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'French' book for holiday read.

  • 01-08-2015 6:59pm
    #1
    BailMeOut
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,995 ✭✭✭


    heading to France for two weeks and looking for a easy read page turner book with a strong French story. I like to read books based in place I am visiting, e.g. on a recent holiday in Sicily I read all the Mario Puzo books and that worked out great or when I was in Crete read Zorba the Greek. You get the gist.

    Anyway has to be an easy read and something that helps me understand the French and their history a little better is what I need. Must be fiction too and ideally quite a big book so I can get two weeks from it.

    I know the list if huge so really would appreciate some help with a good recommendation.

    PS: I am a guy so nothing girlie or romantic!


Comments

  • #2
    Aenaes
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,677 ✭✭✭Aenaes


    Not sure if it qualifies but I'd recommend "Tender Is The Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.


  • #3
    hooplah
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 570 ✭✭✭hooplah


    Guy De Maupassant wrote a bunch of great short stories. I think he's fantastic and well worth reading.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_de_Maupassant

    This is one of his most famous stories, try it and see if you fancy reading more:
    Story: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3090/3090-h/3090-h.htm#2H_4_0003
    About the story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boule_de_Suif


  • #4
    Manach
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,733 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    If you like Fantasy/SciFi and have a fondness for steampunk there is always Jules Verne.


  • #5
    cloudatlas
    Registered Users Posts: 3,709 ✭✭✭cloudatlas


    The Count of Monte Cristo would seem to fit the bill.


  • #6
    UsedToWait
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,273 ✭✭✭UsedToWait


    For a fascinating non-fiction option, I'd recommend Graham Robb's 'The Discovery of France' (and his 'Parisians' for when you're next there)


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  • #7
    La_Gordy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,767 ✭✭✭La_Gordy


    Books by Frederic Beigbeder - 99 Francs in particular, not much of a historical background but pretty great social commentary.


  • #8
    BailMeOut
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,995 ✭✭✭BailMeOut


    hooplah wrote: »
    Guy De Maupassant wrote a bunch of great short stories. I think he's fantastic and well worth reading.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_de_Maupassant

    This is one of his most famous stories, try it and see if you fancy reading more:
    Story: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3090/3090-h/3090-h.htm#2H_4_0003
    About the story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boule_de_Suif

    I like he sound of these stories. Not sure why but the 'Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant' is FREE for Kindle so just it downloaded now.

    Thank you!


  • #9
    BailMeOut
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,995 ✭✭✭BailMeOut


    Thanks everyone.

    Victor Hugo, Dumas and Jules Verne were the authors I was thinking about but am not sure how good a poolside read they are.

    Any good contemporary options you'd recommend?


  • #10
    MagicMarker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    The Count of Monte Cristo is the only option here. READ IT!


  • #11
    BailMeOut
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,995 ✭✭✭BailMeOut


    MagicMarker wrote: »
    The Count of Monte Cristo is the only option here. READ IT!

    ok - it is now on my Kindle ready for the trip. Bargain price of £0.49!!!


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  • #12
    BailMeOut
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,995 ✭✭✭BailMeOut


    excellent got this too - The Three Musketeers Kindle eBook by Alexandre Dumas £0.00 Kindle Edition

    So have three great French books all lined up and the three cost my STG £0.49. Bargain!


  • #13
    echo beach
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,252 ✭✭✭echo beach


    Reading work on e-readers that is out of copyright is a very cheap option but it does restrict you to long dead authors. A library or secondhand bookshop will also give you plenty of cheap reads but I wouldn't take a library book on holiday for fear of losing or damaging it.


  • #14
    Swiper the fox
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,747 ✭✭✭Swiper the fox


    MagicMarker wrote: »
    The Count of Monte Cristo is the only option here. READ IT!
    BailMeOut wrote: »
    ok - it is now on my Kindle ready for the trip. Bargain price of £0.49!!!

    You'll probably still be reading it on your next holiday and the one after that, and the one after that etc:P
    My God that book is a boards literature forum darling, any mention of it rakes in the thanks.

    The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Chocolat and Perfume are three contemporary books (very good ones too) about France that you might like.


  • #15
    hooplah
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 570 ✭✭✭hooplah


    oh, another historical novel (though written 1997) is : City of Darkness, City of Light. It's about the French Revolution- I think it's great. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/862108.City_of_Darkness_City_of_Light


  • #16
    TwoGallants
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 159 ✭✭TwoGallants


    Stephen Clarke is a British expat who wrote a few novels (fish out of water stuff) of an Englishman in Paris. I only read the first one 'A Year in the Merde'. I have a French girlfriend so I could relate to it a lot, its quite funny!


  • #17
    biZrb
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 617 ✭✭✭biZrb


    OP you could have saved yourself 49p by downloading those books from Project Gutenberg - lots out of copyright books are available there. Some really great classics for free, well worth a look!

    https://www.gutenberg.org/


  • #18
    two wheels good
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,996 ✭✭✭two wheels good


    Zola's Germinal . Oustanding novel, not exactly an easy read but a page turner all the same.

    Suite Francais - I. Nemerovski (sp?). WW2 jewish refugee's experience fleeing Paris.

    (Ignoring the "French" requirement: Harvest by J Crace. excellent book)


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