Must-Read Classics by Printemps.com

In three volumes, Virginie Despentes tells the story of Vernon Subutex, a former DJ who gets evicted from his home and finds himself on the street. Before long, he starts hosting semi-mystical raves featuring binaural music that he mixes himself, and the parties become a huge success. Despentes' work serves as a kind of contemporary spin on Balzac's The Human Comedy, in which the author's characters illustrate different social classes. Through this lens, Despentes interprets the complex mechanics of contemporary French society. With forceful relevance and a unique voice, the trilogy quickly became a best-seller.

Considered a classic that everyone's heard of and few have actually read, there's no time like the present to jump into this timeless masterpiece. Spinning the tale of the brilliant Scheherazade, we follow along with bated breath as she distracts the sultan Shahryar from his ominous plans, each night unfolding a new story. An ode to the power of the imagination, One Thousand and One Nights interweaves diverse literary genres, from epistolary love stories to historical epics and travel anecdotes, from the erotic to the autobiographical (revealed on Night 602). Despite our foreknowledge of the ending, there are countless surprises left to discover.

Released in 1996, Infinite Jest was quickly elevated to the status of a contemporary literary classic. Occurring in a relatively near future, David Foster Wallace's narrative takes place within the borders of a superpower federation composed of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Labyrinthine and post-modern, the novel illustrates a population that's become entirely addicted to hyper-consumption, recreation and entertainment. In his incredibly rich and stylistic prose, "DFW" skips between linguistic registers, mixing slang and media jargon, and reveals philosophical, poetic, and indeed political reflections wrapped in math and tennis. A virtuosic work.

For British philosopher Timothy Morton, the ecological transition needs to occur in tandem with an intellectual revolution. The latter consists of changing our perception of the natural world. Instead of imagining nature to exist in mankind's interest, it has become necessary to re-think how-to live-in harmony with it. This is what Morton means by "ecological thought," which he elaborates in this fluid and enthusiastic work. From this perspective, the author invites us to stand in awe before the multitudinous forms of life and to delight in the mysteries they reveal. He shows how the different elements of our ecosystems are all interconnected and how each of our smallest acts can have a positive impact. An exercise in optimism, brimming with references to literature, poetry, and pop culture.

Published in 1962, Silent Spring is the book that awakened the United States to the environmental issues in its midst. Starting in the 1940s, biologist Rachel Carson, today an icon in climate activism, began to worry about the widespread use of pesticides and their potential damage to the environment and our health. A true visionary, her work brings science to the layman and deftly reveals the results of years of research. Causing a shockwave through society when it was released, it played a significant role in the US' decision to ban the use of the pesticide known as DDT, and also led to the establishment of the American Agency for the Protection of the Environment, along with inspiring an entire movement of ecologists in the 1960s. This groundbreaking book's influence can still be felt today, and it's more relevant than ever.

The Anthropocene has shaped our current geological era, characterized by its devastating impact on human and environmental activity. Combining numerical data, essays, cartography, and more, the authors elaborate the risks that weigh on our planet: deforestation, a loss of species diversity, soil erosion, temperature increase and pollution. They also explore the numerous issues that our societies will come to face. It also wisely details how Earth's resources are not without limit, demonstrating that it is essential to act now in order to preserve them. This work is key to thinking today's ecology.

Written following conferences given by the author in 1928 at the Girton and Newnham Colleges and Cambridge University, this short book is written in the first-person and pointedly depicts women's place in British society in the 20th century. Relevant beyond the borders of the United Kingdom, Woolf examines the theme of "the woman and the novel." She was an important member of intellectual society in London at the time, and this essay elaborates her thoughts on the place of woman writers and the causes of their rarity. According to her, a woman needs both "money and a room of her own," a space where she can create freely and without distraction. One of the great feminist classics.

A condensation of feminist theory, this best-seller takes on the subversive power of a figure that's long been marginalized in our societies: the witch. Whether she's single, childless, or a widow, this tenebrous magician is in a sense the archetype of any woman who opposes the patriarchy. Through this character, journalist and essayist Mona Chollet analyzes the misogyny of our societies and the behavior connected to it, from the Middle Ages to today. Between myth and reality, the author traces the history of representation and the development of the witch — a victim of persecution in the 16th and 17th centuries, and one of today's new symbols of liberation. A feminist icon for the 21st century.

I Know Why The Caged bird Sings is Maya Angelou's artful autobiography. A poet and writer strongly committed to the struggle for civil rights, this book depicts her life between the ages of 3 and 16, in the segregationist and racist American South of the 1930s. As she undergoes numerous trials, Maya Angelou finds the strength to overcome these challenges thanks to her love of books and the English language. In this work, she poignantly recounts her quest for freedom and equality through art, in all of its memory-work and intense introspection. Sharing vital wisdom on apartheid and resilience, this novel details the trials and triumphs of its author, demonstrating that it's possible to heal from profound trauma. An engrossing story of struggle and empowerment that's crucial for today's intersectional feminism.