Short story books from France
Recommended short story books (12)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into short story here are some short story books from France for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert EN
Description:
Flaubert's most famous short work meditates on the unexamined, futile life of a servant and her beloved parrot.
2.
Eastbound by Maylis De Kerangal EN
Description:
In this gripping tale, a Russian conscript and a French woman cross paths on the Trans-Siberian railroad, each fleeing to the east for their own reasons Perfect for fans of Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle and The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles Eastbound is both an adventure story and a duet of two vibrant inner worlds. In mysterious, winding sentences gorgeously translated by Jessica Moore, De Kerangal gives us the story of two unlikely souls entwined in a quest for freedom with a striking sense of tenderness, sharply contrasting the brutality of the surrounding world. Racing toward Vladivosto... continue
3.
Fever by Jean Marie Le Clezio EN
Description:
In these nine unforgettable and impressionistic 'tales of little madness', the Nobel Prize-winning author Le Clézio explores how the physical sensations we experience every day can be as strong as feelings of love or hate, with their power to bring chaos to our lives. In 'The Day that Beaumont became Acquainted with his Pain', a man with toothache spends the night seeking ways to disown his throbbing jaw; in 'Fever', Roch finds his mind transported by sunstroke; while in 'A Day of Old Age' little Joseph tries to comprehend the physical suffering of a dying old woman. Set in a timeless, spacele... continue
4.
Gigi and The Cat by Colette EN
Description:
In these two stories, Colette reveals her grasp of the politics of love. Gigi is being educated in the skills of the courtesan. However, when it comes to the question of Gaston Lachaille, she does not want to obey the rules. This translation originally published: London: Secker & Warburg, 1953.
6.
I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere by Anna Gavalda EN
Description:
I Wish Someone Were Waiting For Me Somewhere explores how a life can be changed irrevocably in just one fateful moment. A pregnant mother's plans for the future unravel at the hospital; a travelling salesman learns the consequences of an almost-missed exit on the motorway in the newspaper the next morning; while a perfect date is spoilt by a single act of thoughtlessness. In those crucial moments Gavalda demonstrates her almost magical skill in conveying love, lust, longing, and loneliness. Someone I Loved is a hauntingly intimate look at the intolerably painful, yet sometimes valuable consequ... continue
7.
Description:
A haunting, bizarre short story collection about violence, mental illness, and the warped contradictions of the twentieth-century female experience. A close friend and protégé of Marguerite Duras, Barbara Molinard (1921-1986) wrote and wrote feverishly, but only managed to publish one book in her lifetime: the surreal, nightmarish collection Panics. These thirteen stories beat with a frantic, off-kilter rhythm as Molinard obsesses over sickness, death, and control. A woman becomes transfixed by a boa constrictor at her local zoo, mysterious surgeons dismember their patient, and the author narr... continue
8.
The Best Stories of Arsene Lupin by Maurice LeBlanc EN
Description:
Based on the popular Netflix series! In the early 20th century, esteemed writer Maurice Leblanc created Arsène Lupin, a French Sherlock Holmes-type who became known as the gentleman thief. Lupin's exploits, in pursuit of the rich, have been documented in more than twenty stories and books, as well as in film. In January 2021, Netflix released a major hit in the entertaining Lupin mystery-comedy series based on the stories. The Best Stories of Arsène Lupin is a collection of the most engaging of Leblanc's writing about Lupin, with a special foreword by West Point associate professor of English ... continue
9.
The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono EN
Description:
Twenty years ago Chelsea Green published the first trade edition of The Man Who Planted Trees, a timeless eco-fable about what one person can do to restore the earth. The hero of the story, Elz ard Bouffier, spent his life planting one hundred acorns a day in a desolate, barren section of Provence in the south of France. The result was a total transformation of the landscape-from one devoid of life, with miserable, contentious inhabitants, to one filled with the scent of flowers, the songs of birds, and fresh, flowing water. Since our first publication, the book has sold over a quarter of a mi... continue
10.
Description:
The colours and scents of the Parisian world provide the backdrop to this book and its observations on the loss of childhood magic, the insecurity of solitude and the stresses and strains between husbands, wives, lovers and mistresses.