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Best french poetry books according to redditors

We found 16 Reddit comments discussing the best french poetry books. We ranked the 8 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.

Top Reddit comments about French Poetry:

u/GhostofRimbaud · 5 pointsr/hiphopheads

(sorry, incoming long ass post)

Hahaha truuu. Hmm that's a good question, he's one of the original people that got me into poetry/French poets, he has a good amount of work even though he basically revolutionized French poetry by the time he was a teenager, then quit to go be an arms dealer in the middle East/Africa.

I still really don't know as much about French surrealism and all that as I should. Rimbaud's life and mystique is just as interesting as his work tbh.

His whole idea was to push himself to the limit through starvation, insomnia, and drugs, to reach his mental and spiritual limit, and create art out of the pure fiber of his soul, type thing. As a kid he was sort of a wandering vagabond on and off and would intentionally starve himself. He dreamed of creating a universal language, and his poem about synethesia was sort of a mini manifesto on his concepts about perception, color, language and art. He was all about self flaggellation for the good of his art basically, there's even this story that marked the beginning of his gun trafficking phase, where he had to travel through some Alps, instead of going around the mountain he went up through knee deep snow for hours, and was lucky enough to make it to a monastery somehow on the mountain, where his life was basically saved. He thought of himself as a seer who could wield the power of speaking or writing things into reality.

I can give as a quick summary as is possible, especially since it's important context for his work. Basically, he was a poor farm boy from provincial France, right during really tumultuous times in France, he grew up in war/very close to really active war zones. His father was an absent military man who abandoned his wife and three kids before Rimbaud was six. Rimbaud's mother was this really strict religious, abusive, insufferable woman. She'd make her kids recite Bible verses in the original Latin and not feed them dinner if they messed up a word. His nickname for her was "Mouth of Darkness". He was an academic prodigy growing up and won awards in his district for writing, and was surprisingly pious himself as a child. He first got a poem published when he was like 11 or something (The Orphans Christmas, I think?).

Right around the time he became a teenager he started getting really rebellious, skipping school/church, smoking weed/tobacco/drinking absinthe and hanging out in taverns everyday. He was also homosexual, and even unapologetically homosexual, at a time when that obviously was really taboo in ultra religious 19th century France. He was basically rebellious in every sense of the word, lots of people refer to him as the "original punk." He's what inspired a lot of people like Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Jim Carroll, Beat writers like Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso, people in the punk scene. He toed the line really well between purity and the loss of purity/innocence. Lots of religious imagery and grandiose diction, but throwing a weird twist into it with really surreal, dark, and vivid imagery. He was also essentially a disciple of Charles Baudelaire at least in spirit and style/content.

As a teenager he ran away from home a couple times but got caught at the border by police since it was during wartime. He finally left home completely, and went to Paris. He had been corresponding with one of the biggest French poets of his time named Paul Verlaine. One way or another, Verlaine read Rimbaud's Drunken Boat, one of his most famous and influential poems he wrote when he was like 14, decided Rimbaud was a teenage genius, and invited him to live with Verlaine and Verlaines wife and child in Paris.

Verlaine and Rimbaud eventually developed a sexual relationship, basically just did drugs and wrote poetry from their drug induced visions, got kinda strung out on opium and absinthe. Verlaine eventually left his wife completely, moved into some flat with Rimbaud, and their relationship went downhill from there since they were just kinda poor drug addicts, feeding themselves through occasional translation commissions and tutoring.

Rimbaud started to realize Verlaine was basically just an insane, angry, violent alcoholic, and started making plans to leave Paris and the relationship. This period of his life is what A Season in Hell is about.

During an argument with Rimbaud trying to leave the flat and Verlaine refusing to let him, Verlaine shot Rimbaud in the wrist. The police got involved, and Rimbaud was eventually returned to his mother once again since he was still a minor. He left his hometown soon after, swore off poetry and refused to write creatively anymore by the time he was in his early 20s, and decided to be a gun trafficker and merchant-soldier throughout the Middle East and Africa for most of the rest of his life. He died in his early 30s from cancer.

I would either get a collection, ideally with some biographical background, I have this one with some really cool drawings in it. Or get his two biggest works A Season in Hell (I'd recommend the one with a red cover and preface by Patti Smith, it also includes the poem Drunken Boat which is one of his most famous pieces, there's even a wall in his home town that has the whole poem painted on it, def make sure you read that one), and then Illuminations, which was his surreal, divine visions experienced while high on hash and whatever else book. Both have excellent versions translated by John Ashbery. This latter book basically solidified his reputation as an extremely influential, surrealist writer, he'd write a lot of stuff that had a very visionary feel, or like youre reading a dream.

Also, if you're gonna read Rimbaud, I'd recommend reading Paris Spleen by Charles Baudelaire beforehand. It's a book of prose poetry. Baudelaire was this genius but completely spaced out alcoholic/absinthe/opium addict and writer who wrote a lot about vice and sex and the underworld of Paris. The idea of Paris Spleen was to write and highlight all the darkness and toxins of life in the city, and purge it through a sort of literary "spleen". He was basically one of the first poets to freely write about taking drugs, sleeping with/falling in love with prostitutes, hanging out with gamblers, and people who lived in poverty. Really gorgeous writing. Paris Spleen was as scandalous as it was influential at the time of its release, and basically changed everything in French poetry following it.

This book, as well as Baudelaire's more traditional book of poems called Flowers of Evil, were extremely influential on Rimbaud as a teenager and were essentially what he tried to copy. That whole era is super fascinating, I used to be really, really into all the history of it and the writing was hugely influential in shaping my own shit. I'll update with some actual titles/links to good starting points.

Edit: /u/ItsBigVanilla

Paris Spleen by Baudelaire
https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Spleen-New-Directions-Paperbook-ebook/dp/B00BNQRPGC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1539065048&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=paris+spleen

Complete Works
https://www.amazon.com/Arthur-Rimbaud-Complete-Works/dp/0061561770/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1539064862&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=rimbaud

Season in Hell
https://www.amazon.com/Season-Hell-Drunken-English-French/dp/0811219488/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1539064862&amp;sr=8-4&amp;keywords=rimbaud

Illuminations
https://www.amazon.com/Illuminations-Arthur-Rimbaud/dp/0393341828/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1539064862&amp;sr=8-6&amp;keywords=rimbaud

I'd actually recommend the Collection over anything, it's an awesome comprehensive collection with great, really interesting autobiographical info, and might even include all of the main two books plus other poems. Absolutely loved my copy I got, needa go find it. If you're gonna grab any, I'd grab that and Paris Spleen, those should be a great primer for that era/movement. Hope ye find something you dig, lmk if you got questions or what ya think.

u/readingsucks · 5 pointsr/books

Maldoror and the Complete Works of the Comte de Lautréamont
10/10
Classic French Literature, Misanthropic, Nihilism, Philosophic.
Anyone who recommends Journey to the End of the Night as an exemplar of misanthropic literature has obviously never read Maldoror, which isn't too much of a surprise considering this classic of French lit is criminally unknown to the majority of people. This poetic novel doesn't really have a plot, so it becomes a bit difficult to really summarize it by it's plot. If you want a character you who truly embodies amor fati, then I highly recommend this novel.
Amazon, Goodreads

u/darknessvisible · 3 pointsr/books

If you have not yet read it you might enjoy Will Self's Dorian, which updates the story to the era of pre-cocktail HIV/AIDS.

If it is fin de siecle libertinage that attracts you then you might be interested in the Decadent Movement. My personal favorite work is Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal which is just dripping with sickly sweet amorality, but it is Huysman's Against Nature that is considered the manifesto work.

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/france

Poetry: Richard Howard translated The Flowers of Evil. The original text follows the English. It's a good thing, too, because Richard Howard once translated "les affaires hexagonales" as "hexagonal affairs".

In addition, you can read the poems at this website.

As for Rimbaud, here's Wallace Fowlie's bilingual edition of his poetry. Unfortunately, it sets the English beside the French. That said, it collects much of what Rimbaud wrote. It isn't bad.

u/Senmaida · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

This translation by Alexis Lykiard is the one I have, it's very good.

https://www.amazon.com/Maldoror-Complete-Works-Comte-Lautr%C3%A9amont/dp/187897212X/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=le+chants+de+maldoror&amp;qid=1562627249&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-11

u/chesscoach_R · 1 pointr/FrenchImmersion

Salut! J'ai cette livre - https://www.amazon.com/Paroles-Selected-Lights-Pocket-French/dp/0872860426 - c'est bon parce que il y a un poem en francias avec le tranduction anglais en l'autre cote. J'espere que c'est outile.

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(I have this book https://www.amazon.com/Paroles-Selected-Lights-Pocket-French/dp/0872860426 - it's good because there is a poem in french with the english translation on the other side. Hope that helps :)

u/Redswish · 1 pointr/AskLiteraryStudies

I have a facing page translation of Illuminations (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Illuminations-Arthur-Rimbaud/dp/1847771416/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1347614982&amp;sr=8-1) which as a very basic French speaker I find interesting, you can see quite a lot where the translations are far from word for word. I suppose I just have to trust the translators choices, as I'm sure he's spent lots of time studying Rimbaud and getting into 'his voice'...

It's still great poetry.

u/incorporealrelative · 1 pointr/surrealism

Hey man, sorry for not getting back to you yesterday. Here are some recommendations.

https://www.amazon.com/Maldoror-Complete-Works-Comte-Lautréamont/dp/187897212X/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2UG7IORZO7MOG&keywords=maldoror+english&qid=1563734129&s=gateway&sprefix=malodor%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-3

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https://www.amazon.com/Exploits-Opinions-Dr-Faustroll-Pataphysician/dp/1878972073/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FIN94ANSVCSJ&keywords=exploits+and+opinions+of+dr.+faustroll%2C+pataphysician&qid=1563734228&s=gateway&sprefix=dr+faustroll+%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1

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https://www.amazon.com/Valerie-Week-Wonders-Vitezslav-Nezval/dp/808626419X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2MVWRWT2G7RYS&keywords=valerie+and+her+week+of+wonders+book&qid=1563734389&s=gateway&sprefix=valerie+and+her+wee%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-1

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https://www.amazon.com/Mount-Analogue-Non-Euclidean-Symbolically-Mountaineering/dp/1585673420/ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_pd_crcd_0_20?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1585673420&pd_rd_r=885af56e-246c-4203-b69a-3ada3d549cad&pd_rd_w=nBgvG&pd_rd_wg=D0uLp&pf_rd_p=d17c2de0-cc1d-4b09-aad8-987099a21717&pf_rd_r=MPT3RGNB79T8MX0H41BF&psc=1&refRID=MPT3RGNB79T8MX0H41BF

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the first two are not surrealism in the sense of the authors being part of the actual movement but they were precursors for it as well as being hugely influential to all who took part within the movement; the first one specifically, was said to be, by the surrealists themselves, their bible and holy grail. Surrealism can be quite difficult to read and hard to understand if one is not acquainted with the time period and the history of their epoch but if you stick with it it will pay off in time. You may have to do a little research into the back-stories of each author but this will only benefit you in the end: the last two will be much simpler to read on their own as they are more or less, linear straight-forward fictions. Good Luck!

u/thejlar · 1 pointr/criterion

Thanks for your analysis. I definitely understand what you're saying about the subconscious/surreal element, and I guess I can see where you find a personal honesty in his films, but I don't know if I can agree that understanding Lynch's films can be a "very involving and rewarding process," simply because I haven't really enjoyed the physical process of watching his films.

Again, that's not to say they aren't good. I actually love works of art that are thematically similar. Sometimes shockingly so. If anyone here is a big fan of Eraserhead and is looking for something that's difficult to read, for example, check out the Comte de Lautréamont. There is one chapter in the Comte's most famous work where our (anti-)hero, Maldoror, while staying in a brothel, converses with an enormous hair follicle fallen from the scalp of God, which goes on to explain how its master enjoys coming down from on high to flay young male prostitutes alive. There is no discernible plot to the book, and the language is incredibly dense, but it is beautiful and dark and weird and grotesque. And, most importantly, so, so very difficult to understand. But worth it. As Lynch is, I'm sure.

I certainly plan on giving him more of his due down the road. Like I said, Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway are on my list of films I really ought to see. I would actually very much like to get David Lynch the way others do. To go back to a previous analogy, it's why I keep watching Steven Soderbergh films. I've wanted to catch that something that I've been missing in others' appreciations. With Soderbergh, I came to the conclusion that I simply do not like his filmmaking. (Please no one ask to explain that one.) I know I haven't given Lynch enough of a chance yet to say with finality that I won't some day "get it."

As it stands, though, I know Eraserhead is one of the more popular releases from Criterion this year, and I felt compelled to stand up for the few (Or is it just me? Just me? Okay. Just me.) who are not fans.

u/kungfupao · 1 pointr/france

Best french poetry books according to redditors

1. Maldoror and the Complete Works of the Comte de Lautréamont

2. Les Fleurs Du Mal

3. Paris Spleen (New Directions Paperbook Book 294)

4. Canzoniere (Poesie/Gallimard) (French Edition)

5. Illuminations

6. Paroles: Selected Poems (City Lights Pocket Poets Series) (French Edition)

7. A Season in Hell & The Drunken Boat (English and French Edition)

8. Illuminations

Top Reddit comments about French Poetry: