A French Book Reading Resource

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DaveAgain
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby DaveAgain » Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:37 pm

Carmody wrote:
If anyone knows of other books of fiction on this time during Vichy, then please share the titles because I have a real interest in the time.
I read le silence de la mer a while back. Didn't much care for it though!
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AroAro
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby AroAro » Mon Mar 15, 2021 8:18 am

Carmody wrote:
If anyone knows of other books of fiction on this time during Vichy, then please share the titles because I have a real interest in the time.


The book that immediately comes to my mind is "Suite française" by Irène Némirovksy. I absolutely loved it - the plot is very engaging but also the style is quite unique in that the author's irony permeates each page. I read it already a few years ago so if I remember correctly, the first part describes how Parisians left the city to flee from German troops and then the action is set in a small provincial town and we get some love affair (though it's not cheesy, mind you!).

What makes the reading of this book compelling is the fact that Némirovksy wrote it "on the fly" in 1940-1942 and unfortunately she was denounced as a Jew and sent to death to Auschwitz. We can only guess that writing the book helped her keep her mind busy and concentrate on other things in such difficult times but the book itself is not full of despair as we might expect but rather subtle irony. Initially, the book was supposed to be comprised of 3 or 4 volumes though she was never meant to finish them but the 2 volumes that we have today are of excellent value. It's also one of the rare instances where the book was written during the German occupation and not retrospectively years later and this fact alone can make the reading experience "draining" at times.

Another book that I remember was set during the Vichy times is "Cerfs-volants" by Romain Gary but I was not that impressed with it (though I like the author's oeuvre in general).
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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Mon Mar 15, 2021 4:56 pm

AroAro wrote:
Carmody wrote:
If anyone knows of other books of fiction on this time during Vichy, then please share the titles because I have a real interest in the time.


The book that immediately comes to my mind is "Suite française" by Irène Némirovksy. I absolutely loved it
Just to agree that Suite française is splendid, though I read it in translation and if memory serves Carmody has already read it.
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Carmody
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Mon Mar 15, 2021 5:45 pm

Total embarrassment at forgetting Suite française. Thank you so very much; I will order it immediately.

Have you read the book?
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Carmody
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Mon Mar 15, 2021 5:47 pm

AroAro,
Thanks so much. I totally forgot about "Suite française" by Irène Némirovksy. I will try to make it my next book.
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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Tue Mar 16, 2021 6:43 pm

Carmody wrote:Total embarrassment at forgetting Suite française. Thank you so very much; I will order it immediately.

Have you read the book?
If you're asking me, yes I read it. I don't think you will regret your purchase.
Googling "novels about french resistance ww2" brought up several entries. But it's not clear at first glance the novels mentioned are in French.
We also discussed I believe a while back La biciclette bleu, for which there are one or two sequels, IIRC. These may be better for improving your French than learning about France in WW2.

In addition, here are some results from google.fr

Not all these were originally in French, not all are novels, and there are duplications.

Les meilleurs livres sur la Seconde Guerre mondiale
Roman sur la Seconde Guerre mondiale
Seconde Guerre Mondiale Roman
Roman historique seconde guerre mondiale
La Seconde Guerre mondiale
Livres-Seconde Guerre Mondiale

Two vlogs.
1. Milyx Lecture & Loisir
“Romans sur la seconde guerre mondiale”
Elle s’appelait Sarah, Tatiana de Rosnay
Et le ciel sera bleu, Tamara McKinley
Lettres à Stells, Iona Grey
La domaine de l’Héritière, Martha Hall Kelly

2. La lectures de Nine
“10 Romans de la 2nd Guerre Mondiale”
Tatiana, Paullina Simons
La mort est mon métier, Robert Merle
Hitler mon voisin, Edgar Feuchtwanger
La voleuse de livres, Markus Zusak
Max, Sarah Cohen-Scali
Ils m’ont appelée Eva, Joan M. Wolf
Voyage à Pitchipole, Jean-Claude Moscovici
Le Journal d’Anne Frank
Envol pour le Paradis, Jean-Marie Defossez
Le Journal de Rywka Lipszyc, Colmann-Levy
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Carmody
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Tue Mar 16, 2021 7:52 pm

MorkTheFiddle

Thank you so very much for visiting and sharing all the great advice. I am sincerely indebted, as always.

I look at the list and all the work ahead of me and I feel exhausted............ :lol:
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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Wed Mar 17, 2021 3:42 pm

Carmody wrote:MorkTheFiddle

Thank you so very much for visiting and sharing all the great advice. I am sincerely indebted, as always.

I look at the list and all the work ahead of me and I feel exhausted............ :lol:
:) Here's some help.
The list from Wikipedia includes the following works by French (I think) authors. Plus the trilogy by Günter Grass, whom I added because of his stature as a major novelist. I checked all the links to be sure they work. (at least on 17 March 2021 ;) )
French WW2 Novels from Wikipedia
Trilogie de Dantzig Günter Grass
Le Sang des autres Simone de Beauvoir
Rigodon Louis-Ferdinand Céline
La Rencontre Henri Troyat
Le Pont de la rivière Kwai Pierre Boulle
L'Orage de juillet Henry Castillou
Nord Louis-Ferdinand Céline
La Mort dans l'âme Jean-Paul Sartre
Les Montagnards de la nuit Roger Frison-Roche
Mon village à l'heure allemande Jean-Louis Bory
Un métier de seigneur Pierre Boulle
Kinderzimmer Valentine Goby
Jan Karski Yannick Haenel
Ils partiront dans l'ivresse Lucie Aubrac
HHhH Laurent Binet
Le Gardien des ruines François Nourissier
Education européenne Romain Gary
D'un château l'autre Louis-Ferdinand Céline

Le Diable en rit encore Régine Deforges
Les Communistes Louis Aragon
Collabo-song Jean Mazarin
Le Chasseur Zéro Pascale Roze
La Bicyclette bleue Régine Deforges
Au bon beurre Jean Dutourd
Au balcon d'Hiroshima Jean Amila
L'Abbé C. Georges Bataille
101, avenue Henri-Martin Régine Deforges

From the vlog by Milyx, none are by French authors.
From the vlog by Nine Gorman, the following are by French authors, but I have not provided links.

La Mort est mon métier by Robert Merle (a prolific novelist)
Voyage à Pitchipole by Jean-Claude Moscovici
Envol pour le Paradis by Jean-Marie Defossez
Max by Sarah Cohen-Scali, which is a YA novel

Mini-Reviews: I read all the novels by Régine Deforges, and they are all so-so 5/10
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Carmody
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby Carmody » Thu Mar 18, 2021 12:29 am

MorkTheFiddle

My cup runneth over with gratitude for your very many, very generous and kind gifts.

I mentioned what you have given me to my wife and we agreed that you will get "our first male child" by way of recompense. ;)

You obviously put in a tremendous amount of time and work on your gift and I bow deeply in gratitude for your thoughtfulness.

I would like to suggest that the material that you sent me is so thorough and worthwhile that it really should be posted to the French Resources thread so that others might share in the information.

As for myself, I feel as if I have fallen down a rabbit hole with all the material I have to read and have no idea when I will be able to surface again.

Thank you so very much.
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lusan
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Re: TOTW: A French Book Reading Resource

Postby lusan » Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:19 pm

MorkTheFiddle wrote:
Carmody wrote:MorkTheFiddle

Thank you so very much for visiting and sharing all the great advice. I am sincerely indebted, as always.

I look at the list and all the work ahead of me and I feel exhausted............ :lol:
:) Here's some help.
The list from Wikipedia includes the following works by French (I think) authors. Plus the trilogy by Günter Grass, whom I added because of his stature as a major novelist. I checked all the links to be sure they work. (at least on 17 March 2021 ;) )
French WW2 Novels from Wikipedia
Trilogie de Dantzig Günter Grass
Le Sang des autres Simone de Beauvoir
Rigodon Louis-Ferdinand Céline
..................
..............
Voyage à Pitchipole by Jean-Claude Moscovici
Envol pour le Paradis by Jean-Marie Defossez
Max by Sarah Cohen-Scali, which is a YA novel

Mini-Reviews: I read all the novels by Régine Deforges, and they are all so-so 5/10


Mercie. Amazing. Where to start: R. Deforges?
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