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English Latest
Summer 2007 |
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Dear all,
Although the weather here in England remains wet and windy, at least things are looking bright on the literary front, with some excellent Summer reads both on French-related subjects, and in English translation from French.
Let us begin with the wealth of contemporary fiction on offer. In Une Vie Française (translated by Linda Coverdale), Jean-Paul Dubois gives us the moving and often amusing tale of a man whose life reflects the state of society as a whole, coming to grips with the abiding pain and intermittent beauty of what living has become.
Murder in Montmartre is the sixth in Cara Black's series of Parisian mysteries featuring private investigator Aimée Leduc, whereas The Chatelet Apprentice (translated by Michaël Glencross), is Jean-François Parot's first novel, and constitutes another gripping thriller set in Paris.
Another epic work of fiction, that was to become Alain Fournier's first and only novel, is Le Grand Meaulnes. Adored by readers ever since its publication in 1913, this magical tale of lost love now has a compelling new translation by the late Robin Buss.
Loss and love are also central themes in The Final Reminder – How I emptied my parent's house, by Lydia Flem (translated by Elfreda Powell). Here the author pens an eloquent, poignant and profoundly honest rumination on bereavement, solitude and the past.
Looking back to past events, Douglas Boyd explores what life was really like in occupied France during the Second World War in Voices from the dark years, and Marcel Détienne gives us a path-breaking history book in The Greeks and us (translated by Janet Lloyd).
Moving from history to philosophy, Slavoj Zizek's How to read Lacan offers an impressively coherent distillation of Lacanian theory, and an excellent introduction to Zizek's sprawling body of work.
Finally, we would like to point you in the direction of more unusual literary offerings on less frequently explored subjects. Theatre and drama in Francophone Africa, by John Conteh-Morgan, is a fascinating study on this nascent genre with an uncertain future. Last but not least, we have Good bread is back – A contemporary history of French bread, the way it is made, and the people who make it, by Steven Laurence Kaplan (translated by Catherine Porter). A good baguette is as integral a part of French cultural heritage as Paris and Lacan, and this beautiful book forms a fitting tribute, researched, written and illustrated with finesse.
Happy reading and best wishes,
Hervé Ferrage, Sophie Moreau and Carla Calimani.