Reading matériel (I).

I took advantage of a sojourn in France to get to a bookstore and browse titles, looking for things that might be fun to read. 

Obviously, it's easier than it ever has been to obtain media published in other countries; I've ordered from Amazon.fr and Amazon.co.uk numerous times, when there was something specific I was looking for.  But when I'm looking for something new and interesting to read, there is no substitute for walking into a library or bookstore, full of physical books, and browsing:  reading the backs of the covers, the tables of contents; seeing how books are jumbled together on tables; opening to a page in the middle and deciding if I like that sort of style.

Limited, of course, by luggage space, I couldn't buy everything I thought I might like.  But I tried to get a sampler of things that might keep me in French, whenever I felt like attacking some, for a few years.  

Note:  I still have not read any of these.  The books are on my bedside shelf, waiting for a moment when I don't drop to sleep the moment I hit the pillow (yes, still jetlagged).  The magazines are stowed in a holder and I've set an email reminder to order myself to "deliver" one to me every two months for the next year.  

Here are a couple of the books I bought.  In the interest of getting a post out today, I'll save others for another post. 

Michel Bussi, N'Oublier Jamais  

 This is a novel by the same author as Nymphéas Noirs (now in English translation as Black Water Lilies), the detective novel that I read all summer to get myself back into a French-speaking mindset.   

Nymphéas was a real page-turner, perfect for driving me forward through the difficulties of reading in French (my best second language, but still so much slower than reading in English).   

I had also bought a republished form of the author's first novel, originally Omaha Crimes, now called Gravé dans le Sable, which began with a sort of apology for it because he wrote it when he was relatively inexperienced at researching the details of the settings of his novels.  Let's just say:  the setting was the U. S., and the apology was warranted.

But I enjoyed the author's style very much, and I have more hope for this one, supposedly a standard roman policier.  At any case, I've definitely learned that mysteries are an effective way to keep the pages turning even when it takes effort and a dictionary app at hand.

 

 

 

 

 

Marielle Blanchier (with Pascale Krémer), Et Ils Eurent Beaucoup d'Enfants...

The title of this memoir, I think, is meant to evoke a fairytale phrase of sorts:  "and they had many children."

I'll just translate the back for you.

Marielle has twelve children.  When she got married, this trained chemist never imagined she would find herself at the head of such a household.  But life and love played a pretty trick on her.

In this book, she relates the great joys and the little troubles of her daily life:  back-to-school season, Mother's Day, birthdays, chores... But also the baguettes (36 per week), the milk (100 liters every month), and the ultra-fast recipes.  At the same time, she shares some principles of childrearing and her scheme of organization, down to the millimeter, that allows her to devote some time to everyone.  A fascinating and extraordinary adventure that confirms the adage: a big family makes a happy family!

I think this will be interesting precisely because large families, even "medium" ones like mine, are so very, very rare in France at this time.  It's not that I need her tips, tricks, and principles (although I'm always up for those); it's more that I am curious how this author presented herself and her family.  And if her background is in chemistry, well, she and I will have that in common as well.  Looking forward to it.

 I'll share more books later.... 

Comments

[Melanie B]

Ooh I'm intrigued by Et Ils Eurent Beaucoup d'Enfants...

[bearing]

I am too. It might be the first one I read. Stay tuned for more books I bought, though.

[Kathgreenwood]

I haven't read 'Et Ils Eurent Beaucoup d'Enfants...' (I've got kind of snobby about reading matter in French now that my comprehension speed is almost the same as in English) but I am absolutely fascinated by the author (who oddly attended my London university) the book is a follow up from a suprise hit reality TV appearance, and there is also a 2+ hour interview on a French Oprah style programme available in its entierety on YouTube, (which I highly reccommend) as well as several interviews in the newspapers. She comes across as one of the most intelligent, composed, self assured women I have seen, and she discusses the dynamics of family and intimate life in **the most french** way.

[bearing]

Wow! I will have to look for that!