Amélie is a Belgian woman who spent the first years of her life in Japan. She decides to return there as a young adult, signing a one-year contract as a translator in a prestigious company. Through a series of comical cultural misunderstandings, Amélie manages to descend at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Stupeur et tremblements, published in 1999, is one of the best known novel by Belgian writer Amélie Nothomb. Funny and refreshing, this book is both a satire of the corporate world and a vivid depiction of cultural differences.

In this class we will focus on learning and strengthening your French by reading (out loud in class and at home), understanding, exploring the vocabulary and the grammar, and discussing the themes and the story. This class will interest you if you are willing to keep learning French by reading a classic of 20th century Francophone literature.

We read this book in the fall of 2020.