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Most Popular Genres Collections

Genres › French Literature

The Man in the Iron Mask
Alexandre Dumas
72 days •
ⓘ 1847 • Hidden deep in the Bastille, a man has been imprisoned for decades. He knows neither his crime nor his true identity. But soon his fate is intertwined with the Kind of France and the Three Musketeers.
The Three Musketeers
Alexandre Dumas
90 days •
ⓘ 1844 • Join young d'Artagnan as he befriends the King's most formidable musketeers - Athos, Porthos and Aramis - and combats the forces of the Cardinal Richelieu.
Les Fleurs du mal
Charles Baudelaire
10 days •
ⓘ 1857 • Declared by Victor Hugo to have created "un nouveau frisson" (a new shudder, a new thrill) in literature, this volume of poetry and its themes of decadence and eroticism is a critical work of the symbolist and modernist movements.
Colonel Chabert
Honoré de Balzac
9 days •
ⓘ 1829 • Colonel Chabert, a Napoleonic War hero thought killed in the Battle of Eylau, returns to Paris after a long recovery to find his wife remarried and his pension gone.
Swann's Way
Marcel Proust
61 days •
ⓘ 1913 • The first volume in Proust's In Search of Lost Time. An apparently fragmented narrative, bouncing between an older narrator and his younger self as he discusses sleep, love, and memory.
Persian Letters
Montesquieu
28 days •
ⓘ 1721 • Journey with Persian nobles Usbek and Rica as they travel through France, seek to understand Western culture, and deal with turmoil at home.
Father Goriot
Honoré de Balzac
37 days •
ⓘ 1835 • In a Parisian society driven by ambition and greed, a father bankrupts himself for his two daughters as a mysterious criminal corrupts a naive law student.
Dangerous Liaisons
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
46 days •
ⓘ 1782 • In the decadence of the French aristocracy before the Revolution, two rivals use seduction to humiliate and take revenge upon others.
Thérèse Raquin
Émile Zola
22 days •
ⓘ 1867 • Unhappily married and suffering under an overbearing aunt, Thérèse enters into a shocking world of adultery and murder.
Manon Lescaut
Abbé Prévost
22 days •
ⓘ 1731 • Banned after its original publication in France, this is the scandalous story of Chevalier des Grieux who turns his back on his family and noble background for Manon Lescaut.
The Man Who Laughs
Victor Hugo
72 days •
ⓘ 1869 • The sad tale of the struggles of Gwynplaine - his mouth mutilated into a striking grin - the blind and beautiful Dea, and their carnival vendor guardian Ursus.
The Revolt of the Angels
Anatole France
27 days •
ⓘ 1914 • The angel Arcade, fallen and confined to Earth, is driven to revolution by love.
The Princess of Cleves
Madame de Lafayette
19 days •
ⓘ 1678 • A sheltered young heiress arrives at the court of Henri II to seek a husband and stable future, but soon is enmeshed in the gossip and intrigue of the rich and powerful.
Discourse on the Method
Rene Descartes
8 days •
ⓘ 1637 • A philosophical treatise discussing skepticism -- to Descartes, the process of approaching everything with doubt and clear of preconceived notions.
The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
14 days •
ⓘ 1762 • Rousseau explores the possibility that a "contract" between people be the source of sovereign power, not systems such as monarchies. His ideas would help inspire political revolt through Europe.
Surrealist Manifesto
André Breton
5 days •
ⓘ 1924 • A discussion on defining surrealism and how to apply it to poetry, literature, and everyday life.
The Mystery of Orcival
Emile Gaboriau
32 days •
ⓘ 1867 • Monsieur Lecoq strives to uncover the mystery of a countess' murder and the disappearance of a count.
The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas
208 days •
ⓘ 1844 • During turbulent times in France, Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned for years. He plots his revenge but is doomed to hurt the innocent as well as the guilty.
Candide
Voltaire
16 days •
ⓘ 1759 • In the "best of all possible worlds," young Candide still seems to fall into tragedy after tragedy. In this comical satire, Voltaire mocks religion, governments and runaway optimism.
Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert
55 days •
ⓘ 1856 • When her marriage becomes dull and monotonous, Emma desperately seeks to turn her fantasies of luxury and passion into reality.
Les Misérables
Victor Hugo
233 days •
ⓘ 1862 • Dive into the underworld of Paris alongside some of the most memorable characters in literature including the relentless Inspector Javert and the noble ex-convict Jean who strives to escape his past and seek redemption.
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
Victor Hugo
72 days •
ⓘ 1831 • Hunchbacked Quasimodo lives in the towers of the Notre-Dame and is shunned by others - except for Esmerelda, who pities him. When she is endangered by the archdeacon Frollo, it seems only Quasimodo can help.
From the Earth to the Moon
Jules Verne
16 days •
ⓘ 1865 • Following the American Civil War, a gun club embarks upon a novel endeavor: building a cannon to fire a projectile - with 3 men aboard - to the moon.
Tartuffe
Molière
9 days •
ⓘ 1664 • Faking a strong religious devotion, Tartuffe attempts to wreak havoc upon Orgon's family by disinheriting his children and seducing his wife.
Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar
Maurice Leblanc
18 days •
ⓘ 1907 • A collection of stories featuring France's legendary thief and master of disguise Arsène Lupin.
Ninety-Three
Victor Hugo
45 days •
ⓘ 1874 • In his final novel, Hugo follows three protagonists through the tumult of France in 1793: from the execution of Louis XVI to the Terror and brutal revolts.
La Grande Bretèche
Honoré de Balzac
3 days •
ⓘ 1831 • A curious neglected country estate hides a sordid and tragic history.
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