Did you know that April 23 is World Book and Copyright Day? This day allows us to recognize the importance of reading, but also the richness of those who create worlds. Learning French as a second language means opening up to another culture. Reading is a great way to explore it while practicing your French!
Back in January, we ran a contest on our Facebook and Instagram pages asking our followers for their literary favorites. So we thought we’d gather them here to inspire you!
1. Flash, ou le Grand Voyage by Charles Duchaussois
This story, originally published in 1971, is an autobiography of the author recounting a trip to Kathmandu, Nepal. In this place known for the high presence of drugs, he plunges into drug addiction until he reaches the threshold of madness.
2. Chroniques de jeunesse by Guy Delisle
Combining history with autobiography, this strip cartoon recounts the author’s memories of his experience as a worker at his father’s pulp and paper mill. This funny and touching story paints a portrait of the working class environment, but also of the author’s formative years as an artist.
3. 2084 by Boualem Sansa
A contemporary novel whose author imagines a world where the system is based on amnesia and submission to the single god. Any personal thought is banned, an omnipresent surveillance system allows to know the deviant ideas and acts.
4. Folle by Nelly Arcan
After the success of her novel Putain, the late author becomes her own character in this story tinged with despair. Nelly Arcan writes a letter to the man who left her. Conquest, abandonment, desire, cyber-sex and coke. She evokes the madness surrounding love, jealousy and the planetary dictatorship of the image.
5. Le Sablier by Édith Blais
This true story recounts the terrible adventure of Edith Blais, a Quebec woman captured in Africa in 2019 and held captive in the desert for 15 months. Her story, interspersed with poems written during her captivity, answers all the questions that everyone has about what happened during this long period.
6. Culottées : des femmes qui ne font que ce qu’elles veulent by Pénélope Bagieu
This feminist comic book, presented in two volumes, presents more than fifteen portraits of women who have invented their destiny.
7. Shuni by Naomi Fontaine
In the form of a letter, the author, Naomi Fontaine, recounts her memories, her history within her Innu community. She takes the opportunity to address her son and tells of the doubt that hangs over the heart and mind of the colonized.
Please note that all descriptions are inspired by the website Les Libraires.
Enjoy your reading!
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