Our entire existence seems to be about achieving goals and things to accomplish. Many to-do lists are scribbled hastily, as a way to respond to the frantic race of time passing. Want to discover new horizons? To stimulate your curiosity and anchor yourself in the present moment? Whether you are a book lover or a beginner in the field, books are an opening to the world, within reach. But then, which book should you absolutely read? Here is our selection of the best books to read in your life!
literature: which book should you read at all costs?
Which book to read from our French compatriots? There are loads of them, very good ones, gems that you should not miss under any circumstances. Here are the books that have marked generations and that will not fail to move you. Fill up on emotions with the best novels of French literature to read in your life!
The historical fresco of Victor Hugo
Which book by Victor Hugo should you read? We’ll give you a thousand guesses: the novel Les Misérables, one of the books considered to be among the great classics of French literature. This 19th century masterpiece is a poignant and enlightened story, which features deeply human characters. Between lessons in French history, political analyses and moral reflections, Les Misérables embodies a unique and singular experience that looks at the cruelty of the world but also, and despite everything, at its beauty.
Tender and spicy fiction with Romain Gary
A distinguished storyteller, war hero and French diplomat, Romain Gary is the only writer from France to have won two Prix Goncourt. Real name Romain Kacew, the author of Russian origin achieved one of his greatest successes with the novel La Vie Devant Soi in 1975. He has multiple identities since this fiction won the honors under his pseudonym, Émile Ajar. La Vie Devant Soi, whose narrator is none other than a young boy, Momo, confronts us with our most persistent fears about love, life and death.
The thriller tinged with wisdom, by Albert Camus
Beyond the pen, Albert Camus is, above all, a man fundamentally attached to freedom. Born in Algeria, he received a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957 for his splendid The Stranger . Enigmatic and singular, this very first novel published in 1942, traces the absurdity of a murder committed by the main protagonist, Meursault. The book The Stranger addresses the complexity of human nature and that of our societies, against the backdrop of a funeral and a passionate love story.
The modern and masterful tale of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Little Prince was a huge success when it was published in 1946. Translated into a hundred languages and sold in millions of copies, this novel, halfway between childhood and adulthood, allows you to explore the universe and travel within yourself. Written in New York by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a French aviator in exile, The Little Prince is an ode to candor, sincerity and open-mindedness. Remember which book to read when someone whispers to you “ one sees clearly only with the heart, what is essential is invisible to the eye .”
Black humor to face the intolerable, by Louis-Ferdinand Céline
The book Voyage Au Bout de la Nuit, by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, paints a harsh picture: that of the First World War, nihilistic and devastating. Published in 1932, Voyage Au Bout de la Nuit won a Renaudot Prize. All the power of this novel, which is neither an autobiography nor a science fiction essay, reveals Céline’s raw, off-the-beaten-track language. An assumed cynicism, which unleashes, again and again, the clan of critics and readers alike.
What book should I read in the foreign literature section?
Foreign literature is a mixture of cultures and points of view that focuses on a universal and paradoxically, individual story. What book should you read to transcend the boundaries of time? We bring you, on a silver platter, the best books on an international scale!
Depth and mystery with Emily Brontë
Nearly 2 centuries ago, the writer Emily Brontë unveiled the book Wuthering Heights , in 1847. This dark and hypnotic romance makes us shiver with pleasure, it is so tumultuous. What book to read, without a romantic story? Rush to Wuthering Heights, which paints the portrait of two lovesick lovers… And cursed. In an unreal landscape, swept by the winds, Emily Brontë keeps us in suspense, from beginning to end. Deliciously poetic, the author revisits the Gothic style with brilliance.
A solo trip with Paulo Coelho
Is this a guide to be picked up from the “personal development books” section? A pleasant adventure or a novel that can be devoured without a false note? No one knows and everyone has their own little idea. But everyone agrees that the book The Alchemist , by Paulo Coelho, is a handwritten gem. Like an extension of our destinies, which can be compared to “personal legends”, The Alchemist pushes us to believe in our wildest dreams.
Latin American Literature at its Peak, with Gabriel Garcia Marquez
In 1982, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Gabriel Garcia Marquez for his remarkable One Hundred Years of Solitude . This novel, inspired by the Colombian post-colonial period, takes us to the confines of the kingdom of the dead and the living. The mystical and supernatural atmosphere is distilled with great finesse, in an extremely realistic tone. Gabriel Garcia Marquez delivers, without any complacency, humanity in its most marvelous… And most abominable form.
Harper Lee’s cult bestseller
You surely remember this endless list from your high school days. What book to read? The question doesn’t even arise, you didn’t have a choice. Maybe even To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was one of the books on the syllabus. Published in 1960, this novel deserves its letters of nobility… And let’s dust it off a bit! Discrimination, prejudice and racial injustice outline the contours of a gripping story, which still resonates in our societies today.
The “American Way of Life” with F. Scott Fitzgerald
A monument of American literature, The Great Gatsby is one of those books that never ceases to surprise us. F. Scott Fitzgerald subtly recounts the aspects of a memorable historical period, in New York in the 1930s. Through the character of the “Great Gatsby,” decadence and corruption flirt with the elusive American dream, shortly before the Great Depression. The Great Gatsby probes the depths of an eternal refrain: success, failure, class struggle and human madness become one, for this fascinating and tumultuous novel.
