I've been reading a lot in Italian recently and am probably going to read il Decamerone with a view to tracing the structural elements and personal aspects from Boccaccio's life. However, I realize that I haven't read anything worthwhile in French since I finished Les Misérables, having been diverted down the sewer pipe of Maurice Druon. I did read the biography of Louis XIV that DomA recommended, and it was quite good and very thorough, discussing the factions at court and the various wars and domestic policies in detail. However, I need to read something literary again, and I'm looking for suggestions from those of you who read good French literature.

The same goes for German, since I haven't read anything literary since I finished Narziß und Goldmund by Hesse last year, though I feel a bit less urgency there. I've been musing Musil, but it's a very long book and I might want something shorter.

I've also been thinking about reading something light in Greek, like Aristophanes or the Apology - nothing too long or too involved (i.e., not looking for a recommendation for Nichomachean Ethics).

Obviously, I'm looking for recommendations of serious literature, preferably not too contemporary (which for the Greek in particular would mean nothing in the past 1500 years or so, for the others probably nothing in the past 25-50).