Customer Reviews

The Story of French

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The authors of The Story of French are bilingual Canadian journalists who write intelligently and gracefully about how French has become a "globalizing force," especially through the influence of the francophonie beyond France. Beginning with a summary of language history, Nadeau and Barlow discuss the origins of the French Academy and the normative French of Paris--and of myth--before moving to the reasons why French continues to flourish despite the growing clout of English. Although the book is about a hundred pages too long, there are engrossing segments throughout. For instance, how many Americans know that ten percent of Israelis speak French, or that there is influential francophone community of Lebanese in Senegal, or that at the time of the Revolution, a majority of Frenchmen were unable to speak or write French?

This book is a great introduction to the history and sociolinguistics of the French language. It gives a good history of French from its origins in vulgar Latin to the modern standard language. Differences in how the language is perceived by its native speakers (as opposed to how English speakers perceive English) is highlighted and explained. The role of French in the modern world, as well as the future of French as an "international" language and as a minority language are discussed at length.

I do have a few criticisms of the book. I find it bizarre that the case of Luxembourg, a Germanic country that uses French in higher education and government, was not discussed at all. A certain hostility to the increasing dominance of English can be felt at times. The authors seem to feel that French will retain its place as the world's "second" international language, despite the increasing prominence of languages like Spanish and Chinese, and English's ever-growing clout. The authors also appear to miss the point that most French speakers in Israel are first or second generation immigrants from Francophone countries, with little evidence that French, rather than Hebrew and English, will be passed on. I also think it unfortunate that France's policies of eliminating regional languages, such as Breton, Provencal, etc. were not adequately discussed while the anti-French policies in North America were (correctly) highlighted.

But still, overall an excellent introduction to the history and sociolinguistic situation of the French language today.

This book is largely an explication of francophone influences throughout the world, with special emphasis on Canada. That French is no longer the property of the French (sensu strictiori) is obvious. The authors have rendered a distinct service by telling readers in detail about the multifarious offspring of French language and culture. They discuss the origins of academic French from various antecedents on the territory that is now France. Other languages have risen in similar ways, then acquired separate lives. To some extent that is true of Joual in Quebec, more so of Cajun. The fact that speakers of the derivatives have learned to master academic French in school and may use it in excellent ways as their language of correspondence or in cultivated conversation and academic studies does not make it their mother tongue. One may point out that analogous considerations apply to relatioships between Alemannic Swiss German and High German, Danish and Norwegian, Dutch and Low German dialects: they are separate languages.
The authors have, however, rendered good service by their survey of "francophonie" throughout the world and by detailing its spread and importance, sociologically,economically, and in other ways. They have pointed out and attempted to clear up misconceptions about the distribution and political impacts of the French in North America, and have illuminated differences between past and present. Perhaps more emphasis should have been placed on the role of francophone universities and their graduates since the second world war. The weakest parts of the book are those dealing with French philology in its linguistic and its literary aspects. Evidently (see their bibliogrphy) the authors have not paid attention to rigorous reference works, e.g., M. K. Pope's "From Latin to Modern French with Especial Consideration of Anglo-Norman", or to others. Their treatment of the Germanic elements is too sketchy. Their consideration of Provençal is insufficient, even for a book addressed to general readers. Also, if one refers to the role of Latin in French and English, distinctions have to be made between classical Latin, Latin of northern Gaul, medieval Latin.
A more specific comment: "Ave maris stella" means "Hail, star of the sea", not "Hail star of Mary" (p. 217).

Although I've tried several times, I've never been able to get through this book. It seems to lose focus as one goes along. One reviewer noted the incorrect Latin translation...I observe that the Conciergerie is not located on the Ile St. Louis (it's on the Ile de la Cité.) I have studied French, Spanish, German, Latin, and Greek, and I began this book with enthusiasm, wanting to grasp more of the history of French...but somehow the book just doesn't deliver--as though the editor was not up to the task of helping the authors structure their book and cut out extraneous material. Disappointing.

I gave this to my sister, who teaches English to French businessmen (and women) - they were all fascinated with the book, learned much from it, and their only disappointment was that it is not available IN French (tho she explained to them that if they could understand what was written, then they should read it in English!)

As an American who developed a distaste for French after suffering through years of dry, obnoxious French curriculum in high school, but who later actually learned the language from Francophone Africans in the Peace Corps, I picked up this book mostly to learn all the stuff I felt I had missed out on in my earlier years. The authors give a lot of very interesting insights about the origins of certain words (both French and English) and discuss the development of the French language from its medieval roots. Who knew that the French language was still only being consolidated from its precursor local tongues as late as the early 20th century? Cool!

I have two main complaints about the book, however, that lead me to the 3-star rating. First, the authors go way more into detail about Quebec and Francophone Canada than I care about - I did not pick up this book to learn about the legal history of les Canadiens - and either give way too little attention to the role of French in Africa, or write about it superficially. (I think they visited Senegal once, and Lesotho - which is Anglophone - too.) Seeing as there are *many* more African Francophones today than French-born ones (ignore the statistics they cite - almost all the numbers they quote seriously understate the number of French speakers in African countries, though they seem strangely bullish about Israelis), I think they could've focused a lot more on the continent where the future of the language truly lies. Secondly, while I never found the book anti-English, there was a strong note of apologeticism in the narrative that became somewhat onerous.

I also think their central thesis is flawed. Plurilingualism might be good for the French, but it sucks for the Danish, or Hungarians or Portugese. For the speakers of smaller languages which no one is going to learn, it makes perfect sense to have one international language which everyone can communicate in, even if that does afford some advantages to us native-born Anglophones (there are disadvantages too - I can't lean over and say something to my buddy in English that I don't want everyone else to understand, which most Ukranians, say, could with a great degree of confidence in their confidentiality).

So - for what it is, this is a good read. Especially if you're a Canadien fan. Go Leafs!

I was hoping for an entertaining review of the history of the French language, full of the little quirks and twists that make up the etymology of words and the reasons for the development of the double negative and other idiosyncracies, perhaps with excursions into the dialectical oddities that have cropped up in all the places where French is spoken. If anyone has ever read Bill Bryson's "Mother Tongue" on the history of the English language, they will know what I mean.

Instead, the authors' major aim seems to have been political: to big up the French language (it doesn't need bigging up), to boast of the achievements of French (specifically Quebecois) culture compared with Anglo-Saxon culture and to wail endlessly about the real and perceived historical injustices committed by the perfidious English. If I wanted to read some provincial, Quebecois nationalist diatribe, I would have looked for a book reflecting that in its title. As it is, the work has no pretence to being a scholarly or even learned propaganda piece, it came across to me as the work of a pair of overgrown undergraduates with a bee in their bonnet. It is low brow.

The authors keep telling us how fantastic their respective English/French language skills are. Well, here's a language lesson from English 101: "get" and "got" are rot. If I had a penny for every occasion they use some inelegant construction using "get" or "got", I would be a rich man. The book is bursting with unattributed factual claims (why would I want to read all about French technological achievements in such detail in a book about the French language?) and wishy-washy statements intended to support the conclusions to which it is clear they were headed.

I'm sorry I wasted my money.

French deserves much, much better than this.

I was disappointed by this book. I expected the story of how Latin evolved into French. Instead, this book is the story of how French first was imposed within France (where many did not speak French) and then spread through its colonies (and elsewhere), and how it's being promoted in the modern world. (A great deal of space is devoted to international organizations that promote French.) The book also mentions the growing influence on French of countries outside France, and how France's idea of a ideal form of French, the "norme", inhibits the evolution of the language.

The authors' arguments are riddled with contradictions: In their eyes, it was admirable that in the eighteenth century Europe's elites made French the dominant language; however, in the twentieth century, there shouldn't be a dominant language (especially English). English threatens to extinguish all other languages -- except that French survived in Quebec for 400 years while surrounded by English speakers. It's okay for English to adopt French words and expressions, but not vice-versa. The French-speaking world can compete economically with the English-speaking world; however, protectionism and subsidies should be used to protect and promote the French language. People (in governments and international organizations) should be forced to be bilingual (i.e., speak French) even if it's more convenient and efficient not to be bilingual (i.e., speak English). Bilingualism is a desirable goal even though it has caused resentment in Canada and unrest in Belgium.

The authors can't decide whether their book is a documentary or a polemic.

I actually had to read this book for a class and I could NOT put it down! I really enjoyed reading the book and my poor girlfriend had to constantly hear me say "Did you know...?" It is full of interesting facts and history regarding the French language. I have a much better appreciation for the evolution of one of the most beautiful languages in the world. There were a FEW dull spots which is what got it 4/5 stars but still a GREAT read! I plan on reading their other book now!

This delightful book offers a very interesting study of the living language of French by taking us, not through the linguistic evolution of French (although there are pertinent references where needed), but rather through the timeline of the historical/social aspects of that evolution in context of those particular events that formed it to its modernity. The authors have managed to write an engaging, well-researched, and informative pseudo-text with just enough personality to make it more than just a "story of French!" I recommend it for educators and francophiles alike!