Hey, I'm interested in branching out from English language literature and was wondering what are some modern books that I should definitely pick up and read as well as which translation of those works.
Posted Sep 2, 2013, 1:53 AM UTC
The Temple of the Golden Pavillion by Yukio Mishima. One of Japan's greatest novels by one of its greatest modern authors. If you like this, you may want to read his Spring Snow, then the rest of the trilogy of which it is a part but can stand apart from with its consummate delicacy of expression.
Again, from Japan, The Box Man, an eccentric tale from the perspective of a box-inhabiting existential voyeur.
Arthur Rimbaud's masterful writing, which largely inspired all of French modern literature as well as surrealism. Remarkably intuitive poetry - especially his "tone poems," short koan-like pieces of the most evocative power imaginable.
I believe I read the New Directions editions of Rimbaud; cannot recall the Mishima version. Perhaps Google can help with choosing. All I know is that these works are astonishing pieces of literature.
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude; Love in the Time of Cholera
These are already in English
Sea of poppies Amitav Ghosh
Salman Rushdie
Things Fall Apart and all of Salman Rushdie's works are native English novels.
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is one of those iconic though-provoking "children's books" that have an insane amount of meaning and depth when read as an adult. I don't know which translation would be best as I read it in the original French.
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He's quite well known - Haruki Murakami is an excellent Japanese author whose texts are all translated very well by Jay Rubin. His most famous book is Norwegian Wood, which I haven't read, but I loved The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
Mrityunjaya... It deals with Indian epic Mahabharatha from a very unconventional angle.
I think the English translation is available on Amazon.
Here is a good reads link. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6369447-mrityunjaya
I think that Carlos Ruiz Zafon is one of the best contemporary Spanish authors. Definitely give The Shadow of The Wind a try. The prequel, The Angel's Game, is also good, but not as breathtaking. If you are looking for other Spanish literature, PM me.
I found both of those pretty okay.
The one must I can think of (depends on what you mean by "modern" though) is Edith Grossman's translation (Silver armor helmet on a red background) of Cervantes' Don Quixote.
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The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov
The TIn Drum by Gunter Grass
Herman Hesse stuff
Love in the Time of CHolera and One Hundred Years of Solitude
House of Spirits
Like Water for Chocolate
Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The masterworks edition reads well.
I agree. Best science fiction ever!