French book (as in, in French) recommendations please

[geekgirl]

I am trying to revive my rusty French and have been doing an evening class for the past 8 months - I think I am at approx. A level standard now (which to be honest doesn't say much about the standard of A levels these days ).
When I was at school learning languages I read a lot of foreign-language books for children and teens - could you recommend some easy & gripping books for adults in French please? I have all the Petit Nicholas books, but at 34 I have outgrown them now. It needs to be straightforward (as my French isn't that great) and gripping (as otherwise I'll just put it down and forget about it) - something along the lines of Richard & Judy book club books iykwim.

Some of my friends swear by Anna Gavalda (they made one of her books into a film).

I enjoyed her short stories but couldn't be get on with the longer one.

If I still have the short stories I could send them to you - will look later if you want?

Gavalda is okay. I just read 'l'echappee belle' but I wouldn't class it as gripping.

Try Fred Vargas if you like detective style stories. I found Tatiana de Rosnay's 'elle s'appellait Sarah' pretty gripping too.

I've just discovered Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt and really liked the style of 'l'evangile selon Pilate' so have borrowed a few more of his books.

How about Francoise Sagan? I loved her books when I was a teenager, particularly Un Certain Sourire and Bonjour Tristesse.

Oooh Bonjour Tristesse (adds to the re-read pile).

Stupeur et Tremblements by Amélie Nothomb

Amusing and fairly short!

Also, have you come across

this Penguin series??

thanks jamaisjedors, that's very kind!

I have ordered Bonjour Tristesse (was it made into a film at some point? It rings a bell..), have also ordered Stupeur et Tremblements, sounds really interesting Plenty of reading material now... Thanks folks!

Stillcounting, I generally don't really like the books aimed at learners - I've found them really dull tbh.

Try Philippe Delerm - 'La premiere gorgee de biere' and 'La sieste assassinee'. They are collections of short essays rather than novels, so are easy to dip into and very readable. Amazon describes the first book as:

"An enchanting meditation on life's small pleasures, that combines Proust and Gaarder with a whiff of traditional France. La Premiere Gorgee de biere et autres plaisirs miniscules is a little book which has captured the imagination of the French Public. Only 112 pages long, it consists of 35 chapters, to be selected as the reader likes, each 1 featuring the authors musings on one of the small pleasures of life. These are both uniquely Gallic conjuring magical images of the France we know and love and universal. Each tale is recounted with a lively, almost childlike curiosity about the tiny things that make life worthwhile, and this special quality, along with the beauty of his writing, makes this an unforgettable, absorbing read. To be savoured at length by everyone."

As far as I recall, the second one is kind of the opposite, ie all the little things in life that annoy you.

Oooh, will have to bookmark this thread - I've been wanting to find similar books for a while now. Thanks!

Jean de Florette, Manon des sources, Le gloire de mon pere, La chateaux de ma mere... I'm a Pagnol fan.

I used to be able to read them and watch the films in the original French years ago but sadly no more.

Oh and I read those at A-Level standard.

Plus if you want something fun and slightly less dense pick up Asterix, Tintin and Lucky Luke in French.

les mains sales by jean paul sartre or any of the short stories by guy de maupassant

I read Un Sac de Billes at A level - it was very good. I also like reading Harry Potter in French.

I LOVE the Fred Vargas books - especially the Adamsberg novels. Also love Francoise Sagan.

Anna Gavalda is OK, but she uses lots of slang, and I did keep having to stop to look stuff up (a good way of learning slang though ).

Marc Levy's books are good and readable 'Et si c'etait vrai..' is probably the best known.

A good one to dip in and out of is Raymond Queneau's "Exercises de style". It's basically the same story (about three paragraphs) told over and over again in different styles. Very entertaining and gives you a feel for the different ways in which the language can be used.

If you're feeling strong, try "Zazie dans le métro" (Queneau again). You need to put a bit of effort into it but it's worth it.

I second the recommendation for the Pagnol books - La Gloire de mon pere is fabulous.

Easy(ish) reads in French are the Georges Simenon detective novels - Pietr-le-letton is the first.

I started reading in French about 2 years ago. Ones I found fairly easy to start with were any of the books by Francoise Bourdin or Janine Boissard.

I've since progressed to Elizabeth George, in French, and others in translation such as Barbara Taylor Bradford who I'd never read in English.

I don't know if it's because the scenes are familiar, but the ones set in the UK/US are easier to read.

I wish I could read French- my first purchase would be anything by George Perec, particularly La disparition which he wrote without using the letter 'e', and the five thousand word palindrome he wrote which I can't remember the name of.

Although I have read the English translations, they strike me as being in essence completely different works to the ones he actually wrote, and would love to read them as he intended.

yy to perec

i recommend La vie mode d'emploi,by the same author -- v inventive as a novel but not difficult to read language wise iyswim