French Literature Final Boss
=== Work in progress ===
Based on my original post on having quests for French Literature, I made starter packs but I'm thinking we just need a big dump! Thanks to everyone that participated and still do!
This list covers books across time by French authors (needs to be discussed and refined but hopefully can be inclusive and incentivize crossovers with the Francophonie mon amour list!)
Please be indulgent while I work on it and hop in the convo!
created by aoitsuki
last updated August, 2026
Comments
While curating this list, here is what I consider:
- Each book must be available in English and have a 1:1 correspondence to the original piece (no compilation editions) -- Current exceptions: My father's glory and My mother's castle by Marcel Pagnol, open to suggestions to fix it!
- A defined time period, here very broad as it's from the 12th to 21rst centuries, including well known contemporary pieces
- Authors of French Nationality only (see Francophone mon amour otherwise!) and for now max 2 pieces per author to allow as much diversity as possible, but open to discussion!
- Diversity in the list as in time period, author gender, type of piece (play, novel, poem, essay,...) and theme (feminism, colonialism, queer, ... But also romances, thrillers, scifi and so on for more recent pieces)
- Level of general interest, so for prolific authors I prioritized books that were already in another quest and/or had a lot of readers
- I also try to follow a no kids books policy, otherwise it would never stop, but I did make exceptions because of their popularity so I don't know 🤔 -- Current exceptions: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry because it's literally the most popular one and could be an easy entry point for international peeps // Marcel Pagnol books because there are not technically, they are just read at an early age?
Please let me know if you think a book doesn't comply, if you want to discuss those rules, or if you have suggestions to fill in the last spots!
I just want to say that I love this list so much 🤩🤩🤩
Especially that you included works that are overlooked a lot in the English speaking world, like Marie de France, Olympe de Gouges and Charles Perrot!
Also absolutely hilarious to have Lobster on here 😂😂 🫡
aoitsukiOP
Thank you, I'm so glad you do 🥹🥰🥹
Trying to get a bit of everything for everyone, we're also a lot of native speakers here, I hope it can help everyone discover something new!!
Hahaha I feel like it was a given after the Lobster cult incident, the goal is also to make the quest rewarding for the adventurous 🤣 And make it special to PB!
I’m sure this is on your radar, but I feel like À la recherche du temps perdu must be on a final boss list 😂
It's on the first opus I think 👀
aoitsukiOP
Yes! Filling it up as I go, I've been curating a private shelf thanks to all of you guys suggestions but there is no easy way to dumb my shelf in the list 🥺
Might I suggest for any of your French literature lists The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo and also The Nun by Denis Diderot 😌 I admire your evident passion for French lit!!
Thank you for your suggestions! The nun is a great idea, I added it :) For the Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, for now I'm trying to limit it to 2 books per author to leave some room for others, but it's definitely in the backlog if we still have some room left at the end :)
Maybe he is not that know but I feel like a David Foenkinos book could fit in there. I know that some high school teachers can recommend him for contemporary(hope I am using it right) books and he is kind of popular within some French book circles. I feel like Charlotte or La délicatesse could have a place here. Anyway you did such a great work with that list and I hope it can one day become a quest because there are really some good or recognised authors in here with a lot of variety in the chosen books !
aoitsukiOP
Thank you for your suggestion! Could have definitely been added, unfortunately it seems that none of his books have been translated to English 🥺 please correct me if I'm wrong though! I have the same issue with several contemporary authors (great use by the way 👌), for example Maxime Chattam doesn't seem to be translated, and Damasio's first translated work is only to be released later this year (so I was able to add it)! I'll keep an eye out just in case though!
Thank you so much 🙏 Trying hard to make it as interesting as possible for everyone with all of your help! Thanks again for giving some input!
this list covers such a big swath of French lit (always happy to see Sand get her flowers) - plus seeing francophonie as its own list to help highlight a greater picture of French lit!
surprised not to see any Jean Cocteau (unless I missed him somewhere)
aoitsukiOP
I'm glad you like it!! Good question 🤔 In my imagination, he is more of a movie director than an author, but he seems to have also written a lot of poetry. However, I couldn't find any that was translated into English, did you have something in particular in mind?
The Holy Terrors / Les Enfants terribles is a novel I read in undergrad!
It has some quirks (in a Flowers in the Attic way, though its similarities to it begin and end with the siblings being so isolated that they get warped), but it’s also Cocteau so it was bound to have quirks. It’s fairly influential though, including adaptations in opera, a film (a collab between Cocteau and another director) and a ballet.
aoitsukiOP
I see! The name felt familiar but I wasn't sure if it was his most influential written work as he described himself as a "poet", so thank you so much for your help! I mostly associate him with the movie scene of the 20th century (especially Beauty and the Beast which we studied in class at some point) so it's very interesting to see him being recognized for his books abroad, assuming you are not from France though? Unsure as you seem to be interested and knowledgeable on the topic!!
In any case, I added it!
I’m Canadian! It was introduced to us very much in the “this is a famous director, one of his movies is based on this novel and you’ll get to watch the movie in tandem with it for analyzing adaptations” way so the legacy of Cocteau as director was still bigger than his writing lol
