Reading in French; 'Les Grandes Nouvelles Françaises du Vingtième Siècle'

1. 'Demain, oui!' by Nadine Ribault.

The ninth story in this series is told from the perspective of a young child, Valentine. She lives with her mother and older brother. Her father comes from the island of La Réunion and he works away at sea.

The story expresses the longing that Valentine has for her father to come home. He is a shadowy figure in the story, but seems to love his daughter as she remembers his words as she plays, 'pour que Valentine puisse jouer les baisers et je n'ai jamais aimé que toi'. On reflection, we don't know if these words were said to her or if she is playing out her parents' relationship in one of her games.

As the story progresses, we get a sense that all isn't well in the family. Valentine's father comes home, but only briefly and goes away again. Her mother is unwell and has an operation and the family go to La Réunion to her grandparents. Moreover, when Valentine asks if her father is coming home tomorrow, a look passes between her grandmother and the nanny and they allude to rumours involving her father, 'et lui...on a du mal à y croire! Tu sais ce qu'on raconte, avec ses nièces'. They hush the little girl answering, 'oui, demain', though we feel that it could be a while before she sees her father again.

This story expresses the longing of a small child for her father and her her concern for him over his work. It expresses her desire to stay in one place, rather than traveling back and forth from La Réunion. We don't know the background of this story, as we only experience events from Valentine's perspective. I find this rather frustrating, as I like to know the full story!

There is a lovely description of life on the island when Valentine bites into the bread pudding. 'Dans sa bouche, les raisins s'éclateraient comme de petits volcans qui souffleraient à Valentine le goût de l'île de La Réunion'...and the following paragraph is like a microcosm of life on the island.

However, this is not one of my favourite stories and I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to read it again.

Hi Taswama, I'm just realising that the two names are anagrams. I never noticed it!

(cont.)
This was not an easy story to read. It took me at least two sittings to untangle the tale, especially the ending. By the way, that's how I see it in my review. I'm interested in hearing others' interpretations.

I think Leida survived, lived at the inn and waited for the Delia's return. She knew she would come eventually. There was love between the sisters, before the arrival of the stranger and Delia's guilty conscience drew her back to the scene. Leida got her revenge at the end, when she killed Delia and left her in the forest. She took the ring that should have been hers and I think the author is indicating that the man will forget Delia in time ('en appelant un nom dont il ne se souviendrait jamais/calling out a name that he will never remember (forget forever)' Leida cast a spell on the man from the first time he met her. They were meant to be together.

It is a dark, macabre, intriguing story. The imagery of the flowing ribbons on Leida's dress is mirrored in the flowing ribbons of blood that were wrapped around Delia's wrists and ankles. The word 'pourpre' (crimson) is mentioned six times throughout the story. The atmosphere is dark and sinister, very eerie.

Altogether, I found it a challenging, but absorbing read.

(cont.)
The next day, Delia asks the man to take her with him instead, so that she can prepare the way for Leida to join them later.

They get married and on the face of it, everything is fine, but it is not. Delia has to live with the consequences of her actions and they haunt her day and night, 'la vie de Delia s'enroulait autour du conte et l'envers du conte'. She feels the pull of the dark side of the tale that threatens to overwhelm her.

Many years go by. Every Thursday on the first week of the month, the man asks Delia for news of her sister and she shows him the note (the envelope) that she has written herself. One day she cuts herself after breaking her paperweight and she writes the note from her sister. This time, the note reads, 'Come back, Delia', many times over, so they make the trip back to the village.

The couple stay in the hunting lodge where the man stayed before. It is night-time when they arrive, the woods are dark and the man is disoriented, unlike Delia, who is certain that they are in the right place.

They wait a long time before they are admitted. The inn-keeper is a woman of uncertain years, with pale features, not inclined to speak. She looks hard at Delia. They settle down for the night into an uneasy sleep.

In the middle of the night, Delia wakes up. Her finger is bleeding profusely and she looks for the inn-keeper for help. The inn-keeper advises her to suck her finger to stem the flow and offers to help her take off her wedding ring before the finger swells up. She does this and the bleeding stops.

The woman takes Delia's hands and places them around her own neck and starts to sing. Delia recognises the angelic notes straight away. The man is woken from his sleep by the unearthly voice. Noticing that his wife is missing, he goes downstairs, calling her name. He can't find her. The inn-keeper is there, her hands bloody, holding the wedding ring, looking out at the dark woods.

1. 'Le bal de la forêt'.

The eighth story in this collection, 'Le bal au forêt/The Forest Ball', is rather like a dark fairy tale, reminiscent of the stories told by the brothers Grimm.

Two sisters live together in a village near a dark wood. Their mother died early on, and Delia had to look after her disabled younger sister, Leida. Leida isn't able to speak, but she has a beautiful singing voice, 'une voix d'ange'.

One day, a stranger comes to stay at a lodge nearby and on hearing Leida's voice, falls in love with her and wants to take her away and bring her to concert halls so that others can hear her sing.

Delia is overwhelmed with jealousy and she fears being left on her own, 'l'effrayante solitude qui refermait ses serres autour de son coeur'. She dresses Leila in a long, white, flowing gown, leads her into the forest to join the ball and leaves her there.

Bonne chance Taswama!

Yes, it was a good story.

Hi Madmarchlockdown! Bienvenue :)

I got it from Amazon.uk. It took a while before I got it, ten days or so, as I'm in Ireland.

I typed in one of the story titles into Google yesterday and came across a copy of it online, if that's any good.

Hi Mama, no bother! How are you? :)

Yes, I see what you mean. I enjoyed it though. I like stories that are almost plausible, just a little bit odd. The notebook, lying there in a drawer, waiting to surprise him when he picks it up again.

I read the next story yesterday. It is tricky, not easy to read, in very literary language. I'm not sure what exactly happened in the end, even with the translation! It's like a dark fairy tale. I'll look at it again today.

Talk soon :)

1. 'Des nouvelles de l'entrée de l'enfer' by Eric Faye.

This week's short story takes us back to the land of the weird and wonderful. This story is about a man who finds an address book on the street and takes it home. He intends to return it to the person who lost it, but there are no details enclosed. The man is puzzled and keeps it. Over the next few years, it becomes apparent to him that this is no ordinary address book; it contains the names and phone numbers of people he will know in the future. As an old man, he dials the last remaining number with trembling hands; it is the funeral home.

The title of this story is a curious one, 'News from the Entrance to Hell'. It is very bleak from the outset, before the story even gets underway. The reader feels a sense of foreboding when the man is faced with the first puzzling incident concerning the move of his former lover and this sense of confusion and dread intensifies each time he picks up the book. There is a growing sense of doom, but also acceptance, as the man comes to the end of his life and dials the last number.

The story plays with the theme of identity. The protagonist briefly toys with changing his own identity and becoming someone else when he picks up the book for the first time. The story raises the question of fate; are we all on a pre-determined path? To what extent are we in control of our own actions and if we are not, who is?

I enjoyed reading this story. I like tales with a twist and I like stories with a touch of the absurd, such as this one. I thought the passage of time was well handled too.

From a language point of view, it was easy to read. I liked the expressions 'je ne connaissais ni d'Ève ni d'Adam' (it is the other way around in English) and 'jouer au chat et à la souris'. Also, the last line of the story is very satisfying; 'Pompes funèbres, j'écoute?', as if to say 'your time has come!'

Yes, Taswama, I was the same with some of the food (breadfruit?!)
I know! Isn't it all the man's fault? Let's just blame the man

I looked up the word 'case' and it means 'hut' in French, so I'm wrong about it being a Creole word. I was thinking of 'casa' and seeing a link there.

1. 'Du Fond des Casseroles' by Simone Schwartz-Bart

The next installment in our series of short stories is a reflection about the significance of food on the island of Guadeloupe. From the very beginning, 'From the Bottom of Pans' is all about food and what is good for the soul.

The author speaks very tenderly about her grandfather and his simple, but joyful way of life. His daily routine involved eating small, healthy meals using seasonal ingredients. There is a lovely image of him brewing his coffee early in the morning, the aroma wafting out the door and windows towards his neighbours' houses, everyone partaking in the same ritual and celebrating the new day.

The author's grandfather was generous of spirit as many ordinary people are, and he used to make sure to leave enough of the harvest for others to enjoy and also not to deplete natural resources. Eating is the communion between nature and man and this philosophy underpins the Creole way of life as also is the sharing of one's food with neighbours. 'La cuisine créole est avant tout un système de partage'. There is a warning in the tale of the greedy woman who ate by herself behind her closed door and who drew bad luck on herself, finishing her days eating dry bread.

The importance of food is so embedded in the psyche of the islanders, that it a part of one's life from the earliest beginnings in the womb. A pregnant woman has to eat well for fear that it leaves a physical mark on her child and if she has a desire to eat a particular food, it is the responsibility of her husband to satisfy it or the blame is landed on his shoulders.

Moreover, if a person has a strong taste for a food, there is much discussion about which of the person's ancestors he or she takes after, to explain this fact or it is surmised that one's umbilical cord was buried under a mango tree, for example.

The author concludes that for people like herself who live away from Guadeloupe, buying Creole food in specialist shops is a way for her and others to stay connected to their culture and is a fundamental part of their identity.

I enjoyed reading this story. It was a lovely, gentle account of a facet of life in Guadeloupe. It was a change of pace from previous stories and I think this the appeal of reading a collection of short stories, that there is variety from one to the next.

From a language point of view, it was easy to read. I had to look at the translation for the part relating to superstition, as the word "envie' confused me in this context. Interestingly, there are a couple of words in Creole in the text, 'case' for 'maison', stood out for me, as the author used it a few times.

Welcome to the thread, Claudia! Great to have you along with us!

I am absolutely in awe of you reading in Chinese!
I studied French and German in college, but my French is better so I stick to reading in English and French.

See you tomorrow for the next installment

Hi Taswama! That's very true about how something small like a lost tooth can take priority over everything else, for a child. Yes, we will be addding some of these authors onto our reading lists