/lit/ - Literature

>>1819238

Petits Contes Sympathiques

The Stranger. The Little Prince.

Bel Ami - Maupassant
Mygale - Thierry Jonquet
Les Caves du Vatican - Andre Gide

>>1819243

L'etranger. Le petit prince.

Are these hard to find in stores in Australia?
I had a quick look around Borders, went to the foreign language section and it was all just books on learning the language itself.

>Learning french
Why would anyone learn such a useless and disgusting language?

>>1819281
Why would someone make such a useless post?
Because some people like doing things others don't.

>>1819296

He does have a point though. French is pretty pointless, and quite an ugly language. You'd be better served learning Spanish, although French literature is much more wide-ranging and important

I'd try the Arsene Lupin books by Leblanc - they helped me when I was learning French, and they're not boring like fucking moliere or voltaire or any of those up-themselves cunts.

>>1819299

French is quite a beautiful language. If you live in Canada it is nice to be able to speak it. I learned it originally so that I could understand the French announcer on RDS whenever there was Montreal Canadiens games on.

It has plenty of uses if you enjoy Quebecois lifestyle and literature (which I am still not learned enough to understand)

>>1819299
Personal taste, you say it's an ugly language but I find it to be a fairly nice language.
I find spanish to be a whole lot uglier.

Remember I'm after semi basic books, I'm still not extremely good and want to improve my grammar before I'm in Lyon for 3months soon.

>>1819308

>It has plenty of uses if you enjoy Quebecois lifestyle and literature

So, useful in Quebec, eh? That's actually the same as useless, but carry on. French is pretty useful if you're in France as well, and France is rather nicer than Quebec. It's pretty handy in Africa too.

So on the african note, try Gerald Felix Tchicaya U Tam'si - he's a pretty interesting poet from Zaire.

I'd also recommend Zola - such a beautiful writer (despite the fact that he's writing in French), and my favourite french writer of all, Samuel Beckett - Mercier et Camier is fantastic, and En Attendant Godot is actually rather different to the English translation.

>>1819299
>French is pretty pointless
It's the key to Africa.

>>1819319

Lupin is definitely semi-basic. The stories of a gentleman catburglar always appeal. Another good anti-hero of the froggie tongue is Fantômas. Enjoy.

it still sounds like pigs gargling pus, and there's w'ay to-much punc'tuat-ion.

Lyon's awesome though - if you're there for the festival of lights, you're in for a treat.

>>1819320

Well I am rather certain French is useful in Quebec. There are 8 million people in the province.

>>1819323

>It's the key to Africa.

See my later comment at

>>1819320

and then recommend something or gtfo, cunt.

>>1819329
Yeah I will be, I can't wait to see it.

How's the city in general? I'll be looking to meet lots of people around 20yo and make friends, go to pubs/clubs if they do that in Lyon and meet some girls etc.

>>1819333
>and then recommend something or gtfo, cunt.
Ooh, so edgy on internet. Must be summer.

>>1819336
>>1819336

The city has a fantastic nightlife and a really cool young crowd. The techno scene is pretty lively, and there's a surprising amount of dub and hip-hop around for a french city. You're also close to the massif central, so there's mountain pursuits (skiiing in season), and you're not too far from Marseilles and the coast, so that's an option - as is Italy, since the border's close-ish.

It's probably my favourite French city, but I warn you now that the accent is fucking strong - I find Lyonnais hardest of all froggies to understand. They swallow half the words, so be ready for a linguistic challenge.

>>1819341

Fuck off you spastic, I'm here all the bastard time. Where do these fucking knobheads keep coming from? Yeah, come at me bro - you can warm me up for the fucking tripfags when they come on later.

>>1819348
Ah awesome, sounds great.
I have 2 appartments I'm interested in.
One in 2eme near bellecour, the other far east 3eme area, no idea what's better but the bellecour one seems more central.
Also what's the safety like? I'll be traveling with a girl but will be bailing on her all the time if I meet other girls considering she's just my friend :)

>>1819348
>Fuck off you spastic, I'm here all the bastard time. Where do these fucking knobheads keep coming from? Yeah, come at me bro - you can warm me up for the fucking tripfags when they come on later.
>you can warm me up for the fucking tripfags when they come on later.
Is that so your hands aren't too cold when you wank them off? How thoughtful

>>1819323
>It's the key to Africa.
Who needs a key to this AIDS-infested/former supply of slaves continent, anyway.

>>1819354

>has never been to Africa.

>>1819352

>Is that so your hands aren't too cold when you wank them off?

If that's the best you can do, then I'm not wasting my time on you. Fucking do one, babyboy.

>>1819366
>If that's the best you can do, then I'm not wasting my time on you. Fucking do one, babyboy.
No U

>>1819368

If that's the best you can do, then I'm not wasting my time on you.

>>1819370
>implying you have anything better to do than reply to /b/ comments
There is an inherent inconsistency here.

Back on topic faggots.

>>1819366
>has never been to Africa.
Thank God.

>>1819351
>Also what's the safety like? I'll be traveling with a girl but will be bailing on her all the time if I meet other girls considering she's just my friend :)
Don't be a dick.

Also, basic/intermediate stuff, just read the newspapers. You can pick up Penguin Parallel text quite cheaply, but the best thing would be to find a book you're interested in and brute through it. La Première Gorgée de bière is pretty decent and not too long. If you want to improve your grammar, write essays, talk to people; passive learning doesn't work.

>>1819382
>don't be a dick

haha nah I won't, but I do plan on spending a lot of time with other people seeing as I see her all the time anyway.

I use sites like livemocha/interpals to try improve my conversational writing, I think what I struggle at mostly is audible, hearing and interpreting the language I find difficult, speaking/pronounciation also but not as difficult.

>>1819385
>I think what I struggle at mostly is audible, hearing and interpreting the language I find difficult
Watch some movies with a decent spoken pace like La Pianiste or Confidences trop intime then. You can slow down fast parts in VLC and build up. Radio is also good.

I wouldn't worry about the Lyon accent. My French is pretty poor, but I could understand most of what my ex from Lyon said.

>>1819379

Yeah, thank god, eh? Horrible place.

pic related - it's where I spent Xmas eve.

>>1819379
What does this image show? I'm not inclined to click.

>>1819404
A big pile of skulls in Rwanda.

>>1819351

It's not the safest city in Europe, to be honest - there's a lot of drug dealing and shadiness. On the plus side, there's lots of drug dealing and shadiness, so it's easy to have a good time/get off your face.

>>1819399

>I wouldn't worry about the Lyon accent. My French is pretty poor, but I could understand most of what my ex from Lyon said.

Might just be me then, but I will point out that it's always easier to understand your partner than a stranger - I can understand my girlfirend when she chats shit in portuguese with her friends although I can't speak the lingo for shit - communication is a lot of body language and intonation, so I tend to understand her.

However, I accept that it may just be me who struggled with les gonnes.

>>1819406
>>1819379

Just as counterbalance, my hotel from the last time I stayed in Rwanda. Yeah, what a fucking hellhole Africa is. I hate the place. Fucking sunshine everywhere, lovely people, nice food that costs a cent. Jesus, what a dump. Stay in America, seppofag.

Another good book is Les Fourmis par Bernard Werber - it's interesting and intelligent withouth being too pretentious (which is the French disease, in my opinion)

>>1819399
Never seen la pianiste, will have to check it out.
I also have some french bands I listen too, but singing is generally fast but whatever. I heard acoustic things like "belle" by jack johnson and could decypher that fairly easily.

>>1819407
Aha I'll just try to make some friends quickly I guess so I'm not an easy target for anyone. Is is a friendly city? What do people around 20 normally do at nights?
Where I live people go to cafe's or if friday/saturday to pubs then clubs.

>>1819407
>However, I accept that it may just be me who struggled with les gonnes.
If you mean the slang, Bretons are the worst. For natural accent, I find Parisians by far the worst, simply because they slur a lot and speak fast. When a Parisian friend of mine was on the phone to someone I couldn't understand anything.

>>1819417
>songs
Paris Combo are rather lyrical and decent. Who's gonna play by the Prototypes is kinda fun and has some surprisingly useful constructions in it.

>>1819413
>Les Fourmis par Bernard Werber
That's one of my favourite short stories, recommend it a lot on here. You can get it in Penguin Parallel Texts 2, along with Une Maison Place Des Fetes, another beautiful story.

>>1819421

By les gonnes, I meant the lyonnais - they call themselves that for some reason. Agree on the Paris accent though - they talk way too fast and slur every word. Fortunately, they rarely have anything of interest to say.

>>1819417

>Where I live people go to cafe's or if friday/saturday to pubs then clubs

Same in Lyon, except the cafes are pubs, and people probably go clubbing more often, and also have the option to sit around outdoors in the good weather smoking joints and goofing around. I'm kinda missing the place tbh - all this reflection has made me nostalgic.

>>1819426
Confused Boris Vian with Werber... still, both are good.
>>1819428
>By les gonnes, I meant the lyonnais - they call themselves that for some reason.
Les gones means something like "the kids", and it's the football team.

>>1819428
Sounds awesome I can't wait :D
How hard would it be for someone with a beginner/intermediate grasp on the french language to get a job.
Keep in mind, without a working visa.. so under the table cash in hand work like cafe's or something?
I'd like to stay longer if I could find a job.

>>1819430

I'm pretty sure it's the other way around, and Olympique have the nickname because the people from the town call themselves that, but it's all good, I'm not gonna argue (see what I did there?)

There's an article on Parler Lyonnais in wikipedia:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parler_lyonnais

Which is kind of interesting, if you're interested in the repugnant habits and speech of the dirty disgusting French.

>>1819431

France is not a very good place to be caught working illegally at the moment. M. Sarkozy wants to be tough on immigration and look like a big man. Also, there's so many other illegal workers that you'd be struggling to find a plongeur's gig earning 2 euros an hour. You might find something, but I wouldn't guarantee it. Besides, it's a good city not to work in.

>>1819430

Vian is fucking god-tier, but I don't think I'd describe his work as basic - all the made up words send you racing to the dictionary every five seconds, and then you're all mfw cos you've been trolled again, but the guy was a genius, and maybe OP would like some of his stuff:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Vian

>>1819434
>I'm pretty sure it's the other way around, and Olympique have the nickname because the people from the town call themselves that, but it's all good, I'm not gonna argue (see what I did there?)
Is it be retarded under the pretence of wit? Or at least the delusion of wit.

>>1819434
Ah fair enough.
I suppose if I really enjoy it I can look into the universities there and see if I can't go home for a while then transfer back.

>>1819442

Oui, c'est vrai. Pauvre con.

>>1819450
I had to translate con, dirty bastard.

May as well ask while I'm here, anymore french music recommendations? Something where I might actually be able to understand them.

>>1819472
Con's not really that bad. Pauvre con's like poor bastard more than poor cunt.

>>1819238

L'Amant by Marguerite Duras is not a hard read (and short), while still being a great book. But why not just jump into Miracle de la Rose by Jean Genet, which will make you blush from its beauty.

>>1819472

Sean Connery's name sounds really funny in French.

Old school French music: Jacques Brel (inb4 belgian) - he's not too hard to understand, and he's very dear to the french heart, so it's a kind of cultural input as well.

Charlotte Gainsbourg sings in both French and English - the album with Beck was really good, and has some good francophone tracks on it.

Saian Super Crew do some old-school hip-hop which is OK. Iam, and Supreme NTM aren't bad, and very rude so it will improve your swearing. (NTM is short for Nique ta mere, which is not a nice thing to say at all).

The truth is that French music isn't so good, in my opinion.

Anyone here australian?
How hard is it to find this literature?
I could probably download it but I like to read on the bus.

I just went through Comment Je Suis Devenu Stupide by Martin Page. Manageable for basic/intermediate French, and a pretty good book as well.

Amélie Nothomb is one of my favorite writers. Her works go from intermediate level to thesaurus rape, but all quite poetic and beautiful. Very short, too. Her fiction novels rarely go over 80 pages, pocket format.

Go with L'Étranger. That's what I'm currently reading and it's not that hard at all.
Aujourd'hu maman est morte.

>>1819516
Aujourd'hui?
Today mum is dead.. lolwut.
What's it about?

>>1819517
> youjustwent.jpg

>>1819517

>>1819517

I have no idea what you guys are talking about.
Was that supposed to be like.. an example of the type of language/grammar used in the book?

>>1819517

>>1819551
I can't believe you laughed at a guy whose mother died today.

>>1819551
Dude, it's a famous opening line from an extremely famous novella, translated into every language under the sun. We're laughing at your lack of general literacy. It was the /lit/ equivalent of stepping in dogshit.

But kudos on your language-learning goals, for reals.

>>1819551
The opening sentence. Very well known around these parts.

Just read it. Don't look it up on Wikipedia or anything. You should be pleasantly surprised by the time part II rolls around, and the ending will fuck your shit up.

Not a huge reader so a bunch of c/lit/s laughing at me because I don't know the boards meme or whatever is the least of my worries.
Thanks for the help regardless.

>>1819558
>Not a huge reader so a bunch of c/lit/s laughing at me because I don't know the boards meme or whatever is the least of my worries.
>cannot out of memes, even when talking about quoting literature
Internet institutionalisation is probably a far more real worry, yeah.

>>1819330

counter-sage 20

>>1819352

counter-sage 21

>>1819374

counter-sage 22