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About the passé simple, what Camilla said. As for medieval vocabulary... Legolas Send a noteboard - 15/12/2010 07:17:44 PM
Using outdated words of "chivallerie", as Chaucer would put it, is a different matter entirely. However, I doubt that Druon went so far as to use the mediaeval spellings of words...he didn't, did he? I think it's too late to cancel the order anyway, but that would grate on me after a while.

he doesn't use medieval spellings, but he does use words that are antiquated - not that they've been in disuse for centuries, but for a good while at least even at the time he wrote the series. A good example is his regular use of "ne ... point" instead of "ne ... pas" - I'm not really quite sure when that went out of fashion in the spoken language, but even when he wrote the books, it was already said only by people who wanted to sound intentionally old-fashioned. There are other regularly recurring examples, such as "courroux" for "anger", "savoir (qqn) gré" for "being grateful", "davantage" for "more", "bru" for "daughter-in-law" and so on (some of those might be used on occasion still even in the spoken language, but they feel rather old-fashioned to me at least). I imagine you'll have encountered most of those at some point or other in your readings already. I should imagine your main problem with the language will be the same one I had - highly specific medieval vocabulary, names of weapons, tools, that sort of thing.
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Maurice Druon - The Accursed Kings - 13/12/2010 08:19:21 PM 8017 Views
Thank you for giving this review - I had forgotten the name of the author and series. - 13/12/2010 09:29:59 PM 1747 Views
You're welcome (and thanks for the correction, edited). - 13/12/2010 10:23:55 PM 1765 Views
I know it's not "literary". (EDITED) - 13/12/2010 10:42:33 PM 1669 Views
Subjunctive imperfect, yeah. - 13/12/2010 10:51:34 PM 1738 Views
And with regard to your edit, I don't have a problem with passé simples myself. - 13/12/2010 10:53:59 PM 2084 Views
But how can one read any French literature at all without encountering the passé simple? - 15/12/2010 03:39:37 AM 1902 Views
The point is it is a "literary" tense - 15/12/2010 10:19:59 AM 1888 Views
Why would I read a lower style of book (I won't use the term "literature" to describe them) ? - 16/12/2010 06:11:36 AM 1686 Views
I don't want to start a fight here, but your attitude is seriously starting to grate. - 16/12/2010 06:54:30 PM 1948 Views
I don't care. Start a fight. - 16/12/2010 08:24:22 PM 1851 Views
Well, or we can have a civil debate on French culture, I suppose... also fun. - 16/12/2010 09:09:20 PM 1841 Views
Well, I'm up for that, too. - 17/12/2010 05:48:39 AM 1829 Views
Good. - 17/12/2010 09:01:37 PM 2180 Views
Ah - I support the subjunctive!!! - 18/12/2010 05:10:38 AM 2035 Views
TANGENT - 18/12/2010 09:56:31 AM 1924 Views
This whole conversation is just a pile of tangents, anyway. *NM* - 18/12/2010 01:30:09 PM 888 Views
I enjoy the tangent. - 21/12/2010 12:43:23 AM 1595 Views
But you don't think its disappearance corresponds to a decline in American culture? - 18/12/2010 01:29:43 PM 1826 Views
I read Der Zauberberg in English already. - 21/12/2010 12:48:16 AM 1655 Views
About the passé simple, what Camilla said. As for medieval vocabulary... - 15/12/2010 07:17:44 PM 1843 Views
"Ne...point" is used in Stendhal all the time. - 16/12/2010 06:08:40 AM 1732 Views
That looks like a really fascinating series. - 13/12/2010 10:56:52 PM 1794 Views
Step up your French lessons!!! - 13/12/2010 11:50:21 PM 1973 Views
That is a great reason to learn French. - 14/12/2010 07:29:54 PM 1702 Views
Re: That is a great reason to learn French. - 14/12/2010 08:13:59 PM 1699 Views
Fancier English often turns out to be French, of course. *NM* - 17/12/2010 06:41:19 PM 957 Views
Ooooh - 14/12/2010 07:41:03 PM 1624 Views
I'm really not quite sure how you managed that. - 14/12/2010 08:09:55 PM 1787 Views
Re: I'm really not quite sure how you managed that. - 14/12/2010 08:13:48 PM 1684 Views
I meant Bertière, yeah. Dumas works too, though. - 14/12/2010 08:18:30 PM 1763 Views

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