The Oxford Book of French Short Stories

by Elizabeth Fallaize (Editor)

This collection of French short stories in translation expands our idea of French writing by including new stories by women writers and by authors of Francophone origin. Spanning the centuries from the late eighteenth to the late twentieth, the collection opens with a rumbustious tale from the Marquis de Sade, takes in the masters of the nineteenth century, from Stendhal and Balzac to Maupassant, and reaches to Quebec, Africa, and the French Caribbean in the twentieth century. Women writers include relatively well known figures such as Renee Vivien, Colette, and Beauvoir, and newer writers such as Assia Djebar, Christiane Baroche, and Annie Saumont. The French short story is a rich and diverse medium, but all the stories selected share a common they make exciting reading.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, France, Anthologies

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Michael Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the plus side, in addition to known masters, this book introduces the reader to some little known writers; some of whom are otherwise not available in English.
On the negative, too many of the stories just aren’t very good, e.g., the Stendhal, Vivien, Guibert, and Baroche stories are particular offenders. Daudet has much better stories than the one chosen here.
In sum, this book is very hit and miss. The editor could have done a much better job with story selection. The book is interesting but seems like a missed opportunity and, after finishing it, something of a disservice to French literature.

[Eliza Orlic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I was going to, as I am not the biggest fan of short stories. I like when I can attach to a character for a long time so I tend to never read short work, but I fell in love with so many of these stories and think about them very often. My favorite was A Simple Heart which I ended up doing a college project on since I connected so much with the main character and her way of life. My other favorites included The Lady with the She-Wolf, Gribiche, and Public Transit. I attached much more to stories about women or written by women as I thought they dealt with deeper and more meaningful subject matter. I also loved the set up of the book with stories being ordered from oldest to most recent. You could tell reading that not only the language, but the setting and problems were becoming more modern so it was more pleasing to read that way.

[BaSila Husnain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read almost all the stories. French masters dont need my reviews but I have some reservation regarding the collection. Herded or assembled.. Dont know about that. Coffee pot will always be on my mind for its gripping plot but hands down the story of a madman and the underwear of the woman up above will be my favourite. The finest story in the world is also a great read for aspiring writers.
Surely the skills of these authors are blandly individualistic but the frenchness of The necklace can not be challenged.
All in all good collection

[Iulia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like other reviewers, I too question some of the editorial decisions behind this anthology. It could be down to matters of taste, of course, but it seems to me many of these stories, despite being well written, are just not that great and don't amount to much. Most of them I can respect but ultimately left me cold.

There aren't any clear stand-outs for me personally, but I'll mention Mérimée, Balzac and Flaubert as the ones whose writing I admired the most.

[Dayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the French short stories. A particular favorite is “Monologue “ by Simone de Beauvoir. She used a monologue with very few punctuation marks to describe a narcissistic woman heavily entrenched in her version of the story.

James Joyce did the same in his book Ulysses, where his final chapter is one long monologue by Molly. I enjoyed reading both monologues.

I also enjoyed George’s Simeon’s “The Man on the Street” which included France’s most famous detective Monsieur Maigret. We liked the character so much we watched every episode we could find of Maigret, the smartest modern detective.

[Katarína Ristveyová · Rating 4 out of 5]

This selection is truly of the greater short stories.. Many of them were amazing, made me think about them days later..some were lacking, of course, but overall, I enjoyed reading this book very much..

[Nick H · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Note: I’m marking each set of ‘dates read’ to correspond to the reading of an individual story, not a full re-reading of this whole collection.]

THE MARQUIS DE SADE - The
Husband Who Said Mass
[10/13/23 - 10/13/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ __ ]
It has a fun, plucky writing style, but the story doesn’t really deviate much from its initial setup to do anything surprising. I will say though, after having just read Sade’s 120 DAYS OF SODOM, I could imagine this one short story being told by one of the storytellers within that book, probably with much more explicit detail.

ライティングスタイルが楽しいけど話がちょっと簡単

STENDHAL - Vanina Vanini
[10/13/23 - 10/13/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ ]
I enjoyed the various twists and turns of this one, but the ending was weirdly rushed and on the nose.

話の道面白かったけど終わりがつまらなかった

THEOPHILE GAUTIER - The Coffee Pot
[10/15/23 10/15/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ __ ]
Fun simple story. I had pretty much guessed the ending beforehand, but I didn’t mind much.

簡単、楽しい話。終わりがちょっと先に予測した

HONORE DE BALZAC - The Message
[10/15/23 - 10/15/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ __ ]
The story was affecting, especially in the beginning, but I found myself wanting more. I don’t think it had enough time to really hit its stride.

感動した、けどもっと欲しかった

PROSPER MERIMEE - The Venus of Ille
[10/15/23 - 10/15/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ ]
Very engaging story with well-drawn characters. I also enjoyed the Roman art angle. I think however, that as with many short stories, the ending is somewhat unsatisfying.

めっちゃ面白い話、いいキャラクター、ローマのアートの部分も好きだった。けどやっぱり、いろんなショートストーリーのよう終わりが満足してない

EMILE ZOLA - Story of a Madman
[10/15/23 - 10/15/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ ]
Nice quick story with a powerful kick. Still simpler than I’d like, but I think it works as its own thing.

早くて強い話

ALPHONSE DAUDET - The Last Lesson
[10/15/23 - 10/15/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️]
Extremely heavy and emotionally charged, with very few wasted words.

すごく感動した。重い雰囲気

GUSTAVE FLAUBERT - A Simple Heart
[10/15/23 - 10/23/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ ]
The story certainly went in a lot of different directions. I’m not sure I could point to what it specifically was trying to say, other than a pretty potent general vibe of brutal existentialism. It was pretty affecting though.

話はいろんな方向行く。何か目的あった？それともリアリズムの方が目的？おもしろい

GUY DE MAUPASSANT - The Necklace
[10/24/23 - 10/28/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ __ ]
Fun little story, but I had guessed the twist far before the ending.

楽しいけど終わり前、終わり知ってた

GUY DE MAUPASSANT - At Sea
[10/28/23 - 10/28/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ __ ]
Pretty straightforward, but I always have a soft spot for nautical stories.

ちょっと普通話けど僕いつも海の上の話が特に好き

VIILIERS DE L'ISLE-ADAM - Gloomy Tale, Gloomier Teller
[10/28/23 - 10/28/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ ]
Loved the ironic viewpoint all the characters took, and I think that heightened the emotion as well. Great stuff.

皮肉なコンセプトが好き！

IORIS-KARL HUYSMANS - Knapsack at the Ready
[10/28/23 - 11/06/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ ]
I loved the style and story, with interesting characters and a really strong ironic throughline. But the place where the story chooses to end makes it feel incomplete, and lacks the bite of most of the prose preceding it. Either way, I enjoyed this one a lot!

スタイルがめっちゃ好き！話も面白かった。けど終わりは作者がちょっと変なポイントを選んだ

RENÉE VIVIEN - The Lady with the She-Wolf
[11/06/23 - 11/06/23] [⭐️⭐️⭐️ __ __ ]
I liked where it was going, but I think it needed more time to develop its ideas. I especially liked the narrator’s presumptuous viewpoint of everything that was happening as he told the story.

面白いけどコンセプトはちょっと足りない

MARCEL AYMÉ - The Walking Stick
[11/06/23 - 11/21/23] ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️]
Simple concept, but genuinely very funny. Enjoyed this one a lot!

簡単コンセプトけどめっちゃ面白い！

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

This looked like a very promising collection when I picked it up. I was only familiar with four of the 28 stories, and had enjoyed three of them. Unfortunately of the remaining 24 stories, I only found two that I enjoyed, "The Man on the Street" by Georges Simenon, and "The Lily of the Valley Lay-by" by Michel Tournier.

The editor, Elizabeth Fallaize, clearly favors experimental or perhaps mood-evoking writing to stories that have interesting plots or meaning. Most of her post-war selections were complex and pointless in equal degrees, a horrible writing combination in my opinion.

I cannot recommend the collection. I believe it will only appeal to those who study French literature, not to those who enjoy reading it.

[Philip Tidman · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection with a wide variety of styles and settings. From the late 18th century to the late 20th century, authors include De Sade, Stendhal, Balzac, Merimee, Zola, Flaubert, Maupassant, Colette, Sartre, Simenon, Camus, De Beauvoir, and a host of lesser known writers.

[Her Royal Orangeness · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read 14 of the 28 stories.
http://onlyorangery.blogspot.com/2011...