Anatole France
2 books
- A nearsighted saint baptizes a colony of penguins by mistake, so heaven shrugs and turns them into people, and you get all of French history replayed as deadpan farce (the Dreyfus affair included). Read it if sly, cold-eyed irony makes you laugh; skip it if you want warmth.
- A guardian angel loses his faith by reading too much theology in his ward's library, then knocks around Paris plotting heaven's overthrow with other fallen angels. It's dry, mischievous French satire, more chuckle than thunder, and the ending lands a genuinely wise punch about power.