Flushed with triumph from our “Children’s Book Week” we are launching ourselves straight into “France Week”, starting tomorrow, on Bastille Day. (And if you don’t know what Bastille Day is, shame on you and go and look it up …).
We don’t normally reckon to do two theme weeks back-to-back … but what can I say except that we plainly couldn’t organize the proverbial wotsit in a brewery.
It’s going to be a fascinating and lively week:-
MONDAY: First up will be Jackie, on Bastille Day itself, reviewing A Treasury of Regrets, one of Susanne Alleyn’s atmospheric mysteries set immediately after The Terror.
TUESDAY: Jane Aitken, Managing Director of Gallic Books explains why they chose to market French fiction into the UK when – to quote her own words: ” ..more than enough books are generated in English.”!
WEDNESDAY: You’ll find me in Spain, with Carmen. “But, but … ” I hear you protest … “Spain is not France!” (and they say the education system is in ruins …). The original novella was written by a Frenchman, in French, and you can’t get much more French than that – so sit down and shut up at the back.
THURSDAY: The third in our occasional “In Conversation with …” series. This time, the man in the spotlight is actor Jay Benedict - probably best known to UK/US audiences as Captain John Kieffer in two episodes of “Foyle’s War” – but you’ll find you know him far better than you think you do. The French connection? He’s spent many, many years in France, he’s English/French bilingual, and (this stuff doesn’t happen by accident you know …) he played Prosper Mérimée in Vicente Aranda’s film version of Carmen. The interview started quite decorously …
FRIDAY: Kit Maude, Sales and Editorial Coordinator at Marion Boyars Publishers, reflects on the publication of Banquet of Lies by Amin Zaoui, their first bilingual (French and English) novel in many years. He’ll try and give an insight into the peculiarities of publishing and editing translated fiction, from the contract to finished book.
SATURDAY: Leena writes about La pluie d’été (Summer Rain) by Marguerite Duras, though she has yet to decide what this short novel is actually about …
SUNDAY: Mary, our Fox-in-France, rolls up her sleeves to tackle that classic of French literature, L’étranger (The Stranger) by Albert Camus.
All in all, quite a week …
(The photograph is Marielle Polska’s sculpture of Catherine Deneuve as Marianne … the symbol of the French Republic. The connection with foxes? Well, if La Deneuve isn’t foxy enough for you, I don’t know who is …).
PS: Nothing to do with France Week (although it does contain a plug for it) … Leena and I were interviewed by Mark Thwaite for his Editor’s Blog at the Book Depository last week. You’ll find the result here: What on a Wednesday.
More French literature or books with a French theme reviewed on Vulpes
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
La Mort est Mon Metier by Robert Merle
The Suicide Shop by Jean Teule
The Theory of Clouds by Stéphane Audeguy
Well, as a spectator on this one I have to say the line-up looks really meaty and in-depth. (Although I’ve heard a few rumours about this interview of yours, Moira!). I know very little about contemporary French literature and it will be interesting to hear from the publishers’ povs and am also looking forward to Mary’s tackling of the Camus. I wonder if there’s a load of Camus fans (perhaps some Camus fanfic scribblers) about to descend on us.
I’m still laughing at the explanation of the Catherine Deneuve sculpture, that’s reaching, there, Moira.
Twas a pleasure to have Moira and Leena on the What on a Wednesday spot over on The Book Depository — thanks for your time ladies!
Looking forward to seeing what Kit Maude has to say about Marion Boyars’ Zaoui novel on Friday — a bilingual novel sounds like a fab idea to me.
Ahh yes, Bastille Day – the celebration of killing lots of people…nice!
Can I put a plug in for one of my favourite books – just happens to be by a French author – The Ladies Paradise by Emile Zola. A masterpiece!
The French rarely refer to the French National Day as Bastille Day, maybe it reminds them of bloodshed, battles, killings, prisons and guillotine!! In fact, some even propose to alter some of the words in ‘La Marsaillaise’, the French anthem.
My favourite French author is Guy de Maupassant.
Guy de Maupassant
My hats off to Moira who knows about ‘Marianne’ and has posted the image here.
Marianne is the embodiment of the French Republic. Marianne represents the permanent values that found her citizens’ attachment to the Republic: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”. Unfortunately Marianne now appears in an expurgated version. The latest figures most popular with today’s town halls are modeled on the features of Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve (photo above) and Laetitia Casta.
Oops, sorry for the typo. It should be ‘La Marseillaise’.
I did recently finish The Drinking Den by Zola and found his naturalistic style a bit too heavy-going. But a France Week without a mention Flaubert? I’ll have to go for a lie down, and then return for the Camus review, which I’m looking forward to.
I was going to say that maybe Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People would have been a good image to have as the header, but I think that’s probably too common and chocolate-boxy now, and yours is much more original. Now that I’ve praised your judgement…
…could I possibly try and persuade the foxes to have an India Week as the 15th August – the 60th anniversary of India’s Independence from the British Empire – approaches? I’ve just finished The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 by William Dalrymple, centred around the Indian Mutiny, and I’m pretty much insisting everyone read it. A great book (even if he does occasionally forget to extend the same understanding towards the British as he does towards the Indians.)
(Okay, okay. I know it’s actually the 61st anniversary, but that’s nowhere near as persuasive-sounding.)