Reading path
The French Invention
The tradition that invented the modern mind. French literature pioneered the essay, the confessional novel, and the idea that style is a moral act. Doubt as method, beauty in the gutter, eternity in a teacup. This path moves from aristocratic wit through revolutionary fire into existential reckoning, and every sentence along the way is crafted with a precision that borders on obsession.
In the app a path keeps your place, marks what you have read, and hands you the next work when you are ready for it.
The first button needs the app on this device; the second gets it there.
The route
- 1. EssaysMichel de Montaigne, 1580
- 2. MaximsLa Rochefoucauld, 1665
- 3. The MisanthropeMolière, 1666
- 4. PhèdreJean Racine, 1677
- 5. CandideVoltaire, 1759
- 6. Dangerous LiaisonsPierre Choderlos de Laclos, 1782
- 7. Les MisérablesVictor Hugo, 1862
- 8. Madame BovaryGustave Flaubert, 1857
- 9. The Flowers of EvilCharles Baudelaire, 1857
- 10. In Search of Lost TimeMarcel Proust, 1927
- 11. Journey to the End of the NightLouis-Ferdinand Céline, 1932
- 12. NauseaJean-Paul Sartre, 1938
- 13. The StrangerAlbert Camus, 1942
- 14. The Myth of SisyphusAlbert Camus, 1942
- 15. The PlagueAlbert Camus, 1947
- 16. The Second SexSimone de Beauvoir, 1949
- 17. Waiting for GodotSamuel Beckett, 1953
- 18. The LoverMarguerite Duras, 1984
- 19. Father GoriotHonoré de Balzac, 1835
- 20. A Sentimental EducationGustave Flaubert, 1869
- 21. Against NatureJ.K. Huysmans, 1884
- 22. Bel AmiGuy de Maupassant, 1885
- 23. GerminalÉmile Zola, 1885
- 24. The Red and the BlackStendhal, 1830
- 25. The WordsJean Paul Sartre, 1963
- 26. Lost IllusionsHonoré de Balzac, 1837
- 27. Memoirs From Beyond the GraveFrançois-Auguste-René de Chateaubriand, 1849
- 28. Bonjour TristesseFrancoise Sagan, 1954
- 29. Cousin BetteHonoré de Balzac, 1846
- 30. Her LoverAlbert Cohen, 1968
- 31. A Season in HellArthur Rimbaud, 1873
- 32. The Charterhouse of ParmaStendhal, 1839
- 33. Discourse on MethodRene Descartes, 1637
- 34. JealousyAlain Robbe-Grillet, 1957
- 35. The Confessions of Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau, 1782
- 36. The ImmoralistAndré Gide, 1902
- 37. The Princess of ClevesMadame de La Fayette, 1678
- 38. AdolpheBenjamin Constant, 1816
- 39. The CounterfeitersAndré Gide, 1925
- 40. A Harlot High And LowHonoré de Balzac, 1839
- 41. Au Bonheur Des DamesÉmile Zola, 1883
- 42. Colonel ChabertHonoré de Balzac, 1832
- 43. From the Earth to the MoonJules Verne, 1865
- 44. La DébâcleÉmile Zola, 1892
- 45. Ninety-ThreeVictor Hugo, 1874
- 46. Pierre et JeanGuy de Maupassant, 1888
- 47. The Mysterious IslandJules Verne, 1874
- 48. The Toilers of the SeaVictor Hugo, 1866
- 49. The Unknown MasterpieceHonoré de Balzac, 1831