I know it's not "literary". - Edit 2
Before modification by Tom at 13/12/2010 10:47:05 PM
What are the obscure tenses? Subjunctive imperfect? Plus-que-parfait subjunctives? Subjunctive futures? What? I'm curious to know.
EDIT: Never mind. Apparently you think the passé simple is obscure. I would venture to guess that about 50% of the verbs used in Le Rouge et Le Noir are passé simple. I don`t find it unusual at all. In fact, I think I have a problem with wanting to use it in spoken French. Je fus fatigué. Nous vinmes hier. Lût-il le livre? These are just the ones that I remember off the top of my head. Je le fis.
EDIT: Never mind. Apparently you think the passé simple is obscure. I would venture to guess that about 50% of the verbs used in Le Rouge et Le Noir are passé simple. I don`t find it unusual at all. In fact, I think I have a problem with wanting to use it in spoken French. Je fus fatigué. Nous vinmes hier. Lût-il le livre? These are just the ones that I remember off the top of my head. Je le fis.