Alexandre Micha (1905–2007)

LE ROMAN DE L'HISTOIRE DU GRAAL

Ce roman de l'Histoire du Graal de Robert de Borcon
est le premier volet d'une trilogie. Il raconte les
origines du vase saint où Joseph d'Arimathie a recueilli
le sang du Christ. Reprenant certaines données du
Conte du Graal de Chrétien de Troyes, il marque un
tournant décisif dans l'évolution de la légende: le
Graal est désormais entièrement christianisé, il est le
calice. Transporté d'Orient en Occident, gardé par le
petit-fils d'Hébron, beau-frère de Joseph, il sera plus
tard l'objet d'une quête par les meilleurs chevaliers de
la cour d'Arthur.… (meer)

This is a fantastic set of French-language tales from the Middle Ages. The book is aimed at middle school age French children, making it a great read for anyone who is learning French themselves - the language is fairly simple, but with enough complexity to make it a satisfying challenge for the intermediate student.

The tales are fairly short and very funny, which keeps them from being too tedious to translate while reading. As I understand it, they are actual stories from the Middle Ages translated into modern French. Thus some of the terms are not in common usage, but the book provides helpful glosses in footnotes. There is also a short section in the back with quizzes and word games for the students to fill in upon completion of the book - I had fun testing my reading comprehension by attempting them.

I really loved this book, and I had fun reading one story before bed each night. The length of the tales kept them from being too frustrating or discouraging when I was tired and had trouble, and it was very satisfying to find myself able to read the later tales without making any especial effort at translating. (I'm somewhere around intermediate to advanced, but far from fluent!)

I imagine that this book would be great for high school French students to work on their translating skills in class, due to the length and type of story.… (meer)