Memoir books from France
Recommended memoir books (26)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into memoir here are some memoir books from France for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
În pădurile Siberiei by Sylvain Tesson RO
Description:
Am înţeles la un moment dat că, de unul singur, nu voi putea schimba lumea. Aşa că nu mi-a rămas decât să mă duc undeva departe de lume, să trăiesc singur, într-o cabană. În pădurile Siberiei. Am cumpărat o izbă de lemn, pe tărâmurile nimănui, la marginea lacului Baikal. Acolo, la cinci zile de mers pe jos de prima aşezare umană, înconjurat de natura sălbatică, am încercat timp de şase luni să descopăr fericirea.
Şi cred că am reuşit. Doi câini, o vatră, nişte vreascuri de foc şi o fereastră de la care puteam privi lacul – nici n-aveam nev... continue
2.
32 Yolks : From My Mother's Table to Working the Line by Eric Ripert, Veronica Chambers EN
Description:
"Before he earned his third Michelin star at his iconic restaurant, Le Bernardin, the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year, became a regular guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef, even before he knew how to make a proper omelet, Eric Ripert was a young boy in the South of France who felt that his world had come to an end. At the age of five, his parents went through a bitter divorce. Eric moved away with his mother, whose new husband, Serge, quickly grew to resent Eric and seemed to delight in making him miserable. The only place Eric felt at home was the kitchen, where his mother trie... continue
3.
A Very Easy Death by Simone De Beauvoir EN
Description:
Day-by-day account of the death of the author's mother.
4.
After the Roundup : Escape and Survival in Hitler's France by Joseph Weismann EN
Description:
Cover -- Contents -- Translator's Foreword -- 1. Fall 1940 -- 2. The Star -- 3. July 16, 1942 -- 4. Beaune-la-Rolande -- 5. Escape -- 6. Parisian Wanderings -- 7. Three "Misérables"--8. The Americans -- 9. The Castle of Méhoncourt -- 10. Becoming French -- 11. Return to the Past -- Epilogue: Bearing Witness
5.
Algeria Is Beautiful like America by Olivia Burton EN
Description:
Algeria the Beautiful explores the rich heritage and tumultuous modern history of Algeria and its connections to Europe and colonialism. Olivia had always heard stories about Algeria from her maternal grandmother, a Black Foot (a “Pied-Noir,” the French term for Christian and Jewish settlers of French Algeria who emigrated to France after the Algerian War of Independence). After her grandmother’s death, Olivia found some of her grandmother’s journals and letters describing her homeland. Now, ten years later, she resolves to travel to Algeria and experience the country for herself; she arrives ... continue
7.
Checkout : A Life on the Tills by Anna Sam EN
Description:
Can you scan 800 barcodes an hour? Can you smile and say 'thanks' 500 times a day? Do you never need to go to the toilet? Then working on a supermarket checkout could be just the job for you. Anna Sam spent eight years as a checkout girl. She poured out her frustrations about the job in a blog that soon developed a massive following. Checkout A Life on the Tills is a witty look at what it's really like to work in a hypermarket: the relentless grind and less-than-perfect working conditions, along with the people watching and encounters with every kind of customer from the bizarre to the downrig... continue
8.
Flight to Arras by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry EN
Description:
The World War II aviator and author of The Little Prince tells his true story of flying a reconnaissance plane during the Battle of France in 1940. When the Germans first invaded France in May of 1940, the French Air Force had a mere fifty reconnaissance crews, twenty-three of which served in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Group II/33. After only a few days, seventeen of the crews in Saint-Exupéry’s unit had already perished. Flight to Arras is the harrowing story of a single mission over the French town of Arras, an endeavor Saint-Exupéry realized the futility of even as he witnessed it unfolding... continue
9.
Description:
Translated from the French by Tanya Leslie 'Absolutely extraordinary' - Liberation In 1963, Annie Ernaux, 23 and single, realises she is pregnant. Shame arises in her like a plague. Understanding that her pregnancy will mark her and her family as social failures, she knows she cannot keep her child. This is the story, written forty years later, of a trauma Ernaux never overcame. Abortion was illegal at the time and she attempted, in vain, to self-administer with a knitting needle and nearly died. An exceptionally moving account of a tragic experience.
10.
Henry şi June : din Jurnalul dragostei necenzurat : 1931-1932 by Anaïs Nin RO
Description:
Carte ecranizata in 1990 in regia lui Philip Kaufman, cu Fred Ward, Uma Thurman si Maria de Medeiros in rolurile principale
Anais Nin iubeste pasional, dincolo de conventii si pudori mostenite. Il iubeste pe Henry Miller pentru geniul si senzualitatea lui. Pe June Miller pentru frumusete si mister. Pe Hugo, sotul ei, pentru tandretea cu care o protejeaza. Pe Eduardo, varul de care a fost indragostita in copilarie, pentru farmecul lui de efeb. In jurnal, fantasmele se intalnesc cu luciditatea, iar rezultatul este o viziune unica asupra erotismului si fidelitatii.