Wednesday, December 06, 2006

French connections

A series of comprehensive and thoughtful posts on the Ile Noire blog traces the history of crime novels in France from post-1968 "neo polar" back through antecedents and predecessors in France, England, the United States, Europe and the ancient world: "Between France and the United States, there is a cultural difference that appears in the crime novel. Where American authors have no political message, our French authors are much more politicized, including in the noir novel all it can contain of the social."

Such histories are common, but this one is more thorough and more pointed than most. The most recent post may be the most interesting, offering, among others, a gold mine of French authors perhaps unfamiliar to many readers. The section includes the author Didier Daeninckx's intriguing definition of the crime novel as "a type of novel whose object is situated before the first page."

The histories include short biographies of notable authors and publication histories. All are worth reading.

© Peter Rozovsky 2006

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Blimey! I did French at O level but appreciate your translation/precis, Peter!

December 07, 2006  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Que signifie "blimey"? *s*

I was especially happy to find that post and another blogger's recent post on the Franco-Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra, about whom I'd posted about him some time back (http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/search/label/Yasmina%20Khadra)

Maybe I can practice my French on the picket line. I do know that the French word for strike is greve.

December 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

J am sorry because j speak and write américain very bad; but thank you for your article et the link about "île noire" .
If you want to communicate the presentation of your blog ( if possible in french langage), j will publish it in my blog "ïle noire" with the link.
Friendly!
Jean-Paul of "île noire"

December 10, 2006  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

De rien, Jean-Paul. J'ai ecris que votre commentaire est exhaustif et interessant e que mes lecteurs peuvent y decouvrir beaucoup d'auteurs nouveaux -- an interesting and comprehensive history, and a place to discover lots of new writers.

December 10, 2006  

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