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Reading French Books

Whether in digital or print format, procuring classic French literature like Candide and Les Misérables is relatively easy, but for the ravenous bibliophile (or recovering French lit major), finding titles by great modern French and Francophone authors poses a surprising set challenges. A little savoir faire makes those obstacles surmountable.

Recently published French books (and other international titles) can be hard to come by in the U.S.; while they’re often available on e-commerce sites like Amazon.fr or Fnac.com (the Gallic version of Target), shipping fees can sometimes cost more than the book itself.

Yet, stateside Francophiles need not wait until their next trip to France before loading up on coveted volumes. Many major metropolitan cities are home to independent bookstores catering to international tastes. East-coast outposts include Manhattan’s Albertine and Schoenhof’s Foreign Books in Cambridge, MA, while European Books and Media in Oakland, California is another great resource with a robust web presence. Newly released books may still be pricey, however, and others may not be readily available, but independent shops are wonderful for physical browsing and seeking out expert opinions. Some stores also host in-store book talks, signings, and foster an overall sense of joie de lire.

A budget-friendly option is to say bonjour to your local Alliance Française (AF),a global non-profit organization founded by Louis Pasteur and Jules Verne dedicated to promoting French language and culture. Many AF chapters host monthly book clubs based on fluency level, and while fees vary, roughly $120 dollars nets participants ten books and a monthly venue for discussion. I discovered my local chapter a few years ago, and in addition to reading the latest award-winning books, I’ve had the opportunity to discuss the material in French among other Francophiles. (Groups are moderated by AF instructors.)

Our book club’s theme this year is “le retour,” or “The Return,” and includes new and recently released books by Pierre Lemaitre, Lola Lafon, Russian-born Andrei Makine, and Leïla Slimani–all prizewinning and internationally acclaimed authors. Slimani’s Chanson Douce just received the prestigious Prix Goncourt in November, and the group moderators swapped out another title so that we could decide for ourselves whether Chanson Douce merited the award. (It does. The story is loosely based on the actual homicide of two Manhattan children at the hands of their nanny. Class divisions, race, and mental instability are deftly explored in this quietly ferocious tale.)

However you satisfy your Gallic booklust, Bonne lecture! 

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Book News for the Week of December 19-23 – The Fine Books Blog

In case you’ve been too busy getting last-minute holiday errands done, here’s what you missed in the world of books this week over on the fine books blog:

Source: Book News for the Week of December 19-23 – The Fine Books Blog

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Book News for December 21, 2016

Here’s what’s making news in the book world this week:

From the Houston Chronicle: Houston’s newest bookstore: a Latino ‘cultural hub’ Nuestra Palabra Arts & Books is dedicated to promoting Latino literature and culture. 

Anne of Green Gables is catnip to television producers. Read Read Shoshana Flax’s review over at Horn Book Magazine on this latest incarnation. (Spoiler: there are better versions out there, or read the books instead.)

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The Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts celebrated its namesake’s 186th birthday with poetry readings and coconut cake. Read more on the Fine Books Blog.

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photo credit: Nicholas A. Basbanes 
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Of But A Single Pang: Emily Dickinson Birthday Celebration Includes Cake, Flowers, and Poetry

Coconut cake and poetry readings were part of the 186th birthday celebration of Emily Dickinson. Read more at the Fine Books Blog.

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Little Red

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Little Red text and art copyright Bethan Woollvin. Reproduced with permission from Peachtree Publishers

 

Little Red, by Bethan Woollvin; Peachtree Publishers, $16.95, 32 pages, ages 3-6.

Wolves remain popular subjects in picture books this year–check out our October write-up on the topic–and in this sly retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf cuts a mean figure. In debut picture-book creator Bethan Woollvin’s hands, however, the menacing wolf meets his match. Swathed in scarlet red from head to toe, Little Red is nobody’s fool, and when she crosses the wolf en route to her grandmother’s house, our plucky heroine knows right away what he’s planning to do, and won’t let him get away unpunished for it, either. A chance wolf encounter might scare some little girls away, “but not this little girl,” says the narrator. (This refrain is repeated throughout, highlighting Little Red’s steely composure.) Little Red follows the traditional storyline, but, as with any retelling, there’s a twist–take a wild guess who wields the axe in this version and comes home with a brand-new fur coat. (Grandma, sadly, never comes back.)

Bold graphic gouache illustrations rendered in black, white, red, and gray have a strong, slightly retro feel, and Little Red, with her unsmiling, unfazed demeanor would fit right into any Jon Klassen book.

An edgy re-examination of an already twisted fairy tale, Little Red shows that smart girls can take care of themselves.

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Make Way for Ducklings!

Robert McCloskey’s classic turns 75 this year, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is hosting a retrospective. Read more at the Fine Books & Collections Blog.

(Drawing for Make Way for Ducklings (“‘Look out!’ squawked Mrs. Mallard, all of a dither…”) by Robert McCloskey, 1941. Reproduced with permission from MFA Boston.)

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Life and I: A Story About Death

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Image copyright 2016 Marine Schneider, text copyright 2016 Elisabeth Helland Larsen, reproduced with permission from Little Gestalten.
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Image copyright 2016 Marine Schneider, text copyright 2016 Elisabeth Helland Larsen, reproduced with permission from Little Gestalten.

 

Last week we explored Aimée de Jongh’s graphic novel that, among other things, grapples with the untimely death of a childhood friend. Certainly, Return of the Honey Buzzard is not for the under-14 set, but the review did prompt some readers to ask whether any new picture books for young children deal with death without being trite or too complex.

While Margery Williams’ The Velveteen Rabbit (1922) is a time-tested classic, a new picture book attempts a more didactic approach, and it works. Life and I: A Story About Death by Norwegian author Elisabeth Helland Larsen introduces a rosy-cheeked girl named Death who rides her pink bicycle en route to all living creatures. Young, old, animals, plants, even the unborn and the reluctant eventually meet her. Though the thought of Death’s arrival may seem frightening, Larsen makes sense of the inevitable: “If I were to disappear, who would make way for all yet to be born,” Death wonders. (Rosie Hedger’s seamless translation from the Norwegian is a tour de force.) Life, Death’s sister, also appears in the book, making the case that one cannot exist without the other.

Families in mourning will find Life and I quietly reassuring when trying to explain why living beings expire. Marine Schneider’s pencil illustrations are delicate yet surprisingly firm–Death may be imagined as a little girl, but she is unwavering.

(Originally published by Magikon Forlag as Jeg er Døden .)

Life and I: A Story About Death, by Elisabeth Helland Larsen, illustrated by Marine Schneider, translated by Rosie Hedger; Little Gestalten, $19.95, 48 pages, ages 4 +.

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Ed Emberley Retrospective

Read the story on Friday at the Fine Books & Collections blog! (Image used with permission from Worcester Art Museum.)

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The Return of the Honey Buzzard

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Images copyright 2016 Aimee de Jongh. Reproduced with permission from Self Made Hero.

The Return of the Honey Buzzard, by Aimée de Jongh; Self-Made Hero, $22.95, 160 pages, ages 14 and up. 

We may have entered the holiday season, but some people find this time of year  downright depressing, and children (especially teenagers) can be as vulnerable as adults to downshifts in mood. To soothe wayward souls, Aimée de Jongh’s debut graphic novel poignantly deals with bullying, death, grief, and finding hope in the aftermath of trauma.

Simon is a third-generation bookstore owner forced to sell his shop during an economic downturn, and driving home one day he witnesses a suicide. While processing his emotions, memories from Simon’s childhood come surging forth, and through conversations with a mysterious girl named Regina, Simon’s long-repressed guilt over a friend’s death takes over all his thoughts. Did he ever process his friend’s untimely demise? Why does Simon blame himself for what happened to his friend? Why can’t he let these feelings go? de Jongh’s stark pen and ink illustrations are appropriate counterpoints to the difficult topics she explores. A deceptively quick read, some teenage readers may get tripped up by the author’s discussion of magic realism, but the illustrations do a good job of merging the protagonist’s daily life with allegorical elements.

Return of the Honey-Buzzard explores gun violence and suicide, and includes some strong language, but is a sensitive and powerful selection for teenage readers who themselves may be in crisis. It is also a reminder that actions have consequences–for better and for worse. But we have to face our choices, no matter how painful, in order to make progress. As Simon says in the text, “Sometimes you have to make a fresh start to survive.”

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Images copyright 2016 Aimee de Jongh. Reproduced with permission from Self Made Hero.