Short Stories in French: New Penguin Parallel Text

French Short Stories #3

by Richard Coward (Editor, Translator)

Written by authors from Quebec as well as France, the majority of these stories have been published in the last decade and reflect a rich diversity of styles and themes. From Daniel Boulanger's exploration of revenge and the desire for recognition in "The Hunter's Cafe," to Alain Gerber's brief and poetic "You Never Die," these stories make excellent reading in any language.

Genres: France, Short Stories, Fiction, Language, Anthologies

214 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 1999

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

In my opinion, readers should serve as a bridge between textbooks and target language books. As far as I can tell, this book chose stories purely based on literary value, rather than on what would best help to bridge that gap. There was little dialogue, but lots of ornate, convoluted language. Perhaps a decent reader could have still been made out of this material, but the translator apparently fashioned himself a literary translator that won't stoop down to us learners and give us a translation that sticks closely to the original texts. So a great deal of time is spent with more or less literary analysis in order to make sense of how the translation relates to the original text. What a drag. But when it comes to languages, I am nothing if not persistent. So I battled on, certainly learning a good deal, but at a far higher cost in time and energy than should have been necessary. I finally finished it on my way to Montreal, and donated the book to my Airbnb room since I never want to see it again.

[Ely · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up to see if it would be okay to pass on to the girl I tutor in French—it's not really appropriate for her age, but I found some new short stories that I really like. My favourites were definitely The Third Rate Film, which was surprisingly lovely and Accursed Notebooks, which comes from a novel that I now really want, but is available NOWHERE. I guess I'll just have to read this short story over and over again...

[Adagiobear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ordered this collection of short stories online after reading a few reviews that complained that the stories tended to be dark, dull and depressing. Generally, I'm not much for fiction, but that sounded like my cup of tea. I wasn't disappointed. True, some of stories are fairly dark, but I wouldn't call them depressing or dull. In fact, I kept turning pages as quickly as my bad French would allow. The highlight of this collection for me was "David" by J.M.G Le Clézio. This story is so beautifully written that it alone was well worth the cost of admission.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some strange translation choices marred the English text, but honestly, it must be impossible to know which approach to take when translating a collection like this. Hew to close to a literal translation and the English text would be unreadable; make too many changes for the sake of readability and the book ceases to be useful as a study aid. Still, I found the stories themselves to be interesting, and the translation to be good most of the time.

[Eugene Vasilev · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai bien apprécié 'Autodestruction'. Quant au reste - médiocre. Je crois qu'un livre conçu pour améliorer la connaissance de la langue étrangère doit être intéressant pour n'importe quel lecteur. Dans ce livre la moitie des récits n'a rien pour le sujet, dans la plus pure tradition des œuvres pseudo-intellectuelles. Dans ma langue maternelles, le russe, je les nommerais 'le pets dans l'air'. Mais attention, on parle français ici !

[Linzi Kinghorn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the stories themselves were quite good. I particularly liked ‘David’, ‘The Objet D’Art’ and ‘Héloïse.’ However, although it’s been 15 years since I attempted to read anything anywhere near as complex in French, I really struggled, and inevitably kept putting it down. I couldn’t get through more than a page at a time without feeling frustrated and exhausted. Perhaps not ideal for beginners, or nouveau beginners?

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not fluent by any means, but I found some of the translation to be a little off, and my dictionary seemed to confirm me in a few places. Also, be forewarned that while many of the stories are individually very good, the collection as a whole is awfully dark... it's pretty depressing if you decide to read several consecutively.

[Thomas Beeston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obsession as a result of loneliness/loss loosely tie these twelve stories together. Most memorable for me were L'Occupation des sols, L'Objet d'art, Le Personnage and Autodestruction. Has absolutely improved my French reading

[Emily Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this collection of short stories in French by Mr. Coward is well done/bien conçu. From the beginning, he makes an excellent pitch for each story in the introduction. I think that his synopsis for each story was helpful as a “point de repère” to orientate my reading. I think that the introduction also helps in giving the collection a sense of cohesion to the overall reading experience.

I agree with others that many of the stories, but not all, have dark undertones or thematic exploration, but to me this doesn’t make them any less enjoyable. En fait, au contraire. But to each their own.

For my own reading, I chose to read in English first (usually 1-2 pages at a time), and then I read the French translation.

Overall, the selected stories feature interesting craft moves from the authors, showcasing their expertise in this genre as it relates to plot, suspense, and characterization with some really striking endings. I found the “Notes on French Texts” at the back helpful and thoughtful for contextualization.

I will say, though, I was frustrated with the English translation at times. Sometimes, there were crucial elements of the story that were left out or “lost in translation” from the French to the English. I think that people who have a French comprehension of less than B2 or maybe C1, relying on the English translation, could easily miss some of the crucial “anagnorisis” or turning point in the short story.


This was especially striking in “Le personage”. I think that the reveal of the queer relationship between the two lovers could’ve been more masterfully translated, though I understand the difficulties in each language’s constraints…for this I have subtracted a star.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this book after months of drifting in and out. There are some really beautiful stories in here. Coward's translations are great, they make the French so much easier to digest for a learner. I like that Coward includes a couple of Québécois stories, as well as stories from France. But I knocked off a star because he doesn't include a single story from anywhere else in the Francophone world. I would have liked to see some other flavours of French, not only for my French education, but for my literary one.

[Stefanos Baziotis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm giving it such a bad rating based on what the book was created for. I have two problems. First, the stories are pretty difficult for an average reader, and some usual archaic language too. Second, I personally wanted much more literature from France, although I guess the diversity of the book can be a positive for many.

[Sam Hoyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really useful resource and most of the texts were interesting. Some were a little weird, but I think only weird insofar as a short story should be weird. Maybe reading it in another language amplified that slightly because I would see a word and second guess myself then realise 'oh okay he's dead'.

[cinnamon · Rating 4 out of 5]

people (me) honestly do not appreciate the power of short stories. these were so incredible, bewildering and varied.

the only thing i will say is, these stories are nowhere near suitable for someone that isn't at least B2/C1 in french. attempting to read them in french only made the entire experience very tedious, even with the stories being so well written.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of French short stories published side-by-side with English translations on each spread. It is interesting to see how the translators chose their particular diction as compared to the original French language. Each side is subtly different. And usually better in French!

[EspeciallySarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were some gems of stories in here, it took me a while because my french is still fairly basic, but I especially loved L'Objet d'Art and the final story On Ne Meurt Jamais which has such a strong feeling of autumn and I read just as the season started.

[Nicholas Rathbone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book should be renamed “Depressing and Pointless French Short Stories”.

[Sarah M · Rating 2 out of 5]

lads

I'm finally done with this shaggin book

goodBYE

[Suzanne Ashworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful range of stories - each one very intriguing - hoping to brush up my rusty french , but just reminded me how much I have forgotten!

[Philipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure how to rate it. The stories are pretty good. But that wasn't the meat of my reading experience, since I read it mostly to refresh my French.
What I did notice, though, was that the words I knew didn't include the numerous gradations of clarity that got mentioned. I guess that's a cliche of French short stories - at least the ones in this book. From misty to foggy to murky to clear and sparkling and brilliant - those are words I never had encountered in the books that showed me how monsieur and madame Leroc ordered food in a restaurant.

[Ellen]

I got the book to help brush up on my French before a vacation in Paris. The language is very difficult for me to follow and the story lines are 'unusual.' I haven't read all of the stories yet and don't know that I will ever read them all. It's still on my reading shelf - just in case.

[Christopher Sol Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Linguistically very heavy, but it's good to get back into French after 20 years!

[Loren · Rating 5 out of 5]

love it. great stories from some great writers. really helped build my vocabulary.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this book made me realize that I am not a fan of shortstories.....but as learning material I can only recommend it ;) However I thought I'd enjoy reading it which I can't say I did so far...

[Lonely Panda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, overall the translations were good but sometimes too simplistic and maybe not the best.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok from a studying French standpoint, but from the perspective of someone who has a great respect for the short story art form, it fell abysmally short. C'est dommage.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written book. I'd like to read it again.