The Books That Built The French

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

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  • Silence of the Sea by Vercors

    Cover of 'Silence of the Sea' by Vercors

    Set during the German occupation of France in World War II, the story explores themes of resistance and human connection through the silent defiance of a French uncle and his niece, who refuse to speak to the German officer billeted in their home. The officer, cultured and idealistic, attempts to engage them in conversation, revealing his inner conflict and disillusionment with the war. The narrative delves into the complexities of war, the power of silence as a form of protest, and the nuanced interactions between occupier and occupied, highlighting the moral and emotional struggles faced by individuals on both sides.

    The 1400th Greatest Book of All Time
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About this list

TNS-Sofres/SNCF–Lire, 101 Books

Published in the October 2004 issue of Lire magazine, the list popularly known as “The 100 Favourite Books of the French” was in fact the result of a nationwide postal survey titled “Les livres fondateurs des Français.” Polling institute TNS-Sofres designed the study for the railway company SNCF as the flagship event of its travelling literacy campaign “En train de lire,” held during the book festival Lire en fête. Between 16 June and 26 July 2004, a representative panel of 10,000 French residents aged 15 + was screened to keep the 3,800 who had bought at least one book in the previous year; they were asked to list up to three books that had “marked [them] for life.” 2,121 usable questionnaires came back—about 57 %—and the 100 most-cited titles formed the final ranking, offering a portrait of readers’ lifelong favourites rather than an expert literary canon.

This list was originally published in 2004 and was added to this site almost 2 years ago.

How Good is this List?

This list has a weight of 20%. To learn more about what this means please visit the Rankings page.

Here is a list of what is decreasing the importance of this list:

  • Voters: not critics, authors, or experts
  • List: only covers mostly "Western Canon" books
  • Voters: are mostly from a single country/location
  • Voters: Unknown Names

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List Information

Number of Voters:
2000
Voter Count Unknown:
No
Voter Names Unknown:
Yes
High Quality Source:
No
Location Specific:
No
Category Specific:
No