Lisez-vous français?
October 18, 2015 8:56 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for recommendations of books, particularly novels, written in French. Details inside.
I used to be highly proficient at speaking and reading in French, but as the years passed, my facility with the French language has become rather rusty. I want to reawaken my knowledge of French through reading.
I'd like recommendations for books originally written in French that are contemporary, or at least no more than 30 years old. At my current level, I think it would be easiest for me to read stories that are told in a straightforward manner. So I'm looking for adult novels with a decent amount of dialogue, everyday vocabulary, and a clear narrative–nothing too experimental, overlong, arty, or poetic. Still, I would like the books to be engaging and have literary merit. I'm thinking of maybe the Nick Hornby or the Tom Perotta of Francophone literature. Memoirs are fine, too.
Ideally, the suggested books would have been popular enough to have made it to the United States so I could order them from a domestic seller or get them from my local library or from an intra-library loan.
(I'm not too familiar with current French literature. In recent years, I've read in English translation "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" which I found cloying and pretentious and "Platform" by Houllebecq which I enjoyed but I think it would be too much of a slog for me in the original French.)
I used to be highly proficient at speaking and reading in French, but as the years passed, my facility with the French language has become rather rusty. I want to reawaken my knowledge of French through reading.
I'd like recommendations for books originally written in French that are contemporary, or at least no more than 30 years old. At my current level, I think it would be easiest for me to read stories that are told in a straightforward manner. So I'm looking for adult novels with a decent amount of dialogue, everyday vocabulary, and a clear narrative–nothing too experimental, overlong, arty, or poetic. Still, I would like the books to be engaging and have literary merit. I'm thinking of maybe the Nick Hornby or the Tom Perotta of Francophone literature. Memoirs are fine, too.
Ideally, the suggested books would have been popular enough to have made it to the United States so I could order them from a domestic seller or get them from my local library or from an intra-library loan.
(I'm not too familiar with current French literature. In recent years, I've read in English translation "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" which I found cloying and pretentious and "Platform" by Houllebecq which I enjoyed but I think it would be too much of a slog for me in the original French.)
This is slightly out of what you are asking for, but consider the easy and inexpensive availability of French-language magazines if you have a tablet or smartphone. Not only has this allowed me to increase my vocabulary in specific areas (I know an amazing number of words that my college-French-professor mother-in-law has never learned because she's not interested in cooking, and I read a lot of French cooking magazines), but magazines are often written very colloquially, so you can easily keep up with changes in the way the language is used over time.
For me this has been a great adjunct to reading French novels and works in translation, as well as listening to podcasts and such, because it's a regular monthly thing that pops into my life and it helps me keep the rhythm of French language really very present. It's a cheap way to stay close to the language and culture as it's happening now. With a bonus that if you subscribe to magazines that discuss popular culture you may get some great ideas about further reading, in terms of novels and non-fiction books that will fill the gaps you're looking to fill.
posted by padraigin at 9:27 PM on October 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
For me this has been a great adjunct to reading French novels and works in translation, as well as listening to podcasts and such, because it's a regular monthly thing that pops into my life and it helps me keep the rhythm of French language really very present. It's a cheap way to stay close to the language and culture as it's happening now. With a bonus that if you subscribe to magazines that discuss popular culture you may get some great ideas about further reading, in terms of novels and non-fiction books that will fill the gaps you're looking to fill.
posted by padraigin at 9:27 PM on October 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
Not precisely on point, but previously: Simple French-language fiction?
posted by Sunburnt at 9:36 PM on October 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Sunburnt at 9:36 PM on October 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I enjoyed L'homme aux cercles bleus, a murder mystery by Fred Vargas, published in 1996.
posted by mbrubeck at 9:41 PM on October 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mbrubeck at 9:41 PM on October 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd get a subscription to a French news magazine, such as Le Point or l'Express (centre right) or Le Monde or l'Obs (centre left). If you are so inclined, you can read them on a portable device at leisure. If anything, they keep you appraised of French and world news, while giving you a sense of contemporary French. Moreover, they all have interesting books sections from where you can explore further.
posted by Kwadeng at 12:19 AM on October 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Kwadeng at 12:19 AM on October 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Papillon by Henri Charriere is a little older than what you're asking for but is honestly one of the best books you will ever read, I promise. It's an autobiographical tale about the story of Henri's sentencing to life in a penal colony in French Guiana for a crime he did not commit and subsequent lust for life and escape attempts.
Also check out the sequel when you're done.
posted by JefeDelManana at 5:40 AM on October 19, 2015
Also check out the sequel when you're done.
posted by JefeDelManana at 5:40 AM on October 19, 2015
Best answer: I wouldn't shy away from Houellebecq. "Les particules élémentaires" is a great choice for this kind of task--contemporary, lots of choice vocabulary without using complicated or long or difficult sentence structures, and also a relatively well-known piece that you'd be able to talk about and reference in conversation. I actually really enjoyed his "Poesies," especially in that his dark tones can be more endurable in small doses rather than a full novel at a time.
Thierry Jonquet's books fit this bill, too. I actually went through "Mygale" when I was a freshman in college for just this purpose, to get a wink at works outside the classical œuvre that was preferred at my school, but it's slightly older than you want (published in '84). It's still a great book, a bit ahead of its time when it was written (and when I first read it). I reread it recently and really enjoyed it (and, yes, it's quite different than the film it inspired Almodóvar to make). But Jonquet wrote several more before he passed away in '09, and I really enjoy his prose.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 8:43 AM on October 19, 2015
Thierry Jonquet's books fit this bill, too. I actually went through "Mygale" when I was a freshman in college for just this purpose, to get a wink at works outside the classical œuvre that was preferred at my school, but it's slightly older than you want (published in '84). It's still a great book, a bit ahead of its time when it was written (and when I first read it). I reread it recently and really enjoyed it (and, yes, it's quite different than the film it inspired Almodóvar to make). But Jonquet wrote several more before he passed away in '09, and I really enjoy his prose.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 8:43 AM on October 19, 2015
Best answer: I've read all of Pierre Lemaitre's novels in the Verhœven series (the ones that have been translated into English, anyway) and they're great. You should be able to find them on Amazon or possibly through interlibrary loan.
posted by jabes at 11:56 AM on October 19, 2015
posted by jabes at 11:56 AM on October 19, 2015
This is older than 30 years but the French is so straightforward and simple it would be great warm up: L'etranger
You can also hear it read aloud and brush up on listening comprehension.
Le Clézio won the Nobel in 2008. He's been publishing since the 60s and really worth reading, so I've been told. His earlier work is part of the Nouveau Roman movement though is style changed after the 70s. Because he won the Nobel you can more easily find his books in English, if you want to check your comprehension.
posted by lillian.elmtree at 2:51 PM on October 19, 2015
You can also hear it read aloud and brush up on listening comprehension.
Le Clézio won the Nobel in 2008. He's been publishing since the 60s and really worth reading, so I've been told. His earlier work is part of the Nouveau Roman movement though is style changed after the 70s. Because he won the Nobel you can more easily find his books in English, if you want to check your comprehension.
posted by lillian.elmtree at 2:51 PM on October 19, 2015
Best answer: Seconding L’homme aux cercles bleus
Also, Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part, a collection of short stories, some witty, some touching , it is light reading but unaffected (note I do not recommend Gavalda’s subsequent t work, it is fairly syrupy).
With the same view that bite sizes may be easier for you to start with, La maladie de Sachs is a novel in which a number of chapters are short monologues told by a series of protagonists, all are patients of a burnt-out country doctor. At times it is a bitter sweet fly-on-the-wall account of a life in a medical practice in rural France. At others it is a reflection on medicine as calling.
posted by bluedora at 1:56 PM on October 20, 2015
Also, Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part, a collection of short stories, some witty, some touching , it is light reading but unaffected (note I do not recommend Gavalda’s subsequent t work, it is fairly syrupy).
With the same view that bite sizes may be easier for you to start with, La maladie de Sachs is a novel in which a number of chapters are short monologues told by a series of protagonists, all are patients of a burnt-out country doctor. At times it is a bitter sweet fly-on-the-wall account of a life in a medical practice in rural France. At others it is a reflection on medicine as calling.
posted by bluedora at 1:56 PM on October 20, 2015
Many of these books aren't available on Kindle if you're in the States... BUT you can update your Kindle settings so that you can buy French books even if you live in the States.
First you change your country in Settings, then you'll be prompted to transfer your Kindle over to Amazon.fr. Amazon promises that you can change it back later if you want, but I haven't tried.
So I just bought Mygale by Thierry Jonquet and am looking forward to digging in.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 6:11 AM on January 2, 2016
First you change your country in Settings, then you'll be prompted to transfer your Kindle over to Amazon.fr. Amazon promises that you can change it back later if you want, but I haven't tried.
So I just bought Mygale by Thierry Jonquet and am looking forward to digging in.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 6:11 AM on January 2, 2016
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posted by three_red_balloons at 9:26 PM on October 18, 2015