The Riff-Raff Element Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 In my ongoing attempts to master the French language (estimatedcompletion date sometime in the 23rd century - there are just too manywords) I have come to very much enjoy the works of two authorsrecommended as being "not to difficult, even for a prize chump likeyou," namely François Mauriac and Alphonse Daudet, both of whom arepublished in the Livre de Poche series. There are many, many books inthis inexpensive series, so many as to be somewhat disconcerting forsomeone who only knows who about 5% of the authors are. My question:could anyone recommend further writers in the style of Mauriac andDaudet with whom I can continue my explorations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 I would recommend anything by Georges Simenon as being simple yet interesting - his language is spare and elegant, just what you need. I learned all the (little) French I know from reading Maigret, then progressing to Daudet, with a dictionary and a grammar in constant attendance.<edit> I agree with Valerie about Pagnol, too. Lovely stories, easy to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixietoadstool Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Hi there!It would be Marcel Pagnol for me - after reading his books my French learning accelerated enormously. He wrote Jean de Florette, Manon des Sources, La Gloire de mon Pere and Le Chateau de ma Mere. The last two I have seen in a pocket book (i.e. French student edition) and they were very easy to read that way. With the other two books I read the whole unadulterated story and thoroughly enjoyed them.Hope this helps?Valerie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nom de plume Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 I remember reading a few months ago about a scheme being introducedinto the UK for adults with literacy problems. Modern UK famous authorswher being comissioned to write 'good gripping yarns' in very simpleEnglish and not too many words to encourage people to start reading. Isthere anything similar in France? It could be just what a lot of Britsneed to get them going with the French language.Diana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 René Barjavel. Start with "La Nuit des Temps". Don't touch Proust with a 40-foot bargepole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opalienne Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 I agree about Pagnol - wonderfully evocative writing and not too difficult. From him I moved on to Jean Giono, who also wrote about Provence, though a bit further north. He is more difficult but worth persevering with. Un des Baumugnes is one of the most moving books I have ever read I (filmed years ago as Angele, if you ever get the chance to see it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hastobe Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 On a similar subject - our French teacher introduced us to a musiciannamed Georges Moustaki (http://www.creatweb.com/moustaki) becasue thelyrics of his songs are so clear - he's actually Greek but lived inFrance for a very long time. Does anyone know of other musiciansthat have similar clear lyrics?Hastobe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 There are plenty songs in the charts that you can find the lyrics for on the net. Just listen to one of the music stations.Georges Brassens is reasonably clear. And Edith Piaf, if you like being screeched at.Or something like "Oh! Hé! Hein! Bon!" by Nino Ferrer if you can get a hold of it. So dreadful it's almost quite good! http://www.lesparoles.com/paroles-de-chansons/Nino-Ferrer/17867,Oh--H--Hein--Bon.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 Thanks for the suggestions - should keep me quiet for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 [quote user="hastobe"]On a similar subject - our French teacher introduced us to a musiciannamed Georges Moustaki (http://www.creatweb.com/moustaki) becasue thelyrics of his songs are so clear - he's actually Greek but lived inFrance for a very long time. Does anyone know of other musiciansthat have similar clear lyrics?Hastobe[/quote]Seeing his name here has just reminded me of some of his greatest hits: Le Métèque, Ma liberté. Such simple and evocative songs. Thank you so much for that...You might want to look into Léo Férré (Avec le temps), Yves Montand singing Jacques Prévert and of course Jacques Brel (Ne me quitte pas, sung in English as If you go away). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I'd recommend the short stories of Guy de Maupassant.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I also would recomment Maupassant's short stories. There's a good collection under the name of "Boule de Suif" (actually the title of one of the stories it contains).If you want to develop some familiarity with day-to-day French whilst having a gentle laugh at the same time, why not read some children's books? I would heartily recommend any of the "Petit Nicolas" books by Jean-Jacques Sempé, which are more or less considered modern classics. In a similar vein are the "Les contes du chat perché" books by Marcel Aymé. You'll find either of these series by going on amazon.fr and sticking one of the titles in. They are delightfully well written, the French is high quality without being difficult, and being children's books they are quite conversational in style. They also have a charming quality of innocence and playfulness about them. I dig them out and re-read them every few years.In a slightly different category is an author named Remo Forlani. These are not written for children, but are definitely in the "lighter reading" category and I found them quite charming as well. The three that I've read are called "Valentin tout seul", "Tous les chats ne sont pas en peluche" and "Papa est parti, maman aussi".Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Authors/books easy to read in French ?... Try : Les fables de la Fontaine Pagnol : his trilogy 'Marius, Fanny, Cesar' Jean Giono : La femme du boulangerGeorge Sand : La mare au diable,La Comtesse de Ségur: any titles can't remember any off handHervé Bazin : Vipère aux poingsAntoine de Saint-Exupéry : Le Petit Prince of course but all his books telling his experiences in the early days of the flying postal service to Africa. Avoid Zola, Victor Hugo, Proust, Malraux, Camus, Voltaire, until you are super efficient at the language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Also the following titles (Sorry forgot the name of the author! how embarassing!)Les sucettes à la menthe,Les allumettes suédoises,Un sac de bille.About the author's childhood during the 40's-50's.Another title easy to read (Yet again can't remember author's name! Which is very normal of me to often remember what I read and the title of it rather than who wrote the piece)Les petits enfants du siècle. Amusing tale of life in the suburbs in the 60's-70's from the view point of a child growing up. Will raise a smile...Ask any good 'libraire' for these titles or go on line to www.fnac.fr Happy reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Mouloudji, Georges Brassens, Claude Nougaro, Jacques Brel, Barbara, Gilbert Bécaud, Juliette Gréco, Marie Laforet, Julien Clerc, Joe Dassin, Serge Lama, Thomas Fursen, William Sheller.....list is long...That should get you going with clear understandable lyrics in french, songs on all types of mood, musics of very different type and style... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Thinking of music, I would also recomment Francis Cabrel - his lyrics are not easy to understand, but should be easy enough to follow if you have the sleeve in front of you while listening. And I find his musical style excellent - sort of a mixture of rock and blues (a matter of personal taste, of course). As a starting point, I would especially recommend his album "Samedi soir sur la terre" (from about 5 years ago).Also it's worth listening to one of Celine Dion's French albums - I would recommend "D'Eux".The author of "Les petits enfants du siècle" is Christiane Rochefort (don't know about the others). She also wrote another book in a similar vein called "Printemps au parking".Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 [quote user="Rob G"]Also it's worth listening to one of Celine Dion's French albums [/quote]Is it? [:D]She's not very "cool", you know. Only people without much in their heads like her. Or so I'm told. By French people. So it must be right, yah? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Oops, there I go again, not being cool.I'm frankly not bothered whether it's cool or not. It's not that I consider myself a "fan" as such - but in the context of this thread, which is about devloping language understanding through literature and music, I think she fits the bill OK.Actually I think it's quite cool not to be cool. Cool is boring. Cool is over-rated.Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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