A Summer Reading List from Global Voices French-Language Contributors · Global Voices
“Summer reading” from Nipmuc media center. Public domain
Summer is upon us. It seems that in what has now become a worldwide tradition, a reading list is de rigueur before you step away from all your online devices and return to a more slow-paced type of readings.
If one of your goals for this summer was to get (re)acquainted with Francophone authors, look no further. Without further ado, here are a few book suggestions from our GV Francophone contributors.
<PERSON> the following top ten of books originally written in French. The list is a collection of some of the most outstanding opus from (mostly) contemporary Francophone authors. 926
Most of them are also available in English (see links for translations):
<PERSON> – “Le Comte de Monte-Cristo”
<PERSON> – “Les fleurs du mal“
Arthur Rimbaud – “Poésies“
<PERSON> – “Les faux monnayeurs“
<PERSON> – “Le surréalisme et la peinture”
Albert Camus – “La chute“
<PERSON> – “Rhinocéros“
<PERSON> – “Le petit prince“
<PERSON> – “L'être et le néant“
<PERSON> – “Le deuxième sexe“
<PERSON> – “L'archéologie du savoir”
<PERSON> – “Les objets fractals: Forme, hasard et dimension”
That is already quite a mind-opening reading list to pick from. Yet, if you are yearning for something even more timeless, <PERSON> also suggested a few classics:
Voltaire – “Candide” (I keep going back to this!)
<PERSON> – “HHhH” (stunning in so many ways)
<PERSON> – “Thérèse Raquin” (macabre and ahead of its time as is Candide!).
Yet Francophone literature is also enriched by authors from outside France. <PERSON> pointed towards a book from Lebanese-born French author <PERSON>. She also takes the opportunity to recommend books on her current reading list that are not from Francophone authors such as, Colombia's <PERSON> or Iran's <PERSON>:
Amine Maalouf - “Identites Meurtrieres” (for his take on dual culture); “Samarcande” (on Iranian literature and poetry),
<PERSON> – “100 Years of Solitude”
<PERSON> – “The Kite Runner”; “1000 Splendid Suns”; “And the Mountains Echoed”
Building on <PERSON>'s list, <PERSON> recommends a few remarkable novels from Asian authors:
<PERSON> – “A Suitable Boy”
<PERSON> – “The Great Indian Novel”
<PERSON> – “Midnight's Children”
<PERSON> – “English, August”
<PERSON> – “The Inheritance of Loss”
Front cover art for the book “A Suitable Boy.” Fair use
Claire <PERSON> also favored “A Suitable Boy” as a must-read. She also suggested some poetry to go with the novels:
Oh, “A Suitable Boy” is one of my favorite! I am in my “poetry” phase and I cannot let go of <PERSON> lately. I am also re-reading the biography of <PERSON> , “Living to Tell the Tale”
And for what it's worth, here is my own list of French books to read this summer:
Gaston Leroux – “Le Mystère de la chambre jaune”
<PERSON> – “Le Scaphandre et le Papillon”
Anne Roumanoff – “Le couple: Petits délices de la vie à deux”
<PERSON> – “Matière à rire”
<PERSON> – “Les Comtemplations”
Happy reading! And don't forget the sunscreen! 820