Thursday 17 March 2011

Dutch and French Books

From time to time, I read a French or a Dutch book. I prefer to read a book in its original language because with a translation there is always a third person in the conversation, the translator. Unfortunately, I don't speak all the languages I would like to and therefore have to rely on translations from time to time. These are the books I managed to enjoy (or not) just like that.


Word cloud made with WordItOut

DUTCH
Abdolah, Kader "Het huis van de moskee" (The House of the Mosque) - 2005
- "Spijkerschrift" (My Father’s Notebook) - 2000
Benali, Abdelkader "Bruiloft aan zee" (Wedding by the Sea) - 1996
Boom, Corrie Ten "De Schuilplaats" (The Hiding Place. The Triumphant Story of Corrie Ten Boom) - 1972
Brijs, Stefan "De engelenmaker" (The Angel Maker) - 2005
de Loo, Tessa "De Tweeling" (The Twins/Die Zwillinge) - 1993
de Man, Herman "Het wassende water" [The Growing Water - not translated] - 1925
de Winter, Leon "De Hemel van Hollywood" (The Hollywood Sign) - 1997
- "Zionoco" (Zionoco) - 1995
Dorrestein, Renate "Een hart van steen" (A Heart of Stone) - 1998
Durlacher, Jessica "Het Geweten" (The Conscience) - 1998
Eggels, Elle "The House of the Seven Sisters" (Het Huis van de Zeven Zusters) - 1998
Enquist, Anna "Mei" [May] - 2007
Frank, Anne "Het Achterhuis" (The Diary of a Young Girl) - 1942-44
Hertmans, Stefan "Oorlog en terpentijn" (War and Turpentine) - 2013
Hirsi Ali, Ayaan "Mijn Vrijheid" (Infidel: My Life) - 2006
Koch, Herman "Het Diner" (The Dinner) - 2009
Linthout, Dik "Onbekende buren" [Unknown Neighbours - not translated] - 2002
Mak, Geert "De eeuw van mijn vader" (Das Jahrhundert meines Vaters) [My Father's Century] - 1999
- "De goede stad" [The Good Town - not translated] - 2007
- "Hoe God verdween uit Jorwerd. Een Nederlands Dorp In De Twintigste Eeuw" (Jorwerd: The Death of the Village in late 20th Century) - 1996
- "In Europa: Reizen door de twintigste eeuw" (In Europe. Travels through the twentieth century) - 2004
Marbe, Nausicaa "Mândraga" (Mandraga/Mandraga) - 1998
McLeod, Cynthia "Hoe duur was de suiker?" (The Cost of Sugar) - 1987
Mulisch, Harry "De Ontdekking van de hemel" (The Discovery of Heaven)- 1992
Multatuli (Eduard Douwes Dekker) "Max Havelaar of de koffiveilingen der Nederlandsche Handelmaatschappy" (Max Havelaar, or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company) - 1859
Münstermann, Hans "Het gelukkige jaar 1940" (The Happy Year 1940 - not translated into English/Das glückliche Jahr 1940) - 2000
Poortvliet, Rien "De tresoor van Jacob Jansz. Over het vermoedelijke leven van een gewone man voor de 80-jarige oorlog in 1566" (Daily Life in Holland in 1566) - 1991
't Hart, Maarten "De zonnewijzer" (The Sundial) - 2002
Unigwe, Chika "On Black Sisters’ Street" (Fata Morgana) - 2007   
Verhoef, Esther "Erken mij" [Acknowledge me - not translated] - 2009
Westerman, Frank "De graanrepubliek" [The Grain Republic - not translated] - 1999

FRENCH
Bâ, Mariama "Une si longue lettre" (So Long a Letter) - 1979
Barbery, Muriel "L’Elégance du hérisson" (The Elegance of the Hedgehog/Die Eleganz des Igels) - 2006
Beauvoir, Simone de "L'invitée" (She came to stay/Sie kam und blieb) - 1943
Beckett, Samuel "En attendant Godot" (Waiting for Godot/Warten auf Godot) - 1952
Betancourt, Íngrid "Même le silence a une fin" (Even Silence has an End: My Six Years in the Jungle) - 2010
Camus, Albert "L'étranger" (The Stranger/The Outsider) - 1942
- "Les Justes" (The Just Assassins) - 1949
- "La Peste" (The Plague) - 1947
- "Le premier homme" (The First Man/Der erste Mensch) - 1994
Cinquin, Marie-Madeleine = Sœur Emmanuelle avec Duquesne, Jacques; Cayrol, Annabelle "J'ai 100 ans et je voudrais vous dire … Sa dernière confession" [I'm 100 years old and I wanted to say ... Her last confession - not translated] - 2008
Dai, Sijie "Balzac et la Petite Tailleuse Chinoise" (Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress) - 2002
- "Par une nuit où la lune ne s’est pas levée" (Once on a Moonless Night) - 2007
Deforges, Regine "La Bicyclette Bleue" (The Blue Bicycle) - 1981
Delacourt, Grégoire "La liste de mes envies" (The list of my desires/My Wish List) - 2012 
Denuzière, Maurice "Louisiane. Trilogie" (Louisiana. Trilogy) - 1977
Dugain, Marc "La Chambre des officiers" (The Officer's Ward) - 1999
Dumas, Alexandre "Le comte de Monte-Cristo" (The Count of Monte Cristo) - 1844-46
Ernaux, Annie "Les années" (The Years) - 2008
Ferri, Jean-Yves; Didier Conrad, Didier "Le Papyrus de César" (Asterix and the Missing Scroll) - 2015 
Hugo, Victor "Les Misérables" (Les Misérables) - 1862  
Gavalda, Anna "35 kilos d’espoir" (95 pounds of hope) - 2002
- "Je voudrais quelqu'un m'attende quelque part" (I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere) - 1999
- "Ensemble c'est tout" (Hunting and Gathering) - 2006
Hespel, Evelyne "Le Petit Tsar" [The Little Czar] - 2018
Hessel, Stéphane "Indignez-vous!" (Time for Outrage!) - 2011
Ionesco, Eugène "Rhinocéros" (Rhinoceros) - 1957 
Le Clézio, Jean-Marie Gustave "L'Africain" (The African) - 2004
Lafayette, Madame de (Marie-Madeleine) "La Princesse de Clèves" (The Princess of Cleves) - 1678  
Leroux, Gaston "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra" (The Phantom of the Opera) - 1910
Levy, Marc "Mes amis mes amours" (London Mon Amour) - 2006
Maalouf, Amin "Samarcande" (Samarkand) - 1988 
Modiano, Patrick "La Place de l'Étoile" (Place de l'Étoile) - 1968
Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) "L'Avare ou l’École du mensonge" (The Miser or The School for Lies) - 1668
Navarre, Marguerite de "Heptaméron" (Heptameron) - 1578
NDiaye, Marie "Rosie Carpe" (Rosie Carpe) - 2001

Némirovsky, Irène "La Proie" [The Prey] - 1938
- "Suite Française" (Suite Française) - 2004

Noa Bercovitch, Pascale "Oline, le dauphin du miracle" (The Dolphin's Boy) - 2000

Orsenna, Erik "La grammaire est une chanson douce" (Grammar Is a Sweet, Gentle Song) - 2001
Pagnol, Marcel "Jean de Florette, L'eau des collines #1" (Jean de Florette) - 1963
Saint-Exupéry, Antoine "Le Petit Prince" (The Little Prince)  - 1943
Sand, George "La Petite Fadette" (Fadette aka Fanchon, the Cricket) - 1849
Satrapi, Marjane "Persepolis. Vol 1" (Persepolis.
The Story of a Childhood) - 2000
- "Persepolis. Vol. 2" (Persepolis. The Story of a Return) - 2000 
Schmitt, Éric-Emmanuel "Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran" (Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran" - 1999
- "Oscar et la dame rose" (Oscar and the Lady in Pink) - 2002
Serreau, Coline "Saint-Jacques... La Mecque" (Pilgern auf französisch) (Pilgrimage in French - not translated) - 2005
Slimani, Leïla "
Dans le jardin de l'ogre" (Adèle) - 2014
Staël, Anne-Louise-Germaine de "Corinne ou l'Italie" (Corinne: Or Italy) - 1807
Stendhal "Le Rouge et le Noir" (The Red and the Black) - 1830
Sthers, Amanda "Chicken Street" (Chicken Street) - 2006
Wiazemsky, Anne "Sept Garçons" (Seven Boys) -  2002
Wiesel, Elie "La Nuit" (Night) - 1958

4 comments:

  1. I love your mix of classics and more recent. Schmitt is a great author

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Emma. As with my other books, I like to read both, and it's easier to find French books that are halfway affordable if they belong to the classics.

      Yes, Schmitt is also not too difficult since he wrote for younger readers. That's something I really appreciate.

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  2. You have read a lot of great books! It's funny to see Max Havelaar on the list because to me it's just a label at the grocery store. Guess I should find out more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lory. It's interesting, I never saw his name before the book was recommended by a Dutch member of our book club. It's an interesting story about the Dutch East Indian Company and the people back then.

      I hope you find some interesting literature here. Enjoy.

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