter-in-law were killed in an unspecified war, and he has fled to France with his infant granddaughter, Sang Diû. Despite the language barrier, he befriends the widower Monsieur Bark, whom he meets on a park bench.

Monsieur Linh is an elderly refugee who arrives in France with other "boat people", clutching a flimsy suitcase and a newborn baby. All those who knew his name are dead. His infant grandchild, Sang diû, became the sole reason for going on, after he found her on the ground beside her doll, whose head was blown off in a bomb blast. He makes his way through the unfamiliar land that will "never be his".

Of course the book is about much more than that and I do like it. Part of the book’s power comes from the author’s ability to describe in such powerful and poignant depth what it is like to be an outsider.

Now I need another week to go through my customary second reading of the book.

It is a good book for me since it has no esoteric vocabulary (see Candide) or slang; just a good read.

I would give it a:

8/10
B1/B2

[kanewai]

And here's another unhappy French book for everyone: Mohammed Mbougar Sarr, De purs hommes (2018).

Mohamed-mbougar-Sarr-De-purs-hommes-198x300.jpg (12.47 KiB) Viewed 184 times

It's set in Dakar, where a viral video is being passed around the city showing a mob digging up the grave of a góor-jigéen, a gay man, and throwing his corpse into a field. A burned-out professor of French poetry becomes obsessed with learning who the dead man was, and what triggered the hate.

The novel was strongest when it looked at the origins of hate, and how it spreads in a society, and how religious leaders can nurture the hate. It's definitely a brave book; the author was criticized by the Senegalese press & declared a danger to society for being sympathetic to gays. However, I was hoping for a bit more of an insight into actual gay life in Dakar, but the book doesn't go that deep. There are a few bisexual women, and two short scenes with a transgendered dancer, but that's it. Mostly, the focus is on the religious leaders promoting the violence, and on it's impact on the family of the dead man.

I'd put this novel as "worthy of consideration" rather than a "must read."