Memoir books set in France (15)


Find more books set in France by genre:
1.

Happening by Annie Ernaux EN

Rating: 4 (3 votes)
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
Translated from the French by Tanya Leslie 'Absolutely extraordinary' - Liberation In 1963, Annie Ernaux, 23 and single, realises she is pregnant. Shame arises in her like a plague. Understanding that her pregnancy will mark her and her family as social failures, she knows she cannot keep her child. This is the story, written forty years later, of a trauma Ernaux never overcame. Abortion was illegal at the time and she attempted, in vain, to self-administer with a knitting needle and nearly died. An exceptionally moving account of a tragic experience.

2.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly : A Memoir of Life in Death by Jean-Dominique Bauby EN

Rating: 4 (2 votes)
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
A triumphant memoir by the former editor-in-chief of French Elle that reveals an indomitable spirit and celebrates the liberating power of consciousness. In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of French Elle, the father of two young children, a 44-year-old man known and loved for his wit, his style, and his impassioned approach to life. By the end of the year he was also the victim of a rare kind of stroke to the brainstem. After 20 days in a coma, Bauby awoke into a body which had all but stopped working: only his left eye functioned, allowing him to see and, by blinking it, to... continue

3.

Passion Simple by Annie Ernaux FR

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
Un Don Juan à éclipses, venu de l'Est, fait souffrir une nouvelle Bovary. Sur le thème de l'attente amoureuse, un roman sentimental de type "Harlequin", investi, avec une autorité sobre, par une intellectuelle. La critique est partagée. J.-F. Josselin, du ##Nouvel Observateur##, dit que ce petit livre est "aussi charmant qu'inutile."

4.

Flight to Arras by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry EN

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
The World War II aviator and author of The Little Prince tells his true story of flying a reconnaissance plane during the Battle of France in 1940. When the Germans first invaded France in May of 1940, the French Air Force had a mere fifty reconnaissance crews, twenty-three of which served in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Group II/33. After only a few days, seventeen of the crews in Saint-Exupéry’s unit had already perished. Flight to Arras is the harrowing story of a single mission over the French town of Arras, an endeavor Saint-Exupéry realized the futility of even as he witnessed it unfolding... continue




8.

Scafandrul şi fluturele by Jean-Dominique Bauby RO

Rating: 2 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
Bestseller international, vandut in peste un milion de exemplare si tradus in 30 de limbi, cartea lui Jean-Dominique Bauby sta la baza filmului lui Julian Schnabel, distins in 2008 cu Globul de Aur. Ce inseamna, de fapt, sa fii viu? Care ne sunt, cu adevarat, bucuriile vietii? Cine - sau ce - din noi traieste, se-ndragosteste, cauta, uita, iarta? Cata suferinta incape intr-un trup, cata nefericire intr-un suflet? De ce trebuie sa murim? Publicat la cateva zile dupa moartea autorului, victima a unui accident vascular, "Scafandrul si fluturele" este una dintre cele mai zguduitoare ... continue

9.

Henry şi June : din Jurnalul dragostei necenzurat : 1931-1932 by Anaïs Nin RO

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
Carte ecranizata in 1990 in regia lui Philip Kaufman, cu Fred Ward, Uma Thurman si Maria de Medeiros in rolurile principale Anais Nin iubeste pasional, dincolo de conventii si pudori mostenite. Il iubeste pe Henry Miller pentru geniul si senzualitatea lui. Pe June Miller pentru frumusete si mister. Pe Hugo, sotul ei, pentru tandretea cu care o protejeaza. Pe Eduardo, varul de care a fost indragostita in copilarie, pentru farmecul lui de efeb. In jurnal, fantasmele se intalnesc cu luciditatea, iar rezultatul este o viziune unica asupra erotismului si fidelitatii.

10.

Les armoires vides by Annie Ernaux FR

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
Etudiante en lettres, l'auteure se remémore la période où affligée par sa famille de tous les vices, elle en vient à la détester et se trouve confrontée à l'expérience difficile de l'avortement.

11.

After the Roundup : Escape and Survival in Hitler's France by Joseph Weismann EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
Cover -- Contents -- Translator's Foreword -- 1. Fall 1940 -- 2. The Star -- 3. July 16, 1942 -- 4. Beaune-la-Rolande -- 5. Escape -- 6. Parisian Wanderings -- 7. Three "Misérables"--8. The Americans -- 9. The Castle of Méhoncourt -- 10. Becoming French -- 11. Return to the Past -- Epilogue: Bearing Witness

12.

The Arab of the Future : Volume 1: a Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984 - a Graphic Memoir by Riad Sattouf EN

Rating: 2 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
VOLUME 1 IN THE UNFORGETTABLE STORY OF AN EXTRAORDINARY CHILDHOOD The Arab of the Future tells the unforgettable story of Riad Sattouf's childhood, spent in the shadows of three dictators - Muammar Gaddafi, Hafez al-Assad, and his father. A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR | AN OBSERVER GRAPHIC BOOK OF THE YEAR | A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' TOP BOOK OF THE YEAR 'I tore through it... The most enjoyable graphic novel I've read in a while' Zadie Smith 'I joyously recommend this book to you' Mark Haddon 'Riad Sattouf is one of the great creators of our time' Alain De Botton 'Beautifully-written and drawn, ... continue

13.

La place by Annie Ernaux FR

Rating: 3 (2 votes)
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
"Enfant, quand je m'efforçais de m'exprimer dans un langage châtié, j'avais l'impression de me jeter dans le vide. Une de mes frayeurs imaginaires, avoir un père instituteur qui m'aurait obligée à bien parler sans arrêt en détachant les mots. On parlait avec toute la bouche. Puisque la maîtresse me reprenait, plus tard j'ai voulu reprendre mon père, lui annoncer que se parterrer ou quart moins d'onze heures n'existaient pas. Il est entré dans une violente colère. Une autre fois : Comment voulez-vous que je ne me fasse pas reprendre, si vous parlez mal tout le temps ! Je pleurais. Il était malh... continue

14.

L'allure de Chanel by Paul Morand FR

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
Paul Morand faisait partie des proches de Chanel. Son dernier livre, écrit à partir des conversations qu'il eut avec la modiste, restitue, dans la langue étincelante de ce grand conteur, l'insaisissable Coco Chanel. Nous suivons, racontées à la première personne, son enfance chez des tantes qui lui donneront le goût de l'épure et le sens de l'argent, ses rencontres avec les providentiels M. B. et Boy Capel ; puis la création de sa maison, ses luttes contre les excentricités vestimentaires des dames du monde, ses succès, ses amitiés... Revivent, sous la plume exquise et vive de Paul Morand, Rad... continue

15.

Algeria Is Beautiful like America by Olivia Burton EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
Algeria the Beautiful explores the rich heritage and tumultuous modern history of Algeria and its connections to Europe and colonialism. Olivia had always heard stories about Algeria from her maternal grandmother, a Black Foot (a “Pied-Noir,” the French term for Christian and Jewish settlers of French Algeria who emigrated to France after the Algerian War of Independence). After her grandmother’s death, Olivia found some of her grandmother’s journals and letters describing her homeland. Now, ten years later, she resolves to travel to Algeria and experience the country for herself; she arrives ... continue