Thursday, February 16, 2012

Book 5: French Lessons by Ellen Sussman

I listened to this book in the car on my way to and from school. Blech! I really did not like it. First off, the actress who read the book obviously did not speak French because her accent was horrible! Also, when she spoke English with a French accent, the characters sounded more Arabic than French. Nitpicky, I know, but it made it difficult for me to enjoy the book.

The second nitpicky thing that bothered me was the vocabulary of these supposed French-language learners. The author wrote almost of all of the conversations in English (for the readers, of course), even though they took place in French. The things these Americans could say! I was translating in my head, trying to figure out "How would I say that??" and I didn't have the words! Some of the phrases don't even exist in French! Anyway, it bothered me.

The last reason I didn't like this book is that it pointed out the infidelity that exists in France and tried to make a case for it. As a married woman who loves my husband and has no plans to look elsewhere for love, I HATE it when every character in a book is just waiting for an opportunity to jump someone new. I'm not naive and I know that it happens a lot, but there are a lot of people who are faithful to their spouses also!!

Bottom line, the story wasn't worth reading...even for the few words of French and the memories of Paris.