A little list of must-read French books for the summer
Many of you may already be on holiday or about to leave work behind for a couple of blissful weeks; or perhaps you’re still stuck with this ghastly weather we’ve been having lately. Either way, a bit of advice on which French books to read will probably come in handy! A colleague at the embassy scoured the major newspapers’ literary reviews, allowing me to offer you a quick recap of what the critics liked in recent French publications (translated in English of course!).
Fiction:
The summer picks of course included some crime fiction: the Sunday Times’ list singled out Frédéric Dard’s Bird in a Cage and Pierre Lemaitre’s Blood Wedding; and the Guardian’s Laura Wilson also loved Dard’s book, saying it had a “plot twist worthy of Agatha Christie at her devious best”. Serial-bestseller Fred Vargas’s Climate of Fear was published in English just a couple of weeks ago, and the Times said it was their “crime book of the month” as well as being, in their eyes, Vargas’s best work to date! They also hailed Michel Bussi’s Black Water Lillies as being the sign that a “renaissance of French crime fiction” is happening right now.
Of course, not all good novels are crime novels. If you haven’t really gotten into French fiction yet, the Sunday Times did a sort of European fiction panel, in which France was represented by Michel Houellebecq’s Submission and The Map and the Territory. The Guardian also drew its readers’ attention to an old classic, Marie, written by Madeleine Bourdouxhe in 1940; the reviewer says it is perhaps the most French novel she’s ever read. If you’re looking for something more contemporary, try Maylis de Kerangal’s Mend the Living, which made the “If you only buy one…” shortlist of the Guardian’s best summer books of 2016. You could also have a look at Chantal Thomas’ The Exchange of Princesses, or at the Sunday Times’ pick But You Did Not Come Back, written by Marceline Loridan. There are also two historical novels which brilliantly take on the painful memories of twentieth-century Europe: Cry Mother Spain, by Lydie Salvaire, and Her Father’s Daughter, by Marie Sizun.
If you are in the mood for verse rather than prose, Baudelaire’s masterpiece The Flowers of Evil has been re-translated; “poetry is perfect for la plage”, and this new edition is a welcome take on a classic says John Banville, writing for the Guardian.
Non-Fiction:
The Times absolutely loved Anne Sebba’s Les Parisiennes, which explored the difficult choices and bravery that were demanded of Parisian women during the Occupation, but also how the wounds of these troubled times still haven’t fully healed. My fellow blogger Colette also had plenty of good things to say about Les Parisiennes, as you’ll notice if you go back a couple of pages and take a look at her post! Moving on to shortly after the end of the Second World War, and one these things that immediately come to mind when talking about France: existentialism. Sarah Bakewell’s At the Existentialist Café was warmly recommended by different contributors to the Observer, as it combines irreverent one-liners with a serious and compelling account of the movement’s formation.
If you're English or French, the phrase "Euro 2016" probably conjures feelings of bitter disappointment; if you're Welsh or Northern Irish, I'm guessing it brings up plenty of good memories. In any case, if you've still got some appetite for the beautiful game Jean-Philippe Toussaint's Football will be of interest to you. The Financial Times is quite enthusiastic about this book which "alienates intellectuals who despise football, and football fans who despise intellectuals".
And finally, if you're looking to put some time aside to reflect on the current state of the world, the Guardian also picked economist superstar Thomas Piketty’s Chronicles as one of their must-read books: it’ll provide you with plenty of food for thought on Europe and global capitalism.
Happy reading!
Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café (Chatto & Windus)
Charles Baudelaire, The Flowers of Evil, translated by Anthony Mortimer (Alma Classics)
Madeleine Bourdouxhe, Marie, translated by Faith Evans (Daunt Books)
Michel Bussi, Black Water Lillies, translated by Shaun Whiteside (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Frédéric Dard, Bird in a Cage, translated by David Bellos (Pushkin Press)
Michel Houellebecq, The Map and the Territory, translated by Gavin Bowd (Vintage Books)
Submission, translated by Frank Wynne (William Heinemann)
Maylis de Kerangal, Mend the Living, translated by Alison Anderson (MacLehose Press)
Pierre Lemaitre, Blood Wedding, translated by Frank Wynne (MacLehose Press)
Marceline Loridan, But You Did Not Come Back, translated by Sandra Smith (Faber & Faber)
Thomas Piketty, Chronicles (Viking)
Lydie Salvayre, Cry Mother Spain, translated by Ben Faccini (MacLehose Press)
Anne Sebba, Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died in the 1940s (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Marie Sizun, Her Father's Daughter, translated by Adriana Hunter (Peirene Press)
Chantal Thomas, The Exchange of Princesses, translated by John Cullen (Other Press)
Jean-Philippe Toussaint, Football, translated by Shaun Whiteside (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
Fred Vargas, Climate of Fear, translated by Sîan Reynolds (Harvill Secker)