Heroes, adventure, duels, the high seas, and of course love. These french classics have it all, and their literary mastery are well admired. I have a soft spot for epic tales and romanticism, and I hold these three among favorites.
Here are my favorite French presses:
The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas
Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas’ epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.
Rated: 4.6 on amazon.com
Book Bean: Chocolat l’ancienne
Rich and decadent melted dark chocolate poured into cups, and served alongside it’s own separate dish of fresh whipped cream. So thick and creamy, I’ll have mine with Un café please!
Les Misérables by Victore Hugo
Published in 1862 and considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. Within this dramatic story are themes that capture the intellect and the emotions: crime and punishment, the relentless persecution of Valjean by Javert, the desperation of Fantine, the amorality of the rogue Thénardier, and the universal desire to escape the prisons of our own minds. A beautiful and haunting story that many can relate to and easily fall in love with. It is a richly complex emotional tale of good vs. evil and true redemption.
Rated: 4.7 on amazon.com
Book Bean: Un café
A coffee, plain and simple, but not as we would have in the U.S. Order “Un Café” and you will get a small cup of plain strong espresso.
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
An adventurous tale of the young man d’Artagnan. Leaving home to travel to Paris, d’Artagnan wishes to join the Musketeers of the Guard. He is not one of the musketeers of the title but befriends Athos, Porthos and Aramis (inseparable friends who live by the motto “all for one, one for all.”) This motto which is first put forth by d’Artagnan, has become a most well known and loved signet. This a historical fiction full of memorable adventure and characters.
Rated: 4.4 on amazon.com
Book Bean: Cafè au Lait
A coffee with hot milk added (In comparison to the Itallian caffè latte.) In the U.S. a café au lait is a drink of strong drip coffee or French pressed coffee, to which steamed milk is added.
Auguste Maquet was a French author, best known as the chief collaborator of French novelist Alexandre Dumas, co-writing such works as
The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.
Fun Fact: Les Misérables as a whole is one of the longest ever written, with approximately 1,500 pages in unabridged English-language editions, and 1,900 pages in French.
Do you have a favorite french classic, and/or a favorite french author?
Excellent choices for strong coffee, or a tea latte (my favorite – Earl Gray of course). Les Miserables is quite an amazing tome!
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A worthy feat!
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None by Balzac?? Nor Stendhal?? Both great writers.
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I have not read anything by either of them, I’m sad to say. However I do want to read “The Red and The Black.”
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What wonderful choices. I love all three.
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Do you have a favorite? Not necessarily among these 3.
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I’ve recently finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon which I absolutely loved. Have you read it?
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I have not, I’ll have to look it up! 🙂
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You should. It’s a beautiful story, so colorful and well written.
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I just looked it up, and it looks to be so! I think I’ll order it. 🙂
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Let me know what you think. I loved it.
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I will. 🙂
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I love Alexandre Dumas. The two books you mentioned are terrific…have you read the whole series with the Musketeers because they are all great? Full of character, life and historical intrigue.
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I have not, maybe one day. 🙂
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I loved the Three Musketeers. I read three of the five tales–and have plans to read them all (I have a particular translation/editor that I want to collect).
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I haven’t read them all either, but would like to! 🙂
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I’ve been wanting to read The Count of Monte Cristo for so long. Would you recommend the Penguin Classics unabridged version or is there a more “portable version”? The book was huge, and I prefer smaller books with smaller print if possible. Thank you so much for the list!
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I first met these novels through “Classics Illustrated” and “The International Collector’s Library” and enjoyed all three. Although the only one now in our family library is The Franklin Library edition of “The Three Musketeers,” I certainly recommend all three for great hard-to-put-down reading.
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The Classics Illustrated, that sounds awesome. 🙂
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Pingback: French Press Classics – worldtraveller70
Abbie I love Les Miserables and also Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert – I was lucky enough to find an early edition in Lyon in a fabulous book shop on a cobblestone street – leather cover and in French.
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That is wonderful! Treasure it. 🙂
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Well done
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Thank you. 🙂
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I liked all your choices; and Balzac. These I have only read in English. I have to choose Flaubert because I have read Madame Bovary and Education Sentimentale in French. I like the way you append the appropriate beverages.
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🙂 Unfortunately I have not yet read Madame Bovary, but it is on my tbr list!
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You will love it.
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All three are books I desperately want to read. Have started “Musketeers” at least five times since I was 13 but never finished.
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I have a a few books I’m like that with, One day!
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Wonderful classics. Thérèse Raquin by Emile Zola is also very good. So many great French writers. A more recent French novelist I discovered is Muriel Barbery who write The Elegance of the Hedgehog.
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I have not heard of that, sound interesting. I’ll have to look it up 🙂
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My favorite French authors are the existentialists, Camus and Sartre. But I also love to read Alexandre Dumas.
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I have not yet read there work.
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Love the way you integrated the coffee into the post like this – so cool- and les mis is my favorite – however – after reading this post I think I might want to check out the three musketeers!
Merci!
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Thank you 🙂 I think you will like it!
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I have seen different versions for the movie based on it – but- um – we know how it goes- ha!
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🙂
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*movies usually don’t come close to the books!
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True indeed.
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Simple strong savory. Happy Valentines Day.
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Thank you, and to you as well! 🙂
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Love French Press coffee and the French Novel. I think I should bring out the French press more often, I only use it when I’m camping, maybe that will be my caffeine source for my late night tonight.
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It makes wonderful coffee. 🙂
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I’m ashamed to say, I’ve never read any of them, though I’m familiar with the adaptations. I should do something about that.
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I think you’d be glad you did. 🙂 However, many of the adaptation are wonderful. 🙂
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Bonsoir
Vois-tu l’amitié est la plus belle des pensées avec l’amour
Cet Amitié entre nous et un petit mot
Qui veux dire tant de choses
Mon petit passage pour te souhaiter
une agréable soirée
Je t’envoie une pluie de tendresse
Sur un nuage de bisous parfumés
Profite bien ,,, Bernard
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Merci beaucoup
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Reblogged this on John's Notes and commented:
I like how Abbie often pairs her book reviews with coffee. I have to admit that I do spend a lot of my reading hours with a cup in hand.
I’ve read both The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, as well as a few other of Dumas’ books. I found them interesting, but not exactly edge of your seat material. But then time changes a lot.
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I have seen the musical Les Miserables but never even thought to read the book. Great idea and thank for sharing.
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😀
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@”Do you have a favorite french classic, and/or a favorite french author?” – of course, lots of them… Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, Balzac, Dumas, Maupassant, Camus, St-Exupéry, Simone de Beauvoir, etc, etc… 🙂
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etc. for sure! There are so many wonderful authors. 🙂
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Dumas and Hugo are two favorites but I love, love,love Guy de Maupassant. My drink of choice when I read is a chocolat l’ancienne – I feel like one now…
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Such beauty and decadence paired together. 🙂
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Monte-Cristo is definitely one of the greatest books ever written. Read it twice.
I’m pondering re-reading the three musketters again but that would mean re-reading “Twenty years after”, and above all “The Vicount of Bragelonne”. 6 volumes… Your comment about the number of pages of les Misérables is funny: english is so much shorter than French. When we were asked to perform a 20 minutes english market research interview in French, we always counted 30-35 minutes…
😉
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That’s pretty impressive.
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Which is why (I find) English so efficient a language. Short, to the point.
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