More ideas for modern French literature please

[Helen]

I'm looking for ideas for modern literature in French to read that:

a) has a good story line - not too philosophical or abstract

b) is nothing to do with detectives, the first or second world war, nor Napoleon!

c) is not Amelie Nothomb or Marc Levy, neither of which I like very much.

I find it very difficult to find suitable books in the mediatheque in London (my local source) because so many are bound in plain white covers with no blurb on the back - I'd never realised how much I judge a book by its cover!  But in English I love books like The English Patient by Ondaatje, or Margaret Atwood or Barbara Kingsolver or similar if that helps. My French is reasonable so I'm not  looking for easy language. 

To start the ball rolling, I'm currently reading a book of short stories by Anna Gavalda, Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part - very well observed stories from everyday existence.  I've also enjoyed Le Roi Tsongor by Gaudé.

What have others enjoyed?

[JMB]

I read it in English, but still an  important book (thank you Wikepedia):

Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) is a novel by Stendhal, published in 1830. The title has been translated into English variously as Scarlet and Black, Red and Black, and The Red and the Black.

It is set in 1830, and relates a young man's attempts to rise above his

plebeian birth through a combination of talent, hard work, deception

and hypocrisy, only to find himself betrayed by his own passions.

Like Stendhal's later novel The Charterhouse of Parma (La Chartreuse de Parme), Le Rouge et le Noir is a Bildungsroman.

The protagonist, Julien Sorel, is a driven and intelligent man, but

equally fails to understand much about the ways of the world he sets

out to conquer. He harbours many romantic illusions, and becomes little

more than a pawn in the political machinations of the influential and

ruthless people who surround him. Stendhal uses his flawed hero to

satirize French society of the time, particularly the hypocrisy and materialism of its aristocracy and the Roman Catholic Church, and to foretell a radical change in French society that will remove both of those forces from their positions of power.

The most common and most likely explanation of the title is that red

and black are the contrasting colors of the army uniform of the times

and of the robes of priests, respectively. Julien Sorel observes early

on in the novel that, under the Bourbon restoration it is impossible for a man of his class to distinguish himself in the army (as he might have done under Napoleon);

now, only a career in the Church offers social advancement and glory.

Alternative explanations are possible, however: for example, red might

stand for love and black for death and mourning; or the colours might

refer to those of a roulette wheel, and may indicate the unexpected

changes in the hero's career.

The novel ends with Stendhal's standard closing quote, "To the Happy

Few." This is often interpreted as a dedication to the few who could

understand his writing, an allusion to William Shakespeare's "Henry V",

or a sardonic reference to the happy few who are born into prosperity

(the latter interpretation is supported by the likely source of the

quotation, Canto 11 of Byron's Don Juan, a frequent reference in the novel, which refers to 'the thousand happy few' who enjoy high society).

[JMB]

Sorry I've just realised you said modern. 

How about Tin Tin?  Belgian I know, and not that modern ... and he's sort of a detective ... thinking cap back on ...

[Clair]

You might find the following site a good starting point: http://www.lire.fr/

If you go to "Toutes les critiques", you can narrow down the kind of book you want. They show book extracts, they carry reviews and list by authors.

[Callie]

Helen - here are three books, completely different, though the first two are more novels than literature as such.  The third, however, is a classic.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of them :

La Ferme des Orages by Joëlle GUILLAIS.  A contemporary story with an agricultural background in the Sarthe.  Well written and interesting.   I couldn't put it down !

Le Vol des Cygognes by Jean-Christophe GRANGER.  He wrote Les Rivières Pourpres which  I don't think is a patch on this one.  His later books got a bit weird.  It is a long story, with the hero travelling a lot, but, again, I just couldn't put it down.

Premier de cordée est un roman de Roger Frison-Roche écrit pendant son séjour à Alger entre 1938 et 1940, achevé en 1941 (le manuscrit est daté de 22 février) et paru en France en 1942.

Premier de cordée parle d’un jeune homme, Pierre Servettaz, qui vit à Chamonix dans les années 1930-1940. Le garçon aimerait exercer la même profession que son père : guide de montagne. Il est en formation d'hôtelier et se prépare à passer l’examen de guide. Quand un jour lors d’une escalade son père est foudroyé au sommet de la montagne, Pierre décide d'aller récupérer le corps de son père : accompagné de ses amis il se lance donc dans une escalade périlleuse. Pendant cette escalade il manque d’y laisser sa vie en tombant d'une falaise. Quelques mois plus tard, après s’être remis de sa chute Pierre découvre qu’il a le vertige. Il décide de surmonter cette peur et de devenir guide en l’honneur de son père.  (info taken from Wikipedia - they describe it better than I can !)

[Tancrède]

A book which I like very much is Regain by Jean Giono.  I think it fits all your criteria, unless the author is a bit too dead to be 'modern'.

It was so compelling that I had to read it in one sitting, which I normally regard as a bit of a waste  -  but it has given good value in that it is one of the few books that I can read again and again, not only for its story and content, but for its excellent style.

It is a sort of optimistic Thomas Hardy, if this is not too perverse a contradiction in terms. 

[Helen]

Many thanks for these suggestions - I look forward to trying them and will let you know how I get on.

I've just finished L'Interdite by Malika Mokeddem about an Algerian woman who returns to her home village in Algeria after moving away to France and faces attacks for 'rebelling' by her independence. Apparently it reflects the author's life to some extent - it's certainly very critical of the treatment of women in some parts of  Algeria - but the story is gripping and the descriptions of the wind and the desert are very evocative.

More ideas always welcome!

 

[anniefromwales]

Helen, I know you said 'nothing to do with detectives' - but have you tried Fred Vargas? They are detective stories but they are extremely intelligently written - definitely not pulp fiction or whodunits. Her plots are clever and whilst one could just read her books as a rattling good read, on the other hand the characterisation and psychology is spot on and there is plenty of intellectual stimulation - I've learned some intriguing facts about medieval history! Plus, her dialogue is the best I've read in modern French lit, if you are interested in the language then Fred Vargas is a real treat, she has a knack of noticing people's 'verbal tics' and putting them down on paper. 'Fred Vargas' is a pseudonym and as I recall she is a professor in medieval studies.

[odile]

we are definitely not talking literature here... but one way to test for your colloquial/vernacular/slang French is to TRY and read any of the 1000s of San Antonio series (police series) - warning you, it can be rude- but very funny (once in a while) - if you can understand the linguo, you are definitely bilingual.

His English is quite tortuous too    un p'tit beurre des touyoux (Happy bd to you)

dans le c  U  L  Paris Match (thank u v. much)   etc.   Anybody tried yet? 

[YCCMB]

No, but I will now!!! Sounds more my cup of tea than "intellectual" anyway. I think I'd rather improve my vernacular French.......[;-)]  (No offence implied or intended to those who prefer the more highbrow, BTW, just that I don't read "highbrow" for pleasure)

[odile]

bonne chance Betty- have a good laugh - if you can understand, that is!

[YCCMB]

Well, I'm as bilingual as I'm ever going to be, and if it's going to teach me new stuff and make me think, then it's worth it!!! Anyway, as I can't carry 2 months supply of books to France from England I may as well find something French to read that I'll enjoy!

[odile]

anybody out there tried San An. yet?  As he would say 'vieux motard que j'aimais'  (mieux vaut tard que jamais!).

[libellule]

I just read "La consolante" by Anna Gavalda and "LA valse lente des tortues' by Katherine Pancol; both modern and very enjoyable

[odile]

hi Betty - how are you getting on with San An? If you haven;t given up yet ' toutes mes ficelles de calecon'      salutations

[Callie]

You've really got me curious, Odile.  I shall have to look out for a San An - sounds right up my street !

[chessfou]

You might also try the novel novels by Erik Orsenna.

These are like nothing I've ever come across in any language. I think they are best described as adult books for children or, even more appropriately, children's books for adults. Orsenna loves words, especially French words and the French language. His books will certainly widen your vocabulary (I now look up no more than 1% of the text in Le Monde but at least 5-6% of the words Orsenna uses).

I have just (yesterday) acquired his first three books and am currently 2/3 of the way through the first:

La Grammaire est une chanson douce

Here is a little of what Orsenna has to say about this book: Mais

c'est la colère qui m'a poussé

à écrire. Une colère de papa : je ne comprenais plus les questions posées

en classe de français à mes enfants.

Un jargon inconnu de moi leur était tombé sur la tête, comme par exemple la " focalisation

omnisciente ". Pourquoi ces complications inutiles ?

Les enfants de sixième ou de cinquième ne doivent pas être des linguistes

! Ils doivent seulement savoir lire et écrire.

Et aussi apprendre à savourer la langue, à y trouver des surprises, des ravissements.

http://www.erik-orsenna.com/grammaire_bienvenue.php

[odile]

I love that book on 'la grammaire' - you will need a good graps of French and grammar to really enjoy it though. it is a must for anybody really interested in French. I am currently reading 'the story of French' by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow. i have read many good books on the histroy of English (Bragg and Bryson in recent years) - but never one on French. so far very good. Published by Portico  ISBN 978-1-905798-19-3

Describes the progression of langues d'Oc and D'Oil, anglo-norman, etc.  Never had any idea that   foreign comes from forain     pedigree from pied-de-grue

budget from bougette (purse).

[chessfou]

I've finished "La grammaire est une chanson douce" so now it's on to "Les chevaliers du subjonctif."

You (Odile) are certainly right about needing a good grasp of the language in order to tackle Orsenna. I always carry around with me a couple of 15x10 cards (a.k.a. 6"x4") in order to jot down new words (or those I've forgotten) and I usually get through two or three cards a week but I used 12 (150+ words just for this small book of no more than about 25,000 words total)!

They're mostly quite interesting words, such as s'esclaffer, turlupiner, renâcler, cahot, gazouillis, foviner, échauboulure, fredonner and so on ...

[odile]

wow, what dedication! But htat's a sure way to make quick progress. Bravo.

[odile]

chessfou, you should read 'comme un roman' by Daniel Pennac (1992) - it's a beautiful book which illustrates how force feeding reading and 'education' to children, especially a la Frecnh style (=lots of rote learning without thinking or analysing) can be the best way to put them off both! it's the story of a teacher children love and who makes children dream, have fun and learn. the teacher is slated by the 'inspectrice' for not sticking to the French style curriculum.

A fantastic read.

[chessfou]

Thanks for the Pennac suggestion. My local Médiathèque (catalogue on-line at long last) has a copy (plus one in the junior section), so I'll aim to pick it up when I take the Orsenna books back. That Pennac book even has an entry* to itself in Wikipedia, from which I have gleaned (at least temporarily) another two words for my card file: grappiller & la désacralisation.

* http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comme_un_roman

[chessfou]

I've just finished the Pennac book. I do not propose to do an analysis of it [;-)] but  I don't find it to be in the same class as Orsenna's work*. Of course the one is more pedagogical than the other (and John Holt's books, especially "How Children Fail," are excellent for that) but I didn't find in Pennac any of the pure magic that (for me) abounds in Orsenna's books. I suspect that Pennac would say something like "Yes, of course, you're right; let's add Orsenna to the list of 'Sueskind, Stevenson, Márquez, Dostoïevski, Fante, Chester Himes, Lagerloef, Calvino' and, above all, Dahl."

Having read the first two of Orsenna's books I'm now 1/3 of the way through La révolte des accents (really ought to be La revolte des accents) which, for me, is simply magical. The accents feel that they are unloved and generally misunderstood, so they decide to go on strike (and they start to disappear from the text) but then, even worse, they are stolen ... now I must read on.

With Pennac's Comme un roman I was kind of relieved to finish it. With La révolte des accents I'm sure that I will slow down towards the last page, not wanting it to end (just as Pennac describes).

* although I have no idea (yet) about Deux étés (which is also lying on my table).

[chessfou]

OK, this "vieux motard" (né Fenian) has just acquired De l'antigel dans le calbute. [San Antonio series]

De l'antigel dans le calbute récit à s'en arracher la peau des "quilles*" pour en confectionner un sac de soir à la dame de ses pensées ...

I'll let you know how I get on - at least I'll have the words in front of me, unlike when watching Les Valseuses (I need sub-titles ... in French for that and even then ...).

*my substitution in order to avoid the attentions of the software « font. » [;-)]

[Jotty]

Has anyone tried Philippe Claudel "Les Ames Grises"..?

A review in English here