When I decided to read more of French literature this year, I thought I will look for a French anthology, something similar to ‘The Norton Anthology of English Literature’. I hoped that Norton would have a French anthology. I thought I will use this anthology as a base for exploring French literature. But, unfortunately, sometimes our best laid plans come crashing down. I discovered that Norton didn’t have a French anthology. Even more surprisingly I didn’t find any other French anthology in English translation! I was totally surprised. But an interesting thing happened during my search. I stumbled upon a book called ‘One Hundred Great French Books’ by Lance Donaldson-Evans. Without thinking twice I got it last week. Initially I thought that I will browse it a little bit and read one or two pieces and keep it for reference. But after reading the introduction and the first few essays in it, I couldn’t put it down. I also didn’t want to read it fast and so read a few essays everyday for the past week. I finished reading it yesterday. Here is what I think.
‘One Hundred Great French Books’ has two-page essays on a hundred French books which the author Lance Donaldson-Evans thinks are a good place to start while exploring French literature. As each essay is two pages long, the book has a perfect two hundred pages (not including the introduction and the afterword). In each essay, Donaldson-Evans manages to squeeze a lot of things in – an overview of the book and its writer and historical and contextual information about the book. The essays are in chronological order of publishing year. It starts with ‘The Song of Roland’ from the eleventh century (which is regarded as probably the first French book ever) and ends with Michel Houellebecq’s ‘The Possibility of an Island’ which was published in 2005. Donaldson-Evans has made sure that he has included only books which are available in English translation. This might have resulted in some great books not being included, but it was wonderful news for me. The big stars from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries are all there. But starting from 1950, many of the authors were unfamiliar to me. It probably says more about me than about the books included. This part also had many of the books that I wanted to read, because of the unique themes and plots and because of the experimentation in style and storytelling. Some of the authors who were part of the ‘Le Nouveau Roman’ and ‘OuLiPo’ literary movements are included in this part and so it is no wonder that their books are extremely attractive and appealing.
When I read the essays on some of these experimental works I felt that some of these French writers had taken, what we might call a regular novel structure – a plot which had a beginning, a middle and an end – which resembled, if we may use an analogy, a simple and perfect square and then had done all kinds of things to it – folded it and created a triangle or snipped off the corners and created an octagon or squeezed it a little bit and created a parallelogram or pulled the edges and smoothened it into a perfect circle or twisted it totally out of shape into a strange or even an impossible object like an Escher painting or a Penrose triangle or a Möbius Strip, so that we have to really challenge the limits of our imagination and think topologically to see the resemblance between the new exotic object and the original innocent square. It is interesting what these experimental writers have done – taking something simple and creating something wild, exotic and unexpected out of it. I myself – I can’t wait to get acquainted more with some of these exotic literary flowers.
If we look at ‘One Hundred Great French Books’ through a 21st century lens, the following things are revealed.
- The selection is heavily tilted towards recent centuries – there are 39 books from the 20th/21st centuries, 23 books from the 19th century, 11 books from the 18th century, 10 books from the 17th century, and 17 books from the 11th to the 16th centuries.
- There are just 10 writers featured who wrote in French but who were from other countries (11 if we include Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was Swiss before he became French).
- The two omissions that came to my mind were Alain-Fournier (and his book ‘Le Grand Meaulnes’) and Aimé Cesairé (the book describes him as Martinique’s greatest writer while recommending books by other writers from Martinique). Also not a single native Algerian author writing in French is mentioned (though Albert Camus, who is not native Algerian, is there).
- There are 23 women writers featured out of which 11 are from the post Second World War era. This is no surprise. The interesting thing however is that the first woman writer featured in the book is France’s first woman poet Marie de France from the 12th century. A more interesting writer for me was Christine de Pizan from the 14th / 15th century, who is regarded as probably the first woman writer from Europe (and probably the world) to earn her living by writing. She must have been one hell of a pioneer during her time.
- The book doesn’t stick to the main literary genres – novels, short stories, plays, poems – but also includes biographies, philosophical discourses, comics, murder mysteries (how can Georges Simenon be left out? 🙂), essays, travelogues, spiritual texts and books on film. So there is something in it for everyone.
- This is the last of the numbers, I promise. Out of the 100 books mentioned in the book, I have read just 5 (shame on me!). I really need to redeem that.
I made a list of new-to-me writers and books, based on Lance Donaldson-Evans’s book, that I hope to read soon. The most interesting books on that list are these :
- The Heptameron by Marguerite de Navarre – It is the French version of ‘The Decameron’ but has only 70 stories, hence the title. Written Marguerite de Navarre, a Renaissance princess who was the sister of the French king, the story is about five men and five women who have to take refuge in a monastery because of floods. They amuse themselves by telling stories and after each story they have a discussion about it – in some ways it was a predecessor of today’s book clubs. How can one resist a book about a medieval book club? 🙂
- Letters of a Peruvian Woman by Françoise de Graffigny – It is an epistolary novel written by a fictional Inca princess who ends up in 18th century France and writes to her Peruvian fiancé. What is not to like in this book?
- Reveries of the Solitary Walker by Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Rousseau takes walks and writes about the reveries he has in beautiful prose. Walks in the beautiful mountains of Switzerland, communing with nature, observing the birds and the flowers and the meadow and writing down one’s thoughts – it is irresistible, isn’t it?
- Nadja by André Breton – The narrator of the story is walking in the streets of Paris when he meets a strange woman. They strike a conversation and talk for a long time. They start meeting often and walk aimlessly on the Parisian streets and sit in cafes and talk. There is more to the heroine than meets the eye, of course. As soon as I read the plot summary, I knew that I had to read this book. It had an eerie resemblance to Dostoevsky’s ‘White Nights’ and Ethan Hawke’s ‘Before Sunrise’ and ‘Before Sunset’ seem to be similar to it too. This is the kind of plot I love and I can’t wait to read this book. It is also the first surrealist novel written – so that aspect of the book is fascinating as well.
- The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir – I have known about Simone de Beauvioir’s book for a while now, but have never got around to reading it. When I read that she practised what she preached, I realized that she was no ordinary woman. The guru of all modern feminists, I wish she were around today – I would love to sit at her feet as a humble student and ask her to share a little bit of her immense wisdom. I also want to read one of de Beauvoir’s novels, maybe ‘She Came to Stay’ or ‘The Mandarins’.
- Mythologies by Roland Barthes – Barthes’s literary and intellectual essays on popular culture and themes – well, that says it all. I can’t wait to read it.
- Trap for Cinderella by Sébastien Japrisot – A murder is planned by two women (to kill a third) and it appears that things go well. But the survivor can’t remember anything, her body is scarred beyond recognition and she doesn’t know whether she was the murderer or she was the one who has survived the murder attempt. How much better can a literary thriller get? Want to read it now!
- Missing Person by Patrick Modiano – It is about a man who has forgotten his past and who tries to get it back. While on his quest for the truth, he first discovers that he is one person and then he discovers that he is another person. The plot had an uncanny resemblance to ‘The Bourne Identity’. So I did some research and discovered that ‘Missing Person’ was first published in 1978 while ‘The Bourne Identity’ was first published in 1980. Was Robert Ludlum inspired by this book? We will never know. If will be a shame if Ludlum had lifted the idea from this book without acknowledging it. However, this resemblance makes me more and more confident of a suspicion that I have had for sometime now – if there is an inventive new plot written by a new writer there is almost always a French original out there. Anything new, inventive and experimental – the French have already done it decades back. The others are just inspired by it, copying it or reinventing the wheel.
- The Sand Child by Tahar Jen Belloun – A storyteller tells a story in the marketplace based on a manuscript that he says a woman gave him. The story is about a father who wants to have a son (so that his inheritance will pass on to him smoothly) but has only daughters. So when he has a eighth child who is also a daughter, he does something and then gets a son. What he does, whether the secret comes out and who the mysterious woman who gave the manuscript to the storyteller is – the answer to these questions forms the rest of the story.
- Baroque at Dawn by Nicole Brossard – This novel explores the connection between desire and literary creation. It also has a character called Nicole Brossard, which essentially means that the book has this delicious structure where there are stories within stories and characters move from an inner story to an outer story and then on to the real world and vice versa, the kind of book which will blow your mind. I can’t wait to read it.
I loved Lance Donaldson-Evans’s ‘One Hundred Great French Books’. Starting from the cover which had reproductions of Pierre Auguste Renoir’s ‘The Reader’ (Renoir’s son Jean Renoir’s memoir is one of the books featured inside) and Eugene Delacroix’s ‘Leading the People’ (Delacroix’s diary is also featured in the book), to the wonderful introduction (which had an interesting fact – that the Marquis de La Fayette fought in the American War of Independence on the American side), to the crisp essays, to the interesting afterword, to the font, the whole book was perfect. I felt like I was doing a crash course in French literature in a pleasant way, getting introduced to important French books through beautiful, concise essays without the hard parts which are there in an academic course – writing papers and exams. Donaldson-Evans has been a teacher of French literature for more than forty years and his love and passion shine throughout the book. The afterword in the book mentions fifty more French books that the reader might want to explore. If you are new to French literature and would like to explore it this book is an excellent place to start.
After reading about half of your post and thinking there are too many notes to take, I’ve decided to bookmark it for later – your post itself is a brilliant resource. To my shame I’ve read very few French books, but it’s something I want to improve on. Interesting that this essay collection focuses mostly on newer authors – I wonder if perhaps it was thought that too many classics would put people off?
Thanks Charlie! Hope you get to read more French books and like them. The selection was slanted towards recent centuries, but the important works from the previous centuries were all covered. I learnt a lot about French literature while reading it.
Oh I want this book have read a few of the books you have mention and have a couple in my tbr pile ,love books about books but can be expensive for ones pocket ,all the best stu
Hope you get to read this book and like it, Stu. Nice to know that you have read some of the books that I have mentioned. I can’t wait to read them.
I’ve actually read all of the books on your list with the exception of Graffigny Brossard. 🙂 Picking 100 great novels isn’t an easy thing, you’ll always have to leave out a lot. Césaire isn’t much of a novelist, maybe that’s why he wasn’t mentioned. I wonder which writer from Martinique they chose.
I have Les Mandarins here but not read yet.
I’m looking forward to the upcoming reviews.
Thanks Caroline! Wonderful to know that you have read most of the above books! So jealous of you 🙂 Which one is your favourite from the above list? The other writers from Martinique featured in the book are Joseph Zobel and Frantz Fanon. Hope you get to read ‘The Mandarins’ sometime. I can’t wait to read my first Simone de Beauvoir book.
I’ve got both of them here. Fanon is a bit hard to read. Very militant.
Maybe Nadja is my favourite from the above. I read a lot of surrealist writers, they are very interesting.
Fanon’s book does look a bit difficult to read. Nice to know that ‘Nadja’ is your favourite book from the above. I ordered it a few days back. Looking forward to reading it soon. Wonderful to know that you have read a lot of surrealist writers. After reading ‘Nadja’ I will ask you for more suggestions 🙂
Breton’s L’amour fou is equally good. But they are not exactly novels. Most of the books on your list, with a few exceptions are a bit experimental or non-fiction.
Thanks Caroline! I will add ‘L’Amour Fou’ also to my ‘to be read’ list. After reading your comment I went back and checked the list again. You are right – most of the books do look like experimental works or nonfiction. I am wondering whether my reading taste is changing.
What a great find and I love all the interesting facts. I look forward to reading your reviews since I want to read more non-English novels. I’ll be checking in for suggestions on authors. And I’m glad that this work, even though it does exclude some writers, makes sure all of them are available in English translation. I wish all works could be translated, not just in English–so many missed opportunities.
Glad to know that you liked the looks of this book, TBM. It is really a wonderful resource for French books. I have already ordered some of the books that are featured in it and I can’t wait to read them. I also wish all important works can be translated – it is sad when they aren’t.
Vishy you are an inspiration to readers like me who drop books into their shopping cart n then take them off by being too indecisive about the choice. U just read about it n bought it! I wish I could have such amazing book sense( like 6thsense 🙂 )
Thanks Shweta! I do that also – put books on my shopping cart and then take them off 🙂 I think that is one of the joys of being a book buyer! I also trust my book-buying instincts and buy books which catch my fancy which no one has recommended. Most of the time my instincts turn out to be right.
What a wonderful article, despite it being a shake-up for me. I haven’t read one of the authors on your list! I like the idea of reading “One Hundred Great French Books” first, as you said, like a crash course in the introduction to French literature. From there I’d like to make a list, as you have, to guide me along. I may have mentioned that I feel very deficient in contemporary German literature as well. What would you say your top three favorites are in contemporary German Lit that you have read in the last couple of years?
I am also determined to finish a few books that have been by my bedside table for way too long, and to forge ahead with my list of Nobel Prize winners that I can’t wait to read.
I am also working to improve my sustained reading ability… in college I thought nothing of reading for 5-6 hours with barely an interruption. That has surely changed over the years.
I really appreciate the way that you add such a dimension to my want to read list! So many wonderful books in the world! Thank you for all of the inspiration that you provide for me!
Thanks Heidi! I think you will like this book. Would love to hear your thoughts on it, if you get to read it. I have also not heard of most of the above authors before 🙂 That was one of the nice things about this book, because it helped me discover new writers. On German literature, I would say my favourites among the ones that I read in the last couple of years were ‘Unformed Landscape’ by Peter Stamm, ‘The Land of Green Plums’ by Herta Muller, ‘Homecoming’ by Bernhard Schlink (a novel which is inspired by ‘The Odyssey’) and ‘Three Bags Full’ by Leonie Swann (a murder mystery where sheep are detectives). I also liked very much the novellas ‘The Pigeon’ by Patrick Suskind and ‘Immensee’ by Theodor Storm and the short stories ‘The Earthquake in Chile’ by Heinrich von Kleist,’The Dead are Silent’ by Arthur Schnitzler and ‘Darkness at Noon’ by Arthur Koestler. Hope you are enjoying reading books by Nobel prize winners. Happy Reading!
I will definitely check this out – I studied French at university but there is still so much I haven’t read both in English or in French!
Hope you get to read it and like it. Will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it if you get to read it. So jealous that you studied French in university and you can read French books in French!
[…] me to Balzac and Cousin Bette is still on of my favorite books. So I was delighted to see Vishy (of Vishy’s Blog) review One Hundred Great French Books: from the Middle Ages to the Present by Lance Donaldson-Evans. Each […]
Let me know if you would like any recommendations from contemporary avid French readers, every week one of my mature students finishes a book and as long as she continues to learn English, my brain will be overflowing with wonderful recommendations. It is one of my most enjoyable lessons of the week and I am supposed to be the teacher 🙂
I would definitely love recommendations, Claire. Thanks! Looking forward to it.
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[…] discovered Nicole Brossard through the book ‘One Hundred Great French Books’ by Lance Donaldson-Evans. Brossard’s ‘Baroque at Dawn’ was one of the books featured there. I found the description of […]
[…] Cantabile and 10:30 on a Summer Night and Moderato Cantabile was also one of the featured books in Lance Donaldson-Evans’ One Hundred Great French Books. So, I had to get this collection. I got it last week and finished reading it yesterday. Here is […]
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[…] I want to write about one last thing. Most of the time when I want to explore new French writers, I ask Caroline from ‘Beauty is a Sleeping Cat’ for suggestions. You can find her reviews of French books here. Sometimes I also check the reading lists of Emma from ‘Book Around the Corner’. You can find her French reading lists here – Reading List 1 and Reading List 2. You can also find Emma’s reviews of French books here. Stu from Winstondad’s Blog mostly reads and reviews translated fiction. His blog is a rich source of reading suggestions of not just French fiction, but also translated fiction from all languages. You can find his reviews of French books here. I also sometimes check the book ‘One Hundred Great French Books’ by Lance-Donaldson Evans. It is a rich source of reading suggestions spanning the entire history of French literature. You can find my review of the book here. […]
[…] One Hundred Great French Books by Lance […]
I don’t know how I came to miss this post when you first published it, (maybe something to do with New Year festivities, eh?) but anyway, I am going to link to it from my posts about the VSI on French Lit, and – lucky me! I have just found a second-hand copy of it and have ordered it for myself:)
Thanks, Vishy!
Thank you, Lisa 🙂 Glad you liked the review. So wonderful to know that you were able to get a second-hand copy of the book! Happy reading! Will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it!
[…] 18/12/16 Click here to see Vishy’s review of One Hundred Great French Books by Lance […]