/lit/ - Literature

>>9263292
Read more Camus. The plague if you're depressed

>>9263292
I'm sure you have heard of it, but I'm gonna type it out anyway.
Les Misérables

>>9263300
>depressed
that's me!

i'll give it a go.

>>9263302
anything...shorter?

Père Goriot for Balzac on Paris
Germinal for Zola on the working class
Madame Bovary if you'd prefer a female protagonist
Le rouge et le Noir by Stendhal is generally recommended
Don't read too much of these unless you really enjoy diving into French society under the industrial revolution and urbanization. In the end they all pretty much say the same thing.
I would personally advise you to read Maupassant's Bel Ami and his short stories because I feel he has the best prose of the lot and doesn't overdo it.

Obtiens ton bac puis reviens sur /lit/

>>9263292
Haven't read the others you listed but really love Balzac.
In Le Pére Goriot he makes French elite society sound like a shitty dramcom highschool clique movie. It's really funny and has lots of pretty sad parts, and no shortage of interesting characters

>>9263432
>Obtiens ton bac puis reviens sur /lit/
> bac
qu'est-ce que lui voulait dire par ça?

correct my bad french pls

>>9263427
>>9263453
i think i'll try a bit of both and go with the one that is more my speed.

appreciate the advice anons.

>>9263487
Bac is short for Baccalauréat
It's the diploma you get at the end of Lycée and the last step before becoming a student.
"Passe ton bac d'abord" is an usual sentence uttered by parents when asked by their kids if they can do something stupid or have something stupid.

>>9263508
i see. thanks. funny; im asking for like middle school level books, i know :^)

no shame in learning

>>9263367
Read St. Exupery's Southern Mail.

>>9263520

None indeed :)

You should read some french poetry. Obviously that means Rimbaud and Baudelaire, but also some more accessible (not that Baudelaire isn't, but I feel there are subtleties to some of his poems that require a relatively high understanding of french to enjoy, same goes for Rimbaud) like la Blaise Cendrars' La Prose du Transsibérien et de la petite Jehanne de France.

You could also read theatre, particularly existentialist/absurd theatre like Camus' Le Malentendu, our Sartre's Huis Clos (funny enough, when I was 17 and passing the "bac" myself, that was what we were studying). Start with those, as they have relatively simple language and will help you get a feel of the rhythm and cadence of dialogue in french. Then you'll be able to move to Classical theatre without much of a hassle.

Then there's all the short Stories and novellas by Flaubert and Maupassant that are always a good read. I particularly recommend Flaubert's Un Coeur Simple.

>>9263617
ah, yes, i forgot to mention i have the OWC French/English version of Les Fleurs du Mal. I haven't heard of Cendrar, will go for that too!

In my french class we also read a good bit of Rimbaud but it was too hard for me desu lol

>Huis Clos
always wanted to read this.
out of my library's 6 french books, 4 are Molière(?) plays. i should go that route to be able to actually access those...good idea.

>Un Coeur Simple
sounds gr8

>>9263533
>>9263300
just bought these along with Le Petit Nicolas :)

>>9263645
Don't worry, Rimbaud is too hard for most french natives.They usually don't understand him more than "DUUDE WEED LMAOO HE'S GAY."