Foreign-market Books

IT IS WONDERFUL TO FIND A BOOK SO SPECIFIC TO THIS TOPIC, SINCE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC IS SO RARE. THE INFORMATION WAS SO USEFUL TO PLANNING A PERSONAL AND MEANINGFUL TRIP TO ITALY. IT REALLY INCREASED OUR ENTHUSIASM AND ANTICIPATION FOR OUR TRIP.

Actually a very modern book, despite being a few hundred years old. Diderot's method of narration keep you on your toes, and you learn to expect the unexpected. The author challenges the 'rules' of narration, and even reserves the right to rewind and change his mind! All of which is very relevant in book about fatalism, the belief that everything that happens to us is pre-ordained, or as Jacques says, written in the great scroll in the sky. And indeed, for characters in a novel like Jacques and his master, the events that befall them are indeed pre-ordained and written in the 'great scroll' that is the novel... no matter how hard the narrator tries to give an illusion of freewill..! A very easy going read, by the master of French 18th Century literature. If you enjoy it you should also try the Voyage de Bougainville and Lettres sur les Aveugles.

This book conveys such magnificent dread. Sartre looks at war as it really is; futile, horrifying, and something that, in 2002, we should all be looking to avoid. The final chapter, which examines the psyche of a group of captive French soldiers, is perhaps the scariest thing I have ever read.

This book was required for a high school French class. It is really easy to read and helpful for anyone taking French.

It's a greatest book about woman and wrote to hers

Have you reached the point in your formal study of the French language where you find yourself thinking and dreaming in French? Do you read, write, and speak French with a need to look up words in a "pocket" dictionary? If so, then _le Larousse de Poche 2001: édition mise à jour, dictionnaire de la langue française et de la culture française_ is the best "all-French" pocket dictionary you will find. Larousse has long set the standard for French dictionaries, hardcover and paperback. Le Larousse de Poche 2001 2nd. ed. (1998 1st ed.) offers intermediate-to-advanced French students, and others, the ability to look up French words when reading, writing, or speaking French, without having to translate back and forth from their native tongues.

In almost one thousand pages of quite legible type, the table of contents (sommaire) includes: Abbreviations (Abréviations); French pronunciation (Pronunciation du français); Guide (Mode d'emploi); Dictionary of nouns, (Dictionnaire des noms communs), including usage notes (emplois); Proverbs (Proverbes); Dictionary of Proper Nouns (Dictionnaire des noms propres); Appendixes: Grammar--plurals and participles (Annexes grammaticales--le pluriel des mots simples et de l'accord du participe); Conjugations of auxiliary (avoir et être), regular, and irregular verbs, in groupings (Conjugaisons); and a final section on Correspondence: the most frequent rules of "polite" address; models of eight types of letters, from business to condolences; and proper usage for a "calling card" (Correspondance: les formules de politesse; huit modélès de correspondance; et rédaction sur carte de visite pour divers événements).

Overall, this dictionary offers excellent "French-French" definitions and usage notes, in a handy size for pocketbooks, briefcases, and backpacks, as well as for home, office, and travel use. Le meilleur!

Great dictionary for French students. I would highly recommend this book for anyone studying/learning French.

This is a striking and often times harsh tale written in 1954 which illuminates the difficulties of living between two cultures - one which is strongly Islam and that of the Occident. The edges have not been smoothed by any sense of political correctness, and with this tone we are taken to the heart of the emotions this dilemma can inspire. Set in a Moroccan family, the key character is a young moroccan man with a western education but a strictly traditional father. Le Passe Simple is a novel famous within Moroccan and francophone circles but less well known amongst English-speakers. Not an 'easy read' but one that rewards the reader by penetrating behind superficial differences and not shying away from harsh, emotional experiences. What do other readers think?

In this autobiographical novel, Amelie Nothomb presents with verve and veracity the world as she sees it at seven years old. While set in China, where she lived from the age of 5 to 8, very little treatment of China itself is possible for her, given her age and isolation (like all foreigners at the time) from the Chinese. "Loving Sabotage" portrays the author, hopelessly "in love" (in the way we know love in childhood, not romantically) with a seemingly distant, unreachable 6-year-old Italian beauty. As she struggles to make sense of the sudden shift of the center of the world from herself to Elena the lovely Italian, we as readers are treated to a look through her own world of imagination, the world of the ghetto and the ongoing "war" between children of rival nationalities, and her humorous yet poignant attempts to be noticed by Elena. This book will bring back that perspective of childhood that most of us lose awareness of, but which Nothomb revives admirably.

I reviewed part 3 as well and pointed out that there are a lot of old fashioned French terms in here that I didn't know. I not only learned some new vocabulary I also ended up learning about French history as well. I am glad I read these in French even though it was quite a challenge compared to picking up an English copy.