La delicatesse (French Edition)

Thus book is easy to read and is a good book for new french learners. Sweet and short and easy to understand.

This was recommended on a website on languages for a good novel to read to improve your French. The sentences are fairly short which makes it easier to translate. However, it discusses emotions, relationships quite a bit. I feel like a book emphasizing action and plot might be easier to read. Something like The Da Vinci Code. So, I like it, but don't love it, as a vehicle to improve my French. I enjoyed the movie.

Shippers were very quick in getting copies to me. For French learners, this book offers accompanying CD, English text availability, and a film to watch after reading. It is a great choice for a French reading group.

Meh - not for me I guess. Foenkinos is a celebrated author so i thought i'd give it a try. i don't get the point, the book just portrays regular people/events that is not very interesting. Some behaviors/events don't really make sense. the fact that the voice of the book goes from character to character makes this book very noisy and sloppy to follow. Not a fan.Bof - tres peu pour moi. Foenkinos est un auteur tres aprecie, et je voulais essayer. Je n accroche pas du tout. Le livre decrit des personages et des situations banales, et j ai du mal a y trouver un quelconque interest. Certains comportements et scenes dans le livre sont peu probables. la voix du narrateur change constament et je trouve ce livre brouillon, difficile a lire, et a suivre. Bonne lecture. (desole pour le manque d accents etc. clavier ricain...)

Beware! Amazon show a different image for the kindle version of the novel, but when one clicks on it, a different image appears. This is not the novel! This is a graphic novel. Fortunately Amazon is good about returns, bit if you see a second author (other than Foenkinos ) you should know, that you are not getting the original text.

Un événement surgit et nous rappelle notre finitude et fragilité: le décès d’une personne qui nous est chère. Ce changement brutal n’est qu’un exemple des formes de rupture que l’on peut expérimenter. En effet, la séparation, le divorce, la maladie, une grande décision, chacun de ces moments marque un avant et un après. A l’instar de ce qui passe dans beaucoup de couples, Nathalie, la protagoniste du roman, avait édifié son existence en fonction de celle de son compagnon. Difficile, donc, après la disparition de ce dernier, de savoir qui elle est vraiment, vers quel futur elle veut s’engager et les pensées que les autres ont à son égard. Les marques d’affection de son entourage sont-elles vraies, simulées, le fruit d’une pitié dont elle ne veut pas? David Foenkinos nous montre combien il est ardu de trouver un équilibre existentiel face aux aléas, aux sentiments et aux émotions des personnes qui peuplent notre vie quotidienne, surtout quand on recherche la stabilité. Mais l’auteur se conduit en véritable chef d’orchestre. Ses descriptions axiomatiques pleines de sagesse aident à faire de l’ordre dans cette cacophonie de la psychologie complexe où les actions conscientes rivalisent avec l’arbitraire de l’inconscient.

I am reading this book with my French class and we are all enjoying it, even if we all have a mixed range of French language skills. Rarely have we all agreed on one book! I believe there is a French DVD out at present (with English subtitles) starring Audrey Tautou, which is charming. The book is quirky and very imaginative, with lots of unusual metaphors. I particulary enjoy Foenkinos' snippets of facts linking up each of the chapters, almost like titbits from Wikipedia on a subject mentioned in the previous chapter, or something which is of special interest to the author (John Lennon, for example, or man's first landing on the moon). The story has a rather gentle pace and takes a close look at relationships between men and women in today's society, including the office culture. Foenkinos can penetrate deep into the mind of each of his key characters to the point where the reader feels they understand the reason behind that person's behaviour. It is all very fascinating with plenty of unexpected twists in the story to keep you wanting to read on and on. Excellent for French learners who often find it difficult to maintain interest in French language literature. You will find you don't really need to keep picking up a dictionary to check out unfamiliar French vocabulary, as they can often be guessed from their natural placing in the sentences. That's one sign of a great French book, in my opinion!

Nice enough but formulaic.I wouldn't be surprised if it came as a result, yet again, of a Creative writing course.

Disappointing. No depth of character, no sense of place, no interest.

This is a simple but nice story, about everyday life. There isnt much more about it. The book is well written. The French is not very difficult to read. It is entertraining and it is read quite quickly.I would suggest it as a summer reading.

I am really enjoying reading this book. It was recommended to me by a French friend, and it is living up to expectations, excellent and amusing observations of human interactions.