this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2025
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My French is very limited - probably straddling the border of upper beginner or lower intermediate - but I read through Barjavel's La Nuit Des Temps and it was fuckin awesome.
I don't know whether it's because it made me spend more time on each word, or whether translating it made me put my own spin on the story and made it more personal to me. Who knows. Banger of a book.
Nice! It is a great book and, if one excepts Jules Verne, it also was the very first French science fiction author I ever read. The book made a huge impression on me too. So much so that I then read all of what Barjavel wrote, SF or otherwise.
BTW, I would not consider anyone capable of reading a novel in a foreign language a beginner, even a 'upper' one. That too is awesome, if I dare say so ;)
Cheers friend. I follow a lot of Olly Richards' stuff - a British polyglot - and got the idea from him after he recommended some books for learners of the language. I'm still not great - the lack of opportunity means I can't really sharpen my skills - but I'm getting there. I read the French version of Twenty Thousand Leagues to my young son at bedtimes - and told him the story in English. I'm not sure whether it was the fantastic story that sent him to sleep or the frequent "ummmm" and "errrr" while I thought of the same expressions in English!
I'm rather hoping to pick up Le Grand Secret soon, I'm not really a SF person but his writing is very good!