A French Book Reading Resource

All about language programs, courses, websites and other learning resources
User avatar
Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
x 3395

Re: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Wed Nov 02, 2022 8:12 pm

AroAro » Wed Nov 02, 2022 3:40 am

Le Baron wrote:
For me Amelie Nothomb is in some ways no better that Ernaux. She's saved by the quality of her dialogue. In fact she'd have been better off as a playwright. Her descriptive prose is sketchy and like Modiano most of the writing seems to be about her. Nowadays, unlike e.g. Graham Greene, little attempt is made to mask the autobiographical elements; in fact they are the core of the work.


I’ve read only “Stupeurs et tremblements” by Amelie Nothomb so I cannot judge her literary output but I liked this book (probably because I had some similar experiences related to a toxic work environment in an accounting department so the book touched the right cords with me). Nevertheless, I’m not interested in reading her other books because I don’t buy that aura of controlled extravagancy around her (big hats, black lipstick), publishing one book each year, claiming that her drawer is already full of manuscripts just waiting there for their turn to be printed and so on. I’m happy for her though, that she succeeded in gaining visibility and fame on the literary scene/market. It’s not so easy with so many writers and aspiring writers, so kudos to her (and her literary agent, I guess).

Ok folks you have hit a nerve with me here. I loved her “Stupeurs et tremblements” and believe her writing is magnificent. We have no one like her in America. Her voice is truly unique. I have read at least 5 of her books and believe she is totally refreshing voice.

I don't think her hats are a good idea for her. She should not appear in public.

I could talk at length on her but I don't want to bore you folks.

She is a person in perpetual emotional breakdown and I totally respect her anguish and flailing about. You guys have your stuff together but she does not; I totally respect her efforts.

Having had a total nervous breakdown I identify with others who go through that anguish.

Check this out:



Count yourselves fortunate you have never had to make that journey.
Last edited by Carmody on Thu Nov 03, 2022 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
4 x

User avatar
Le Baron
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3513
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:14 pm
Location: Koude kikkerland
Languages: English (N), fr, nl, de, eo, Sranantongo,
Maintaining: es, swahili.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18796
x 9392

Re: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Le Baron » Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:10 pm

I read her novella: Tuer le père, not all that long ago, and got bored quickly. It started well, but became silly and trivial. I've read much worse in my time, but I've also read better. I don't dislike her books as a rule, but I agree with AroAro that she's more of a living art installation.

I also had mental breakdown. Very unpleasant and never really disappears. I haven't bought any large hats.
4 x

jeffers
Blue Belt
Posts: 848
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 4:12 pm
Location: UK
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Hindi (A2-B1)

Learning: The above, plus French (A2-B1), German (A1), Ancient Greek (?), Sanskrit (beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=19785
x 2774
Contact:

Re: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby jeffers » Fri Nov 04, 2022 12:59 pm

jeffers wrote:
Le Baron wrote:It's been a while since I've read any French in-between all the Spanish, but I perused one of those little 'neighbourhood library' boxes that people tend to put at the end of their gardens now. They're usually full of the worst books like 'eat yourself thin' or 'management techniques for busy people' (and by the looks of it they were too busy to read it).

I found a novel in French Kiffe Kiffe Demain. Perhaps you've read it? It was a best-seller on publication (when the author was 19). It has a very girly pink cover with a photo of the author and I almost passed on it thinking it was 'chick-lit, but I took it anyway as 'light reading' for a change. I actually enjoyed it very much, brilliant book. Straightforward first-person narrative in a sort of diary-like style, lots of wry humour and some social commentary. An intelligent voice from les banlieues rather than the pseudo-intellectual middle-class preoccupations from the centre of Paris. I went through it in about three days.


Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a try for something a little different. I've purchased the Kindle edition, which has a much more sober cover, so I don't have to feel like I'm reading chick-lit. :D


So I started reading Kiffe Kiffe Damain, and I am really enjoying it. Some reviewers on Amazon complain that nothing really happens, and thery're not exactly wrong. The main character is basically venting about things and people in her life. Some of her observations are really quite funny, like when she forgets the name of her new social worker with a posh name, so she refers to her as "Mme Dutruc", "Mme Duquelquechose", etc.

I'm about a quarter of the way into the book, but one thing that I have noticed is that it uses passé composé instead of literary past tenses. Presumably this is because of the style used by the narrator. I like this because one issue I have with reading French novels to improve my French is the difference between literary and spoken tsnses. This made me wonder, are there other novels which regularly use spoken tenses rather than literary tenses?
5 x
Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien (roughly, the perfect is the enemy of the good)

French SC Books: 0 / 5000 (0/5000 pp)
French SC Films: 0 / 9000 (0/9000 mins)

User avatar
Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
x 3395

Re: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Sun Nov 06, 2022 10:35 am

To note that Brigitte Giraud, 56, won the Goncourt Prize, France's top literary award for her book 'Vivre Vite' .

She is the first female author to win the most prestigious French-language literary prize since Leïla Slimani's "Chanson douce" in 2016, and the 13th woman to win since the Goncourt was created 120 years ago.

NYTimes:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/books/brigitte-giraud-goncourt-prize-living-fast.html

I am not a fan of the Goncourt Prize, nor do I think I will be reading this book but just wanted to pass on this info.....
3 x

User avatar
Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
x 3395

Re: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Wed Nov 09, 2022 6:26 pm

The first volume of ‘Remembrance of Things Past’ turns 100 this year. A new translation of its central tale offers a taste of Proust’s (much) larger masterwork.

Many believe that “In Search of Lost Time” — a more accurate translation of the book’s title than Scott Moncrieff’s Shakespearean “Remembrance of Things Past” — is the 20th century’s greatest novel.

Here's the review:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/11/03/if-you-cant-handle-15-million-words-proust-try-swann-love/

I am not a Proust fan but would definitely welcome comments from people who are Proust fans and why.

I am sad that I am not a Proust fan, and am sure I am missing out on much, but it is what it is........
2 x

User avatar
Le Baron
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3513
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:14 pm
Location: Koude kikkerland
Languages: English (N), fr, nl, de, eo, Sranantongo,
Maintaining: es, swahili.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18796
x 9392

Re: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Le Baron » Wed Nov 09, 2022 7:43 pm

However, if you feel so inclined, you can get the entire audio book here in French (and English, German, Danish too).

The same site has the book broken down into readable sections per book.

I've read only the first instalment. A long time ago when I probably couldn't really appreciate it. One day I may read the rest. If I get my skates on.
4 x

User avatar
Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
x 3395

Re: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Mon Nov 14, 2022 12:53 am

Herewith an update on books to read from culturetheque:

https://www.culturetheque.com/US/lire.aspx
1 x

User avatar
Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
x 3395

Re: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Mon Nov 14, 2022 1:51 am

And let's not forget books for children..

5 French Children’s Books that We Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LgyxHAWMmY&ab_channel=CommeuneFran%C3%A7aise
1 x

User avatar
kanewai
Blue Belt
Posts: 753
Joined: Fri May 22, 2015 9:10 pm
Location: Honolulu
Languages: Native: English
Active: Italian
Maintenance: Spanish, French
Priors: Chuukese (Micronesian), Indonesian, Latin, Greek (epic and modern), Turkish, Arabic
x 3219
Contact:

Re: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby kanewai » Mon Nov 14, 2022 11:08 pm

I find Proust to be both brilliant and tedious. The story-within-a-story Swann in Love was mostly tedious. I wonder if more people wouldn't like Proust if they weren't forced to read that section in school.

None of the Goncourt nominees are catching my attention this year. I might give Giuliano da Empoli's Le mage du Kremlin a shot.

I finished Le Grand Monde by Pierre LeMaitre. It's a historical novel about a wealthy family with lots of secrets, set in 1940's Lebanon, Vietnam, and France. It felt a bit like a soap opera - it was fun to read, I was fully drawn into the story ... but at the end of the book I was left with a feeling of what was the point of all that?
8 x
Super Challenge - 50 books
Italian: 11 / 50
Spanish: 50 / 50
French: 16 / 50

User avatar
Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
x 3395

Re: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:09 am

kanewai

Many thanks for your feedback; always most appreciated.
2 x


Return to “Language Programs and Resources”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests