12

I've been learning French for a while. Le Petit Prince is at just the right reading difficulty, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Are there other books similar to this? I'm looking for a novel:

  • Originally French
  • Not simplified on purpose (like many simplifications of famous works)
  • At a reading difficulty level approximately that of Le Petit Prince

I did read this similar question, which mentions Volkswagen Blues, but I can't seem to get hold of that book.

Community
  • 1
Anna
  • 121
  • 1
  • 4
  • I'm glad you found the question I think this one is a duplicate of, and sadly, it's essentially unanswered, it's better answers being hidden in comments. There are more suggestions here. I hope this one gets better answers :·) – Nikana Reklawyks Dec 07 '12 at 18:32
  • 1
    It may be a bit more difficult than Le petit prince, but I read L'Etranger (A. Camus) when I was younger, and found it really easy to read and quite interesting. – TonioElGringo Jan 02 '13 at 12:27

5 Answers5

6

If poetry is inside your search span, I'd suggest reading Jacques Prévert's poems. No need to be an excellent french reader to read most of them. But it definitely needed a true genius to write them in the first place.

Now two examples to match Nikana's expectations (I'm kidding but you were right of course).

First, this one moment of sheer perfection and simplicity :

Premier jour

Des draps blancs dans une armoire
Des draps rouges dans un lit
Un enfant dans sa mère
Sa mère dans les douleurs
Le père dans le couloir
Le couloir dans la maison
La maison dans la ville
La ville dans la nuit
La mort dans un cri
Et l'enfant dans la vie.

Or else, this one, that I find amazing too :

Dimanche

Entre les rangées d'arbres de l'avenue des Gobelins
Une statue de marbre me conduit par la main
Aujourd'hui c'est dimanche les cinémas sont pleins
Les oiseaux dans les branches regardent les humains
Et la statue m'embrasse mais personne ne nous voit
Sauf un enfant aveugle qui nous montre du doigt.

The wiki page and this website may help you to discover the man and his writings further.

Community
  • 1
Romain Valeri
  • 15,044
  • 3
  • 47
  • 91
  • Examples, links, excerpts ? :·) – Nikana Reklawyks Dec 07 '12 at 18:33
  • Yes, good idea. Some people may have access to this site but no access to wikipedia/google. Makes sense. ;-) – Romain Valeri Dec 07 '12 at 19:45
  • 1
    Roh, si je dis morceaux choisis, ça sonne plus comme si c'était toi qui avais la compétence pour nous le présenter, et moins comme si c'était moi qui avais la flemme ? ^^' – Nikana Reklawyks Dec 07 '12 at 20:10
  • @Nikana Toi tu sais parler aux hommes de lettres ;-) – Romain Valeri Dec 07 '12 at 21:42
  • Dans les poètes, le québécois Hector de Saint Denys Garneau présente lui aussi des textes très simples, bien que ça poésie soit moins "enfantine" que celle de Prévert. Mais, comme je suis dans un commentaire, je ne peux pas vous mettre d'extrait :-) – Istao Dec 21 '12 at 07:06
  • À la frontière de la poésie et de la prose, il y a la POESIE EN PROSE, avec Aloysius Bertrand et Beaudelaire, qu'on ne présente plus je suppose. Voir extraits d'Aloysius ICI et le Beaudelaire LÀ. Certaines tournures sont un peu datées, l'ensemble est de la littérature "adulte", mais toutes les phrases restent belles et simples. Toujours pas d'extraits, bien sûr :-) – Istao Dec 21 '12 at 07:23
  • J'ai fait une énoOorme faute d'ortho. dans mon premier commentaire mais je ne peux pas l'éditer !? Qu'est-ce donc qui se passe ?? – Istao Dec 21 '12 at 07:24
  • Great tip and great poems. I didn't understand every word of them, but what's great about poems is that it's also very much a rythmic pleasure to read. So you can actually enjoy them even if you don't understand all the words. – citizen Mar 10 '14 at 11:38
  • @citizen I'm extremely happy to hear that. I could just hope that the simplicity and universality I felt in Prévert's writing really was that sharable. Thanks for your comment. – Romain Valeri Mar 10 '14 at 12:22
2

Interesting question.

I would say that lot of children books are well written, simple to read yet enjoyable for adults. From illustrated books for the youngest to short novels. Comic books, if you are into it, might be interesting too.

Out of the blue, I would say you might enjoy « Les contes du chat perché » from Marcel Aymé. Of course, other « fairy tales » are good too, although Grimm's one are not natively French (but have classical translations). You still have the Charles Perrault tales... And works like « La Belle et la Bête ».

On a more contemporary side, I enjoyed « Verte » by Marie Desplechin, a modern sorceress story.

PhiLho
  • 587
  • 2
  • 6
2

In the "children's books that can also be enjoyed by adults" department, I would cite the stories of Le Petit Nicolas by Sempé and Goscinny, and also the books of Pierre Gripari (Contes de la rue Broca and similar stories).

  • +1 for Le petit Nicolas, I didn't think of it, but it seems to fit perfectly with asked material. And very fun to read, also. When Le petit Prince sometimes borders on melancholia and philosophy, Le petit Nicolas is much more light and upbeat, but is still intelligent and well written. – Romain Valeri Mar 10 '14 at 12:26
1

You should also have a look at the books which are actually used to teach French children. "Le petite prince" is listed in there among many other books.

I would also suggest the Fables From Jean de la Fontaine: see here and here.

Erwan Legrand
  • 111
  • 3
1

I would recommend “Les Contes du chat perché”, by Marcel Aymé.

Édouard
  • 7,545
  • 1
  • 28
  • 49