On discovering a new literature
One of the nice things about trying to settle down in another language is that you can read books all over again.
In translation - a friend bought a John Grisham in French because she had enjoyed it in English. That's nice, isn't it! Pat's reading Agatha Christies in French. I am not very good at re-reading books.
Thrillers - you can read trashy thrillers about mad monks and tricky terrorists knowing that it is not such a waste of time because all the time the patterns of French are getting settled in your mind.
Proper French books - you can try and find out who are the Ian McEwans and Martin Amises of French literature. This is a bit hard, because good contemporary French literature is going through a rather weird time with strange self-referential books about how hard it is to write books, and odd pessimistic sex-obsessed books about cloning and global warming and the breakdown of society, etc. (One thriller writer has recently published a book where he says he wrote such scary thrillers that he frightened himself, so he decided to write about his family history instead and discovered something so dreadful he frightened himself even more. There is surely a sermon illustration in there!)
Finding the equivalents. There must be a French Bill Bryson, someone who writes mildly amusing whimsical travel books (rather than po-faced "admire the wisdom of the ash-painted bushman and the incessant flapping of the prayer-flag"). There might even be a French Alexander McCall Smith !
Finding a whole new genre. I was thrilled to discover Oulipo, where (it seems to me) people said, "OK, if you want weird, we can give you weird", and so they describe in minute detail a green stain on a chef's baseball hat, or write an entire large book about a missing person without using the letter e. There's also a chap who writes murder mysteries set amongst the Dordogne English. "Oh, you're one of the Perigueux Ponsonby-Smythes!")
French pastoral. You can read novels that chart farming communities and so illustrate the social changes that have taken place - Catherine Cookson with garlic? There's one guy who writes about his country background with such spite and scorn that I really fancy reading some of his books.
Poems. I actually quite like poems, strange though it may seem to anyone who knows me.
The classics. Of course! However, if you find Dickens turgid, then a French Dickens will be in turgid French. It's just something to be aware of, that's all.
How to find books?
Well, one good thing is that our nearest and biggest bookshop puts staff recommendations on some of the books, saying things like This is so funny you mustn't read it on the tram or It's only rock and roll but we like it.... etc.
Personal recommendation - one good thing about the DEFLE was that we read lots of excerpts from books.
Then there's the literary prizes, though I am a bit cynical about them. Some seem to be prizes for the most weird and twisted book imaginable.
And there's the reviews and interviews and short stories published in newspapers and magazines and stuff.
There's even a TV books programme called Le bateau livre, but I have never seen it apart from in a class at DEFLE. Never been at home at the right time.
In translation - a friend bought a John Grisham in French because she had enjoyed it in English. That's nice, isn't it! Pat's reading Agatha Christies in French. I am not very good at re-reading books.
Thrillers - you can read trashy thrillers about mad monks and tricky terrorists knowing that it is not such a waste of time because all the time the patterns of French are getting settled in your mind.
Proper French books - you can try and find out who are the Ian McEwans and Martin Amises of French literature. This is a bit hard, because good contemporary French literature is going through a rather weird time with strange self-referential books about how hard it is to write books, and odd pessimistic sex-obsessed books about cloning and global warming and the breakdown of society, etc. (One thriller writer has recently published a book where he says he wrote such scary thrillers that he frightened himself, so he decided to write about his family history instead and discovered something so dreadful he frightened himself even more. There is surely a sermon illustration in there!)
Finding the equivalents. There must be a French Bill Bryson, someone who writes mildly amusing whimsical travel books (rather than po-faced "admire the wisdom of the ash-painted bushman and the incessant flapping of the prayer-flag"). There might even be a French Alexander McCall Smith !
Finding a whole new genre. I was thrilled to discover Oulipo, where (it seems to me) people said, "OK, if you want weird, we can give you weird", and so they describe in minute detail a green stain on a chef's baseball hat, or write an entire large book about a missing person without using the letter e. There's also a chap who writes murder mysteries set amongst the Dordogne English. "Oh, you're one of the Perigueux Ponsonby-Smythes!")
French pastoral. You can read novels that chart farming communities and so illustrate the social changes that have taken place - Catherine Cookson with garlic? There's one guy who writes about his country background with such spite and scorn that I really fancy reading some of his books.
Poems. I actually quite like poems, strange though it may seem to anyone who knows me.
The classics. Of course! However, if you find Dickens turgid, then a French Dickens will be in turgid French. It's just something to be aware of, that's all.
How to find books?
Well, one good thing is that our nearest and biggest bookshop puts staff recommendations on some of the books, saying things like This is so funny you mustn't read it on the tram or It's only rock and roll but we like it.... etc.
Personal recommendation - one good thing about the DEFLE was that we read lots of excerpts from books.
Then there's the literary prizes, though I am a bit cynical about them. Some seem to be prizes for the most weird and twisted book imaginable.
And there's the reviews and interviews and short stories published in newspapers and magazines and stuff.
There's even a TV books programme called Le bateau livre, but I have never seen it apart from in a class at DEFLE. Never been at home at the right time.
Comments
And the film Asterix and Cleopatra is really very funny.