It’s well over 40 years since my French A’Level first introduced me to French short stories through Colette and Guy de Maupassant, so when surprise copies arrived of The Penguin Book of French Short Stories Volume 1: From Marguerite de Navarre to Marcel Proust and The Penguin Book of French Short Stories Volume 2: From Colette to Marie NDiaye, edited by Patrick McGuinness, I was delighted to be returned to my youth!

I have a feeling that I owe thanks to Emma Lubega at Penguin Random House for sending me these books as I had previously received a sampler. It’s a pleasure to share my review today.

Both published yesterday, 27th October 2022, by Penguin Classics The Penguin Book of French Short Stories Volume 1 is available for purchase through the links here and The Penguin Book of French Short Stories Volume 2 is available here.

The Penguin Book of French Short Stories Volume 1: From Marguerite de Navarre to Marcel Proust

A major new celebration of the French short story

‘Nowhere have I witnessed real happiness, but surely it is to be found here…’

The short story has a rich tradition in French literature. This feast of an anthology celebrates its most famous practitioners, as well as newly translated writers ready for rediscovery. Here are decadent tales, ‘bloody tales’, fairy tales, detective stories and war stories. They are stories about the self and the other, husbands, wives and lovers, country and city, rich and poor.

The first volume spans four hundred years, taking the reader from the sixteenth century to the ‘golden age’ of the fin de siècle. Its pages are populated by lovers, phantoms, cardinals, labourers, enchanted statues, gentleman burglars, retired bureaucrats, panthers and parrots, in a cacophony of styles and voices. From the affairs of Madame de Lafayette to the polemic realism of Victor Hugo, the supernatural mystery of Guy de Maupassant to the dark sensuality of Rachilde, this is the place to start for lovers of French literature, new and old.

Edited and with an introduction by Patrick McGuinness, academic, writer and translator.

The Penguin Book of French Short Stories Volume 2: From Colette to Marie NDiaye

A major new celebration of the French short story across the twentieth century

‘A story? No. No stories, never again…’

The short story has a rich tradition in French literature. This feast of an anthology celebrates its most famous practitioners, as well as newly translated writers ready for rediscovery. Here are fables, puzzles, fairy tales, war stories and family histories, testing and expanding the boundaries of the form. They are stories about the self and the other, the centre and the periphery, experimental and existential, real and surreal.

The second volume takes the reader through the tumultuous twentieth century in the company of writers including Simone de Beauvoir and Maryse Condé, Patrick Modiano and Virginie Despentes, covering world wars, revolutions, and the horrors of the motorway service station. Along the way we meet electronic brains, she-wolves, a sadistic Cinderella, ancestors, infidels, dissatisfied housewives and lonely ambassadors, all clamouring to be heard. Funny, devastating and fresh at every turn, this is the place to start for lovers of French literature, new and old.

Edited and with an introduction by Patrick McGuinness, academic, writer and translator.

My Review of Both Books

Two volumes of eclectic writing spanning several centuries.

I have to apologise in advance as reviewing both Volume 1 and Volume 2 means there will be some generality to my thoughts but what we have here in these volumes is an absolute cornucopia of reading that encompasses not only many centuries, but many genres, styles and relevance to readers.

I found the introduction (repeated in both volumes) by Patrick McGuinness absolutely fascinating as he contemplates the nature of both the short story and the definition of Frenchness for their inclusion here. I loved the way in which each translator is acknowledged at the end of each story too, along with brief biographies of the authors at the end of each volume, as these features add a layer of interest as well as a feeling of community that transcends the stories themselves. I think it says something about the quality of translation too that the earlier stories in the first volume are equally as accessible as those belonging to the C20th entries in volume two.

With over 40 stories in each volume, there really is something here for everyone. Whilst I was familiar with obvious names like Balzac, Maupassant, de Beauvoir et al, I discovered so many I knew nothing about such as Sarzan by Birago Diop, so that The Penguin Book(s) of French Short Stories became a treasure trove of delight, discovering new authors, styles and literary approaches. I also found myself scuttling off to find out more about those new-to-me authors so that The Penguin Book(s) of French Short Stories have a life beyond simply reading the stories themselves. They are hugely educational whilst being totally absorbing and diverting.

As well as beautifully translated fiction with riveting stories in just about every conceivable genre, The Penguin Book(s) of French Short Stories somehow seem to enhance humanity. They encompass the real and the imagined, the corporeal world and the supernatural, war and peace, the prosaic and the exceptional, with all manner of themes that amplify the human condition and emotions from jealousy and passion through impatience and boredom to elation and love. To dip into both volumes of The Penguin Book(s) of French Short Stories is to dip into the hearts, minds and souls of writers, characters and themes across the ages.

These two volumes are filled to the brim with entertainment that the reader can return to time and again. They would make wonderful gifts and offer an enriching reading experience that I haven’t finished with yet. I’ll be returning to The Penguin Book(s) of French Short Stories time and again. I thought both volumes were excellent and really recommend them.

About Patrick McGuinness

Born in Tunisia in 1968, Patrick McGuinness is the author of The Last Hundred Days, which was longlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for the 2011 Costa First Novel Award and won the 2012 Wales Book of the Year Award. His other books include two collections of poems, The Canals of Mars (2004), Jilted City (2010), and Other People’s Countries (2015), which won the Duff Cooper Prize and was the Wales Book of the Year. He is a Fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford, where he lectures in French.

For further information, visit Patrick’s website, follow him on Twitter @padrigmcg.