Books in French.

Ophelia · Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:53 pm Post subject: Books in French.

My books in French.

I read mostly in English, but I do have a few books in French I really love and that I'd like to share with BT.

I've been wanting to start this thread for several weeks; first I thought I would get ahead with my journal but it looks like it's going to be a mammoth task so if I wait for the end of the current affairs line I'lll never start the books.

This is in no way an overview of French literature, and even less of classics.

Still, I might as well start with an exception:

Le Grand Meaulnes, by Alain Fournier.

An excellent book to start with, if you expect atmosphere rather than action.

It's a good book for me to start with because the area in which the book is set , La Sologne, is about two hours' drive from where I live, and I have often been there hiking.
The forests and small villages still have the peaceful atmosphere and the magic I associate with the book, but none of the tragic elements.

http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Meaulnes-Classiques-Poche/dp/2253005274/re f=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204667220&sr=1-2

Ophelia

My books in French fall into three categories:

1- Historical novels (it's a short list, because most of what is published in this genre is rubbish in any language I think. There are, however, a few gems that make for glorious reading).

2- Psychology.

3- French current affairs.

I'll be writing about the historical novels.
I thought I should start with one that is set in France, and it took me a long while to remember one, but here we are:

Fortune de France, by Robert Merle.

It's a series of 13 books, I liked the first three, and then I thought it was repetitive, but anyway, the first one is excellent. They were extremely popular books .
What I liked was the historical theme -- sixteenth century France in the Périgord (South West) , the information about the wars betweeen Catholics and Protestants (very complicated part of European history, and the books do a good job) and mostly the use of language: Merle succeeded in something I have never seen attempted in any other historical novel: writing in a language that borrows items from sixteenth century French and give us a feel for the language of the time without preventing comprehension or sounding ridiculous.
Only a genius at language could have done that.

I'm going to quote from an obituary published in The Independent.

Ophelia · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:12 pm Post subject:

"Le Trajet d'une Rivière" by Anne Cunéo.
Now I'll come to a book which is really among my great favourites in French:

"Le trajet d'une rivière", by Anne Cunéo.

Cunéo is an excellent Swiss writer. When I first read her books about 10 years ago they were difficult to find in France, and I am glad that things have improved.

I love the impeccable historical research in her books, the characters and the good plots, and the love of the French language that transpires.

"Le trajet d'une rivière " is based on the story of Francis Tregian, a summary of which can be read at:

http://www.grainger.de/music/composers/tregian.html

Francis Tregian (1574-1619)

According to The Oxford Companion to Music, Francis Tregian was a Cornish musical amateur to whose interest and diligence we owe three vary valuable compilations:

* The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
* a collection of over eleven hundred madrigals, etc., and some instrumental pieces (British Museum, Egerton Manuscript 3665)
* a smaller collection similar to the previous (New York Public Library)

He was the son of a Catholic exile, was educated in France , and became Chamberlain to Cardinal Allen, in Rome (1592-4). He returned to England to claim his father's estate in Cornwall. In 1609 he was convicted of recusancy [according to The Oxford English Reference Dictionary, recusant = a person who refuses submission to an authority or compliance with a regulation, especially. Historically, one who refuses to attend services of the Church of England] and incarcerated in the Fleet Prison, London, where he died. It was during this period that he copied the manuscripts.

The book is about music, about the religious wars in Europe at the time (16th-17th centuries) and takes you from France to England to Swiss cantons.

I was facinated, among other things, by the account of life in the Fleet Prison in London (in the novel the hero escapes).

Here is a very good review (in French):

http://journal-d-une-lectrice.over-blog.net/article-3583801.html

Cunéo's characters in her historical novels ( for example also "le Maître de Garamond") are Renaissance humanists .
Here is a definition I have found for this term:

Quote:
"The literal meaning of 'humanism' in the renaissance was close to our term 'the humanities' today." Humanism then meant, the affixing of the greatest importance to classical studies, and the consideration of classical antiquity as the common standard and model by which to guide all cultural activity. The humanist ideal of a liberal education added history, physical games and exercises to the medieval liberal arts studies.

Ophelia · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:14 pm Post subject:

Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:18 am Post subject: L'Abyssin, by Jean-Christophe Rufin.
The Abyssinian , by Jean Christophe Rufin, is a great favourite of mine, and for once a book from my list has been translated into English. Smile

It's one of those incredible -- what I mean is "rocambolesque"-- stories I love, set in exotic countries but also with a part in Paris.

The language is marvellous, French at its best, complex yet flowing, something you don't come across all that often in modern literature-- this may sound strange, but I was thrilled by the use of past tenses and the subjunctive: so few modern writers venture into those fields).

The writer, JC Ruffin, is himself an interesting man who is a humanitarian activist and an MD as well as a novelist.

"A graduate of the Institut d'études politiques de Paris, in 1986 he became advisor to the secretary of state for human rights, and published his first book, Le Piège humanitaire (The Humanitarian Trap), an essay on the political stakes of humanitarian actions."

As a doctor, he is one of the pioneers of humanitarian movement "without borders", for which he has led numerous missions in eastern Africa and Latin America.

A former vice-president of Médecins Sans Frontières, he is currently president of the non-governmental organization Action Against Hunger."

Wikipedia.

Here is a review from amazon.com:

Quote:
"This review is from: The Abyssinian : A Novel (Hardcover)
According to the dust jacket, THE ABYSSINIAN by Jean-Christophe Rufin is a first novel. If so, I hope Rufin writes many more books because THE ABYSSINIAN is one of the best works of fiction I've read in a while. Rufin is a French physician who has spent many years working with Doctor's Without Borders. His writing reflects his medical background as well as his love of and regard for his fellow human beings.

Rufin is both romantic and a realist. A major thread in the plot of THE ABYSSINIAN involves a romance between his protagonist Jean-Baptiste Poncet, unlicensed lower-class medical practicioner living in Cairo, and Alix Maillet, the beautiful upper-class daughter of the French Ambassador to Egypt. Rufin's story is made real by his deft interweaving of actual historical events and evocative fictional episodes he has crafted from his obvious knowledge of the era and its political machinations.

The basis of the book is an event that occurred in 1699 when Louis XIV sent an embassy of ministers, Jesuits, and a physician to the Negus or King of Abyssinian. The Negus was sick and admitted the strangers only because they accompanied the physician whom he hoped would provide a cure for his malady. In the 17th Century, Abyssinia was a mysterious Coptic Christian country closed to outsiders for centuries. The nation-states of Europe and the Muslim countries of the near east struggled for control of Abyssinia which lay in North Africa southeast of Egypt. A desire for economic gain through trade lay behind the French King's offer of a physician to the Negus.

But other factors were at play. In the 17th Century, conflict continued between various Roman Catholic orders, between Catholics and Protestants, and between Christians and Muslims, all of whom sought relgious dominance. THE ABYSSINIAN is populated with French Jesuits, Italian Domincans, and Muslim imams all struggling to convert Abyssinians. The Jesuits' goal was to use the King's embassy as a means of penetrating the Coptic populace for the purpose of proselytization.

Like Dumas' action-thrillers, Rufin's book is filled with sword-play, gallantry, and back-stabbing, but unlike Dumas, Rufin's characters are fully developed. Poncet's sidekick, the apothocary Maitre Juremi is vividly drawn. Both Alix and Francoise (Juremi's love interest) are "real" women. Poncet is an honorable young man who seeks to win his fortune and claim his love's hand without selling his soul. His mission is dangerous and as he attempts to make his way back to Alix, the reader will wonder if he can possibly accomplish his goal in an age 'sans merci'. Long after you've read THE ABYSINIAN, you will recall the vivid imagery of an exotic place now lost to the world though civil war, and the wrenching suffering of a pair of lovers separated by the cruel irony of chance."

I also recommend its sequel "Sauver Ispahan"-- "the Siege of Ispahan."

wrryn · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 9:52 pm Post subject:

Thanks for sharing these books, Ophelia. Unfortunately, my French is far too rudimentary to tackle a good novel. Perhaps after I retire I'll try to improve that situation. In the meantime, have you read any of the English version of The Abyssinian? I'm curious to know how well the beautiful language translates.

I started reading A Heart So White by Javier Marias to see what a well-written modern Spanish novel was like in English. I'm not sure if I just didn't like the main character or if the translator wasn't up to the task, but in any case I've put it down and probably won't give it another try for quite a while. I'd love to have a recommendation for a French novel that's been well-translated (as much as is possible -- I know the rhythms of the languages are very different).

Ophelia · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 12:57 am Post subject:

Hello wrryn,

I can't tell you about translations from French into English. The little I know is about English into French: in that case I know that when there is a translation difficulty, people who have a whole book to translate within a limited amount of time often just skip the difficulty, but the result still flows and is pleasant to read.

A few days ago I read part of a short story from Exile and the Kingdom, by Camus, online. I thought it seemed well-translated, it reminded me of what I knew of his style, but then Camus's style is rather dry, so this would make him easy to translate.

In the case of The Abyssinian, the part that I enjoyed most about the language was his use of verb tenses and forms : however, I doubt this can be translated into English, because where there are sometimes two or three possibilities in French there is only one in English. The intricate forms in French take you back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and I love it.
My advice would be to try. If the reviews of The Abyssinian make it sound interesting and you can get a copy for a reasonable price, why not have a go at it?

wrryn · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 7:00 pm Post subject:

DWill · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 10:33 pm Post subject:

Ophelia, in line with wrryn's post about not feeling up to tackling a book in French, would you have a favorite that you would also recommend as not being too hard for someone whose reading in French is out of shape? Not that I ever had a great grasp, but I enjoyed the feeling of being able to read--or at least decode--literature in another language, and French was it.
DWill

Ophelia · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 5:50 am Post subject:

Will,
Have you tried Le Grand Meaulnes? It's excellent and it's not too long.

If this is too difficult , perhaps Le Petit Prince, by Saint Exupéry? This looks like a children's story because of the pictures but there is food for thought there, and linguistically it would be a smooth transition after not reading in French for a few years.

I think in the context of Booktalk there is an idea begging to be tried: Why not L'Exile et le Royaume, by Camus?
I hadn't read anything by Camus since I was a student but when I read from the first story on the net I found it very simple: rather short sentences, no flowery language... I'm also thinking of this because when I was in high school I read l'Etranger in German and I managed. I have no idea why I read this book in German, probably there was a translation on a library shelf and I took it home.
Also I think when I was in high school I had those ideas about killing two birds with one stone: Camus would be useful for French and philosophy, and, I reasoned, German was German, so if I wasn't too keen on Camus or didn't get the philosophy I'd still be learning something. Smile

Project Gutenberg has very few books in French, and this isn't one of them. I haven't found it on the net in French on any other site, but the book is very cheap in France: 5 euros.
Perhaps other members of Booktalk, among those who used to read in French, might want to try that: read both in French and in English, or some of it in French, and the rest on the net.
I personally can't read long stories on a screen, and I think printing everything might cost as much as buying a paperback, but anyway, this is a book which offers many possibilities. If anybody tries the bilingual idea please let me know ...

And Will, if these suggestions are not what you were looking for , I can ask around for more ideas.

DWill · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 1:26 pm Post subject:

Thank you, Ophelia, very much for your reply. The idea to read L'Exile et le Royaume[i] alongside the English has me in a state of excitement. If only I can pull it off!
Will


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