French Literature Recommendations Needed

[varnish7]

I've been teaching myself how to read French, and I would appreciate some suggestions in regards to what I should read next. To give you some idea of my reading level, I've just finished reading the Harry Potter series in French. Even though I didn't know every single word, I never once had to resort to a dictionary for the story to make sense. I've also read "A Christmas Carol" and got all of the major plot points, although I didn't get much else. I knew the basic plots of these stories, but they weren't anything that I had memorized or anything like that. I know I have a vocabulary of at least 1700 words. Also, I think I've worked out a good part of the grammar for myself based on context.

Anyway, I'm looking for some new books to read. I want books that are at or slightly above the reading level that I've indicated above. I want to be able to read these books without having to use a dictionary to understand what's going on. I'd like something that's fairly long, but with an easy vocabulary. I'd also rather have something with an exciting storyline than something "deep" I also don't want to spend money if I don't have to, so I would appreciate recommendations for older books that are in the public domain.

Does anyone have any suggestions for where I should start? Also, could someone give me some idea of how famous French works rank in difficulty? I want to be able to use each book to build my vocabulary and grammar so that the following books will be readable.

Thank you so much for your help.

[Charles Darnay]

I recommend Moliere. The language is not terribly difficult and the plays are wonderful (most of them).

[Anymodal]

Voltaire's Zadig and the destiny and Micromegas come to my mind. Check them out: http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Zadig , http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Microm%C3%A9gas

[Calidore]

Alexandre Dumas gives you length, exciting storylines, and presumably the vocabulary isn't too difficult, since his works originally appeared as newspaper serials. Also, his most famous works appear in English translation, giving you a usage reference if you want one.

[Lykren]

Don't know french, but The Stranger by Camus was simple to read in English, and very good. It doesn't seem like the style would be real fancy.

[kev67]

I have read La Gloire de mon Père and its sequel, La Maison da ma Mère, both by Marcel Pagnol. They were good books. They are based on the author's childhood experiences at the turn of the 20th century (the epilogue of La Maison de ma Mère is one of the saddest things I have ever read). However, I found I needed to consult the dictionary quite often due to all the unfamiliar flora and fauna. Marcel Pagnol wrote Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, which were turned into critically acclaimed French films about twenty-five years ago.

Another good French read was Carmen by Prosper Mérimée. This is more an adventure story than the other books just mentioned. It is quite short.

[Emil Miller]

Does anyone have any suggestions for where I should start? Also, could someone give me some idea of how famous French works rank in difficulty? I want to be able to use each book to build my vocabulary and grammar so that the following books will be readable.

Thank you so much for your help.

Two books that immediately spring to mind are Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant and Thérèse Raquin by Emile Zola. In fact anything by Zola but most of his other novels make up the compendium of stories covering the period of the second empire 1848-1870 and give a marvellous panoply of French life throughout the period. Great literature that is also unputdownable.
You might also try Georges Duhamel's Le Combat Contre les Ombres or Le Notaire du Havre, like Zola's Rougon-Macquart series, these are stand alone novels from a compilation called La Chronique des Pasquier that make for easy, informative and enjoyable reading.

[crusoe]

Bouvard and Pecuchet - Flaubert
Cousin Bette - Balzac
Lost Illusions - Balzac
Earth - Zola
Bel Ami - Maupassant

[varnish7]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I think I'm going to start with "The Three Musketeers", and then maybe go on to the rest of the D'Artagnan stories (assuming they're any good).

[kelby_lake]

Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan is good.

[Emil Miller]

Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan is good.

I reviewed this on the forum a short while ago.

[Jack of Hearts]

Interesting, to say that least, the novels you all believe share equivalent difficulty with reading Harry Potter.








J

[GatorAbe]

Bouvard and Pecuchet - Flaubert


If Flaubert is a recommendation why not go with Madame Bovary? My goodness that is a magnificently written novel.

[Anymodal]

Waiting for Godot. Don't forget Beckett wrote it in french.

[Calidore]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I think I'm going to start with "The Three Musketeers", and then maybe go on to the rest of the D'Artagnan stories (assuming they're any good).

The sequel, Twenty Years After, is very good; I enjoyed it as much as the first. The third book, Ten Years Later, is a different from the first two. It's much more serious and less of a romp, and it's also longer than both the others put together. It's basically lots and lots of court intrigue and putting the Musketeers, now separated and living their own lives, on course to wrap up their stories. Most publishers skip ahead to the last 1/3 to 1/4 of this work where stuff actually happens and publish that part as The Man in the Iron Mask. Oxford has put out the whole thing in three volumes. I still liked it overall, but it became quite a slog at times.

[kev67]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I think I'm going to start with "The Three Musketeers", and then maybe go on to the rest of the D'Artagnan stories (assuming they're any good).

You realize that book is two inches thick.

[Pantagruel]

Alain Fournier's Le Grand Meaulnes - A classic novel. Very popular with teenagers in France (or so I've heard)

Jean Cocteau's Les Enfants Terrible

Raymond Radiguet's Le Diable au corps

All three novels are relatively short, relatively easy to read and interesting.

[crusoe]

If Flaubert is a recommendation why not go with Madame Bovary? My goodness that is a magnificently written novel.

Really ? Isn't that a Daisy ?

[varnish7]

You realize that book is two inches thick.

What difference does that make?

[Jack of Hearts]

What difference does that make?

Two inches makes all the difference in the world.







J

[Motherof8]

I didn't see any recommendations for Victor Hugo's books.

[kiki1982]

If you are going to read The Three Musketeers, then by all means do! Great book. Never read such good and life-like dialogues and such surprising stuff. You think you know characters, but you don't... Sweet.

As far as the rest goes, Twenty Years After is more of the same, but darker. I don't find it as good as its prequel, but I think it's still a nice read.
The rest (The Vicomte de Bragelonne in French, one single book) takes the spotlight away from the four, but focuses more on the next generation, so to say. It's got a somewhat sad end (you probably know what that is), but you look back with fond memories. :)

[Kyriakos]

I love french literature of the 19th century, but i am not sure if it is what you want, since you mentioned the language having to be somewhat simple.

Maybe Guy De Mauppasant? Arguably the greatest western european short-story writer of all time.

The flowers of Evil, by Baudelaire. L' Albatross is one of my favorite poems :)