Le Blé en Herbe

Well there are 7 titles on www.alevelfrench.com so I thought to balance things up I'd better add another book to make 8.  I chose Le Blé en Herbe as I did kind of commit myself to the Welsh board a while back.  I read this book ages ago but haven't ever done it with a class.  So yet another summer romance by a young writer.   Colette's life story is fascinating as is that of Françoise Sagan-either would make excellent studies for AQA.   Colette's life style makes your eyes water and apparently Le Blé was published as a serial and was a scandal.   Certainly from what I've read of Colette the sensuality of Le Blé is very strong for the 20's.   I've finished what is possibly one of the most useful parts for teachers, the vocab list, yet another 20 hours of hard work but haven' started the summary yet.  I love the role nature plays in the novel-I've never had to look up so many words for types of flower, fish and tree.   I'll report back soon-would I study the book?  Yes, I think so if I was study the author too.   So this should be on the site within the next fortnight then I'm concentrating on the AS level developments.

Le Silence de la Mer

I read Le Silence de la Mer getting on for twenty years ago and didn't particularly enjoy it.  I picked it up again recently as it's on the Welsh board spec and thought it would be a good one to do for the A level French resources website.  This time round I enjoyed the story, a quick, but interesting read and one maybe to read as extended poetry, or a prelude to a theatre play than a traditional novel.   There is a certain amount of repetition during at the end of each section and the cumulative effect of this is to make the reader feel like there is an unwelcome visitor standing in their room-you wish he would either sit down and shut up or clear off!    I doubted at first whether it would be possible to actually write a character guide or direct/indirect speech exercise but there was plenty of meat so the standard set of exercises I've been making available on the site are all now ready (just being proofed).  

On my first fairly superficial reading of the novel I hadn't cottoned on to the love story sub-text which on close inspection is obvious from very tiny nuances of behaviour.  Shame on me.   So 40 pages of densely packed political, behaviour and romantic interest to feast on all supported by the new resources on alevelfrench.com.    There are various film/TV versions of the book but personally I think students should battle through and appreciate the poetry of the novel before viewing a film which will distort their understanding.

This is a good example of how the film distorts the orginal.  In the book he is immensely tall, muscular and blond haired and the normal meeting place is in the fumoir infront of the log fire with the German bent over due to height.   There is none of this subtlety here.  Would I study the book with a class?    I think I would do this and something else like Un Sac de Billes if I was looking at the occupation period to give a broader perspective.

Le silence de la mer (2004) - 9/10