Good French literature to work at for a second year French student

[KentaRawr!]

Hello!

I've been studying French for the past year, and am about to start my second year of studying French. I had a book that I was working on, but there was an extremely nice guy who I was sharing a room with in a youth hostel while I was in Paris, and he gave me a present because I gave him directions! In return, I gave him the book I was working on, but now I'm left without a book to practice with. I know that a few people here speak French, some of whom as their second language, and I was curious if there are any books that you guys would recommend for someone who's been studying for a year. Preferably fiction instead of non-fiction! =)

Some of my professors recommended the Harry Potter books, but because I'm reading those in English right now and haven't finished the series, I'd like to read something besides those. I really, really enjoy them though, so something with a similar style would be neat!

Thanks in advance to anyone who chooses to help. I'd really appreciate it!

[rubah]

Have you learned Passé simple - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ? I had done [effectively] two years of french without being introduced to it, so even reading the harry potter books was a little beyond me. I'd stick to something you know, so make it easier to infer from context.

but if you insist, L'Étranger is supposed to be a classic.

[KentaRawr!]

Have you learned Passé simple - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ? I had done [effectively] two years of french without being introduced to it, so even reading the harry potter books was a little beyond me. I'd stick to something you know, so make it easier to infer from context.

but if you insist, L'Étranger is supposed to be a classic.

The book I ended up giving away actually described passé simple in the introduction, so I've had a little bit of exposure even though it wasn't in class. I haven't been formally taught it though, no.

I'll look into L'Étranger. =) Thanks!

[Inferno]

I can't suggest any books cause I'm not much of a reader. But french is my first language, so if you need help, come and see me

[Spooniest]

Illuminations.JPG

Library of Congress #56-13365.

Not sure if it's going to be available, but I'd reccomend it. It has an English Translation (by Louise Varese) alongside the French.

Edit: There's a preview on Google books...can't be that impossible to find.

Edit 2: Found a modern version on Amazon, with a Translation by John Ashbery, but it doesn't have the original French text.

I emailed the Special Collections and Rare Books division of the Library of Congress...they should be back to me in 5 business days, they say.

[KentaRawr!]

Illuminations.JPG

Library of Congress #56-13365.

Not sure if it's going to be available, but I'd reccomend it. It has an English Translation (by Louise Varese) alongside the French.

Edit: There's a preview on Google books...can't be that impossible to find.

Edit 2: Found a modern version on Amazon, with a Translation by John Ashbery, but it doesn't have the original French text.

I emailed the Special Collections and Rare Books division of the Library of Congress...they should be back to me in 5 business days, they say.

Oh, goodness! Thank you so much! You really didn't have to go through so much trouble, but I really am grateful. I've done a little bit of reading on Arthur Rimbaud, and the idea of reading his works in both English and French is really exciting. I do expect that a lot of it will go over my head, but it's something to work towards.

From the preview page on Google books, I clicked on "Get Print Book" and then "Find in a Library," and it's apparently available in a library really close to me! At least, according to this page. It looks like it's the same version, with the translation being done by Louise Varèse. Thank you so much for recommending this! I'll check it out as soon as I can. =) Having both English and French available should be really helpful in understanding it, too.

[Spooniest]

Yeah, no trouble

Get an A.

[KentaRawr!]

Bien sûr! Merci encore, tout le monde. Je vais pratiquer beaucoup avec votre recommandations et conseils.

[Spooniest]

I gave up trying to speak French a long time ago.

That's why I like this translation.

[KentaRawr!]

I gave up trying to speak French a long time ago.

That's why I like this translation.

Understandably! I'm sure I'll enjoy it in both English and French. =) I'll try to make sure I understand the French first before I read the English translations, though, for the sake of practice. =)

[Endless]

If you want to do side-by-side reading, you can get most of Shakespeare in bilingual editions on Amazon Fr. In fiction, I recommend Poe's "Histoires extraordinaires" and "Nouvelles histoires extraordinaires" (Baudelaire translated those to French).

From French authors, Barjavel is one of my favorites, and is considered as the grandfather of French sci-fi. "Le voyageur imprudent" and "Ravages" are good examples of it. He also wrote "L'enchanteur", which is a nice rendition of the Arthurian myth, centered around Merlin.