Csilla’s Comments (group member since Jan 13, 2020)

Csilla’s comments from the French Language Learners group.

Okay for Camus.
Come and join the discussion about le petit prince in the other topic, Amy!

I'm done. Had a good cry.

My favorite planet is the one with the drunk. These is something so true about his reasoning. A vicious cycle, but it has its (sad and fucked-up) logic. Which planet resonated with you the most?

Is the rose emotionally abusive? Assuming she survived for a year on her own, should we believe that they will have a better relationship now? Because the little prince realized that she is special for the time he put into her.... Which sounds more like a reasoning to stay in an abusive relationship. The rose will still be complaining and demanding and lying as always. And the little prince will endure anything for love's sake? That's the plan... And the message this book wants to send?

The fox is the best of course. The embodiment of the famous quote 'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.' would we do that though, if we knew the relationship has a short expiration date? It's like jumping headfirst into a shallow pool. I still love the fox though. He makes a conscious choice and lives with it. Plus, he is the one saying the most famous quotes from the book, and distracts the limelight from the rose.

Also, I know it's a 'grande personne' kind of thing to say but I don't trust Saint-Exupery regarding his introduction to the planet. 2 billion people would fit in a 1200x1200 square? And he didn't even use units! 1200 - meters? That's still more than 1000 person /sqm. He was a pilot for God's sake, he should have been able to calculate. Plus a number without a unit of measurement is worthless. Trust me, I'm an engineer. ;)

What do you think Calla, psychology major? These questions should be right up in your alley. Except for the last one.

There is no connection between the phrase and my feeling that he had Asperger's, so you didn't miss the train, there was none. ;) I think it's mostly because of the way he treats social interactions. Neurotypicals are super intuitive and they handle other people with ease. They wouldn't really presume a random stranger would guess the meaning of their childhood drawing about a closed boa. Saint-Exupery can behave as expected, he can say the right things, but he feels that he is different. And the little prince is him again. Being a weird introspective child with no social skills, living in his own world. Autism is labeled as a disorder but it is really just a different way of thinking, with the side effect of social difficulties, and I think it fits the bill.

Ne lâches pas! Tu est capable! What's your reading strategy? You can skip words you don't know and just read to get the meaning. You could read just 10 minutes before bed or during breakfast (or am I the only one barbaric enough to read through a meal? Lol) a little goes a long way, you don't have to set aside an hour.

Nous sommes trois, ca a l'aire. Je suis bien contante.

I have a sentence for us to discuss, if you are up for it.
'J'eprouve tant de chagrin a raconter ces souvenirs.'
I was a bit baffled, because, for one thing, there are words here I am not familiar with (couldn't he just written that he was sad instead of 'experiencing sorrow'), but mostly, about how 'tant' is supposed to be used. I get the gist, but I find the structure confusing.
(And so I went on but decided to delete half of my musings for your benefit.)

I am also wondering, is Saint-Exupery had Aspergers - or was on the autism disorder spectrum, if you are one of those people who think DSM-5 is the Holy Bible. (it is not. it is written by fallible humans... just like the Bible... ahh never mind)

I am at chapter 7. How is it going for you?

Do you want to open a different topic for each book we read, or will we just discuss them here? I've started Le petit prince, it is easy to read, but I am not rushing it. (we all know the story anyway ;)) I just wish he wouldn't write 'grandes personnes' and such, it feels like he is talking down to children. They are not idiots, they know what adults are.

Donc, Le Petit Prince. Je vais commencer cette fin de semaine et on verra comment ça se passe. ;) 1 French book/week sounds a bit too ambitious for me but 1/month won't be a problem.

I guess nobody was up for the challenge. ;) Have you read them since? I can join you for the Little Prince, or the young-adult fiction if I find it as an e-book. (kindle's built-in vocabulary is invaluable)
I remember Candide from school. It left a deep enough impression to prevent me from picking it up again. lol
I browsed on the Gutenberg project yesterday, and downloaded some French literature:
Camus: l'Etranger
Hugo: 93
Maupassant: Contes de la Becasse
Dumas: La reine Margot
according to my memories, Dumas is a faster and more entertaining read than Hugo. I have no experience with Camus though. And Maupassant's book is just short stories, which I don't love, generally, but it might make reading in French easier. what do you think?

Hello, is this group still alive? I moved to Quebec 6 years ago, so my spoken French is fairly good. However whenever I try to write something in French, I feel like a 6 year old would do a better job than me. It's really embarrassing. So I am looking to improve my French spelling and grammar by reading. It would be nice to find books that are fun to read and challenging - but not too challenging.