MadmoiZelle speaks English

[Pantoufle]

I've read "A year in the merde" in English and I found it very funny ! Maybe because I was living in England at that time and I could see that all the clichés that are in the book are not always only clichés ?!

Oh, I can imagine you saying "clichés" with an english accentuation, it is so lovely !

 

[suspensi0n]

I liked it because what they say about "grèves", "la bise" and stuff like that is completely true. I found it fun to be analized by an English man

 

[Pantoufle]

Didn't like it neither. Some "clichés" are well-found, but broadly speaking, it's nearer of chick-lit (a good-looking British man who sleeps with beautiful French girls) than of a hilarious English novel. Clarke may have lived in France too longer. If you want to read a real good comic book, Nick Hornby is far more cynical, subtle, and in a more British way.

I am not fan of Nick Hornby, even if I prefer his books to A year in the merde. I guess that English literature is not for me .

 

[suspensi0n]

French literature is better than English literature. But English series and films are the best

 

[suspensi0n]

Well, it depends on what we like in literature.
To me, French literature is more poetic (I don't speak about poetry. I think that French novels use more poetic "images" than English ones).

 

[suspensi0n]

Nobody would be able to make such an affirmation. Unless you have read every English and French books of all times. Read some poems written by Blake, Wordsworth, or Keats, some novels by Woolf, Jane Austen, or the Brontë sisters, and you'll see that English writers also used some lyrical techniques. (8

This is just my point of view To me, nowadays, English is a spoken language, whereas French is more written. But, still, this is MY point of view.

 

[Sloane]

This topic is such a good idea ! thanks to suspensi0n !
Well, about litterature, I'd rather read English than French litterature, and I think it's precisely more poetic than French litterature. I'm keen on reading Austen's novels and Shakespeare's plays (you should read A Midsummer night's dream in english, such a poetic and wondrous play! )

 

[suspensi0n]

I can't believe I'm only finding out about this topic right now!

It's new

 

[Sloane]

However (and I allow you guys to kill me off), I can't help finding Austen novels cheesy. Sounds like older Bridget Jones to me. (Just kidding. Maybe.)

Your comparison has made me laugh ! I don't think they're cheesy, the characters are sometimes a little simple-minded, but their relationships (or loveships) are so beautiful

About Syce , however it's a bit hard to understand, keep reading Shakespeare, it's a good way for improving your english vocabulary

 

[Yana]

And Coleridge ! If that guy hasn't brought up powerful romantic images, no one else has...
I'm more into American literature though, Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Henry Miller, Steinbeck are to die for. Such a shame these authors are barely ever studied in France.
However (and I allow you guys to kill me off), I can't help finding Austen novels cheesy. Sounds like older Bridget Jones to me. (Just kidding. Maybe.)

As far as poetry is concerned, I would follow Rata's advice !
James Joyce is an incredible writer, though quite hard to read, but I do recommend the Portrait of the artist as a young man, or The Dubliners.
Virginia Woolf is a must-read too, and then, I would say it's a good thing to have read Dickens, Hardy & co.
Oh, and D.H Lawrence and Oscar Wilde !
You should try King Lear and Macbeth, they're life-changing.
But why not give a shot at American literature ?

(Yeah, but beautifully cheesy to me, it's too mellow for me.)

I love you, Orietur !

May I add J.K. Toole to your list ?

I am kind of bored about all we heard all the time in France about our "greatest litterature of the whole world"... English and American litteratures are differents from ours, but there are such amazing books that none of French students have ever heard about... what a pity, it's a shame !
And I'm just talking about open-minding, I like French writters.

 

[Pantoufle]

And Coleridge ! If that guy hasn't brought up powerful romantic images, no one else has...
I'm more into American literature though, Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Henry Miller, Steinbeck are to die for. Such a shame these authors are barely ever studied in France.
However (and I allow you guys to kill me off), I can't help finding Austen novels cheesy. Sounds like older Bridget Jones to me. (Just kidding. Maybe.)

I LOVE John Steinbeck, I think I rode most of his books (in French, but I was 12-13). But I didn't like all the books. Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday are pure masterpieces ! But I didn't like La Perle at all, it is too sad. Anyway, his books are often very sad, like Of Mice and Men :cry:.
A year ago, I discovered a kind of autobiography of Steinbeck, Travels with Charley, it is very exciting and touching.

 

[AnonymousUser]

I'm pretty lost here
I've only read chick lit (Douglas Kennedy, Isabel Wolf, ...) and Harry Potter's books in English. But I tend more and more to choose the English version of one novel rather than the French one. It's like the movies, or series, it's more...authentic. Don't know how to express that.