French writers are one of the most prominent representatives of European prose. Many of them are recognized classics of world literature, whose novels and novels served as the basis for the formation of fundamentally new artistic movements and trends. Of course, modern world literature owes much to France, the influence of the writers of this country extends far beyond its borders.
Moliere
The French writer Moliere lived in the 17th century. His real name is Jean-Baptiste Pocqulen. Moliere is a theatrical pseudonym. He was born in 1622 in Paris. In his youth, he studied law, but as a result, an acting career attracted him more. Over time, he had his own troupe.
In Paris, he made his debut in 1658 in the presence of Louis XIV. The performance "Doctor in Love" was a great success. In Paris, he undertakes to write dramatic works. For 15 years, he creates his best plays, which often caused fierce attacks from others.
One of his first comedies, titled "Funny Chewers," was first staged on stage in 1659.
She talks about two rejected suitors who are coldly received in the house of the bourgeois Gorhibibus. They decide to take revenge and teach a lesson to capricious and cutesy girls.
One of the most famous plays of the French writer Moliere is called "Tartuffe, or the Deceiver." It was written in 1664. The action of this work takes place in Paris. Tartuffe, a modest, learned and disinterested person, is rubbed in trust in the wealthy landlord Orgon.
The people around Orgon are trying to prove to him that Tartuffe is not so simple as he exposes himself, but the owner of the house does not believe anyone except his new friend. Finally, the true essence of Tartuffe manifests itself when Orgon entrusts him with the storage of money, transcribes his capital and home to it. Only thanks to the intervention of the king can justice be restored.
Tartuffe is being punished, and Orgon is returned property and home. This play made Moliere the most famous French writer of his time.
Voltaire
In 1694, another famous French writer, Voltaire, was born in Paris. Interestingly, like Moliere, he had a pseudonym, and his real name was François-Marie Aruet.
He was born into the family of an official. Educated at Jesuit College. But, like Moliere, he left jurisprudence, choosing in favor of literature. He began his career at the palaces of aristocrats as a parasite poet. Soon he was imprisoned. For satirical poems dedicated to the regent and his daughter, he was imprisoned in the Bastille. Later, he had to suffer more than once for his masterful literary disposition.
In 1726, the French writer Voltaire left for England, where he devoted three years to the study of philosophy, politics and sciences. When he returns, he writes "Philosophical Letters", for which the publisher is sent to prison, and Voltaire manages to escape.
Voltaire, first of all, the famous French philosopher writer. In his writings, he repeatedly criticizes religion, which was unacceptable for that time.
Among the most famous works of this writer in French literature, the satirical poem Orleans Virgin is to be singled out. In it, Voltaire in a comic vein represents the successes of Joan of Arc, ridicules the courtiers and knights. Voltaire died in 1778 in Paris, it is known that for a long time he corresponded with the Russian Empress Catherine II.
Honore de Balzac
19th-century French writer Honore de Balzac was born in Tours. His father made a fortune on the resale of the land, although he was a peasant. He wanted Balzac to become a lawyer, but he abandoned his legal career, devoting himself entirely to literature.
He published the first book under his name in 1829. It was a historical novel called the Shuans, dedicated to the Great French Revolution of 1799. Fame is brought to him by the story “Gobsec” about the moneylender, for which stinginess turns into mania, and the novel “Shagreen skin”, dedicated to the clash of an inexperienced person with the vices of modern society. Balzac became one of the favorite French writers of the time.
The idea of ​​the main work of his life came to him in 1831. He decides to create a multi-volume work in which he will reflect the picture of the morals of his contemporary society. He later called this work "Human Comedy." This is the philosophical and artistic history of France, the creation of which he devotes all his remaining life. The French writer, author of "Human Comedy" includes many previously written works, some specially processed.
Among them are the already mentioned “Gobsec”, as well as “Thirty-year-old woman”, “Colonel Chaber”, “Father Gorio”, “Eugenia Grande”, “Lost illusions”, “Shine and poverty of courtesans”, “Sarrazin”, “Lily of the valley” and many other works. It is as the author of The Human Comedy that the French writer Honore de Balzac remains in the history of world literature.
Victor Hugo
Among French writers of the 19th century, Victor Hugo also stands out. One of the key figures in French romanticism. He was born in the town of Besancon in 1802. He began to write at the age of 14, these were poems, in particular, Hugo translated Virgil. In 1823, he published his first novel, entitled "Gan Icelander."
In the 30-40s of the 19th century, the work of the French writer W. Hugo was closely associated with the theater, and he also produced poetry collections.
Among his most famous works is the epic novel Les Miserables, which is deservedly considered one of the greatest books of the entire 19th century. Its main character, ex-convict Jean Valjean, angry at all of humanity, returns from penal servitude, where he spent 19 years due to the theft of bread. He appears at the Catholic bishop, who completely changes his life.
The priest treats him with respect, and when Valjean steals it, forgives and does not give it to the authorities. The man who accepted and pitied him shocked the protagonist so much that he decided to establish a factory for the manufacture of black glass products. Becomes the mayor of a small town, for which the factory turns into a city-forming enterprise.
But when he nevertheless stumbles, the French police rush in his search, Valjean is forced to hide.
In 1831, another famous work of the French writer Hugo was published - the novel "Notre Dame de Paris". The action takes place in Paris. The main female character is Esmeralda, a gypsy who, with her beauty, drives everyone around her crazy. Secretly in love with her is the priest of the Notre Dame Cathedral, Claude Frollo. Fascinated by the girl and his pupil hunchback Quasimodo, who works as a ringer.
The girl herself is faithful to the captain of the royal shooters, Phoebe de Châteauper. Blinded by jealousy, Frollo wounds Phoebe, Esmeralda herself becomes the accused. She is sentenced to death. When the girl is brought to the square to hang, Frollo and Quasimodo are watching. The hunchback, realizing that the priest is guilty of her troubles, throws him from the top of the cathedral.
Talking about the books of the French writer Victor Hugo, one cannot fail to mention the novel "The Man Who Laughs." The writer creates it in the 60s of the XIX century. Its main character, Gwynplen, whom the representatives of the criminal community of child traffickers disfigured as a child. The fate of Gwynplaine is very similar to the story of Cinderella. From a fair artist, he turns into an English peer. By the way, the action takes place in Britain at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries.
Guy de Maupassant
The famous French writer, author of the novel "Pyshka", the novels "Dear Friend", "Life", Guy de Maupassant was born in 1850. During his studies, he proved to be a capable student with a craving for theatrical art and literature. The private soldier went through the Franco-Prussian war, worked as an official in the Ministry of the Sea after his family went bankrupt.
The novice writer immediately conquered the public with his debut novel "Pyshka", in which he spoke about a plump prostitute nicknamed Pyshka, who, along with the nuns and representatives of the upper classes, leaves the besieged Rouen during the 1870 war. The ladies around her at first belong to the girl arrogantly, even unite against, but when they run out of food, they are willingly treated to her provisions, forgetting about all hostility.
The main topics of Maupassant's work were Normandy, the Franco-Prussian War, women (as a rule, they became victims of violence), their own pessimism. Over time, he develops a nervous illness, topics of hopelessness and depression more and more occupy him.
His novel "Dear Friend" is very popular in Russia, in which the author talks about an adventurer who managed to make a brilliant career. It is noteworthy that the hero does not have any talents other than natural beauty, thanks to which he conquers all the surrounding ladies. He creates a lot of villains, with which he coexists quietly, becoming one of the strengths of this world.
Andre Morois
The French writer Morois is perhaps the most famous author of novels and biographies. The main characters of his works were Balzac, Turgenev, Byron, Hugo, Dumas father and Dumas son.
He was born in 1885 in a wealthy family of Jews from Alsace who converted to Catholicism. He studied at the Rouen Lyceum. At first, he worked in his father's cloth factory.
During the First World War he was a communications officer and military translator. His first success came in 1918, when he published the novel "Silent Colonel Bramble."
Later participated in the French Resistance. He served during the Second World War. After France capitulated to the fascist troops, left for the USA, in America he wrote biographies of General Eisenhower, Washington, Franklin, Chopin. He returned to France in 1946.
In addition to biographical works, Morois was famous as a master of a psychological novel. Among the most notable books of this genre are novels: Family Circle, The vicissitudes of love, Memoirs, published in 1970.
Albert Camus
Albert Camus is a well-known French writer and publicist who was close to the course of existentialism. Camus was born in Algeria in 1913, which at that time was a French colony. Father died in World War I, after which they lived in poverty with their mother.
In the 30s, Camus studied philosophy at the University of Algeria. He was carried away by socialist ideas, even was a member of the French Communist Party, until he was expelled, suspected of "Trotskyism."
In 1940, Camus finishes his first famous work - the novel "The Outsider", which is considered a classic illustration of the ideas of existentialism. The story is written on behalf of a 30-year-old Frenchman named Merceau, who lives in colonial Algeria. On the pages of the story there are three main events of his life - the death of his mother, the murder of a local resident and the subsequent trial, from time to time he starts a relationship with a girl.
In 1947, Camus’s most famous novel, The Plague, was released. This book is largely an allegory of the recently defeated "brown plague" in Europe - fascism. At the same time, Camus himself admitted that he invested evil in this image in general, without which it is impossible to imagine being.
In 1957, the Nobel Committee awarded him a prize in literature for works that highlighted the significance of human conscience.
Jean-Paul Sartre
The famous French writer Jean-Paul Sartre, like Camus, was a supporter of the ideas of existentialism. By the way, he was also awarded the Nobel Prize (in 1964), but Sartre refused it. He was born in Paris in 1905.
He showed himself not only in literature, but also in journalism. In the 50s, while working in the journal New Times, he supported the desire of the Algerian people to gain independence. He advocated freedom of self-determination of peoples, against torture and colonialism. French nationalists repeatedly threatened him, twice blew up his apartment, located in the center of the capital, repeatedly militants seized the magazine.
Sartre supported the Cuban revolution, took part in student unrest in 1968.
His most famous work is the novel Nausea. He wrote it back in 1938. Before the reader is the diary of a certain Antoine Rocanten, who leads it with one single purpose - to get to the bottom of the essence. He is worried about the changes taking place with him, in which the hero cannot figure it out. Nausea, which from time to time overcomes Antoine, becomes the main symbol of the novel.
Gaito Gazdanov
Soon after the October Revolution, such a concept as Russian-French writers appeared. A large number of domestic writers were forced to emigrate, many found shelter in France. The writer Gaito Gazdanov, born in St. Petersburg in 1903, is called French.
During the Civil War in 1919, Gazdanov joined the Wrangel volunteer army, although he was only 16 years old at that time. He served as a soldier on an armored train. When the White Army was forced to retreat, it turned out to be in Crimea, from there it sailed to Constantinople by boat. Settled in Paris in 1923, he spent most of his life there.
His fate was not easy. He worked as a steam locomotive washer, a loader in the port, a locksmith at the Citroen plant, when he could not find any work, spent the night on the street, lived like a cloister.
At the same time, he studied for four years at the University of History and Philology at the famous French Sorbonne University. Even after becoming a famous writer, for a long time had no financial solvency, he was forced to work as a taxi driver at night.
In 1929, he released his first novel, Clare’s Evening. The novel is conditionally divided into two parts. The first tells about the events that happened with the hero before meeting with Claire. And the second part is devoted to the recollections of the times of the Civil war in Russia, the novel is largely autobiographical. Thematic centers of the work are the death of the father of the protagonist, the situation that reigns in the cadet corps, Claire. One of the central images is the armored train, which serves as a symbol of constant departure, the desire to always learn something new.
Interestingly, critics divide Gazdanov’s novels into “French” and “Russian.” According to them, you can track the formation of the creative identity of the author. In "Russian" novels, the plot, as a rule, is based on an adventurous strategy, the experience of the author, the "traveler", a lot of personal impressions and events are manifested. Gazdanov’s autobiographical works are the most sincere and frank.
Gazdanov is distinguished from most of his contemporaries by his laconicism, rejection of the traditional and classical novel form, often he does not have the plot, climax, denouement, clearly built plot. At the same time, his narrative is as close as possible to real life, he covers many psychological, philosophical, social and spiritual problems. Most often, Gazdanov is not interested in the events themselves, but in how they change the consciousness of his characters, he tries to interpret the same manifestations of life in different ways. His most famous novels: "The Story of a Journey", "Flight", "Night Roads", "The Ghost of Alexander Wolf", "The Return of the Buddha" (after the success of this novel came to him relative financial independence), "Pilgrims", "Awakening" , Evelina and Her Friends, The Coup, which was never completed.
No less popular are the stories of the French writer Gazdanov, whom he can fully call himself. This is "Lord of the Future", "Comrade Marriage", "Black Swans", "Eight Peak Society", "Error", "Evening Companion", "Ivanov's Letter", "Beggar", "Lanterns", "The Great Musician".
In 1970, the writer discovered lung cancer. He endured the illness steadily; most of his friends did not even suspect that Gazdanov was ill. Few loved ones knew how hard it was for him. The prose writer in Munich died, was buried in the cemetery of Saint Genevieve de Bois under the French capital.
Frederick Begbeder
Many popular French writers among contemporaries. Perhaps the most famous among the living - Frederick Begbeder. He was born in 1965 near Paris. He graduated from the Institute for Political Studies, then studied marketing and advertising.
He began working as a copywriter at a large advertising agency. In parallel, he collaborated with magazines as a literary critic. When he was fired from an advertising agency, he took on the novel "99 francs", which brought him worldwide success. This is a bright and frank satire, denouncing the ins and outs of the advertising business.
The main character is an employee of a major advertising agency, we note that the novel is largely autobiographical. He lives in luxury, having a lot of money, women, indulging in drugs. His life is turned upside down after two events, which make the protagonist take a different look at the world around him. This is a romance with the most beautiful employee of the agency named Sophie and a meeting in a huge dairy corporation about the commercial he is working on.
The protagonist decides to rebel against the system that spawned him. He begins to sabotage his own advertising campaign.
By then, Begbeder had already released two books - “The Memoirs of an Unreasoned Young Man” (the title refers to Simone de Beauvoir’s novel “Memoirs of a well-bred girl”), a collection of short stories “Vacations in a Coma” and the novel “Love Lives Three Years”, subsequently filmed, like 99 francs. Moreover, in this film Begbeder himself acted as a director.
Many of Begbeder’s heroes are extravagant gamers, very similar to the author himself.
In 2002, he released the novel Windows to the World, written exactly one year after the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York. Begbeder is trying to find words that can express all the horror of the impending reality, which is worse than the most incredible Hollywood fantasies.
In 2009, he wrote The French Novel, an autobiographical narrative in which the author was placed in a pretrial detention cell for cocaine use in a public place. There he begins to recall a forgotten childhood, restoring in memory the meeting of his parents, their divorce, his life with his older brother. Meanwhile, the arrest is prolonged, the hero begins to overwhelm with fear, which forces him to reconsider his own life and leave the prison by another person who regained his lost childhood.
One of Begbeder’s latest works is the novel “Una and Salinger,” which tells the story of the love of the famous American writer who wrote the main book of twentieth-century teenagers “The Catcher in the Rye,” and the 15-year-old daughter of the famous Irish playwright, Una O´Neill.