French Classics

There’s always a reason when a piece of literature is called a “classic.”  Sometimes it helps you understand a particular time period, sometimes it’s just masterful storytelling, and sometimes it achieved an incredible level of popularity – either way, classics are books that have stood the test of time.  Some are dramas, some romances, some action-adventure, some political thrillers, and some are science fiction, but all of these are classics.

The 1700s

Voltaire  Born François-Marie Arouet (November 21, 1694 – May 30, 1778), but known better by his pen name, Voltaire was a French writer, philosopher, and historian. He was famous for his intelligent and quick wit, his attacks on the church, and his support for freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.  Voltaire was incredibly versatile, writing plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific work. Despite the strict censorship laws at the time, Voltaire risked a great deal to fight for freedoms, often using his writing to criticize government control, intolerance, religion, cultural norms, and the French government.

Voltaire’s most popular work is Candide, a satirical adventure novel that had to be published in secret and later the book was banned because it contained blasphemy, sedition, and  hostility hidden in a naive satirical character.  Today it is one of the most widely read and taught book in all of French Literature, likely because of its sharp wit and insightful look at human nature.  Candide can be read online for free.

The 1800s

Stendhal –  Marie-Henri Beyle (January 23, 1783 – March 23, 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French author. He was known for creating very realistic characters and building detailed psychological portraits of them.  Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839) are his two most famous and successful novels.

The Red and the Black is about young man trying hard to rise above his middle class upbringing through a combination of talent, hard work, and deception.  It’s meant to be a character study of the protagonist and, at the same time, a satire of the French social structure of the time.

The Charterhouse of Parma tells the adventures of a young Italian nobleman during the Napoleonic Wars.  It is a thriller, mixing mystery and adventure, but it also delves deep into human psychology and politics from the time.  It is considered to be one of the greatest works of French Literature.

Honoré de Balzac (May 20, 1799 – August 18, 1850) was a French novelist and playwright who was considered by many to be the French Charles Dickens. His greatest work is The Human Comedy, a series of novels, stories, and poems all interlinked to present a look at French life in the early 1800s, after the fall of Napoleon.  The Human Comedy is an enormous collection, so if you just want a taste of Balzac, check out Father Goriot, widely considered Balzac’s most important novel (and part of The Human Comedy).  Set in Paris in 1819, it follows three characters: the elderly Goriot; a mysterious criminal named Vautrin; and a naive student named Eugène.

Victor Hugo (February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885) was a Romantic (see romanticism above in the Edmond Rostand section) poet, novelist, and playwright.  Thanks to his two hugely successful novels, he is considered one of the greatest and most popular French writers. In France, Hugo is actually more well-known for his poetry, but here we know him as the author of Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Les Miserables is considered one of the greatest novels of the 1800s. The story begins in  1815 and reaches its climax during the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris (not the French Revolution as many people think).  The story follows several characters preparing for, and impacted by the struggles of student groups rebelling against a corrupt French government, including ex-convict Jean Valjean and his adopted daughter.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a gothic story set in Notre Dame cathedral.  In the book, Hugo showed all walks of Parisian life, from the King all the way down to the rats in the city sewers.  The story was intended to bring to light the beauty of the gothic architecture (like Notre Dame) all over Paris that was slowly being torn down and replaced with more modern structures.  The incredible popularity of the book saved the cathedral and opened people’s’ eyes to the architectural wonders of their city.  On top of that, it’s an incredible gothic/romantic/horror/adventure story.

Alexandre Dumas (July 24, 1802 – December 5, 1870) is one of the world’s best known French writer. He is most famous for his historical adventure stories like The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in the Iron Mask.  His works have been translated into almost 100 different languages, and he is one of the most widely read French authors of all time.

The Three Musketeers tells the story of a young man named d’Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris and join the Musketeers of the Guard (the cream of the crop in the military). He helps uncover some shady goings on within the government and is called into action to help save the day.

Twenty Years After is a sequel to Musketeers and catches up with the heroes twenty years after the events of the first novel.  This time, the Musketeers have all moved on with their lives, but have been called back into action when more shady dealings are happening in the kingdom.  A subplot in the story, about a prisoner in an iron mask, has become the most popular part of the story and been made into a few movies by itself.

The Count of Monte Cristo is another great adventure story that takes place in France and Italy during important political times in Europe.  The novel is an adventure story about hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, and forgiveness. The main character is a man who was wrongfully imprisoned, escaped from prison, acquired a fortune, and tried to get revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment. One of the most beloved novels in history.

Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) was an influential French writer from the small town of Rouen (which we will visit).  He wrote in a realistic literary style and is best known for his first novel, Madame Bovary.

Madame Bovary is about Emma Bovary, a rich doctor’s wife, who has affairs and spends ridiculous amounts of money in order to escape the boredom of wealthy life.  The basic story is very simple, but Emma Bovary is considered one of the greatest characters ever written and the power of the book is found in hidden details.

Jules Verne (February 8, 1828 – March 24, 1905) was a French novelist, playwright, and poet who is known as one of the Fathers of Science Fiction best known for his adventure novels called the Voyages Extraordinaires.  He’s known for writing some of the most popular adventure novels ever published.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is about a German professor named Otto Lidenbrock who believes there are volcanic tubes that lead to the center of the Earth.  Along with his nephew, Axel, and a guide named Hans, travel down into an Icelandic volcano towards the center of the Earth, encountering many adventures, including prehistoric beasts, natural disasters, and strange occurrences.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea tells the story of one of Verne’s most famous characters, Captain Nemo and his submarine, the Nautilus.  Nemo is tired of the violence and hypocrisy in “modern” society, so he’s decided to live under the sea in a giant sub.  The story is told by Professor Pierre Aronnax, after he and two friends are kidnapped by Nemo and taken on undersea adventures all around the world.

Around the World in Eighty Days tells the story of Phileas Fogg, a wealthy young man who is a member of the Reform Club in London.  At the club, Fogg bets other members a large amount of money that he can travel all the way around the world in less than 80 days.  Fogg makes an attempt to race around the world, encounters numerous adventures, and has to deal with one of the club members secretly trying to made sure he isn’t successful.

Some other popular novels by Verne include From the Earth to the Moon and The Mysterious Island.  There are dozens more, but these are his most popular books.

Émile Zola (April 2, 1840 – September 29, 1902) was a French writer also very active in French politics.  Zola was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 and 1902

Germinal is often considered Zola’s masterpiece and one of the most important novels in the French tradition.  The novel is a harsh, but realistic story of a coalminers’ strike in France in the 1860s.  The story describes the hope for a better future that the miners strive for.

Guy de Maupassant (August 5, 1850 – July 6, 1893) was a French writer who was, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story.  Maupassant was a student of Flaubert, and his stories are known for a simple style and surprise dénouements (outcomes).  Many take place during the 1870s and the Franco-Prussian War, focusing on the futility of war and the innocent civilians who are permanently changed by war.

Boule de Suif is often considered his masterpiece, while The Necklace, and The Horla are among his most popular too.  They’re all very short, so why not read all three? If you like these ones, Maupassant has hundreds more short stories that you could find online.

The 1900s

Gaston Leroux (May 6, 1868 – April 15, 1927) was a French newspaper writer and author of detective fiction.  In the U.S., he is best known for the novel The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, 1911), which was turned into a Broadway musical and several films.

The Phantom of the Opera is the story of a mysterious phantom living beneath the Paris Opera house (a real building that’s still there).  For a while, the phantom wreaks havoc on the company, causing accidents and destroying things.  Eventually, though, he falls for one of the stars of the opera and kidnaps her during a performance.

The Mystery of the Yellow Room is more typical of Leroux’s style.  It’s called a locked room mysteries ever, and is one of the greatest mystery stories ever written.  The story concerns a seemingly impossible, crime in which the criminal seems to have disappeared from a locked room. Leroux provides the reader with detailed, precise diagrams and floor plans to help you visualize the scene of the crime, but the story is a challenge to any reader trying to figure out the ending.

Marcel Proust (July 10, 1871 – November 18, 1922) was a French novelist and essayist best known for his gigantic, seven part novel À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time; earlier translated as Remembrance of Things Past). He is considered by many to be one of the greatest authors of all time, but this book is enormous, and I can’t recommend it to middle school or high school students.

Colette whose full name was Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (January 23, 1873 – August 3, 1954), was a French author whose life a scandal and affairs could have been a soap opera.  She is best known for her novel Gigi, which was later made into both a movie and a Broadway musical. Colette was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.

Gigi is a story that could have been taken from Colette’s own life.  It’s about a young woman being trained as a courtesan, who doesn’t see eye to eye with her family’s beliefs on love and money, who catches the eye of a rich older man, and scandalously becomes his wife.

Jean-Paul Sartre (June 21, 1905 – April 15, 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. It’s important to know who Sartre was and the tremendous impact he had on literature and philosophy, especially the idea of existentialism, but he’s a difficult read for younger readers, so I don’t recommend the younger kids in our group try to tackle Sartre.

If you want to give it a shot, his most famous play is No Exit, which contains the famous line, “L’enfer, c’est les autres,” translated as “Hell is other people.” Sartre’s most important novels are the The Roads to Freedom trilogy which shows how World War II affected Sartre’s philosophical ideas.

Simone de Beauvoir (January 9, 1908 – April 14, 1986), was a French writer, philosopher, political activist, and feminist, who is also known for her long term relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre.  She wrote novels, essays, biographies, and an autobiography on philosophy, politics, and social issues.  She is known for her nonfiction book, The Second Sex, a historical look at women’s oppression and feminism.  Her most famous fiction works are the novels She Came to Stay and The Mandarins. I couldn’t find any of de Beauvoir’s writing online, so you’re on your own if you want to read something by her.