I've read the Nightingale and enjoyed it but my fave of hers was Wild. Cried buckets.

Recent studies show not using gloves is better.

Amazing how the Safra dynasty had managed to privatize their lives to where they can be referred to as “the owner of an Irish hotel”

This is one of the worlds wealthiest families worth tens upon tens of billions - found it interesting. Imagine having the wealth to buy these treasures.. I envy that aspect

I confess, this is one where I prefer the movie.

if cramponner and haschisch are the only words in that entire passage you would need to look up, then youll be fine reading les mis i think (im currently reading it in the original french, am bilingual and speak french daily at home, im loving the book so far but a lot of the older words i do have to look up). a 1600 page long book is a challenge regardless of language, so might as well read the original text for the full experience :)

I would spend a few weeks watching a lot of tv/movies with the subtitles on. I was in Norway for a month once, watching American tv with Norwegian subtitles, and at the end of that month, I could sort of read Norwegian when I certainly hadn’t been able to when I started. Since you already have as good Grady of English, I think boosting your reading skill and speed with subtitles would cover a lot of ground fast.

Je n'ai lu ni Notre-Dame ni le fantôme, désolé. En Français j'ai surtout lu Boris Vian.
Si tu as accès à une bibliothèque (moi j'ai accès à celle de Toronto), commande ce que tu veux, si c'est trop compliqué passe à autre chose. Tu peux aussi lire des bandes dessinées, il y en a des biens pour tout âges.

so I read this a long time ago and tbh don't even remember any of that happening so I can't speak on that part. I remember really liking it and then I tried rereading it and couldn't get into it again?

BUT. I really enjoyed "The Great Alone", as well as "The Home Front" by her. The Nightingale got me into her as an author and I've enjoyed most of them, but those two are my favorite. The Great Alone especially is a really hard emotional read, so if you are someone who needs trigger warnings, look them up before starting.

Theyre actually two translations that're famous for monte cristo in english. One more infamous i guess, but thats also part of why id like feedback on the original, given the contested nature and censorship of the English translation(s)

Mon probleme avec le langue c'est car j'ai pas du practi en mon vie cotidienne, et j'y vien d'oublir les chose spécifique ou obscures. Je peux comprendre plus que je peux m'expresser en conversation, et mon vocabulaire se fait lentir jour par jours. Mon écriture c'est le pire de tous, et je pense que lire plus est le premier solution pour ça.

J'ai déjà lu presque 3 chapitre en anglais et français déjà, et je peux dire sûrement que j'utilise un dictionnaire pour les mots antique ou rare, et j'suis plus lent a comprendre, mais ça c'est un des raison pour faire ça. S'améliore.

Seeing as your reading the "end goal" and are a native speaker, how would you rank classics like Notre dame, fantôme, and les mis to it, if you're also familiar with the originals.

Where would you start? given youve seen how i spell and form thoughts in* french?

Edit: Would have looked up cramponner and hachish. Its fair to say I understood the passage through context, but it was slower than everyday French

Thank you! I'll look that one up and likely put it in the Fr TBR!

For reference: half of my school credits were in French and that's about the level of reading I've been at in French for a decade, most of "les romans français" ive read are <300 pages, and not anything mindblowingly difficult or antiquated, usually analized in literature-class format (essays, presentations, quizes on vocab/grammar/etc). Im looking to progress from there, hence the question. (My education is a Canadian "French emersion" one from a border-province.)

moreso wondering how something like fantôme de l'Opera compares to Monté Cristo in vocabulary, or if someone has experiences with originals v translation (in non-mastery / ECL C1 level) second languages, for advice or insight

ie: discussing the nuance lost vs ease of comprehension in translations. Which of the classics would be a good entry into 1800s French vocab, specifically. That sort of thing.

tu as choisi un très beau morceau là ... : ) "les jouissances de l'existence factice"

I'm reading Dumas in French right now (but I'm French). Unless you're bilingual it's going to be hard. It's also an enormous book.

Below's a passage from the page I'm on (mostly spoiler free), to show what you're up against.

Jugez par vous-même, mon hôte, jugez ; mais ne vous en tenez pas à une première expérience : comme en toute chose, il faut habituer les sens à une impression nouvelle, douce ou violente, triste ou joyeuse. Il y a une lutte de la nature contre cette divine substance, de la nature qui n’est pas faite pour la joie et qui se cramponne à la douleur. Il faut que la nature vaincue succombe dans le combat, il faut que la réalité succède au rêve ; et alors le rêve règne en maître, alors c’est le rêve qui devient la vie et la vie qui devient le rêve : mais quelle différence dans cette transfiguration ! c’est-à-dire qu’en comparant les douleurs de l’existence réelle aux jouissances de l’existence factice, vous ne voudrez plus vivre jamais, et que vous voudrez rêver toujours. Quand vous quitterez votre monde à vous pour le monde des autres, il vous semblera passer d’un printemps napolitain à un hiver lapon, il vous semblera quitter le paradis pour la terre, le ciel pour l’enfer. Goûtez du hachisch, mon hôte ! goûtez-en !

In Search of Lost Time was much more engaging in the original French. Sadly I’ve lost most of my knowledge over the years, but it was one the best original language reads I’ve ever had.

Maybe try to ease your way in by reading a book meant for YA readers. Itll be interesting without diving too far into language that is antiquated. You could get yourself up to speed that way

I bought this before I saw that it was tagged as 'sci-fi' (which also doesn't really appeal to me). It's really not fantasy/sci-fi at all - it just takes place in a dystopian version of the real world. The focus is very much on the characters and their relationships. It's a brilliant read.

If you have the option to read Dumas in French, I would definitely recommend it. You cannot beat reading a book in the language it was meant to be read.

What I've noticed about translations personally is if you read ones that are already famous in your country they can be really good, for example I'm from Italy and I've read many really good translations which I've then reread in English when I was older. But if you specifically go look for a translation, like for example if I loved a book in English, and I look for it in Italian to give to people, the translation tends to be bad or have major flaws. Maybe it has to be an older classic or really famous to always be good

Wait what is the twist? Did I miss something?

My advice is when you feel stuck listen to the Audio book until you feel interested again. Because if you lost your interest in the book you don't becom motivated to read in foren language.

I don’t know if it applies to books, but dress historians and curators are using gloves less and less because the lack of feeling can cause you to unknowingly damage the item. I wonder if it’s the same idea?

It’s usually aliens.

Interesting!

Build your English reading skills by reading YA books or children’s books in English, and reading translations of Brazilian Portuguese books in English.

Audio books may help too with more complex writing.