However, some of the most consistently acclaimed and influential French writers include:
Classics:
* Victor Hugo: Author of *Les Misérables*, *Notre-Dame de Paris* and *The Hunchback of Notre-Dame*
* Alexandre Dumas: Author of *The Three Musketeers*, *The Count of Monte Cristo* and *The Man in the Iron Mask*
* Honoré de Balzac: Author of *La Comédie humaine* (The Human Comedy), a series of novels portraying life in 19th-century France
* Gustave Flaubert: Author of *Madame Bovary* and *Sentimental Education*
* Emile Zola: Author of *Germinal* and *Nana*, leading figure in the naturalist movement
* Marcel Proust: Author of *Remembrance of Things Past*, a monumental work of literary impressionism
* Albert Camus: Author of *The Stranger*, *The Plague* and *The Rebel*, existentialist writer
* Jean-Paul Sartre: Author of *Being and Nothingness*, *Nausea*, and *The Second Sex*, existentialist philosopher and writer
* Simone de Beauvoir: Author of *The Second Sex* and *Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter*, feminist writer and philosopher
Modern:
* Albert Camus: Also considered a modern writer
* Jean-Paul Sartre: Also considered a modern writer
* Simone de Beauvoir: Also considered a modern writer
* Michel Foucault: Author of *Madness and Civilization*, *The Order of Things*, and *Discipline and Punish*, philosopher and social theorist
* Roland Barthes: Author of *Mythologies* and *S/Z*, literary critic and semiotician
* Alain Robbe-Grillet: Author of *Jealousy* and *The Erasure*, novelist and filmmaker
* Marguerite Duras: Author of *The Lover* and *Hiroshima Mon Amour*, novelist and filmmaker
* Michel Houellebecq: Author of *Elementary Particles* and *Submission*, contemporary novelist
* Annie Ernaux: Author of *A Woman's Story* and *The Years*, a contemporary writer exploring themes of memory, gender, and class
This is just a small selection of the many remarkable French writers who have shaped literature. To find your "greatest" French writer, I encourage you to explore their works and discover what resonates with you most.