French Literature

[Stewart]

I've copied/split the recent posts on Albert Camus' The Outsider into a discussion thread of its own.

[nnyhav]

From the NYer's new Bookbench blog, Houellebecq's an author not even a mother could love. (I've no plans to read him myself. From the secondhand reports, inevitably no comparison to Celine ...)

As for Camus, The Stranger (as I knew it) may be overrated, but its author (and his other writings) underrated; I've preferred his other writings, whether fictional or philosophic (whatever the difference) to those of Sartre.

[Sybarite]

I've read quite a few of Zola's novels – and enjoyed them. A couple of Balzac's and Flaubert's Madame Bovray are on the way even as I post, and I've just added Perec's A Void to my shopping basket at Amazon as a result of a thread here.

And Jules Verne is great fun too and I've read a couple of Camus.

And an Asterix book – in French.

[fausto]

The problem with French literature in translation is that even though it's more translated than other languages, it sadly doesn't mean the really worthy writers are being translated. You get Houellebecq, Zeller and, god forbid, Nothomb. At least Echenoz is also available to you guys, and a Salvayre or two. But where are the best of people writing today? Where are Chevillard, Cadiot, Claro, Senges, Volodine? All those guys are great stylists and create worlds of their own. It would be nice if they could be read in more languages.

[Mirabell]

it sadly doesn't mean the really worthy writers are being translated

by this you refer to contemp lit, am I right? Or are we non-francophones missing out on some classic but untranslated literature?

I am currently not so much reading french books but rereading books I've read in German...(w/ a few exceptions)

[fausto]

Yes, contemporary lit. I'm sure some classics are hard to find but I'm equally sure most of them were at least translated once. French literature is quite privileged in that respect.

[Mirabell]

yeah, thought so. no so much with German classics. Even 19th century giants like Jean Paul or Wilhelm Raabe have been scantily translated if at all.

[saliotthomas]

I'm not sure this belong to literature but i give it a try.
A great French writer to many of my countrymen is Frederic Dard

Frédéric Dard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the unforgettable creator of San Antonio,and i found that a few of his novels have been(to my amazement)translated into English.A question came ot me about the difficulty of such a achivement,the same that some of you raised about poetry.Can slang ,with all it words creation and pull by the hair metaphores,be properly render into another language without it loosing nearly all it's potenty.For slang and gutter language take it's force from deep within the spirit of a country.
The few titles on wiki already show's that the beauty and meaning is lost when past into English.

[fausto]

Dard was a hack. A fun one, but a hack. A lot of people only read his books and that depresses me no end.

[saliotthomas]

Originally Posted by fausto

Dard was a hack. A fun one, but a hack. A lot of people only read his books and that depresses me no end.

Indeed,but a agile one and he had is way with words and titles,i read only one or two,it does get repetitive.
As for only reading his books one as to be dumb,actualy reading only the book of only one chosen writer as it's limitation....but i would not let myself depressed over other people reading for it's a dangerous inclination.

[saliotthomas]

Has i'm reading Requiem from the east the segond part reminded me of a French writer i like name Patrick Rambaud (this time i checked born in Paris) he use to work for actuel a French magazine and wrote about 20 novels,some of them parodies of the work of Roland Barthes,Simone de Beauvoir.
The ones i read end loved are the Napoleonic war la bataille(prix goncourt) et Il neigeait both translated in English.As the batalle,and the retreat followed by the exil.
The style and writing have nothing cheap or pompous like historical fiction often does.
I was wandering if any of you knows about him.

[Stewart]

On the Vulpes Libris blog, which is having a French week, they have a guest post from Jane Aitken of Gallic Books, on the subject of marketing French fiction in the UK.

They are a relatively new publisher, having started last year, and their focus, to bring "some of the wonderful French writing that had not been picked up by English publishers", is on historical crime fiction, but they've recently started branching out a little.

[obooki]

Yes, Saliothomas - I'm about halfway through The Retreat at the moment. I read The Battle as part of my Prix Goncourt Project, and reviewed it briefly on my website here:

obooki’s page Blog Archive The Battle, by Patrick Rambaud

I was impressed enough by the first one that I went out and bought the other two. Very enjoyable. - I don't suppose his parodies of Barthes have been translated into English - they sound interesting. I noticed another book by him, called Comme des Rats, in my local library. Might have a go at it some time, even if it's in French.

[fausto]

Originally Posted by Stewart

On the Vulpes Libris blog, which is having a French week, they have a guest post from Jane Aitken of Gallic Books,

And they call their catalogue "the best of French in English"...

[saliotthomas]

Originally Posted by obooki

Yes, Saliothomas - I'm about halfway through The Retreat at the moment. I read The Battle as part of my Prix Goncourt Project, and reviewed it briefly on my website here:

obooki’s page Blog Archive The Battle, by Patrick Rambaud

I was impressed enough by the first one that I went out and bought the other two. Very enjoyable. - I don't suppose his parodies of Barthes have been translated into English - they sound interesting. I noticed another book by him, called Comme des Rats, in my local library. Might have a go at it some time, even if it's in French.

I read only the two first and loved them,they are presented in English as revolving around Napoleon story with is less the case in French as you pointed out.
I don't remember the anecdote about Henri Beyle but it's the actual name of Stendhal,but i guess it could be in reference to "la chartreuse de parme" with it's slightly ridiculous battle scenes.
I heard about "comme des rats" but didn't read it.

In your Goncourt project is saw you read red brazil by Rufin,i could not finish it,i gave up 50 pages before the end.On the other hand i loved the abyssan and saving Ispahan,much better and very untertaining.You really should try them.

Been a hugh fan of Andrei Makine is was a bit disapointed about your review on the french testament,but in a way i understand it.When i first read it,i found nothing exeptionnel about it.The segond reading was much better,and the following "the woman who waited" and specialy "Requiem for the East" got me to love his writing.The segond one should completly change your mind about him,it's the one that reminded me the most of Rambaud writing (in part)astonishing as it may seem.

[obooki]

I did really like the Makine though - maybe this didn't come across enough in the review. I mean, really impressed - and went out and bought another four or five novels by him (including the ones you mention).

Brazil Red - well, I went on a long holiday to my mother's and had a lot of time for reading. I can't even remember what happened at the end.

I've got somewhere between 10-15 more Goncourt winners to read (i.e. I've already got the books). It's just a case of getting round to them.

[saliotthomas]

Originally Posted by obooki

I did really like the Makine though - maybe this didn't come across enough in the review. I mean, really impressed - and went out and bought another four or five novels by him (including the ones you mention).
.

Milles excuses Obooki,my fault again, i flew to quickly over it,i re-read it and it's excellent.

[nnyhav]

Blogspotting: Three Works by Alain Robbe-Grillet

[Irene Wilde]

Looking into some French Surrealists. Anyone hold strong opinions on the following:

Raymond Queneau, The Flight of Icarus
Andre Breton, Nadja
Jean Cocteau, Les Enfants Terribles

[Eric]

French literature is a vast subject. As Stewart said right at the start, we know a bit about the language and literature because they are right next door, if you're British, but I too feel I've only scratched the surface.

We did one book by Gide at school 40 years ago (probably because some of the French teachers were closet gays) and Gide does write a beautifully poetic kind of prose. And we read Camus. But I must admit that I have read very little else written in French.

I did buy a book recently with the no-nonsense title La littérature française au présent by Domique Viart and Bruno Vercier, but have only read a fraction of it. What is interesting about this book is that it groups books thematically, e.g. novels about the self, novels about places and landscapes, crime novels, poetry, etc. Also that it gives extended excerpts. And they are all books published during the past couple of decades.

But I feel very ignorant of all the classic French authors, such as the playwrights of yore, such as Molière, Racine, Corneille, the great novelists Hugo, Dumas, Balzac, and a whole plethora of 20th century novelists including Green, Mauriac, Maurois, Sartre, plus the playwrights like Ionesco. Plus the poets.

Libraries with French literature, in translation or the original, are such a boon, because you can borrow and browse until you find an author on your wavelength. Bookshops just encourage you to spend. And you're saddled with the book, even if you don't like it.