Heading to France this summer for the first time, so trying to read French things. Help me build out my reading list! I've got a decent list going of things by French authors (below); if you've got any essentials I should add, let me know.
Where I am curious is on particularly great non-fiction books on France (on any topic, but especially things that might help me understand some aspect of France better), and on things set in France, whether by a French author or not. Things like, say, Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. I generally prefer things that are especially well written, literary, or significant/important in some way. Let me know what you've got!
French Fiction TBR:
- Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
- Suspended Sentences by Patrick Modiano
- The Years by Annie Ernaux
- The Lover by Marguerite Duras
- The Stranger by Albert Camus
- Candide by Voltaire
- Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
by CaptainLeebeard
7 Comments
Les misérables is one of my favorite books of all time, and it will help you understand basis of France’s motto: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity).
It’s an incredible story of redemption, love, justice, and revenge, all set amidst the class struggle and bubbling tensions of the French Revolution. I can’t recommend it highly enough!
The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq. One of the most important contemporary French authors.
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My Life in France by Julia Child
The War by Marguerite Duras
When I want (nonfiction) book suggestions on a topic, I start with the Wikipedia article’s appendices (notes/references/sources/further reading/external links sections), and the [article itself](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France) for an overview.
*A Corner in the Marais* by Alex Karmel
*Paris to the Moon* by Adam Gopnik