A language learners’ forum

On De Gaulle, can I recommend Julian Jackson's recent De Gaulle - Une certaine idée de la France? Jackson is a professor of French history in the UK and I read the original English version but I know the French version got a positive review in Le Monde so hopefully is a worthy translation. I knew very little about CDG before and honestly I found it a total page turner.

Amandine

Thanks so much for your guidance. I will definitely buy and read this.

In the interests of being fair minded about being a French Book Reading Resource, it would seem that I need to include those books from time to time that I don't read but which others here should probably know about.

In this particular case,the book and author are The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier. From what I read, it has taken Paris by storm and is just being released in translation recently in America.

It is not my sort of book and I won't be reading it, but I thought it only fair to let others know about it and so have included a review of the book: here from my favorite book review website, the complete review.

I'm super keen to read The Anomaly, although I'll do it in English initially as hardcore reading in French isn't part of my plan right now. Last I checked it was out in January in Australia.

In the spirit of contributing resources - do people know about Recyclivre? It's a second hand book place in Paris and elsewhere. I've had a couple of shipments to Australia and they were prompt and shipping very reasonable. And being second hand and ex-library, a lot cheaper than most options. They're also some kind of social enterprise so doing work also.
https://www.recyclivre.com/shop/

Amandine » Tue Nov 23, 2021 8:33 pm

I'm super keen to read The Anomaly, although I'll do it in English initially as hardcore reading in French isn't part of my plan right now. Last I checked it was out in January in Australia.

In the spirit of contributing resources - do people know about Recyclivre? It's a second hand book place in Paris and elsewhere. I've had a couple of shipments to Australia and they were prompt and shipping very reasonable. And being second hand and ex-library, a lot cheaper than most options. They're also some kind of social enterprise so doing work also.
https://www.recyclivre.com/shop/

It sounds like a good idea, I guess I am just a little bit cautious when it comes to the money exchange side of it..francs to dollars.

Hello everyone,

First, thank you to the authors of this topic. I have found your opinions and recommendations to be very exciting. This obviously made me want to share my experience with you. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to read it all yet, so I apologise if I'm talking about books that have already been mentioned.

Here is a small selection of the books that I have read in French, and I would recommend:
- Les Trois Mousquetaires, Alexandre Dumas. An absolute classic of French literature and an epic story that allows you to escape a few centuries back.
- Le Rouge et le Noir, Stendhal. A book that moved me so well Stendhal accurately describes the feelings of his characters.
- Le joueur d’échecs, Stefan Zweig. Stefan Zweig’s words are simple, but his characters have remarkable depth.
- La part de l’autre, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt. What would Hitler's life - and the world - have been like if he had been accepted into Fine Arts and become a painter? That is what Eric Emmanuel Schmitt tries to imagine in this disturbing book, at times uneven but always fascinating.

To immerse myself in a culture I also like to read the novels which are the most popular in the country in question. This is why I started reading these books but haven't finished them yet because I found them difficult to read. I need to try again.

- Belle du Seigneur, Albert Cohen. A voluminous book for a love story whose poetry and sought-after writing style I appreciated but definitely found difficult to read.
- Désert, Le Clézio. A very poetic style certainly, but a tale a bit long that I had difficulty to be passionate about.

Regarding my reading method, it is rather simple. I write down all the vocabulary words I don't know on flashcards (I use Anki) and learn them as I go. Usually it is difficult at first, but eventually the same words reappear, and it becomes easier. I have also sometimes used book editions (CLE international for example) which adapt the French classics to all language levels (from A1 to B2) but I personally prefer to read the original versions with the dose of difficulty that this entails.

I looked up some reviews on L’anomalie. I’m either going to love or hate this one, and I can’t tell yet which it will be.

But beware, all: there’s a New York Times review that seems to reveal a major plot point in the first sentence. Ugh.

Rica

Thanks so much for joining the Forum and posting you comments in our A French Book Reading Resource. It looks as if you have done a lot of reading already so we look forward to your continued success.

Please feel free to set up a log so that others will know what your experience, level, and interests are. That way we can more easily help you.

kanewai
Please keep us advised........and thanks.

I'm going to have a go at reading L’anomalie. The premise seems interesting to me, and looking at the first couple of pages, it looks relatively accessible even for my lower level of French. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Carmody