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French books you've read???

Have any of you ever read a book in French, I have just bought "Harry Potter et la coup de feu" as I have the english version, but have any of you got any other recommendations? By the way I'm studying AS french and to be honest I am struggling a lot with the language. Oh and have any of you got French Grammar and Usage (by Roger Hawkins, Richard Towell) Cheers

Reply 1

Lidka

13

Heh, I'm reading the Harry Potter Series in French too... it's a good idea to read especially if you're having trouble; you get a better vocabulary and it improved your reading speed. Perhaps you should check in your school/college library and see if they have a foreign languages section (mine does, but I don't know if that's the same for more schools) and maybe have a look at your local library.

Reply 2

Richy Rich$$

2

My personal favourite are philsophical novels like those by Satre, Voltaire, Gide, Camus. I also like some of molieres plays paritcularly L'avare. However they can all be a bit hard going.
However i read the first 2 harry potter books in french, and they were great and not too difficult to understand.

Reply 3

kellywood_5

17

I haven't read any yet, but I plan to read quite a few over the summer. My recommendations collected from my teacher and :tsr:

are:

Les petits enfants du siecle (supposed to be quite easy- I've read an extract of it and it wasn't too bad)
Le sac de billets
Candide
L'Etranger
Bonjour Tristesse
Moliere- I think this one's an author, not a title.

No idea how good they are or how easy to understand though! You can order them on Amazon.

Reply 4

dappleddawndrawndauphin

3

Yep moliere's an author - quite tricky though cos he's like the "French equivalent of Shakespeare". Sorry I spelt one of those wrong... It's sac de billes. apologies!

sartre's meant to be a good one but to existentalist for me - depressing

Reply 5

Richy Rich$$

2

Yep Moliere is a playwrite he wrote plays like l'avare and tartuffe- the language can be a bit tricky coz it 17th century but there are quite short tho'.

For Candide by Voltaire i used this website below, it is chapter summaries in english and literary analysis to help you understand the book better

www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/candide/

Same site for Camus and L'etranger too

www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Authors/about_albert_camus.html

Reply 6

jen333

1

We read Un Sac de Billes by Jospeh Joffo for A2 coursework and I would recommend it - I enjoyed the story and the language isn't too difficult

Reply 7

tammypotato

12

anyoen read claudine de lyon

Reply 8

Ziggy Stardust

Richy Rich$$

However i read the first 2 harry potter books in french, and they were great and not too difficult to understand.

Monster.

I've always wondered what your situation is, man. You seem to be able to speak loaaaads of languages. German, French and spanish, is it? That's very impressive! How?
You must have a multi national family..

Reply 9

Richy Rich$$

2

Na im not that good, mate. I learn French and German at school and Im doing spanish at uni from scatch next year- i dont speak a word of it atm, lol. I do speak a bit of Dannish tho coz my dad's from there- im a bit rusty tho.

Reply 10

tash087

2

jen333

We read Un Sac de Billes by Jospeh Joffo for A2 coursework and I would recommend it - I enjoyed the story and the language isn't too difficult

I'm doing Sac de Billes as part of my A2 exam instead of coursework. I absolutely loved the book as well. A year or two again, Joseph Joffo came to our school.

I'd definitely recommend this book!

Reply 11

sneezyme

2

I have the French Grammar and Usage book. It's what we have to use in my degree course. I did Molière for A-Level, it is difficult but very good. Also try Maupassant, Racine, Balzac and Baudelaire.

Reply 12

Richy Rich$$

2

Ooh yes, Guy de Maupassant is an excellent author aswell

Reply 13

Angel_Cake

2

iain012345

Have any of you ever read a book in French, I have just bought "Harry Potter et la coup de feu" as I have the english version, but have any of you got any other recommendations? By the way I'm studying AS french and to be honest I am struggling a lot with the language. Oh and have any of you got French Grammar and Usage (by Roger Hawkins, Richard Towell) Cheers

French Grammar and Usage is too complex for AS-level. It's more of a degree standard. Get one of the "revise AS/A2" books, that's all the grammar you need for AS. As for novels, reading something like Harry Potter is a great idea to start with, and you'll probably be surprised how quickly your language and vocabulary improves, plus you're familiar with the story which will help. I wouldn't suggest anything by Moliere or anyone like that yet - read more modern texts first, as they're more likely to contain vocab you're familiar with. 17th century writers might put you off before you've even really started!

Reply 14

iain012345

OP

1

Thanks a lot for all of your replies, and angel_cake what modern texts can you suggest? thanks

Reply 15

lskdgjsj

10

Lots of books, not going to list them all: Thérèse Raquin; Voltaire's Candide, Lettres philosophiques; Les Fleurs du Mal; Genet's Notre-Dame des Fleurs, Le Balcon, Les nègres; Rochefoucauld's Maximes; Les Misérables; Le Rouge et le Noir; Céline's Voyage au bout de la nuit; &c.

(I find it cheaper to buy books in French than to buy English translations).

Reply 16

Angel_Cake

2

iain012345

Thanks a lot for all of your replies, and angel_cake what modern texts can you suggest? thanks

La Place, Annie Ernaux

Bonjour Tristesse, Françoise Sagan

La Gloire de mon Pere, Marcel Pagnol

L'exil selon Julia, Gisèle Pineau

These are from the last century or so, although I think they're all at least 30 years old. For very up-to-date texts just carry on doing what you did before - if you're going to France, buy some recent teenage/older children's books.

Reply 17

Archkinkist

I, for my A-Level coursework, did Vol De Nuit by Saint-Exupery, and Candide by Voltaire. We've just been doing the medieval story Aucassin et Nicolette in French Studies at uni, and I'm thinking of reading or trying to since it's so big A la recherche by proust. We also watched a lot of films and such that either had roots in novels or were rather interesting as standalone things.

Reply 18

Richy Rich$$

2

I ve read Proust's a la recherche du temps perdu, but its really hard going and looong

Reply 19

lskdgjsj

10

Richy Rich$$

I ve read Proust's a la recherche du temps perdu, but its really hard going and looong

You get used to the style after a while. Considerably cheaper in French than in English too; the standard English translation is spread over six volumes (attractive volumes, but expensive nonetheless).

French books you've read???

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