Tag: Jean Giono

French Literature Recommendations for Each Zodiac Sign

I recall I had so much fun compiling lists Japanese Literature Recommendations for Each Zodiac Sign 🇯🇵 and Italian Literature Recommendations for Each Zodiac Sign 🇮🇹, that I have decided to do another version, recommending French books 🇫🇷 this time (not least because this FIFA World Cup, I am, as usual, supporting the French team).

ARIES (March 21 – April 19)

The Horseman on the Roof by Jean Giono

Jean Giono (1895-1970) was a famous French author who is probably best known for his short story The Man Who Planted Trees. His adventurous novel The Horseman on the Roof would appeal to the fiery temperament of Aries who will enjoy the book’s excitement and intrigue. The story concerns nobleman Angelo who returns to his homeland after years of absence. He finds the land in the grip of a cholera epidemic.

TAURUS (April 20 – May 20)

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery

Sensuous, comfort-loving Tauras will find a lot to love in this novel from best-selling author Muriel Barbery (The Elegance of the Hedgehog). The novel’s extravagant narrator, Pierre Arthens, is a world-renowned food critic who is now on his deathbed and looks back on his life full of culinary adventures. As he imparts his lifetime wisdom, he is also dying, both figuratively and literary, for that one final taste.

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Short Stories: “The Green Lamp”, & “The Man Who Planted Trees”

The Green Lamp [1931] by Alexander Grin – ★★★★1/2

This short story begins in London, 1920. John Eve, a jobless and penniless young man, finds himself at the lowest point in his life in the city in the middle of winter. John has practically nowhere to go when he hears a proposition made to him in a bar from one rich stranger named Stilton. That man offers John ten pounds a month if John would rent a room in one unassuming building with a view to the street, and then would simply light a lamp covered by green cloth so it can be viewed from the street. John has to do this seemingly meaningless routine every day from five to twelve in the evening, just burning an oil lamp. Stilton then promises John that this would be his indefinite, paid “occupation”, and, in some months or years, perhaps some influential people would come and make John rich.

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