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First french reader, a beginner's dual-language book
This excellent anthology offers the beginning French-language student a first taste of some of the world's most significant prose. Chosen for both their eloquence and ease of reading, excerpts from such masterpieces as Les Misérables, The Red and the Black, Madame Bovary, Carmen, and The Three Musketeers will open new worlds for linguists. Readers will savor the words of fifty great writers of multiple genres from the seventeenth through twentieth centuries, including Voltaire, Rousseau, Balzac, Baudelaire, Dumas, Proust, and other literary virtuosos.
Lucid and accessible, the unabridged English translations by Stanley Appelbaum appear on pages that face the original French text. Literature lovers, French-language students, and other readers will find this volume a fascinating exploration of French literature...and an invaluable aid to mastering one of the world's most romantic languages.
Lucid and accessible, the unabridged English translations by Stanley Appelbaum appear on pages that face the original French text. Literature lovers, French-language students, and other readers will find this volume a fascinating exploration of French literature...and an invaluable aid to mastering one of the world's most romantic languages.
205 pages, Paperback
First published February 4, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 5, 2022
College nostalgia! Dual language, chronological anthology
of short excerpts from the greats (Voltaire, Balzac, Dumas,
Hugo, Proust, so on so on), numbered glossary
summarising the significance of each piece and faithful
translations to aid you through the often technical and convoluted prose.
The collection moves quickly through familiar stages of
literary and philosophical evolution, from the oppressive
morality of clericalist society to the revolutionary spirit of the Enlightenment. In such condensed format, the mosaic of voices, styles, and backdrops gave body and realness to an era that I had only known on paper.
From Descartes’s solitary reflections on humanity, to sweeping naturalist passages, tales of provincial tragedies and unrequited love, of nobility and peasantry, to Hugo’s vagabonds and outcasts, with ventures into the occult and lunacy, and the undertone of exploration and exoticism that foreshadowed the boom of globalisation that was to come.
Not every excerpt is enjoyable or interesting, like the inexhaustible theme of star-crossed lovers and illicit relationships, between teacher and pupil, nobility and pauper, Beauty and Beast, but minimally each piece holds value as a token of its time. It was a strangely soothing read that eclipsed and alleviated mundane pressures and concerns, with a reminder of the grandness of history.
of short excerpts from the greats (Voltaire, Balzac, Dumas,
Hugo, Proust, so on so on), numbered glossary
summarising the significance of each piece and faithful
translations to aid you through the often technical and convoluted prose.
The collection moves quickly through familiar stages of
literary and philosophical evolution, from the oppressive
morality of clericalist society to the revolutionary spirit of the Enlightenment. In such condensed format, the mosaic of voices, styles, and backdrops gave body and realness to an era that I had only known on paper.
From Descartes’s solitary reflections on humanity, to sweeping naturalist passages, tales of provincial tragedies and unrequited love, of nobility and peasantry, to Hugo’s vagabonds and outcasts, with ventures into the occult and lunacy, and the undertone of exploration and exoticism that foreshadowed the boom of globalisation that was to come.
Not every excerpt is enjoyable or interesting, like the inexhaustible theme of star-crossed lovers and illicit relationships, between teacher and pupil, nobility and pauper, Beauty and Beast, but minimally each piece holds value as a token of its time. It was a strangely soothing read that eclipsed and alleviated mundane pressures and concerns, with a reminder of the grandness of history.
January 22, 2024
I bought this book with the intention of learning and practicing French, though I quickly gave up on that endeavor. I did read the English excerpts though. Some the the stories were interesting, but it was hard to get into them when you start at a random point in the narrative.
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February 18, 2023Didn't work on Kindle
February 17, 2016
Histoires fabuleuses trouvés ici dans ce premier lecteur français , dont certains sont assez bien connu . Bien que cela puisse ne pas être votre première réelle tentative de français ... profiter .
Fabulous stories found here in this First French Reader, some of which are pretty well known. Although it may not be your actual first attempt at French...enjoy.
Fabulous stories found here in this First French Reader, some of which are pretty well known. Although it may not be your actual first attempt at French...enjoy.
Want to read
January 6, 2011I want this as it's dual-language: First French Reader: A Beginner's Dual-Language Book
August 22, 2012
This is a college text, or maybe advanced high school. It is labelled as a "beginner's" book and it is not. That said, it's a great anthology of the finest of French lit. Job well done, Monsieur Appelbaum.
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November 21, 2009None
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews