I've been thinking more lately about what I'm going to be doing for Paris in July and have decided that I'll be reading four books by French authors--two in French, two in English.
*En Français
-Le Petit Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
-Bonjour Tristesse (Françoise Sagan)
*In English
-The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux)
-Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
There are three reasons why I'm choosing only four books:
1) Two of them are in French and will, therefore, take a while to read even though they're both pretty short. I've never attempted to read a full book in French before, so it'll be a new experience for me.
2) Les Miserables is huge! I've read an abridged version of it, but I've never tackled the entire thing. I figure this is my chance to do so, but I want to give myself ample time to read it.
3) I have so many other challenges and things that I have to read for that I don't want to overwhelm myself with books for just one of them. Besides, I'm going to be reviewing films and music, as well as teaching you all some French, too.
I'm really looking forward to this, especially reading Le Petit Prince in French. I'm thinking of rewatching and reviewing the film The Little Prince as well, but we'll see.
For those of you who are participating in Paris in July, I can't wait to see what the rest of you do!
-Gabe
I've wanted to learn French for so long now, so i'll look forward to your lessons! (and your reviews too). Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI have wanted to read Phantom of the Opera for a really long time. I am going to try to get to it soon.
ReplyDeleteImpressive! My knowledge of French is limited to food and insults...which is pretty bad considering it's only 80ish miles away!
ReplyDeleteKayleigh: I'm just hoping that I don't run out of things to say before the end of the month. LOL. I'll just start making things up, like Monty Python's "Hungarian Phrasebook" sketch. "My hovercraft is full of eels!"
ReplyDeleteAnne: It's such a good book. I think this is my third time reading it, but I can't remember.
Ellie: Food and insults are important. We spent an inordinate amount of time in French class in high school learning how to talk about camping. I don't camp in the United States, why would I go do it in a foreign county?
Paris in July say what!?!? How did I not hear of this event? You can be assured that I will be participating - thanks for bringing it to my attention! And way to go, reading in French. I used to be able to read in French but my language skills have fallen into sad disrepair. I might dig out my old French lit textbook and try and read a few excerpts, although I doubt I am up to a whole book! Looking forward to your reviews. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's been a while since I've read French in large chunks (and I've never read a full book), but I'm going to ease myself into reading books entirely in French with The Little Prince. The copy I found at my library has a vocabulary section in the back in case I get stuck. LOL.
ReplyDeleteLes Miserables is one of my top five all time fave books. Enjoy. I haven't read in French for a while, I should follow your example and get a French novel soon to find out how rusty I am with it!
ReplyDeleteMerci beaucoup! I was trying to track down copies of the Harry Potter series in French through my library, but it looks like I'll just have to buy them. I'm thinking of challenging myself to read them in both French and German at some point.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably going to be clinging to my French-English dictionary all next month, so that'll make two of us who are rusty. :)