Books that are about or are set in France?
September 12, 2013 5:53 PM Subscribe
I'm traveling to France (Paris and Provence) in a couple of weeks and I would like some good France-themed plane reading. I like both fiction and non-fiction, though if its non-fiction it should be some sort of narrative. Ideally I would like a book set in or about modern France (no Les Mis, no Tender is the Night, etc). Thanks!
My Life in France, by Julia Child.
posted by Empidonax at 5:58 PM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Empidonax at 5:58 PM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Uh, reading comprehension fail: My Life in France isn't very modern--sorry!
posted by Empidonax at 6:01 PM on September 12, 2013
posted by Empidonax at 6:01 PM on September 12, 2013
Paris to the Moon by New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik was my favorite book I read about Paris before I went to France. Gopnik and his family are American and lived in Paris for several years, and this book is a collection of pieces about their time there.
On preview, how did I miss that dfriedman already mentioned this!
posted by imalaowai at 6:22 PM on September 12, 2013
On preview, how did I miss that dfriedman already mentioned this!
posted by imalaowai at 6:22 PM on September 12, 2013
Le Divorce by Diane Johnson is fun.
I remember liking The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, but it's been a long time since I read it.
Cara Black's Aimee Leduc mysteries are great if you like mysteries. I'd recommend reading them in order; some of the personal plotlines do span multiple books.
posted by jaguar at 6:28 PM on September 12, 2013
I remember liking The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, but it's been a long time since I read it.
Cara Black's Aimee Leduc mysteries are great if you like mysteries. I'd recommend reading them in order; some of the personal plotlines do span multiple books.
posted by jaguar at 6:28 PM on September 12, 2013
Almost French. An Australian woman marries a French man, they live in Paris and culture clash ensues.
posted by pianissimo at 6:43 PM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Cara Black mysteries are set in Paris.
And I just read Laurie R. King's The Bones of Paris, set in 1929. Chilling and lovely and very atmospheric.
posted by wintersonata9 at 6:57 PM on September 12, 2013
And I just read Laurie R. King's The Bones of Paris, set in 1929. Chilling and lovely and very atmospheric.
posted by wintersonata9 at 6:57 PM on September 12, 2013
David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day and When you are Engulfed in Flames are not only riotously funny, but also paint a novel picture of contemporary France.
posted by colin_l at 7:00 PM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by colin_l at 7:00 PM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Seconding Gopnik and Sedaris. Really depends on what you're looking for though. Literature? Easy reading? Of the latter Mayle is probably the best. Also check out Almost French. As far as literature goes Michel Houellebecq is maybe the most famous/provocative modern French author.
posted by vecchio at 7:47 PM on September 12, 2013
posted by vecchio at 7:47 PM on September 12, 2013
Do you read French? If so, Daniel Pennac's Malaussène series of novels, beginning with Au Bonheur des ogres, is worth your time. I think some of them have been translated into English.
posted by brianogilvie at 7:52 PM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by brianogilvie at 7:52 PM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Perfume from Provence by Lady Winifred Fortesque. Published in 1935 but certainly still thoroughly enjoyable nearly 80 years later. It's a short narrative about her move to rural France with her husband.
posted by donut_princess at 7:52 PM on September 12, 2013
posted by donut_princess at 7:52 PM on September 12, 2013
Just finished reading Ysabel, a fantasy novel set in modern day Provence, which digs pretty heavily into a lot of the history and myth of the region. It's a fast, fun, read. Perfect for an airplane.
posted by 256 at 8:35 PM on September 12, 2013
posted by 256 at 8:35 PM on September 12, 2013
Seconding Ysabel (GGK is a favorite author of mine), the Adam Gopnik book.
posted by PussKillian at 9:28 PM on September 12, 2013
posted by PussKillian at 9:28 PM on September 12, 2013
The following are some examples of "easy reading" about France that I have on my bookshelf:
C'est la Folie by Michael Wright
Je T'aime à la Folie by Michael Wright
La Petite Anglaise by Catherine Sanderson
Stuff Parisians Like: Discovering the Quoi in Je Ne Sais Quoi by Olivier Magny
Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language from the South of France by Kristin Espinasse
posted by datarose at 10:12 PM on September 12, 2013
C'est la Folie by Michael Wright
Je T'aime à la Folie by Michael Wright
La Petite Anglaise by Catherine Sanderson
Stuff Parisians Like: Discovering the Quoi in Je Ne Sais Quoi by Olivier Magny
Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language from the South of France by Kristin Espinasse
posted by datarose at 10:12 PM on September 12, 2013
The Elegance of the Hedgehog is set in Paris; it's charming and humorous, but also rather melancholy and bittersweet. Not a light beach read, in other words. I enjoyed it and found it quite moving.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:16 PM on September 12, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:16 PM on September 12, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz. Expat non-fiction for foodies.
posted by acidic at 11:15 PM on September 12, 2013
posted by acidic at 11:15 PM on September 12, 2013
Peter Mayle's books on France and Provence. Provence A-Z and French Lessons might be the better bets on a short timetable, though they're not novels.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:48 PM on September 12, 2013
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:48 PM on September 12, 2013
This is a long way off being modern, but it's a great read: Pure, by Andrew Miller.
Deep in the heart of Paris, its oldest cemetery is, by 1785, overflowing, tainting the very breath of those who live nearby. Into their midst comes Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young, provincial engineer charged by the king with demolishing it...
posted by ZipRibbons at 12:59 AM on September 13, 2013
Deep in the heart of Paris, its oldest cemetery is, by 1785, overflowing, tainting the very breath of those who live nearby. Into their midst comes Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young, provincial engineer charged by the king with demolishing it...
posted by ZipRibbons at 12:59 AM on September 13, 2013
In many French minds, the touchpoint for Provence was Claude Berri's two movies Jean de Florette (1986) and its sequel Manon des Sources (also 1986). The movies marked Gérard Depardieu's entry into French A-list stardom and were a big thing in France at the time.
Both were adapted from a two volume set of novels L'Eau Des Collines, by Marcel Pagnol, and were set around the time of the First World War, so they fail your demand for modernity. Pagnol actually wrote the books after his original 1952 movie Manon des Sources, and he developed the story further within the books. The books are good. The movies are definitely worth watching to get a flavour of the Provence countryside.
Pagnol also wrote well received and widely read autobiographical novels about his time growing up in Marseille - La Gloire de mon père and Le Château de ma mère. Both were made into decent movies.
The romanticised view of Provence that Mayle and others went on to write about is best understood when you've read or seen Pagnol's work. For lots of people Pagnol is Provence in the way that Thomas Hardy is Dorset or Mark Twain is the Mississippi.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:32 AM on September 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Both were adapted from a two volume set of novels L'Eau Des Collines, by Marcel Pagnol, and were set around the time of the First World War, so they fail your demand for modernity. Pagnol actually wrote the books after his original 1952 movie Manon des Sources, and he developed the story further within the books. The books are good. The movies are definitely worth watching to get a flavour of the Provence countryside.
Pagnol also wrote well received and widely read autobiographical novels about his time growing up in Marseille - La Gloire de mon père and Le Château de ma mère. Both were made into decent movies.
The romanticised view of Provence that Mayle and others went on to write about is best understood when you've read or seen Pagnol's work. For lots of people Pagnol is Provence in the way that Thomas Hardy is Dorset or Mark Twain is the Mississippi.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:32 AM on September 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
I know you said modern. But I want to say it was really awesome to be reading the Three Musketeers while in Paris, down the street from the Jardin du Luxembourg reading about them playing tennis in that garden!
posted by garlic at 11:29 AM on September 13, 2013
posted by garlic at 11:29 AM on September 13, 2013
For fiction many books by Joanne Harris are set in France. Particularly 'Chocolat', 'Peaches for Monsieur le Curé' (sequel to 'Chocolat'), 'Five Quarters of an Orange'.
Non fiction, Carol Drinkwater wrote a series of books about her experiences renovating an old farm and harvesting olives. I think 'The Olive Farm' is the first one.
posted by knitswithcathair at 12:57 PM on September 13, 2013
Non fiction, Carol Drinkwater wrote a series of books about her experiences renovating an old farm and harvesting olives. I think 'The Olive Farm' is the first one.
posted by knitswithcathair at 12:57 PM on September 13, 2013
Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys.
Not modern, but modern-ish.
posted by mani at 3:12 PM on September 13, 2013
Not modern, but modern-ish.
posted by mani at 3:12 PM on September 13, 2013
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posted by dfriedman at 5:55 PM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]