Nikki

I have discovered that I like the detective novels by Fred Vargas (a female author). So far I've read three of them, and my favorites have been the ones about Chief Inspector Adamsberg.

elsiejune

Great thread. Thanks! I'm heading to Paris later this week and will be sure to look for some of these titles. BTW, last time we were in Paris we stayed in the 2e and I happened on a great second-hand book store called Book Off located at 20 rue St.Augustin. It's in the 2e, between l'Opera and Palais Royal. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.
Here's another vote for Elegance of the Hedgehog.
Also Justine Levy's Rien de Grave. The French is not difficult to read and although it's been out for several years, it's "timely" as Carla Bruni's character is background fodder.
We're staying in the 7e this trip (near ET). Does anyone know of any book stores in this area? EJ

cigalechanta

elsie, I have that in English. Her husband left her for Bruni.
(thinly disguised)Bruni was the girlfriend of Justine's father's friend and it was the son, she took off with, had a child, and split.

J_R_Hartley

Daniel Pennac is very funny but very slangy.

If you manage to get through one of his books, you will understand Parisian slang almost perfectly.

kerouac

Anna Gavalda is too wordy. She tells a good story (notably "Ensemble C'est Tout"), but you just want to tell her "woman, get on with the story!" -- at least half of the pages could be removed from her novels with no loss at all.

Nikki

Kerouac, that is exactly the way I felt about Marc Levy. And that had really large print.

MademoiselleFifi

Speaking of slang, I haven't been able to get very far on <i>Zazie dans le Metro</i> because nothing I looked up was in the dictionary. And I don't mean the strung-together words-- I figured out most of those. Anyone know of a good slang dictionary?

Kyliebaby3

You might try http://www.urbandictionary.com/. I looked to see if they have a French website equivalent, but it doesn't look like it. You might try typing in a word from your book just to see if anything comes up. Or try Google Translate... that might work too.

toupary6

You might want to look for novels by Philippe Labro. I have enjoyed all that I've read. Titles that come to mind are L'Etudiant Etranger, Le Petit Garçcon, Franz et Clara, but he is a very prolific writer, so there are many more.

Also, another vot for L'Elegance du Hérisson. It's one of the best books I've read.

grandmere

Another vote for Le Testament Francais although I read it in English. I loved it and recommended it for my book club, a few of whom didn't like it, which I found hard to understand.

shellio

"Un Secret" by Philippe Grimbert was recently made into a film starring Cécile de France. Very moving, both as a book and a movie.

And Yasmina Khadra, an Algerian man writing in French under a female pseudonym, has written "Les Hirondelles de Kaboul" and "l'Attentat", among others.

sheila

Nikki, I've been doing that for a couple of years now. I've not yet read anything that might be described as literature, but I've read a fair few policiers, including quite a number of Vargas- I like them in English so it was an easy switch.

Partly, I'm topping this for me, and partly to add, that I'm reading Crim sous le Tram' by Bernard Deloupy, and I have Vargas's Dans les Bois Eternelles waiting for me.

The new Marc Levy, Le Premier Jour, was all over the airport. I nearly bought it, but didn't in the end.

I keep giving them to my French teacher when I'm done. Do you want them instead?

Nikki

Yes please. And if I have room in my suitcase, I'll bring some that way.

semiramis

I would highly recommend anything by Albert Camus and especially " L'Etranger ".

Nikki

L'Etranger is a sentimental favorite for me. I first read it, in English, for a class at the New School for Social Research in New York in the summer of 1968, while I was in high school. A number of us were walking outside the school and my friend was declaiming, loudly, "My mother died today, or was it yesterday?" People gave us very disapproving looks on Sixth Avenue.

Last March, when I was in Paris, I was looking through a bookstore and my glance happened upon L'Etranger, which I bought and read, in French this time.

sheila

Is Camus not a bit scary?

PatrickLondon

>>Is Camus not a bit scary?<<

Not linguistically scary, I'd have thought? And intellectually not half as much as Sartre (not least because he's concise where Sartre was anything but).

Nikki

Only scary if you are subject to bouts of existential angst. Benign indifference of the universe and all that.

hanl

Amélie Nothomb's novels are very popular. I enjoyed La Métaphysique des Tubes, for instance.

And I'll second Kerouac's recommendation for La première gorgée de bière, which is a beautiful little book.

One author that's light-hearted and extremely easy to read in French is Nicole de Buron. I read "C'est quoi ce petit boulot" when I was a teenager learning French and really enjoyed it.

Sher

Nikki. I just read about a book store in Manhattan that is all travel books and foreign novels if I read the article correctly.
The name is Idlewild. I know you get into the City sometimes and thought you might enjoy browsing.
Sherry