no, i still like the french

As someone who got an English degree, I have read a lot of classic literature. Most of it was British, American, or, inexplicably, Russian, but I did read some classic French lit; most notably, I read Candide and Germinal. The latter I did read en français. 

I have a lot of classic lit in the book wall. I have a lot of everything in the book wall. Recently, though I've been getting quite a few classics, about half-French, half... other. Recently, in the other category, I read A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad, and Crime and Punishment by Dostoeyvsky. I'd say Dostoyevsky was my favorite, Conrad my least favorite. I am also currently reading Notre-dame de Paris and, recently, I re-read Germinal, except in English this time. I also read Justine by the Marquis de Sade, and while I don't think many people think of de Sade when they think of classic French literature, he was writing earlier than both Zola and Hugo, so, like. I gotta count him here. 

I don't know if it's because I know a lot about the history and culture of France, especially if we go back to stuff that like, de Sade was writing about, that time period, or if I have become a Francophile out of some kind of weird Stockholm Syndrome, but I enjoyed every one of those French books much more than any of the other classics. I thought I would like ATOTC, because it's about the French Revolution, and I'm the biggest French Revolution freak there is, but it was pretty meh. Those coal mine strikes, though, oh man. 

Something about the writing of these books just make them so much easier to comprehend, for me, personally. They are all translated works, from French, to English, and I'm wondering if enough of that French diction slipped over that my brain, which has been learning French since the ninth grade, just said, okay??? This is what we like now???

I have another Zola coming up soon. I'm excited.