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[Vector]

Yes, unfortunately(?) I read an English translation, as with Monte Cristo.

Spoiler: For which I have a mildly interesting story. (click to show/hide)

My grandfather bought me that, except he wanted me to choose whether I wanted it unabridged. I looked at the selection of 'unabridged' copies, and found them all to contain differing numbers of chapters...  As I was...ten? at the time, I decided that the one with the most was likely to be the least abridged.

French hasn't interested me, though it probably has one of the larger practical values. I should resume my polyglot quest sometime.

Have you read Vladimir Nabokov's A Pale Fire?

Spoiler: ... Books.  They are awesome. (click to show/hide)

To be honest, French translations in general are quite painful.  Given that the culture is so engaged with wordplay (and the language makes poetry almost easy), it's almost impossible to do a well-written work justice.  Either they do a literal translation and the prose dies, or they do a good prose rendering and suddenly the result is vastly unfaithful.  It's an unfortunate situation.

The worst, though, is when they say something is "complete and unabridged, with notes" and it turns out that various descriptions were bowdlerized, with those promised notes turning to be essays at the beginning and end of the novel which tell you who you're supposed to be rooting for.  I found a copy of Hunchback that did precisely that, designating the heroes in villains in stark terms.  Protip: the original novel is considered revolutionary for casting each character as both heroic and villainous throughout the work.  It is one of the major stepping stones from romantic to realistic structures.

I've actually never read The Count of Monte Cristo.  I've been trying to find myself an unabridged French copy with good annotations for a few years now, but nothing has shown up for a reasonable price.  Ah, well... maybe I'll shell out the money for it someday.

French is definitely my favorite literary language.  It's fun to read, but not that great for speaking.  At the moment, I'm hoping to go for German and Russian while I'm still in college.... and a friend told me I should go back to Arabic in addition to starting Chinese >_>  There simply isn't enough time in the world.

Haven't read A Pale Fire, only Lolita.  Do you recommend it?

[CobaltKobold]

Spoiler: Why are we talking in spoilers now? (click to show/hide)

Lolita? That one's sitting in one of my bookpiles. I haven't read it. But I most definitely recommend A Pale Fire which I can at best describe as "a novel in the guise of an annotated poem".

[Vector]

Spoiler: Why are we talking in spoilers now? (click to show/hide)

Lolita? That one's sitting in one of my bookpiles. I haven't read it. But I most definitely recommend A Pale Fire which I can at best describe as "a novel in the guise of an annotated poem".

Spoiler: That would be because... (click to show/hide)

This is a large derail, and I didn't want anyone who was actually reading the thread for its original purpose to be confronted with horrifying large WoT on seemingly inane subject matter.

Anyway, Pale Fire is now on hold from my local library, and I'm revving up to do a compare/contrast between it and House of Leaves

[CobaltKobold]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It will be different because it's annotated in endnotes, not footnotes.

Do you recommend House of Leaves?

[Vector]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It will be different because it's annotated in endnotes, not footnotes.

Do you recommend House of Leaves?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yes, which means that I will need to go analyze the differing effects of endnotes vs. footnotes on the audience's perceptions.  Seems like an excellent use of a few afternoons.

I recommend House of Leaves highly; in fact, I gave a copy to my friend today.  I can't really describe it properly without giving things away, but I'll say that it employs a double-framed narrative and some of the most intriguing mindscrew I've ever seen (some consider it the spiritual successor to Lovecraft).  It's also one of the few novels written in recent times that I enjoy, though I'm not sure if that says more about me or the work.

[Leafsnail]

You could probably take this to pms.

Although I am looking to fill the embarrassing gaps in my literary knowledge.

[Vector]

To be honest, I think we're mostly done (now that we've both given out book recs >_>).

On the other hand, if you ever want to talk literature, I'm interested.

[Pandarsenic]

*Jumps in*

My ex likes Lolita a lot, but I haven't read it myself. I'll leave that subject alone. I highly recommend House of Leaves though. In addition to the epic mindscrew, it's just plain fun to read.

Also, I need to pick up a French copy of Compte de Monte-Cristo. :I