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France-GAF |OT| Existentialism, cheese, wine and je ne sais quoi

C

Celine

Member
Thinking about it my favorite poem is french too.

Sensation
Par les soirs bleus d'été, j'irai dans les sentiers,
Picoté par les blés, fouler l'herbe menue :
Rêveur, j'en sentirai la fraîcheur à mes pieds.
Je laisserai le vent baigner ma tête nue.

Je ne parlerai pas, je ne penserai rien,
Mais l'amour infini me montera dans l'âme ;
Et j'irai loin, bien loin, comme un bohémien,
Par la Nature, heureux- comme avec une femme.
Arthur RIMBAUD
 
S

Simplet

Member
In high-school I remember we had 4 books to study for the exam. It was Perceval by chrétien de Troye, Nadja by Breton, Un roi sans divertissement by Giono and something by Diderot.

Left me with a seething hate for Breton but I'm still not over how good Un roi sans divertissement is. That book is so impressive.
 
K

Kuntz

Member
Celine said:
Mort à crédit is good too if you haven't read yet (but not as good as the Voyage).
Click to expand...

Added to my (already as long as a day without bread) list, thanks !


The best poem from my childhood is "Le Dormeur du Val"


SO POWERFUL when you're a kid, you take it like right in the face.

edit : here it is

C’est un trou de verdure où chante une rivière
Accrochant follement aux herbes des haillons
D’argent ; où le soleil, de la montagne fière,
Luit : c’est un petit val qui mousse de rayons.

Un soldat jeune, bouche ouverte, tête nue,
Et la nuque baignant dans le frais cresson bleu,
Dort ; il est étendu dans l’herbe, sous la nue,
Pâle dans son lit vert où la lumière pleut.

Les pieds dans les glaïeuls, il dort. Souriant comme
Sourirait un enfant malade, il fait un somme :
Nature, berce-le chaudement : il a froid.

Les parfums ne font pas frissonner sa narine ;
Il dort dans le soleil, la main sur sa poitrine
Tranquille. Il a deux trous rouges au côté droit.

Oh he's sleeping in the nature, nice
then TWIST, HE'S FUCKING DEAD.

Still overwhelmed by the feeling I got the first time I heard it.
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
Kuntz said:
Added to my (already as long as a day without bread) list, thanks !


The best poem from my childhood is "Le Dormeur du Val"


SO POWERFUL when you're a kid, you take it like right in the face.

edit : here it is

C’est un trou de verdure où chante une rivière
Accrochant follement aux herbes des haillons
D’argent ; où le soleil, de la montagne fière,
Luit : c’est un petit val qui mousse de rayons.

Un soldat jeune, bouche ouverte, tête nue,
Et la nuque baignant dans le frais cresson bleu,
Dort ; il est étendu dans l’herbe, sous la nue,
Pâle dans son lit vert où la lumière pleut.

Les pieds dans les glaïeuls, il dort. Souriant comme
Sourirait un enfant malade, il fait un somme :
Nature, berce-le chaudement : il a froid.

Les parfums ne font pas frissonner sa narine ;
Il dort dans le soleil, la main sur sa poitrine
Tranquille. Il a deux trous rouges au côté droit.

Oh he's sleeping in the nature, nice
then TWIST, HE'S FUCKING DEAD.

Still overwhelmed by the feeling I got the first time I heard it.
Click to expand...
The poem actually has a lot of foreshadowing in the second and third stanzas, so you could sort of guess he was dead.
 
C

Celine

Member
Kuntz said:
Added to my (already as long as a day without bread) list, thanks !


The best poem from my childhood is "Le Dormeur du Val"


SO POWERFUL when you're a kid, you take it like right in the face.
EDIT:
Oh he's sleeping in the nature, nice
then TWIST, HE'S FUCKING DEAD.

Still overwhelmed by the feeling I got the first time I heard it.
Click to expand...
Just read it translated in italian (not the same thing, I know) and I liked it.
Thank you.
 
Alx

Alx

Member
Kuntz said:
The best poem from my childhood is "Le Dormeur du Val"


SO POWERFUL when you're a kid, you take it like right in the face.

edit : here it is

(...).
Click to expand...

The last time I read that must have been almost 30 years ago... it's still powerful indeed.
And I only realize now that all the kids in our class have been saying it wrong at the time. It wasn't "... la main sur sa poitrine. Tranquille, il a deux trous rouges au côté droit." but "... la main sur sa poitrine tranquille. Il a deux trous rouges au côté droit."

I wonder why our teacher didn't correct us.
 
M

Maiar_m

Member
Sotha Sil said:
It's so very, very dumb to make high-schoolers read Proust. Few teenagers can fully understand the concepts of loss and nostalgia, for obvious reasons. La Recherche just cannot be enjoyed at that age.
Click to expand...

I was in 1ère L back then, and my teacher had us read through extracts, not the whole thing. To this day, it's a life-changing experience for me. And I'm not even kidding. The concepts you mention meant so fucking much at the time I felt so powerless against all that was yet to come. And I love the way he wrote. I still haven't read more from Proust, but it's there, in my education, and that's what school was all about.

Also, Romain Gary guys. That stuff reads like a tarantino movie.

Celine said:
Thinking about it my favorite poem is french too.

Sensation
Par les soirs bleus d'été, j'irai dans les sentiers,
Picoté par les blés, fouler l'herbe menue :
Rêveur, j'en sentirai la fraîcheur à mes pieds.
Je laisserai le vent baigner ma tête nue.

Je ne parlerai pas, je ne penserai rien,
Mais l'amour infini me montera dans l'âme ;
Et j'irai loin, bien loin, comme un bohémien,
Par la Nature, heureux- comme avec une femme.
Arthur RIMBAUD
Click to expand...

My favourite as well, along with Les Fleurs du Mal and some of Apollinaire imagery.

Pacbois said:
Let's talk about modern French poetry...:D
Click to expand...

I request an instaban.
 
P

Pacbois

Member
Maiar_m said:
I request an instaban.
Click to expand...

Hehehehehe.

Seriously though, I really dig Klub Des Loosers in good french hip-hop. It's sad and cynical as fuck, but sometimes quite beautiful.

Didier Super in a fun guilty pleasure, it's really funny once in a while.
 
B

Blimblim

The Inside Track
WARCOCK said:
Question. Au lycee en france es que vous devez lire la plus part des grands classiques francais obligatoirement? Proulx, stendhal, flaubert, baudelaire, Camus, Hugo etc... Ou c'est plus contemporain? Both?
Click to expand...

Personally when I was in high school, 20 years ago, the most "contemporain" author we got to have to read was Camus (I'll let you guess the book :p).
I'm an avid reader, always have been, always will be, but I loathed most of the books they had us read. I enjoyed Rabelais and Zola, the rest was at best dull, at worst it made me want to stop reading altogether. I always say that if you want to get a kid to never open a book unless forced to, you need to make them read some Balzac when they are young, like in middle school for me. Eugénie Grandet, *shudder*
 
W

WARCOCK

Banned
Blimblim said:
Personally when I was in high school, 20 years ago, the most "contemporain" author we got to have to read was Camus (I'll let you guess the book :p).
I'm an avid reader, always have been, always will be, but I loathed most of the books they had us read. I enjoyed Rabelais and Zola, the rest was at best dull, at worst it made me want to stop reading altogether. I always say that if you want to get a kid to never open a book unless forced to, you need to make them read some Balzac when they are young, like in middle school for me. Eugénie Grandet, *shudder*
Click to expand...

Yeah i echo what somebody said about Proulx earlier, it is very unlikely that an adolescent has the life experiences and maturity to be able to understand the depth of the book. Individuals learn at very different rates and age groupings as a standard is kind of silly, i feel that is especially true for literature. You grow at your own pace.
 
Alx

Alx

Member
Funny to see so many people having read Eugénie Grandet in collège, I thought we had to endure that book (much too difficult for our age IMO) because of an eccentric teacher, but it looks like it was at everybody's program. :p
 
B

Blimblim

The Inside Track
Alx said:
Funny to see so many people having read Eugénie Grandet in collège, I thought we had to endure that book (much too difficult for our age IMO) because of an eccentric teacher, but it looks like it was at everybody's program. :p
Click to expand...

Sadly. I honestly think this book is responsible for many French people's contempt for reading.
 
B

BaronLundi

Member
Celine said:
Mort à crédit is good too if you haven't read yet (but not as good as the Voyage).

Cèline was never a collaborator (was never paid by the fascists), just a mad dog.
Click to expand...

Bolllocks. Celine was as straightforward an active antisemitic scum as one could be. And he was a collaborator. He left for Singmaringen in 1944, then Baden Baden, trip paid for by the remnants of the Vichy governement. Also was condemned as a collaborationist and to national indignity.

Said himself he was "The n°1 ennemy for the Jews". Just read "Bagatelle pour un massacre" or "L'école des cadavres" or "Les beaux draps". Even the nazis thought his hatred for the Jews was too hysterical...

Also he was for sure one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Wiz said:
Shout out to my French homies. I'm Haitian so I got a bit of French in me lol.
Click to expand...

Fist-bump.

I wish French people had a bit more of Haiti in them.
 
M

Maiar_m

Member
Pacbois said:
Hehehehehe.

Seriously though, I really dig Klub Des Loosers in good french hip-hop. It's sad and cynical as fuck, but sometimes quite beautiful.

Didier Super in a fun guilty pleasure, it's really funny once in a while.
Click to expand...

I just can't listen to hip-hop, I don't get it. I used to, when I was in high-school, but then I started listening to Ben Harper, then someone told me to listen to Led Zeppelin, and I moved on to Pink Floyd and by then I just couldn't get rap music anymore.

Still, some great French music:

Noir Désir - Au sombres héros de l'amer

Noir Désir - Un jour en France

Bashung - Osez Joséphine (also, boobs)

Louise Attaque - Soirées Parisiennes

M - Matchistador

Jacques Dutronc - La Fille du Père Noël

Eddy Mitchell - Pas de Boogie Woogie

Mano Negra - King Kong Five

Au Bonheur des Dames - Oh Les Filles :p
 
K

Kuntz

Member
zero shift said:
So how has France been since Hollande has taken over?
Click to expand...

Some steps are definitely taken in the right direction, but the main problems are still there and won't disappear magically overnight.

Also it's frightening how war can easily rise public opinion about the president.
 
Z

zero shift

Banned
I notice that a lot of people seem to blame France's economic problems due to it being highly uncompetitive due to regulations, high taxes, and unionization. Is there any truth to this or are many of these people and the Economist are just spewing neo-liberal dung.
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
G.O.O. said:
Have some Booba as seen by Groland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWltEXu8AMc
Click to expand...
I approved of this until I saw 'UMP'.

Alx said:
Funny to see so many people having read Eugénie Grandet in collège, I thought we had to endure that book (much too difficult for our age IMO) because of an eccentric teacher, but it looks like it was at everybody's program. :p
Click to expand...
Reading Eugénie Grandet is the literary equivalent of eating cardboard while waiting in line at La Poste on a cloudy saturday morning. In Lille.

zero shift said:
So how has France been since Hollande has taken over?
Click to expand...
The economy is still shit and not even Merkel respects our president anymore.

zero shift said:
I notice that a lot of people seem to blame France's economic problems due to it being highly uncompetitive due to regulations, high taxes, and unionization. Is there any truth to this or are many of these people and the Economist are just spewing neo-liberal dung.
Click to expand...
I think that's true, but in my opinion, The Economist aren't liberal enough :p

Edit: TROLOLOL:

223532_10151469619142394_1819214614_n.jpg
 
G

G.O.O.

Member
zero shift said:
I notice that a lot of people seem to blame France's economic problems due to it being highly uncompetitive due to regulations, high taxes, and unionization. Is there any truth to this or are many of these people and the Economist are just spewing neo-liberal dung.
Click to expand...
Competitivity is bollocks imo.

Tax needs a reform, not to be lowered, but to be more fair. Hollande had this in his program but it seems like it's been delayed... economist Thomas Piketty discussed this in his book "Pour une révolution fiscale" (for a fiscal revolution), he endorsed Hollande during the campaign but now he's really mad at him.

Some blame regulations, but we're not sure that deregulating would increase employment (mainly because of the crisis)

Unionization = EU ? If so, then it's not completely false since we don't have control over our money, unlike the UK. I'm a supporter of Europe but it certainly make things a lot more complicated.

Computer said:
I approved of this until I saw 'UMP'.
Click to expand...
That wasn't necessary. But eh, it's Groland I guess.
 
M

Maiar_m

Member
G.O.O. said:
Competitivity is bollocks imo.
Unionization = EU ? If so, then it's not completely false since we don't have control over our money, unlike the UK. I'm a supporter of Europe but it certainly make things a lot more complicated.
Click to expand...

No, I think he meant that our unions (syndicats) are too strong and hinder the liberal process (and some would say the natural life within a productive company / society). It's basically hard to fire anyone and harder even to change company policies because the unions will strike and your productivity therefore is lowered - either by the strike itself or the lack of flexibility in your company policies regarding employment, management, work hours etc...

Think Titan leaving the negotiations about the Goodyear factory, probably because they were asked to keep the current employees, the ones that already proved very hard to manage.
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
Maiar_m said:
No, I think he meant that our unions (syndicats) are too strong and hinder the liberal process (and some would say the natural life within a productive company / society). It's basically hard to fire anyone and harder even to change company policies because the unions will strike and your productivity therefore is lowered - either by the strike itself or the lack of flexibility in your company policies regarding employment, management, work hours etc...

Think Titan leaving the negotiations about the Goodyear factory, probably because they were asked to keep the current employees, the ones that already proved very hard to manage.
Click to expand...
Unions are not necessarily a bad thing, but our current unions are fucking stupid, represent no one but themselves, are hardcore communist nuts (who aren't afraid of using illegal methods sometimes) and don't know the meaning of dialogue and negotiations.
 
A

Antakken

Banned
Maiar_m said:
No, I think he meant that our unions (syndicats) are too strong and hinder the liberal process (and some would say the natural life within a productive company / society). It's basically hard to fire anyone and harder even to change company policies because the unions will strike and your productivity therefore is lowered - either by the strike itself or the lack of flexibility in your company policies regarding employment, management, work hours etc...

Think Titan leaving the negotiations about the Goodyear factory, probably because they were asked to keep the current employees, the ones that already proved very hard to manage.
Click to expand...

You're wrong ;)

CGT, FO, SUD...etc are highly disruptive, but not strong. Germany has strong, organised unions for example. In fact, i'm pretty sure we (in France) have one of the weakest rate of unionism in Europe.
 
G

G.O.O.

Member
Ah, right, unions. Yeah.

Well, our unions make a lot of noise but aren't that powerful, mainly because most people don't trust them - and rightfully so (see Computer's post). Problem is, people see the problem as being for or against them, which is for strikes and strong actions or for letting them out of the game.

Truth is, we like our work, but we don't like our bosses, we don't like our government and we don't trust unions to represent us, so the working environment quickly gets shitty enough.

Ultimately, things don't move when they need to.
 
M

Maiar_m

Member
Antakken said:
You're wrong ;)

CGT, FO, SUD...etc are highly disruptive, but not strong. Germany has strong, organised unions for example. In fact, i'm pretty sure we (in France) have one of the weakest rate of unionism in Europe.
Click to expand...
Yes, we have a pretty low unionism rate indeed and you are right, they are more disruptive than powerful, however they are perceived as being "strong" because of that. It's pretty sad.
 
T

TheFeedingHand

Member
so France-GAF or Quebec-GAF, what are the major differences between the French spoken in those places? Will I be able to understand Quebecois French if I learn France's French or vice versa?
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
TheFeedingHand said:
so France-GAF or Quebec-GAF, what are the major differences between the French spoken in those places? Will I be able to understand Quebecois French if I learn France's French or vice versa?
Click to expand...
You'll understand most Québec French except for some vocabulary (our swear words and slang are very different), and the typical Québec accent sounds horrible.
 
C

Charmicarmicat

Banned
Hi France-GAF, so my girlfriend and I are planning a three-week trip in June/July, and I was just looking for any tips or recommendations based on our general travel plan. We are flying into Paris and spending a couple of days there, then travelling down to Clisson to go to Hellfest. After the festival is over we plan on spending the next couple of weeks slowly working our way back up to coast before we have to get back to Paris and fly home. As we'll have camping gear anyway we will mostly be looking for campsites etc to stay in during our journey back up. Any recommendations for places to go, routes to take, or just general tips and advice would be most welcome!
 
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