Favorite French Fiction

floremolla: I love an epic story that spans generations or alternative worlds. This one has a wealth of characters, settings and adventures with a maltreated main protagonist whose own humanity is in danger of being lost to his desire for revenge…

birder4106: Simply beautiful.

floremolla: Loved this whimsical and tender little tale that can be read just as an imaginative children's story, but the author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, intended it to be a multi-layered philosophical tale with observations on the cynical and materialistic world of grown-ups, seen through the eyes of a simple child. It also offers insights into human relationships (love, loss and loneliness) and on what is important in life - the ephemeral things, like time invested in caring for someone, the simple pleasures of anticipation and enjoyment, and memories of those we have loved. "One sees clearly only with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eye“.

birder4106: How I loved and admired them as a boy. Especially D'Artagnan. That is the kind of man I wanted to become.

IORD: One of the books that defined my childhood. A cracking adventure.

floremolla: Read Candide after seeing the Leonard Bernstein opera adaptation in the 80s. Had no idea of the historical or philosophical context so read it on an elementary level (reminded me of Gulliver’s Travels) so much of the satire was lost on me. However, I enjoyed the tale, have recognised references to Candide in popular culture and remember Voltaire’s admonition not to neglect to “cultivate one’s own garden” if you intend to go fighting bigger battles.

skid0612: I have read this short novel a dozen times and never tire of it.

IORD: Wonderfully iconoclastic.

birder4106: A favorite book from my youth.

RupertThorne: This is all the more special because of its featured role in the book All The Light We Cannot See

floremolla: Fond memories of reading Mme Bovary on a beach in France in the 90s. Sparking an obscenity trial when first published, it is relatively tame compared with modern beach-reads. Being married to an energetic, fun-loving man, I sympathised a little with Emma’s disappointment in her underachieving husband. Her fall from grace is a horrific spiral of events that bring heartbreak to her husband and penury to her child. Rather a downer for a holiday read tbh.

amanda4242: A stand-in for the whole series.

PocheFamily: Adore Huis Clos. Comes up again and again in my life.

floremolla: I was very caught up in this story (audiobook) in 2018. It painted a vivid picture of people struggling to cope with displacement and latent danger of death or imprisonment during German occupation. The characters that made up the families, couples and individuals were so well drawn it was impossible not to be invested in their fates. As I recall the ending felt incomplete - hadn’t realised the manuscript for the book (in reality three books) was discovered in the 90s and the final instalment had been only a draft plot summary. Nonetheless it was an excellent and deeply moving story.

pitjrw: I tried to keep to one work per author otherwise Camus would take up almost my entire list.

CarltonC: My memories are of warm sunlight.

tardis: Parisian kids making their own fun and foiling criminals.

EMS_24: So funny

MichaelDennis: Haunting. Melancholy. Beautifully written.

amanda4242: A stand-in for the whole series.

princessgarnet: Basis for the 1994 movie. Dumas took dramatic license writing the novel so you want to read some non-fiction books about France during this time period.

birder4106: I like Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, his Paris, and the France of Fred Vargas.

birder4106: Quirky in a typically French way.

princessgarnet: This novel inspired "The Paradise" series on PBS "Masterpiece" with the story and plot taking place in the UK.

jain: And the sequel Aya: Love in Yop City.

CarltonC: My first encounter with French fiction.

LikeRain: A stand in for most of Modianos books about memories of times not to be found again. Memories, or inventions?

datrappert: This is a really great long novel-so much to chew over here. Unfortunately, Death on the Installment Plan, the sort-of-sequel, left me unsatisfied. But no reason to miss this one.

lizzy50usa: The first of a quartet of fantasy books, this was a bestseller in the original French edition and has been widely translated.

princessgarnet: Read and own the complete series in English translation. For many years, the 7th and final novel of the series was unavailable in English. Druon wrote the final novel in the 1970s however it's not his best entry to the series. George RR Martin wrote the forward to the English translation of the "Accursed Kings" series, saying it's the inspiration to his "Song of Ice and Fire"/"Game of Thrones" books.

datrappert: Essential noir fiction with a very personal (I won't necessarily call it French) twist. This is just one book--they are all worth reading. Also see Pascal Garnier. Both are authors you'll want to read everything by.

hkreider: Two timelines - one in modern day Paris and one in the 1700s Indian Ocean. I was aware of Le Gentil’s attempts to view the transit of Venus and I adore fiction that weaves in real science.

JalenV: Although written and published in English, the author was French. These are her re-tellings of stories from French history and French folktales. I found the book very interesting. Aside from Joan of Arc and Josephine Bonaparte, I had not heard of any of the historical figures or saints, nor knew I any of the folktales.