A French Book Reading Resource

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Carmody
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:36 pm

Bien Dire is fine and worth the money.

I take the magazine that comes every 2 months and the CD.

However since my joy of learning French is just Passive, that is to just read and View/Listen there is no reason for me to get the CD.

I take the Intermediate version-B1 à C2- which is fine for me. I am B1 in reading and it works for me.

The big thing it has is that it provides Vocabulary that you don't get from reading books.

Hope that helps.

I
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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sat Jan 16, 2021 6:05 pm

A few words about Henry Rousso's Le Régime de Vichy, reviewed earlier by Carmody.
The defeat of the French army by German forces in June 1940 led to the creation of two Frances: a northern part occupied and governed by Germans and a southern unoccupied zone administered by the French. The southern region was called Vichy France and its presiding executive officer was the aging Marshal Philippe Petain, a hero of World War 1.
The Kindle edition of Henry Rousso’s Le Régime de Vichy, 4th ed, (November 27, 2019), published by Que sais-je ?, details in 124 pages (the print length) the personalities of Vichy leaders, their political philosophy, the structure and scope of their government, and their policies against the people they believed were the true enemies of France.
Rousso’s is mostly a sober, analytical work, only occasionally veering into righteous indignation, telling us how the Vichy government worked, the cult that grew up around its leader Marshal Petain, the focus of Petain and his government on homely virtues, and the viciousness of the native Milice, a national police force in charge of carrying out the laws against the enemies of the state, who were specified as communists, free masons and Jews.
If affairs military and especially affairs WW2 don’t interest you, Le Régime de Vichy will not be your cup of tea. Otherwise, it is a good short read. I don’t know whether the book has any connection with the good French TV series of a few years back, A French Village, but both avoid a black and white picture of the Vichy leadership and their motivations.
There is also a companion piece by Rousso called The Vichy Syndrome, a longer work about the effects of the Vichy government and its policies on later French politics.
Thanks again to Carmody for recommending this book.
I rate it 8/10
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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Carmody
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Sat Jan 16, 2021 8:52 pm

A very big thank you to MorkTheFiddle for his excellent and most comprehensive book review. A brilliant summation; and far more eloquent than mine.

I do have to add that while the book providing tremendous insight on what France went through during 1940-44, one of the things that especially fascinated me was to learn the significant part played by the Catholic Church in support of Vichy.

Another book on this topic by Rousso called The Vichy Syndrome goes into additional detail in this regard and the fact that some monasteries after the war and through the 1950’s were used by former members of the Vichy government to hide in.

If anyone is interested in historiography or how the history of that time is written and why, then this second book is truly revealing.

I found both books to be fascinating.
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby kanewai » Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:21 am

I finally have a solid recommendation for you all - it feels like it's been awhile!

Amin Maalouf, Nos frères inattendus. 2020

The novel starts with the power, radio, and internet all going out one night on a small island in the Atlantic. The residents are sure that a nuclear war has finally come - a rogue state had acquired weapons, and the US had been threatening a preemptive attack. But when the power comes on in the morning we learn something stranger: that the world was close to a nuclear apocalypse, but that a hidden civilization, heirs to the ancient Greeks, "nos frères inattendus," had seized power to stop it.

I was expecting the novel to move in a sci-fi direction, but instead Maalouf turns inward, and examines the moral, emotional, and philosophical impact on people who learn overnight that their "super-power" Western civilization is obsolete.

It's also a romance, and an adventure story - it ain't all philosophy.

I loved it.
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Super Challenge - 50 books
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Carmody
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Mon Jan 25, 2021 1:54 pm

kanewai

Thanks so much for the great suggestion; sounds like a really unique book.
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Carmody
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:42 am

People interested in new ideas for books in French may be interested in this resource from :Francetvinfo

Actually, as you work your way down the page, you realize that there are 464 more pages on books, just in case you are interested.......
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby lusan » Tue Jan 26, 2021 3:04 pm

kanewai wrote:I finally have a solid recommendation for you all - it feels like it's been awhile!

Amin Maalouf, Nos frères inattendus. 2020

The novel starts with the power, radio, and internet all going out one night on a small island in the Atlantic. The residents are sure that a nuclear war has finally come - a rogue state had acquired weapons, and the US had been threatening a preemptive attack. But when the power comes on in the morning we learn something stranger: that the world was close to a nuclear apocalypse, but that a hidden civilization, heirs to the ancient Greeks, "nos frères inattendus," had seized power to stop it.

I was expecting the novel to move in a sci-fi direction, but instead Maalouf turns inward, and examines the moral, emotional, and philosophical impact on people who learn overnight that their "super-power" Western civilization is obsolete.

It's also a romance, and an adventure story - it ain't all philosophy.

I loved it.


Interesting... but I checked Amazon price: $44...!!!
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DaveAgain
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby DaveAgain » Tue Jan 26, 2021 3:24 pm

lusan wrote:
kanewai wrote:I finally have a solid recommendation for you all - it feels like it's been awhile!

Amin Maalouf, Nos frères inattendus. 2020

The novel starts with the power, radio, and internet all going out one night on a small island in the Atlantic. The residents are sure that a nuclear war has finally come - a rogue state had acquired weapons, and the US had been threatening a preemptive attack. But when the power comes on in the morning we learn something stranger: that the world was close to a nuclear apocalypse, but that a hidden civilization, heirs to the ancient Greeks, "nos frères inattendus," had seized power to stop it.

I was expecting the novel to move in a sci-fi direction, but instead Maalouf turns inward, and examines the moral, emotional, and philosophical impact on people who learn overnight that their "super-power" Western civilization is obsolete.

It's also a romance, and an adventure story - it ain't all philosophy.

I loved it.


Interesting... but I checked Amazon price: $44...!!!
The retail price is EUR 22.

https://www.grasset.fr/livres/nos-frere ... 2246826415

Perhaps try another retailer?
1 x

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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:22 pm

DaveAgain wrote:
lusan wrote:
kanewai wrote:I finally have a solid recommendation for you all - it feels like it's been awhile!

Amin Maalouf, Nos frères inattendus. 2020

The novel starts with the power, radio, and internet all going out one night on a small island in the Atlantic. The residents are sure that a nuclear war has finally come - a rogue state had acquired weapons, and the US had been threatening a preemptive attack. But when the power comes on in the morning we learn something stranger: that the world was close to a nuclear apocalypse, but that a hidden civilization, heirs to the ancient Greeks, "nos frères inattendus," had seized power to stop it.

I was expecting the novel to move in a sci-fi direction, but instead Maalouf turns inward, and examines the moral, emotional, and philosophical impact on people who learn overnight that their "super-power" Western civilization is obsolete.

It's also a romance, and an adventure story - it ain't all philosophy.

I loved it.


Interesting... but I checked Amazon price: $44...!!!
The retail price is EUR 22.

https://www.grasset.fr/livres/nos-frere ... 2246826415

Perhaps try another retailer?
I paid US$20.56 for the Kindle version.
2 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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lusan
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby lusan » Tue Jan 26, 2021 7:41 pm

MorkTheFiddle wrote:
DaveAgain wrote:
lusan wrote:
kanewai wrote:I finally have a solid recommendation for you all - it feels like it's been awhile!

Amin Maalouf, Nos frères inattendus. 2020

The novel starts with the power, radio, and internet all going out one night on a small island in the Atlantic. The residents are sure that a nuclear war has finally come - a rogue state had acquired weapons, and the US had been threatening a preemptive attack. But when the power comes on in the morning we learn something stranger: that the world was close to a nuclear apocalypse, but that a hidden civilization, heirs to the ancient Greeks, "nos frères inattendus," had seized power to stop it.

I was expecting the novel to move in a sci-fi direction, but instead Maalouf turns inward, and examines the moral, emotional, and philosophical impact on people who learn overnight that their "super-power" Western civilization is obsolete.

It's also a romance, and an adventure story - it ain't all philosophy.

I loved it.


Interesting... but I checked Amazon price: $44...!!!
The retail price is EUR 22.

https://www.grasset.fr/livres/nos-frere ... 2246826415

Perhaps try another retailer?
I paid US$20.56 for the Kindle version.


Isn't it too much for a kindle book when there are millions books on the street!
1 x
Italian, polish, and French dance
FSI Basic French Lessons : 10 / 24 17 of 24 goal


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