Emile Zola, Harry Potter or manga One Piece and Dragon Balll are enthroned on the bedside tables of the French. Indeed, 100,000 people revealed their favorite books as part of a France 2 operation to establish a list of books that sit in top position among the French. The order of preference for this ranking was then revealed during the program “Le livre favori des Français”, broadcast this Thursday, December 15 on France 2.
“The titles range from the most classic to the most surprising, with notable absences. Cultural circles are already being choosy”, warned Michel Field, director of culture and performing arts at France Televisions and host of the program, at the microphone of France Inter Thursday, December 15.
Because indeed, in this classification, the generations confront each other. Pop culture works like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games where the manga have been able to make a remarkable entrance, the great classics of French literature retain a place of choice and continue to seduce all generations, as for contemporary novels, they bring together a large audience.
In this list, we also deplore the absence of great authors, like Marcel Proust that Marc Lambron, writer and literary critic, describes in Point as “a forgotten prestige”.
In 2021, the French Academy declared that one in four books sold was a comic, half of which are manga. It is therefore not surprising to see them very present in the list of books favorites of the French. A study by the GFK firm revealed that Virginie Grimaldi was one of the most popular authors in bookstores. A recognition that allowed him to rise to first place in the ranking with his novel It’s high time to rekindle the stars, released in 2018 and sold more than 800,000 copies each year. By reaching the highest step of the podium, 40,000 additional copies of his book will be reprinted in pocket format with the banner “The favorite book of the French”.
Here is the list of the 25 favorite books of the French:
1. It’s high time to rekindle the stars – Virginie Grimaldi (2019)
2. One Piece – Eiichiro Oda (1997)
3. Harry Potter – JK Rowling (1997)
4. The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)
5. Les Miserables – Victor Hugo (1862)
6. The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien (1954)
7. The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas (1844)
8. All the blue of the sky – Mélissa da Costa (2019)
9. Dragon Ball – Akira Toriyama (1984)
10. Berserk – Kentaro Miura (1989)
11. Zero Kilometer – Maud Ankaoua (2017)
12. The Stranger – Albert Camus (1942)
13. Change the water of flowers – Valérie Perrin (2018)
14. 1984 – George Orwell (1949)
15. Happy people read and drink coffee – Agnès Martin-Lugand (2012)
16. Perfume – Patrick Süskind (1985)
17. Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins (2008)
18. Attack on Titan – Hajime Isayama (2009)
19. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen (1813)
20. The truth about the Harry Québert affair – Joël Dicker (2012)
21. To the happiness of the ladies – Emile Zola (1883)
22. The Foam of Days – Boris Vian (1947)