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[Prez]

Western literature must only be a small part of world literature, yet I barely hear about authors from Africa, Asia and Latin-America. Even western authors from countries like those in Scandinavia seem to be entirely obscure to the general public.

I want to know what's out there. Anyone care to educate me? Thanks.

 

[Ashes]

Humayun Ahmed.

Bet nobody else says that.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

how is latin-America non-western?

edit: anway

Rubén Darío (Nicaragua)
Cesar Vallejo (Peru)
Mário de Andrade (Brazil)
Romulo Gallegos (Venezuela)
Carlos Luis Fallas (Costa Rica)
Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina)
Miguel Ángel Asturias (Guatemala)
Ernesto Sabato (Argentina)
Alejo Carpentier (Cuba)
Pablo Neruda (Chile)
Octavio Paz (Mexico)
Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia)
Manuel Puig (Argentina)
Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
Paulo Coelho (Brasil)

 

[shadyspace]

Japan has a very rich literary history.

 

[The Technomancer]

Japan has a very rich literary history.

Yeah, historically it seems like most literature emerged from Eurasia. That's changed significantly in the last hundred years or so of course.

 

[Fritz]

Do you consider Russian lit western lit? If not that's a very good place to start.

Turgenev, Dostoijewski, Gogol, Tchechov, Tolstoy, Lermontov, etc.

 

[Lissar]

For Japan I recommend Natsume Soseki, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and Edogawa Rampo.

 

[CiSTM]

I want to know where are all the SKorean authors. Japan and China are well represented in west but I don't know anything about Korean literature :/

 

[Grenouille]

Africa: Coetzee. Mia Couto maybe? I heard he's alright.
Brazil: Machado de Assis
Argentina: Adolfo Bioy Casares

 

[Angelus Errare]

From my own reading and collecting, for Japanese thrillers I recommend these writers
Kirino Natsuo
Fuminori Nakamura
Haruki Murakami
Keigo Higashino
Kanae Minato
Ryu Murakami
Miyuki Miyabe

If you want specific titles to read let me know.

 

[Ashes]

Do you consider Russian lit western lit? If not so that's a very good place to start.

Turgenev, Dostoijewski, Gogol, Tchechov, Tolstoy, Lermontov, etc.

I suppose you'd have to count them in. The literature landscape isn't similar to the political and geographical lines.

Russian Literature is so popular and influential, it's hard not to count the English translations amongst the riches of the western library.

It sounds weird though, so I see what you meant.

I for example wouldn't count a lot of Australian novelists. And yet I would count those authors who lived in India or were born in India but chiefly known to be British.

 

[Suite Pee]

Murakami, if you've got a fantastical taste.

 

[Prez]

how is latin-America non-western?

I thought Latin-America wasn't included in the cultural definition of the western world, but apparently it is?

I can't name a single Latin-American writer though. No one from Africa and Asia either (except Japan).

 

[johnsmith]

Haruki Murakami

This this this. Haruki Murakami is easily one of my favorite authors. If you're interested in reading modern Japanese literature, start here. It's all good, but Norwegian Wood is probably a good place to start.

 

[shadyspace]

I thought Latin-America wasn't included in the cultural definition of the western world, but apparently it is?

I can't name a single Latin-American writer though. No one from Africa and Asia either (except Japan).

Come on son

 

[Ashes]

I thought Latin-America wasn't included in the cultural definition of the western world, but apparently it is?

I can't name a single Latin-American writer though. No one from Africa and Asia either (except Japan).

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

edit: beaten. Jorge Luis Borges?

edit: What about the guy who wrote the alchemist..?

 

[Prez]

Africa: Coetzee. Mia Couto maybe? I heard he's alright.
Brazil: Machado de Assis
Argentina: Adolfo Bioy Casares

I know Coetzee, but it's odd that the only popular authors from Africa are white. There should be a huge amount of black African writers, but who? Does no one pay attention to African literature?

 

[Piecake]

I thought Latin-America wasn't included in the cultural definition of the western world, but apparently it is?

I can't name a single Latin-American writer though. No one from Africa and Asia either (except Japan).

Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Dude is super popular and a literary critic darling

 

[Wuthering_Heights]

So good.

 

[Glass Rebel]

I know Coetzee, but it's odd that the only popular authors from Africa are white. There should be a huge amount of black African writers, but who? Does no one pay attention to African literature?

Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart is what I'm reading atm during my lonely night shift

 

[AlberichMX]

I thought Latin-America wasn't included in the cultural definition of the western world, but apparently it is?

O________O

 

[Timbuktu]

Yeah, historically it seems like most literature emerged from Eurasia. That's changed significantly in the last hundred years or so of course.

Has it?

One powerful one i've read was Halldor Laxness from Iceland and his Independent People. It's pretty hard to know contemperary foriegn language literature though. The only other language i read novels in is Chinese and that's hard enough to find time for. Not sure how good the Nobel prize is as a measure internationally.

 

[CiSTM]

I thought Latin-America wasn't included in the cultural definition of the western world, but apparently it is?

I can't name a single Latin-American writer though. No one from Africa and Asia either (except Japan).

If you don't know any Latin-American authors then you just don't pay any attention to world literature :b Carlos Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa, Borges and Gabriel García Márquez are huge world wide. There are plenty of others but authors I mentioned are/were probably biggest stars of latin american literature... Not counting poets like Neruda.

 

[Prez]

O________O

I've had a course about western literature at uni and Latin-America wasn't mentioned anywhere. Neither was it mentioned whenever I learned about western society in general.

 

[Angelus Errare]

I want to know where are all the SKorean authors. Japan and China are well represented in west but I don't know anything about Korean literature :/

I have a few Korean books

Photo Shop Murder by Young Ha Kim
Tongue by Kyung Ran Jo
Housemaid by Sang Soo Im (They made a movie based on it, haven't watched it yet though)

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

edit: beaten. Jorge Luis Borges?

edit: What about the guy who wrote the alchemist..?

Paulo Coelho

 

[Easystride]

From my own reading and collecting, for Japanese thrillers I recommend these writers
Kirino Natsuo
Fuminori Nakamura
Haruki Murakami
Keigo Higashino
Kanae Minato
Ryu Murakami
Miyuki Miyabe

If you want specific titles to read let me know.

I know I'm not the OP, but I'd be interested in some specific titles, particularly if they have Kindle versions. The only Japanese book I've read is Norwegian Wood, which I liked a lot, but I'd like to try some other authors outside of Haruki Murakami.

 

[Grenouille]

Paulo Coelho (Brasil)

Really? He's so hated at his home country it's weird to see him being recommended here ( people on the now reading thread seem to like him too).

 

[Jarate]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Journey to the West
Water Margin

Knocking out Chinas big 3

 

[CiSTM]

I have a few Korean books

Photo Shop Murder by Young Ha Kim
Tongue by Kyung Ran Jo
Housemaid by Sang Soo Im (They made a movie based on it, haven't watched it yet though)

Thanks for the names, I'll check them out.

 

[Wolf Dawgz]

O________O

It makes much more sense if you realize that when people describe things as "western" it's not in a geographical sense. West is an arbitrary term that relies on culturally west(british, american, Canadian, Australian).

 

[Balphon]

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Really? He's so hated at his home country it's weird to see him being recommended here ( people on the now reading thread seem to like him too).

I liked three of his books, but I read them in High School so that may have changed. He does put too much philosophy in them, though.

It makes much more sense if you realize that when people describe things as "western" it's not in a geographical sense. West is an arbitrary term that relies on culturally west(british, american, Canadian, Australian).

Is Spain considered non western?

 

[Timbuktu]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Journey to the West
Water Margin

Knocking out Chinas big 3

It's usually Includes《紅樓夢》(Dream of the Red Chamber) as the "big 4"

 

[GCX]

Really? He's so hated at his home country it's weird to see him being recommended here ( people on the now reading thread seem to like him too).

He's really popular in Europe. Like, REALLY popular.

I've only read The Alchemist though.

 

[Angelus Errare]

I know I'm not the OP, but I'd be interested in some specific titles, particularly if they have Kindle versions. The only Japanese book I've read is Norwegian Wood, which I liked a lot, but I'd like to try some other authors outside of Haruki Murakami.

Norwegian Wood is an awesome starting place. To be honest you can't go wrong with any of Murakami's works. I finished reading 1Q84 by him so that's definitely worth checking out. Not sure on Kindle versions, nothing a quick amazon search can't solve.

The Thief by Funinori Nakamura
Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami
The Windup Bird Chronice by Haruki Murakami
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Out by Kirino Natsuo
Grotesque by Kirino Natsuo
Real World by Kirino Natsuo
Villain by Shuichi Yoshia
Audition by Ryu Murakami
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
Naoko by Keig Higashino

And just because it's awesome.
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Should be ample enough to keep ya busy for a while =)

 

[Prez]

Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart is what I'm reading atm during my lonely night shift

Thanks, that a start.

Is anyone else familiar with African literature? There should be so much with a huge variety, yet I'm having a hard time finding recommendations.

 

[youta]

I want to know what's out there. Anyone care to educate me? Thanks.

Oh wow, so much. A few works to start:

Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia): One Hundred Years of Solitude
Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina): The Aleph
Mario Benedetti (Uruguay): Coffee Dregs
Yukio Mishima (Japan): Patriotism
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (Japan): The Key
Sun Tzu (China): The Art of War

 

[Htown]

Is Spain considered non western?

No.

"Western" in this sense usually means European and North American. This is contrasted with "Eastern" literature which usually refers to China, Japan, India, the Mideast to some extent.

 

[TheKaeptain]

Kenzaburō Ōe

 

[CiSTM]

Norwegian Wood is an awesome starting place. To be honest you can't go wrong with any of Murakami's works. I finished reading 1Q84 by him so that's definitely worth checking out. Not sure on Kindle versions, nothing a quick amazon search can't solve.

The Thief by Funinori Nakamura
Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami
The Windup Bird Chronice by Haruki Murakami
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Out by Kirino Natsuo
Grotesque by Kirino Natsuo
Real World by Kirino Natsuo
Villain by Shuichi Yoshia
Audition by Ryu Murakami
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
Naoko by Keig Higashino

Should be ample enough to keep ya busy for a while =)

I think 1Q84 is by far the worse book he has written. I guess it works as decent starting place since it offers the usual Murakami tropes but I can't understand how anyone familiar with Murakami could like the book. First Murakami book that I didn't finish (didn't read the 3rd book).

qc summed it all up very well.

"All this leads us to the unavoidable conclusion that after over 30 years and countless pages Murakami has very little left to say. If the mediocre books of the 2000s didn’t evidence it enough, this book does; in 1Q84 there is simply nothing that Murakami hasn’t said better elsewhere. I write this with a great sadness, as a reader who has loved Murakami’s novels and who feels a sense of shame at having to warn off other lovers of Murakami’s work. But there is no other verdict to register. 1Q84 is a great disappointment to the reputation Murakami has built as a writer, and it will not be remembered very favorably when assessing his legacy. It raises a serious doubt as to whether Murakami has anything left to tell us."

 

[KingFire]

Russian writers are truly masters. Sometimes I think about it and I just cannot imagine the dedication and imaginary that some of them have put into their works.

I have just finished reading "War and Peace." The book is more like a detailed journey than a novel. I can't stop myself from closing my eyes every few lines and imagining the enormous details that the author crafted for every character.

 

[TheKaeptain]

I want to know where are all the SKorean authors. Japan and China are well represented in west but I don't know anything about Korean literature :/

A teacher of mine suggested Kyung-Sook Shin and Young-ha Kim to me. Haven't read any of their work though.

 

[Reuenthal]

I have read The Alchemist and did not particularly like it.

 

[AlberichMX]

No.

"Western" in this sense usually means European and North American. This is contrasted with "Eastern" literature which usually refers to China, Japan, India, the Mideast to some extent.

So is Center? XD

 

[Grenouille]

He's really popular in Europe. Like, REALLY popular.

I've only read The Alchemist though.

Yeah, in Brazil too, but most people don't take him seriously, especially critics, even though he's the country's most famous writer overseas. gaf is normally the place where we criticize everything, so I expected him to be hated here as well. Maybe he's got a better reputation in US/Europe.

 

[Enkidu]

No.

"Western" in this sense usually means European and North American. This is contrasted with "Eastern" literature which usually refers to China, Japan, India, the Mideast to some extent.

There is certainly an argument to be made for not including Latin America, after all it has economically not done nearly as well as the North American/Oceanian regions. However culturally it is very influenced by Latin Europe (hence the name) which is considered part of Western Europe so it is not an obvious conclusion. In fact, since this is about culture and not economics, I'd say Latin America can probably be considered western.

 

[The Artful Dodger]

Chinua Achebe is an amazing writer. He's from Africa but has a Western Literature background.

There is a newer version of the Arabian Nights that came out recently that's really good too.

I love Borges, and although he has a strong background in Western Literature, he is Argentina. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is also an amazing writer.

Bruno Schulz is a fantastic writer from Poland, but my favorite writer is Bohumil Hrabal from Prague.

 

[Glass Rebel]

Oh, Balkan literature might be considered semi-western. I'm quite fond of Ismail Kadare myself.

 

[Realyn]

So north america and europe is western and latin america not
cool