I speak French and decided to make a when the Frenchie in me is reading book selection. I worked in Alliance francaise in Varna, Bulgaria in the past and there was a big library with plenty of classic and modern French and Francophone literature. As Alliance francaise organized a lot of cultural events, we also invited many famous writers and authors to be our guests and make workshops around their books. I met some of the people mentioned below like Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt and Frederic Beigbeder in person and had copies of their books autographed specially for me!
Table of Contents
Katherine Pancol and her trilogy The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles; The Central Park squirrels are sad on Monday and The slow waltz of turtles
There is a movie based on the first book “The yellow eyes of Crocodiles” which is also worth seeing. The trilogy is the perfect summer reading as it’s full of intrigues, love affairs, lies, truths and all described with so much sense of humour. It’s the story of two sisters – one is beautiful, rich, married to the perfect guy, living the easy life, dressed up in Dior, Channel and you name it. The second is ordinary, hard-working, smart, about to head to divorce as her husband is cheating on her. Both go well together until the moment the rich and bored one decides to write a book and become famous. The only thing is, she cannot write as she does not have a degree either talent!
On the other hand, her sister has a doctorate in medieval literature and has the talent to write. And they both are the perfect duo! So the ordinary sister writes the manuscript and her good looking and rich sibling takes it all – the fame, the fans, the money, the interviews, all she always wanted! That how the most interesting part of the book begins. But, I will leave you to discover the continuation of the story yourself!
When the Frenchie in me is reading I choose Frederic Beigbeder and Love Lasts Three Years
This is one of my favourite books and I just love “Love Lasts Three Years”! It’s so subtly written, there is so much morbid sense of humour and it’s about a love story which does not end after theatre years obviously. There is also a movie based on the book. Frederic Beigbeder is a very controversial public personality in France, but “Love Lasts Three Years” is an absolute masterpiece of all times!
Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s chefs-d’eouvre
Plenty of titles to recommend like ”The Sect of the Egoists”; ”The Gospel according to Pilate”; ”Ulysses from Bagdad”; ”M. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Coran”; ”Oscar and the lady in pink”; ”Odette Toulemonde” – some of them translated into English, others available in French and other languages. All of his novels and narratives are so different one from another and the main storyline is always completely unexpected. Plenty of characters and stories to explore and discover. Some of his novels are also adapted in the cinema and the theatre like ”Oscar and the lady in pink”, ”M Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Coran”, ”Odette Toulemonde”. I saw M. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Coran in the theatre and watched the movie with Omar Sharif in the main role. Amazing!
Le Potentiel Erotique de ma femme by David Foenkinos
This is the only one book I’ve read so far from David Foenkinos but it’s absolutely hilarious. The title has nothing to do with the story. It’s about a guy who marries a girl and enjoys watching her washing the windows. Who would think that somebody will make a book out of such a topic? The book is full of hilarious situations and is so damn well written!
The biography of Yves Saint Laurent by Laurence Benaim
This is one of the best biographies I’ve ever read! It’s all about the life, the passion, the love for fashion, the talent, the professionalism and the relationship with Pierre Berger book! You can feel the passion and the hard work behind every single dress of Yves Saint Laurent! He was a visionary, a creator of beauty, he respected women and their handwork and dedication to make all his collection happen! He was a fashion genius! Great book, unfortunately not translated into English, but worth reading! Highly recommend it not only to people interested in fashion but in general everyone who appreciates art and great personalities.
That was my when the Frenchie in me is reading book selection. What’s your favourite French book or book in French? Sharing is creating a community!
Thanks for reading!