French Literature

Living in English speaking countries I have only read English books for quite some years now. Strangely, I just finished two amazing French books that were out in 2008 and not yet translated in English. “La Meilleure Part des Hommes” from Tristan Garcia was an amazing tale set from the late 80s until now where many recognised a handful of famous French activists even though the writer claims it is all pure fiction. Meanwhile regarding the other book, “Le Théorème d'Almodovar” from Antoni Casas Ros, you are never quite sure if it is an autobiography, a dream or a fantasy. It resembles nothing I read previously and made for an easy and fascinating read. Incidentally, the moment I finished the book I read about the new Almodovar movie that will be out later this year "Los Abrazos rotos" and I can’t help but draw some parallels. Both the book and the movie follow a character who is living a life “in the dark” (one lost his “face” the other his sight) after a car accident where the love of his life happens to die. Never having been disappointed by an Almodovar movie, I can’t wait for this forthcoming release.

La Galette des Rois

There are a few French traditions I kind of miss abroad. On a daily basis I do not miss the French baguette, the saucisson or the camembert as some of my fellow countrymen do but I admit that I missed the Foie Gras or the Boudin Blanc for Christmas and last year I was very annoyed not to have gone to Carrefour in Singapore to get a Galette des Rois (King’s Galette) on the 6th of January. The tradition of the King’s Galette is linked to the three Wise Kings in religion but, religious or not, these galettes pop up in the windows of all the bakeries in France shortly after Christmas until late January and disappear. It is of course impossible to find one in Australia so I decided to make my own. I really thought it would be more complicated to make.

40% of me is French...

After hearing about it I finally got to see that add from Evian that is posted in a few places in Singapore. It is quite funny... It is true that if you consider that the average human body is made out of 60 to 70% of water with more than half of it coming from your drinking water intake it makes sense. Even though I am French, I must be quite international as I have been drinking water from so many different countries. Maybe I should start to drink exclusively Australian water. It could help me obtain my citizenship?

Not so far away!

I don't know if this advertisement campaign from La SNCF is still going on in France (I believe it must now be two years old) but I happened to lay my hands on an old magazine today where it was featured. It is funny because I remember the Nouillorc and Losse-en-Gelaisse ones but I could not recall seeing the Singapore's ad. It was a very effective campaign and this just proves that in the end I am really not so far away from my hometown. A reminder to my friends and family: coming to see me is as easy as logging on www.voyages-sncf.com. (How nice am I to free-advertise on my blog!)

Lady Chatterley

This movie is not new in the sense that it was out in France nearly a couple of years ago but it is definitely something of an event for a place like Singapore. It surely was rated 21 so the audiences should have known but I believe it is difficult for many Singaporeans to bear some of the frontal nudity that was on display in this otherwise excellent rendition of the Lady Chatterley book. The way Pascale ferran has succeeded in filming all the sexual and love emotions that slowly build up in a relationship is stunning. You could nearly feel all the sexual tension surrounding us. It was definitely very far from the usual American blockbusters the theatre goers are used to in this city state and I believe some of the few people who left before the end did so not really because they felt offended by the sexual content but more because of the art house filming technics bare of any hollywood special effects.