French Literature

[Imperfectionist]

Okay so for my French A level class we've been asked to read a French novel over the Christmas holidays, but I have no idea where to even begin to look for such a book. I don't know anything about French literature!

Anywho, does anyone happen to have any suggestions of some good French books that I can read?

Thanks guyyyysss

[Rye]

Les Miserable, if you're up to read a 1000+ page novel. They'll probably give you an A+ for that!

[rubah]

Read L'Etranger, by Albert Camus. It's fairly short and not too difficult to pick up

[Rye]

Oooh, good one, I didn't think about that, because we read that for whatever reason, in my Brit Lit class in High School. xD

[I Took the Red Pill]

In Search of Lost Time. I dare you.

[Kes]

Read L'Etranger, by Albert Camus. It's fairly short and not too difficult to pick up

Seconded. Not to mention it's fairly easy to find a translation of, if you want to make sure you're reading it all right. I highly recommend doing a chapter in French and then rereading it in English, especially if you're not all that used to reading in French. When I read in other languages, I sometimes miss the point and the story that I think I read ends up being entirely different than what the text actually said. >.>

I found Voltaire's <i>Candide</i> especially funny, but I read it in English and only chunks of it in French.

Maybe, if you're allowed, you might also try and find a book you're already familiar with in English that has been translated to French.

[licence]

Could always have a look at The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Not sure how it ranks next to the other novels mentioned though.

[scrumpleberry]

L'etranger. Brilliant and short.

[James Leopold]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (originally called Notre-Dame de Paris) by Victor Hugo (same guy who did Les Miserables).

I haven't read either myself but they've aroused my interest and Hugo is a renowned author. It's quite a bit shorter than Les Mis though, so it may be able to help you out.

[Madame Adequate]

If you've not already made a start, I second Candide by Voltaire. I assume the French is even better than the genius English. Camus is always a good option, too.

Edit: Candide is fairly short, too.