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/lit/ - Literature

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21843481 No.21843481 [Reply] [Original]

Any easy french books for beginners? Reading le petit prince right now, pretty kino. Most difficult part is the vocabulary. I have to look up almost all the words. Any book like le petit prince?

>> No.21843492

Begin and end with De Sade and you'll be filled with undiluted frog gnosis.

>> No.21843519

>>21843481
Try 'Le petit Nicolas'. If you have trouble with Le petit prince you're not read for anything in that chart.

>> No.21843791

>>21843481
>I have to look up almost all the words
Do you even know basic French and basic grammar? Or are you literally just translating word by word and keeping a list of definitions like "je = I", "ai = have"? Because if you don't, learn the basics. Otherwise, when you begin to read your experiencd will be as you describe until you build up vocabulary. The only way you're going to breeze through a French book is if it's something written at the level of 5 or 6 year old reader.

>> No.21843815

Not interest in reading Camus. Zola too boring. What read? (In French)

>> No.21843919

>>21843815
Le Chiendent by Raymond Queneau
La Jalousie by Alain Robbe-Grillet
Dix heures et demie du soir en été by Marguerite Duras
Les Fruits d'Or by Nathalie Sarraute
Les petite bleu de la côte ouest by Jean-Patrick Manchette
J'irai crachai sur vos tombes by Boris Vian

Or you could literally pick a book or author from the OP image.

>> No.21843925

>>21843919
I value your opinion more though than some chart.

>> No.21843937

The French are fixated on style and form to an incredible degree, if you enjoy French lit at all, it's heavily recommended you learn the language asap

>> No.21843938

>>21843481
How are Paul Valery’s Cachiers regarded by french people? In Italy they kinda have some niche cult following

>> No.21843946

>>21843919
>>21843925
get a room

>> No.21843965

>>21843925
I don't know why you would. My first four recommendations are novels in the vein of the nouveau roman, or their writers are associated with that movement. My last two recommendations are noir novels heavily influences by American gangster films and writers like Raymond Chandler.

If you want something interesting to read you could always pick an "Éditions de Minuit" writer, like Beckett, Duras, Chevillard, Echenoz, or Jean-Philippe Toussaint.

I really have no idea what you're looking for. You said Zola was too boring, so I recommended books I didn't think would be boring.

>> No.21843982

Agota Kristof Le grand cahier is extremely easy. plays also tend to be easier than novels -- there's lots of famous ones, I recommend Ionesco, Genet, Reza.

>> No.21843989

>>21843965
Well the only Zola I read was Germinal and I like the characters, plot, setting, it was just too much, like it needed to be edited by 30%. That was what it boring for me, the endless prose.

>> No.21844256

Who's the French Tolstoy?

>> No.21844260

>>21844256
Hugo if you want big books.
Flaubert if you want cheating whore drama.
Stendhal if you want Napoleonic shit.

>> No.21844364

>>21843481
Reading L’Étranger for the first time in French. I might read La Peste afterwards, but I was thinking of reading Houellebecq or Ernaux because both are accused of having a bland style and I’d assume they’re easy. Maybe some rando who won the Goncourtt like the woman who won it last year could be good to learn too.
But if you’re struggling with Le petit prince maybe this is still too much for me. I’d recommend you watch at least one episode of a French show each day. They’re pretty shit but it has been working wonders for me.
>>21843492
A friend learned this way.

>> No.21844368

>>21844364
> this is still too much for me.
you*

>> No.21844505

>>21843481
Good for you. J'étudie français aussi. It's only been two months but it's something - We're all going to make it frères.

>> No.21844510

FR wikipedia is pretty good too. I try to read an article a day.

>> No.21844957

Why is French literature so shit compared to Russian? Really, what good is France? Russia for literature, Germany for philosophy, Angloids for soulless capitalism, France for age of consent petitions?

>> No.21844976

>>21844957
>Hello I am 18 and just read Notes from Underground by Dostoyevsky. Did I mention I love Russian literature, but that I've only read Dostoyevsky?

>> No.21845037

>>21844260
How about Dumas?

>> No.21845105

>>21844957
Insecure garçon

>> No.21845113

>>21845037
Not tolstoyan at all.

>> No.21845388

If you’re just starting to read french I would also reccomend some nonfiction in a topic you’re interested in—the prose can be easier to follow. I enjoyed Jacques Le Goff on medieval history when I was starting to read longer books.

>> No.21845573

>>21843481
I enjoyed Albert Camus, easy to read imo

>> No.21845865

Scoured my list for French books I plan to read. How difficult are these
>À rebours
>Moi, Antoine de Tounens, roi de Patagonie
>Les Chants de Maldoror
>Justine
>Mémoires d'Hadrien
>Différence et répétition
>Les Fleurs du Mal
>Le Rouge et le Noir
>Essais de Montaigne
if I can just barely pull off Le Petit Prince?

>> No.21845880

>>21844364
>>21843481
L'etranger is a good start. Ernaux is a woman but it is pretty easy going for a learner - read "La place" if you really have to. A great place to go after this is "Extension du domaine de la lutte" by Houellebecq because it's short, easy and enjoyable. You can also do Houellebecq's poetry or "Les particules elementaires". Maupassant has plenty of short stories which are good for learning; "La parure" is a classic. If you want to go deeper, you can do Balzac's "Le père Goriot" but it's a step up in difficulty. Stuff like Céline is very hard but very rewarding. Endgame stuff. Bonne chance !

>> No.21845887

>>21845865
>Différence et répétition
Hahaha oui bien sûr mon pote, tu vas enchaîner Le Petit Prince et Deleuze, excellente idée. C'est bien connu des profs de philo d'ailleurs, c'est dans toutes les bibliographies. Bergson ? Pfff ringard. La lune est une périphérie décentrée et la rose participe de la synthèse asymétrique du sensible. Va faire une approche herméneutique de ça, gros.

>> No.21845899

Go straight into Maupassant "bel-ami", easy to read, easy to understand, and enjoyable. Don't miss his novels tho.
Forget about all the shit you've seen above, it will make you disgusted to read french lit, that's way too difficult.

>> No.21845902

>>21845899
>Don't miss his novels tho.
bel-ami is a novel, THOUGH.

>> No.21845977

>>21845865
>>21845865
À rebours would be extremely difficult, and a bit of a slog. I love the book but the enjoyment comes out of the aesthetics and thr very creative use of language. No plot either to help you along. Baudelaire is great and you can read as much or as little as you like of his poems. But it's still a little tricky.
But basically too big of a leap after Le petit prince. Go something easier like >>21845880

>> No.21846049

>>21845902
That's the reason you're still virgin

>> No.21846052

>>21846049
I wish that was true.

>> No.21846154

>>21845977
Thanks. I don't really like Houllebecq so I guess I'll stick to Baudelaire.
>>21845887
I just added every French book I could find on my list to the post anon. I never really intended to read D&R in anything but English. And I've already read a bit of Bergson.

>> No.21846192

Try Le peepeepoopoo

>> No.21846669

>>21845865
Of these I’d reccomend Mémoires to a beginner. It’s an epistolary novel so the «chapters» are pretty short and digestible.

>> No.21846718

>>21844256
It's obviously Proust, I guess nobody on this board actually reads,even the frogs.

>> No.21846749

L'etranger is easy

>> No.21847578

>>21845865
>>À rebours
Boring muh prose book.
>>Justine
Don't read that, it's a waste of time.
>>Le Rouge et le Noir
Not difficult, just not very good. Read La Chartreuse de Parme instead, a better work.

>> No.21848888

>not even one MID book in this whole fucking thread

is this the best you can do french sisters? what a gay country

>> No.21849112

Graded readers

>> No.21849125

>>21843481
Qui est Lord Auch? Georges Bataille a écrit L’histoire de l’oeil. C’est son pseudonyme?

>> No.21849267

>>21843481
Les Trois Mousquetaires is another classic one they give French students. It's not especially difficult and keeps you interested. Candide's nice and digestible and fun too.
I bought La Nausée a while back to try and brush back up but I quit cuz I felt like I wasn't really getting it.

Not to hijack, but anyone have an opinion on French poetry? I got a collection by Henri de Régnier a while back and it's like ok but I'm not blown away either. Recs would be welcome.