Love this reading vlog. You always get me interested in whatever it is you're reading. I have to explore French classics as I only read Notre Dame de Paris (which I adored).
I love French classics. You have to read Scarlet and Black by Stendhal, Les Mis by Victor Hugo, and Lost Illusions by Honore de Balzac. The last two are doorstoppers, but worth every second you spent reading them.
Thanks for this cozy reading vlog. I like it when you include snippets of your life and the city into your videos. Therese Raquin and Pere Goriot go straight into my cart.
Wow. I found you through emmie's booktube channel, and I'm so grateful. You have such an incredible reading range, I can hardly believe English is your second language. Thank you for all the beautiful book recommendations. Looking forward to seeing more cozy content! p.s. you have a lovely booktube community here. Very happy to be a part of all this ❤
I personally think any of these 3 would be a good place to start. If you want something on a darker side for the autumn take Therese Raquin. You'll fly through it. It's so absorbing. If you want something simpler and a bit more straightforward - take A Life. It's nothing mind-blowing but quite interesting and beautifully written. Pere Goriot is easy to read as well but it's so heart-breaking. Your heart will hurt for this sweet old man. So prepare yourself for it :)
Tanya, I speak French as a second language, but have only read Thérese Raquin among the novels you were reading. I also read Germinal by him, which I thought was much better. The psychology in Thrérese Raquin was a little weak, I thought. Georges Bernanos's novel, A Diary of a Country Priest, is very worth reading. He is a very Catholic writer just as Dostoyevsky is a very Orthodox writer. You have inspired me to read Père Goriot, but I don't know when I will be able to do it.
I haven't read the other two (yet) but I can tell you that Pere Goriot is even better in the original. The scene with Rastignac and Goriot, in his cold attic room, is just heart-wrenching. That was Balzac's special forte - recognizing that the chariot wheels of civilization seldom pause for a human heart in their path.
I'm sure it's absolutely wonderful in French. I wish I knew French to read it in the original. I have his Eugenie Grandet so I think it'll be my next read of his. I should get and read more of Honore de Balzac.
@@bookishtopics Is okay - in English it's pretty good too. Read it that first semester in college in '81. Professor assigned King Lear too, which involves a similar dynamic.
Well, glad you liked Therese Raquin. It's kind of a French Crime and Punishment without Dostoevski's posturing and attempt to blame the crime on Raskolnikov's sense of superiority, which he accuses Russian intelligentsia of being guilty of. I never read the novel, but I did read the play Zola made from it. In it, Zola makes it clear that Therese's husband is really a very decent person, a good friend, and very well disposed to his wife and trusting of his friend. I'm not sure if that was expressed in the novel, but there's no doubt about it in the play. Both his wife and his friend betray him and murder him. They do seem to experience guilt, and the guilt induces fear--largely fear of each other. They don't trust each other with their guilty secret. And the mother who befriended Therese and treated her as her daughter when she discovers the truth hates them both with a passion. Also in the play version Therese was very poor and, as I recall, an orphan. She had no prospects of getting married because of her poverty. Marrying her cousin, even though he was sickly, and not interested in (or possibly because of his illnesses incapable of) a physical relationship, was really a good deal for her. She wasn't forced into the marriage, and probably could have refused but marrying her cousin would mean she would be much better off financially for as long as he and his mother lived. Therese is an Emma Bovary gone to the dark side of life. Emma was pretty much of a fool, but compared to Therese, an angel.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I didn't know this book had a play adaptation made by Zola. I personally did see the situation in a bit different light (the way I described it in the video). It could be purely my own perception of things though. But I do remember Zola talking about Camile as spoilt and thinking of his own wishes first. He wasn't completely white and fluffy in the book. And other things you described, I saw them differently. I like your comparison of Therese with Emma Bovary. They do have a lot in common. Emma is just like Therese is very driven in search of satisfaction of her sensual needs and wishes. Come to think of it, she kills her husband too, only in a different manner. I really like your comparison of these two.
I really want to read Therese Raquin and Pere Goriot. Of these authors I've only read a collection of Guy de Maupassant's horror stories. Another good french classic about the French society of that time is Stendhal's Red and Black
These two are really great. So different but quite equally great. I hope you'll enjoy them! I think I'll read Red and Black some time soon. I remember my dad recommended it to me too when I was still in school :) Thank you for the recommendation! I hope you're having a great day!
the french lit student in me is so happy you're reading french classics! one of my uni professors recently mentioned thérèse raquin and i really really wanna read it!
You should! It reads so fast. The chapters (at least in the Oxford edition) are really short, that's why you fly through it. I hope you like it when you get to it!
I read Pere Goriot about 12 years ago, and Cousin Bette, also by Balzac. I remember thinking they were good, but not special. I've read Three Musketeers and Count of Monte Cristo, by Dumas; Les Miserables and Notre Dame de París by Hugo - the latter three are superb. I've read Candide by Voltaire - wasn't very impressed. And Red and Black by Stendhal - quite indifferent to the first ⅘ of it and then it packed in a lot of substance at the end. And I have Germinal by Zola to read at some point. Perhaps I should read Madame Bovary too. But there's a long queue of books ahead of that!
Thank you for posting this exploration of three French classics. I still have the paperback of Pere Goriot that I read in high school. I have been meaning to re-read it sometime, and your praise of the book makes me want to do that soon. That quandary the book described - of getting rich in exchange for a person dying - was developed into a very short story by Richard Matheson called “Button, Button” (1970). A stranger gives a woman a curious device that has a single button. All the woman needs to do is press the button and two things will happen. She will gain $50,000 and someone she does not really know will die. Matheson also turned it into a 1986 Twilight Zone episode with an even better ending. For another French classic, I recommend “Around The World In Eighty Days” by Jules Verne. It is thoroughly delightful.
Oh intersting! I'll try to find that story. I've never heard of this writer before. He's apparently a horror writer? Probably that's why. Is it a scary story? Around the world in 80 days is actually a good idea! I own a copy. I'll keep it for the next time I read French classics. Thank you for the recommendations!
@@bookishtopics Richard Matheson wrote some horror, thrillers, science fiction, and magical realism stories. His most famous novels are “I Am Legend” and “The Shrinking Man”. His most famous Twilight Zone episode is “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (an airline passenger looks out his window and sees a gremlin tearing apart the left engine). But no, “Button, Button” is not a scary story.
My entry into Guy de Maupassant was Like Death (NYRB translation) and it was so beautifully written. Chekhov loves to reference Maupassant, and I plan to devour more. I also just started Zola's Rougon-Macquart books, since Oxford put out a complete set in translation. I wish they would do the same for Balzac, since my French is terrible 😭.
I'm currently in the process of collecting the same set too! My French is non-existent and they don't publish this whole series in Russian so Oxford is my only option too. I now have the first 6. 14 to go :D I'm afraid they'll go out of print. I'm thinking of starting with it too. Either at the end of this year or at the beginning of the next. Are you reading them in publication order or in the recommended reading order?
@@bookishtopics I'm doing Zola's recommended reading order. I don't think it will make a huge difference, but I thought I'd go by what he said. I'm really enjoying them!
I bought 3 books by this guy via Amazon. They are in my closet. I don’t want to read them because they concern topics more for women. I don’t know what to do with them. Trash basket looks inviting.
Love this reading vlog. You always get me interested in whatever it is you're reading. I have to explore French classics as I only read Notre Dame de Paris (which I adored).
I love French classics. You have to read Scarlet and Black by Stendhal, Les Mis by Victor Hugo, and Lost Illusions by Honore de Balzac. The last two are doorstoppers, but worth every second you spent reading them.
Thanks for this cozy reading vlog. I like it when you include snippets of your life and the city into your videos. Therese Raquin and Pere Goriot go straight into my cart.
Also, I really like the cover artwork on that Oxford Classics Pere Goriot!
thank-you for your lovely video ,I really like how you blend your walks ect and talking about the books .
Wow. I found you through emmie's booktube channel, and I'm so grateful. You have such an incredible reading range, I can hardly believe English is your second language. Thank you for all the beautiful book recommendations. Looking forward to seeing more cozy content!
p.s. you have a lovely booktube community here. Very happy to be a part of all this ❤
These sound so gorgeous and delightful!
Thank you for these recommendations, Tanya! I'm glad you are having a wonderful reading time 🥰
I'm wondering where to start with French classics!
I personally think any of these 3 would be a good place to start. If you want something on a darker side for the autumn take Therese Raquin. You'll fly through it. It's so absorbing. If you want something simpler and a bit more straightforward - take A Life. It's nothing mind-blowing but quite interesting and beautifully written. Pere Goriot is easy to read as well but it's so heart-breaking. Your heart will hurt for this sweet old man. So prepare yourself for it :)
I should read some French classics too. I only read Les Mis. Thanks for encouraging me!
I love these long vlogs 😍
Great reading vlog. I guess i need all of these books now
Thank you and I hope you enjoy the books!
Tanya, I speak French as a second language, but have only read Thérese Raquin among the novels you were reading. I also read Germinal by him, which I thought was much better. The psychology in Thrérese Raquin was a little weak, I thought. Georges Bernanos's novel, A Diary of a Country Priest, is very worth reading. He is a very Catholic writer just as Dostoyevsky is a very Orthodox writer. You have inspired me to read Père Goriot, but I don't know when I will be able to do it.
Thank you for the recommendation! It's the first time I hear about this author. I'll read it as soon as get it.
I haven't read the other two (yet) but I can tell you that Pere Goriot is even better in the original. The scene with Rastignac and Goriot, in his cold attic room, is just heart-wrenching. That was Balzac's special forte - recognizing that the chariot wheels of civilization seldom pause for a human heart in their path.
I'm sure it's absolutely wonderful in French. I wish I knew French to read it in the original. I have his Eugenie Grandet so I think it'll be my next read of his. I should get and read more of Honore de Balzac.
@@bookishtopics Is okay - in English it's pretty good too. Read it that first semester in college in '81. Professor assigned King Lear too, which involves a similar dynamic.
Loved all your comments on the novels. Great vlog. Keep up the good work
Thank you very much! 😊📚
Thanks for your vlog, you made me interested for all three books
Well, glad you liked Therese Raquin. It's kind of a French Crime and Punishment without
Dostoevski's posturing and attempt to blame the crime on Raskolnikov's sense of superiority, which he accuses Russian intelligentsia of being guilty of. I never read the novel, but I did read the play Zola made from it. In it, Zola makes it clear that Therese's husband is really a very decent person, a good friend, and very well disposed to his wife and trusting of his friend. I'm not sure if that was expressed in the novel, but there's no doubt about it in the play. Both his wife and his friend betray him and murder him. They do seem to experience guilt, and the guilt induces fear--largely fear of each other. They don't trust each other with their guilty secret. And the mother who befriended Therese and treated her as her daughter when she discovers the truth hates them both with a passion. Also in the play version Therese was very poor and, as I recall, an orphan. She had no prospects of getting married because of her poverty. Marrying her cousin, even though he was sickly, and not interested in (or possibly because of his illnesses incapable of) a physical relationship, was really
a good deal for her. She wasn't forced into the marriage, and probably could have refused
but marrying her cousin would mean she would be much better off financially for as long as he and his mother lived. Therese is an Emma Bovary gone to the dark side of life. Emma was pretty much of a fool, but compared to Therese, an angel.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I didn't know this book had a play adaptation made by Zola. I personally did see the situation in a bit different light (the way I described it in the video). It could be purely my own perception of things though. But I do remember Zola talking about Camile as spoilt and thinking of his own wishes first. He wasn't completely white and fluffy in the book. And other things you described, I saw them differently.
I like your comparison of Therese with Emma Bovary. They do have a lot in common. Emma is just like Therese is very driven in search of satisfaction of her sensual needs and wishes. Come to think of it, she kills her husband too, only in a different manner. I really like your comparison of these two.
I just finished A Life and I loved it! It is one of my favorite reads of 2022. I am about to start Bel Ami By the same author.
Therese Raquin is one of my favourite books and I'm so glad you read it! 🥰
I really want to read Therese Raquin and Pere Goriot. Of these authors I've only read a collection of Guy de Maupassant's horror stories. Another good french classic about the French society of that time is Stendhal's Red and Black
These two are really great. So different but quite equally great. I hope you'll enjoy them!
I think I'll read Red and Black some time soon. I remember my dad recommended it to me too when I was still in school :) Thank you for the recommendation!
I hope you're having a great day!
the french lit student in me is so happy you're reading french classics!
one of my uni professors recently mentioned thérèse raquin and i really really wanna read it!
You should! It reads so fast. The chapters (at least in the Oxford edition) are really short, that's why you fly through it. I hope you like it when you get to it!
I read Pere Goriot about 12 years ago, and Cousin Bette, also by Balzac. I remember thinking they were good, but not special. I've read Three Musketeers and Count of Monte Cristo, by Dumas; Les Miserables and Notre Dame de París by Hugo - the latter three are superb. I've read Candide by Voltaire - wasn't very impressed. And Red and Black by Stendhal - quite indifferent to the first ⅘ of it and then it packed in a lot of substance at the end. And I have Germinal by Zola to read at some point. Perhaps I should read Madame Bovary too. But there's a long queue of books ahead of that!
Thank you for posting this exploration of three French classics. I still have the paperback of Pere Goriot that I read in high school. I have been meaning to re-read it sometime, and your praise of the book makes me want to do that soon.
That quandary the book described - of getting rich in exchange for a person dying - was developed into a very short story by Richard Matheson called “Button, Button” (1970). A stranger gives a woman a curious device that has a single button. All the woman needs to do is press the button and two things will happen. She will gain $50,000 and someone she does not really know will die. Matheson also turned it into a 1986 Twilight Zone episode with an even better ending.
For another French classic, I recommend “Around The World In Eighty Days” by Jules Verne. It is thoroughly delightful.
Oh intersting! I'll try to find that story. I've never heard of this writer before. He's apparently a horror writer? Probably that's why. Is it a scary story?
Around the world in 80 days is actually a good idea! I own a copy. I'll keep it for the next time I read French classics. Thank you for the recommendations!
@@bookishtopics Richard Matheson wrote some horror, thrillers, science fiction, and magical realism stories. His most famous novels are “I Am Legend” and “The Shrinking Man”. His most famous Twilight Zone episode is “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (an airline passenger looks out his window and sees a gremlin tearing apart the left engine). But no, “Button, Button” is not a scary story.
0:54 The cover on the book is a painting by Monet. I wonder why the publisher chose that to make the cover for this book!
Hello Dear Sister. Greetings and blessings from San Juan de Lurigancho, Lima, Perú.
Thanks!
Thank you very much!
My entry into Guy de Maupassant was Like Death (NYRB translation) and it was so beautifully written. Chekhov loves to reference Maupassant, and I plan to devour more. I also just started Zola's Rougon-Macquart books, since Oxford put out a complete set in translation. I wish they would do the same for Balzac, since my French is terrible 😭.
I'm currently in the process of collecting the same set too! My French is non-existent and they don't publish this whole series in Russian so Oxford is my only option too. I now have the first 6. 14 to go :D I'm afraid they'll go out of print. I'm thinking of starting with it too. Either at the end of this year or at the beginning of the next. Are you reading them in publication order or in the recommended reading order?
@@bookishtopics I'm doing Zola's recommended reading order. I don't think it will make a huge difference, but I thought I'd go by what he said. I'm really enjoying them!
@@mattkean1128 I think I'll do the same. It's probably the best way to go
Oh, you must read A Simple Heart by Flaubert ..it is another favorite of mine.
🐈
I bought 3 books by this guy via Amazon. They are in my closet. I don’t want to read them because they concern topics more for women. I don’t know what to do with them. Trash basket looks inviting.