Tirukkural
Excerpt from the Wikipedia page, "Considered one of the greatest works ever written on ethics and morality, chiefly secular ethics, it is known for its universality and non-denominational nature."
Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
61–70 of 175 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
The question was "What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the United States?" Although certain 1984 memes (like "Big Brother") are well-known, the book itself is not. Most Americans, if they've read any Orwell, have only read Animal Farm; and other concepts from 1984 (the memory hole, two minutes hate) are completely unheard of... again, because the book is not actually well-known.
1984 is required reading in many highschools. It's well known.
Though arguably not well understood.
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#631984
2001
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#64The "Four Great Classic Novels" from 14th-18th century China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Chinese_Novels Specifically: Water Margin Romance of the Three Kingdoms Journey to the West Dream of the Red Chamber They are referenced in everything in asian media and there a bajillion tv/movie adaptations of them but they are relatively unknown in the west.
Seconded. They are excellent. I must re-read them. Water Margin[0] came to UK on TV in the early 80s from Japanese TV. Gained quite a following. Journey to the West came to the UK as Monkey[1] (again a Japanese adaptation) around the same time. It was the most ridiculous, weird thing on TV. Most people at school were addicted to it. It became a cult classic. Sadly Saiyuki 2 never made it to the UK. [0] https://en.wik…
Damon Alburn (musician from Blur and Gorillaz) also co-created a stage adaptation as Monkey: Journey to the West:
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#65Some US history books that are relatively unknown in the US:
-Ann Douglas "Terrible Honesty" (Study of artists, Black and nonblack in New York/Manhattan in the 20s)
-James W. Douglass "JFK & the Unspeakable"
-Walter Johnson "River of Dark Dreams"
-Gerald Horne "The Counterrevolution of 1776"
-J. Sakai, Settlers (readsettlers.org)
-Ida Wells "Lynch Law in America"
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#66"I am a cat" by Natsume Sōseki 1905. like Murakami, but the first Japanese author to write like that (?) All the other novels he wrote are great too.
His "Kokoro" is my second-favorite novel of all time.
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#67"The Long Ships" by Frans G. Bengtsson. It's a wonderful, humorous adventure tale about the life of a viking. I'd also just suggest you browse the New York Review Books collection. They put a lot of effort into reviving this kind of literature in translation, as well as digging up forgotten American gems. https://www.nyrb.com/
Upvoted for NYRB. They're like the Criterion Collection of litfic at this point -- they find good stuff that's been out of print for too long, reissue it, bring it back to an audience that deserves to know about it. They recently reissued another long-out-of-print favorite, "Berlin Alexanderplatz", in a new translation.
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#68Tirukkural Excerpt from the Wikipedia page, "Considered one of the greatest works ever written on ethics and morality, chiefly secular ethics, it is known for its universality and non-denominational nature." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirukkuṛaḷ
There is a whole lot of excellent regional books that are unknown to Indians of recent generations. They would definitely be unknown in USA imho.
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#69Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (1889, London). http://www.gutenberg.org/files/308/308-h/308-h.htm The first half of the opening chapter is the best intro to any work of comic fiction I've read. At face value it's a simple road trip story (by boat), but the episodes of hypochondria and camaraderie still feel contemporary and fun — it is written and to be read for the pure joy of it, and you need look for no d…
This is one of my absolute favorites. I've since searched for a book that would make me laugh as hard, without success. Not even JKJ's other works come close.