Hot Girls Read Podcast

Julia

For a bit of a change from my usual programming, though I hope it becomes a more regular fixture in my life, I am reading a book in French which is ‘Le Paris des Merveilles: l’élixir d’oubli’ (the forgetting elixir), by Pierre Pevel that is part of the ‘Le Paris de Merveilles’ set that Pevel has written, all taking place in the same fantasy world!  I actually picked this book up a decent while ago hoping to be prodded into reading longer novels in French, but just hadn’t been in the mindset to get through it. During my recent break in England I finally found the space to dive into this unique novel and it has been captivating me ever since! 

Reading a fantasy book in French has an added layer of difficulty for me because the vocabulary is even more out of my range of usual words; however, the rich descriptions of a magical world that exists alongside the glamour of Paris at the turn of the 20th century are so vivid that I can imagine exactly what is happening even minus a descriptive word or two. The main character is a certain mage known as Louis Denizart Hippolyte Griffont who has so far been very fun to follow around town! The other characters (other mages and magical creatures, including talking winged cats) are also wonderfully intriguing and a delightful humour shines through the prose. Murder and mystery hang in the air and while there are many cosy scenes of Paris in autumn splendor, the action still has me flipping pages as fast as my brain will let me!