What are your favorite french books ?
I'll assume you're talking about novels.
Well, while I think Balzac is the most accomplished in terms of description, Jules Verne's books always bring me comfort and childlike wonder. If anyone could recommend lesser known authors, it would be great.
>>7483624
madame bovary
>>7483629
I'm french, what kind of novels are you looking for ?
>>7483639
Possibly contemporary authors? Early 20th century literature/poetry as well.
>>7483624
Do Francophones from other countries count?
>>7483629
>>7483668
Thanks!
Favorite tragedy right there. The language is probably the perfect French.
>>7483676
I have this on my desk right now, along with "Aimez-vous Brahms?".
On topic—Cioran.
>>7483656
Here are some early 20th century authors along with my favorite work by them (I've tried to choose authors who are not very well-known by foreigners) :
Paul Claudel (La cantate à trois voix)
André Gide (Les nourritures terrestres)
Paul Valéry (Albums de vers anciens - La crise de l'esprit is a must-read if you like history)
Alfred Jarry (Gestes et opinions du docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien)
Alphonse de Chateaubriand (La Brière)
Jean Giraudoux (La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu, or Adorable Clio)
Joseph Malègue (Augustin, ou le maître est là)
Guillaume Apollinaire (Alcools as the other anon said)
Max Jacob (Le géant du soleil)
Saint-John Perse (Anabase)
François Mauriac (Thérèse Desqueyroux)
George Bernanos (Sous le soleil de Satan)
Georges Feydeau (Un fil à la patte)
Maurice Leblanc (L'aiguille creuse, it was my favorite book when I was 8 and it's still a great book, Arsène Lupin is the french counterpart to Sherlock Holmes)
Jean Cocteau (Vocabulaire - his films are great too)
Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (Le feu follet)
Paul Eluard (Capitale de la douleur)
George Bataille (Histoire de l'oeil)
Henri Barbusse (Le feu)
Valery Larbaud (Fermina Marquez)
Louis Aragon (La grande gaieté)
Gaston Leroux (Le mystère de la chambre jaune)
Charles Péguy (Eve)
>>7483752
Sous le soleil de Satan is excellent
otherwise, where are my Claude Simon bros at ? he da best
Georges Perec is an excellent writer too
>>7483624
"The Art of Surrender" by Jean-Francois Baguette
>>7483905
lmao, this would have been even better with some "le" in it
>>7483919
leddit, puh-lease.
>>7483921
le kek!
>>7483752
Man, you've chosen great authors (besides Claudel, I hate that guy), but mostly books I'm finding not really great.
>Gide, Les nourritures terrestres
I would definitely go with Les faux-monnayeurs
>Jean Giraudoux
Suzanne et le Pacifique ftw
Really great to see Valery Larbaud mentioned, love his short stories (Enfantines) too.
Any others I'd add to your list
Emmanuel Bove (Mes amis, Armand)
Henry de Montherlant (Le Célibataires)
>>7483892
I haven't read any Simon yet but I might since your taste seems to be excellent? What is your favorite Perec book?
>>7483935
>Les faux-monnayeurs
Les caves du vatican for the win
I am a large fan of the French writers. Les Mis is on the of the novels that has had a profound impact in my life, and have reread it multiple times.
Same goes with the Count of Monte Cristo, and I try to read everything I can on Napoleon.
Not to mention Voltaire, Rousseau and co.
>>7483935
I've never read Les faux-monnayeurs. It don't know why because its his most famous book, and I've only read Les nourritures terrestres (which I liked a lot) and Corydon (which was interesting). Why didn't you like Les nourritures terrestres?
As for Giraudoux the choice was hard to make. I think that I've chosen La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu because it's his most famous play and Adorable Clio because its the last book I've read.
>Henry de Montherlant (Les Célibataires)
Very good choice.
>Emmanuel Bove (Mes amis, Armand)
Looks interesting.
Blanchot, Bataille, Klossowski, Leiris, Quignard, Michon, Levé, Pinget, Robbe-Grillet, Cossery, Michaux, Viarre, Artaud, Sarraute, Luca, Gracq, de Mandiargues, Simon, Butor, Schwob, Linhartová (kind of, since she wrote mainly in French since 1968), Tournier, Volodine, Abraham, Raymond-Thimonga, Bonnefoy, Jaccottet, Follain, Ponge, Char, Segalen, Genet, Roussel and a lot of surrealists or to surrealism related writers, and somewhat modern poets.
Char !
>>7483935
Don't talk about Bove on here. I don't want him to become a meme.
>>7483937
favorite Perec would be Les choses or La vie mode d'emploi, but all of his books are great
if you read La vie mode d'emploi, be sure to get the Cahier des charges as well, it's very interesting and shows what n absolute madman he was
>>7483996
sorry man, but I highly doubt that many people will read him anyway.
>>7483624
The Stranger Albert Camus was pretty good t b h
I was really debating whether or not to post this comment.
Honestly, Camus still strikes with me.
Perhaps more embarrassing to admit, his early characters -- Meursault in The Stranger -- still is relatable to my awful attitude.
The Plague is a great book.
>>7483624
Érostrate by Sartre was good but isn't really a book. My favourite is Le petit prince. However Le Livre des Malédictions by Alain Nadaud is really good too.
>>7483752
Thank you.
Hey guys I was wondering like which books would be good to read for learning french?
Like I have finished like 4 courses in it but I was never more than mediocre in it so I guess My vocalbulary would be similar to someone who finished 2-3 well.
Truth is I really regret it and really want to learn it well, all tips greatly appreciated!
Also just finished the 4th wo it's still fresh in my memory
>>7484335
http://www.gallimard.fr/Catalogue/GALLIMARD/Folio/Folio-bilingue
That might be a good idea.
I haven't read many French authors.
Journey to the End of the Night and Germinal are two novels that I have especially enjoyed, though. 2016 might be my Proust year, I'll see how Swann's Way goes.
>>7484471
Do you mean like reading a book in english and then in french?
For something more experimental try Autoportrait by Edouard Levé
>>7484515
Not really. You read in french and when you don't understand, you read in both. This is a french publisher so the french will be translated from whatever language the book was in originally. But search for the same concept with a publisher of your native tongue.
Pic related is As I lay dying.
>>7484031
get over yourself. i only give enough shits about your thoughts over whether or not to post this comment to urge you to never post again. thanks
La confession d'un enfant du siècle ?
Quelqu'un a lu ce roman ? J'adore le théâtre de Musset mais j'hésite à me lancer.
>>7484335
"La vie devant soi" is an easy book to read. I read it when I was learning French. (by Émile Ajar. Real name Roman Gary)
>>7484712
I agree, almost anything by Romain Gary is amazing and "La vie devant soi" might indeed be the easiest if you're learning french. "La promesse de l'aube" is one of my favourites.
>>7483976
You're maybe right, I've read it for quite a while and I wasn't keen on Nietzsche at the time (I'm still not a big fan, but I like it withal).
>>7483996
If we can't even try to recommend good authors on a literature board...
>>7484661
Je ne l'ai pas lu, mais j'ai entendu de bonnes choses dessus. Et puis c'est Musset.
>>7484632
Oh so the novel basicly has like mirror pages in french on one page and english on the other?:)
Sorry if I'm annoying I just really wana know the language
Bouvard et Pécuchet
A rebours
Le Rouge et le Noir
>>7485245
Also, Germinal by Zola.
>>7484712
>>7484915
>>7485215
Ahh sorry didn't see that one, I also have a book called Contes by charles perrault, stories like barbe bleue, le petit poucet and le petit chaperon rouge, I really like that one but even though it is very simplistic I am struggling with the vocalbulary, I'll just keep going thanks for your help guys Ill be sure to check put that book and the mirror complex aswell!
>>7485237
yas queen
Les Fleurs du Mal
Paris Spleen
>>7483624
Swann's Way
>>7483624
Un roi sans divertissement - Giono.
A rebours - Huysmans & Les chants de Maldoror - Lautréamont for the dank même
>>7483958
>Ponge
>>7484335
La rivière à l'envers - Jean-Claude Mourlevat
Not even kidding, I re-read the two books recently (they are really short), and this shit is amazing.
This is prime grade youth literature.
>>7487058
fucken baudelaire man. too poor to buy las fleurs so hoping my mom or sister get it for me for christmas.
>>7483624
Claude Simon - La Route des Flandres
You'll need to be very fluent in French though.
>>7487273
>too poor to buy books
Occasion? even online?
You could find it for around 1€/$
2084 - Boualem Sansal
>>7483634
>>7483624
read this
The Sexual Life of Catherine M.
I am a great fan of french literature, I read all big works of famous athours and many minor works too. My french list is:
1. Balzac. The best novel is "Lost illusions". I read it when I was like 16 and loved it. Recently I was thinking if I would love it now, after all these years, I have re-read it and it is still great. Such a poetry in prose. Other his works are good too, but I do not like his late works. He lost his critical point of view in my opinion.
2. Hugo. "les miserables" as a book is 5 times better than the movie. And I think the movie was good.
3. Zola. "Germinal" is one of the best, but "The Fortune of the Rougons" is simply the best one. It is the stroy of several generations of one family. Such realism, very WOW.
4. Maupassant. I'd say I liked the most "Une vie ou L'Humble Vérité" (didnt find the name in English).
5. Stendhal. I would pick "The Charterhouse of Parma", espesially if you're 17-19.
6. Dumas - if you are 20+ you won't most likely find his novels very exciting
9. Flaubert, He is good but I did not read anythong apart from "Bovary" so I can't say much.
No Lorrain, Mirbeau, Mendes, Bloy, Gourmont in this thread. Sad.
Georges Rodenbach, although hes belgian, Bruges La Morte is godtier.
Whats the deal with belgians? How come half speak french, and theothers speak dutch/flemish? Why dont they have their own "native" language?
french speaking belgium should have been part of france.
>>7487432
Apart from thinking that Flaubert was just "good" you have very good taste.
What do you think of Proust ?
>>7487432
>even comparing Hugo to the movies adaptated from him
Ketchup-in-spaghetti tier
Jokes aside, try his poetry
>>7487457
Thanks, the problem with Flaubert is not only because of "one book" but also I read him when I was very young.
Actually, I've never started reading Proust although had intentions. What would you recommend?
>>7487491
You should read Flaubert again. He is truly one of the best prose writer that was ever born.
>What would you recommend?
Read In search of the lost time in its integrity before anything. It's a long read so you shouldn't hurry to read it: it's better to read it in a few days/weeks than to divide it too much.
Also >>7487491 is right. Hugo's poetry is sublime.
>>7487506
Thank you, I will read "In search of the lost time", I've looked it up and it is indeed a long read.
Same for Flaubert, I also have his "Salammbo" on the list.
>>7487489
The problem is I cannot enjoy poetry in translation. I adore some authors in my native language but never had skills to appreciate foreign ones.
>>7487530
Learn french then, it is worth it.
>>7483661
Really enjoyed Moravagine. That Mongols metaphore when he's in prison is absolutely brilliant, it actually made me dizzy, hadn't felt like that since reading Lautréamont.
>>7488740
fuck the french language! Spanish is the most useful after english
À rebours. poor fuckin tortoise.
>>7488784
In spanish-written area of literature you can find lots of good classics or contemporary ones
>>7488767
Learn both, moron. Learning one will even make the other easier.
