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Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?

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Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?

#91

Post by akashakya »

Arun2009 wrote: post #53

If by "great" you mean influential, then definitely India's epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata would fit the bill IMO. Wikipedia has this to say about Mahabharata: > The Mahābhārata is the longest epic poem known and has been described as "the longest poem ever written".[7][8] Its longest version consists of over 100,000 śloka or over 200,000 individual verse lines (each shloka is a couplet), and long prose pass…

On top of that, there are hundreds of versions of Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata with different themes and story[1]. Excluding retellings in different languages with a different style and changes story depending on languages, region & religion. My mother tongue (Kannada) alone has more than 10 ancient version or so which I heard of.

It seems that old writers had a different idea of storytelling. They were focused more on the theme & prosody[2] than the story. I think it set the bar very high since everyone know the base story. No wonder they had this complex structure and ideas for prosody[2]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_in_Jainism

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit_prosody

Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?

#92

Post by gtycomb »

wenc wrote: post #83
gtycomb wrote: post #14

Books by P. G. Wodehouse. English author, an outstanding humorist.

Yes. Despite having a shared language, many U.K. books are not widely read in the U.S. Authors like P.G. Wodehouse and Georgette Heyer are considered a bit niche in the U.S. Others: - Enid Blyton's children books - Five Find Outers, Secret Seven, Malory Towers etc. - C.S. Forester - Horatio Hornblower series Non-English authors: - Georges Simenon - Inspector Maigret series (French detective genre) - Sigrid Undset - K…

The children's books:- Just William series by Richmal Cromption. Fun of boyhood days immortalized.

Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?

#93

Post by pyb »

I've started reading French books again recently, and found some great ones:

Les Choses, Georges Perec

Alcools, Guillaume Appolinaire (poetry)

Francois Mitterrand, l'Abeille et l'Architecte (essay/diary)*

Bernard Henri Levy, La Pureté Dangereuse (essay)*

*AFAIK The last two don't have an English translation.

Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?

#94

Post by gtycomb »

alexashka wrote: post #45

anything by Jack London. I had read translations of his works in russian and after immigrating to Canada, was surprised to know that nobody had ever heard of him here. A real gem if you enjoy the likes of 'of mice and men'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_London

His autobiography "John Barleycorn". Even exploring a lifetime drinking alcohol, it ends up as a book to cherish.

Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?

#95

Post by Pamar »

"Long John Silver" by Larsson (https://www.amazon.com/Long-John-Silver-Bjorn-Larsson/dp/186...).

I have read some other books by Larsson, but this is definitely the one I liked more. It is sort of a retelling of "Treasure Island" as narrated by the eponymous character (including how he became a pirate, and what happened to him after the event in the novel).

Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?

#96

Post by ianai »

bshepard wrote: post #65

Some 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"

You’re close to another good point: historical conversation tends to start around 1776 in the US in a manner not too different from 1776 being the start of time. I read a fuller historical account from a perspective including what’s known about America before the Spanish found it, through Spanish colonization, and through to the modern era. I’ve known my fellow citizens to fall prey to the idea that “our history” refers to a telling solely from the view that started in 1776. But that’s inconsistent with the view that the US is the home of people with family from all over.

Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?

#97

Post by akashakya »

Vachana Sahitya[1] is less known outside I guess.

Vachana Sahitya is a form of rhythmic writing in Kannada that evolved in the 11th century CE as a part of the Sharana movement, a revolt against all the social evils of the traditionalistic society that time. Subject varying from their revolutionary ideas regarding human rights, society, democracy, god, and life.

It's not actually a book, more like Haiku maybe.

[1] http://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kLs3AAAAIAAJ&oi...

http://www.manushi-india.org/pdfs_issues/articles/Talking%20...

http://vsnanc.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/AllamaP...

Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?

#98

Post by riffraff »

ddebernardy wrote: post #88
gjkood wrote: post #36

Some great comics/graphic novels that are relatively unknown in the US Asterix comics [1] Tintin comics [2] Yes, I know Spielberg's Tintin animated movie is well known but I doubt most people in the US have heard of the entire series of Tintin comics. I couldn't devour these fast enough when I was growing up. [1] https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3... [2] https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no…

It's not just those two. Most French/Belgian comics [1] are unknown in the US. There have been tons of talented newcomers since the 1990s, and some cursory Googling suggests me that most are not translated to English yet. (Some are available in German.) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Belgian_comics

I would say European and south American comics are mostly unknown in the US. L'incal, Corto Maltese, Mafalda, El Eternauta... There is a whole world which is distinctly different from the mainstream American style and manga/manwa, and very interesting.

Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?

#99

Post by archagon »

In 1935-36, two Soviet humorists took a coast-to-coast road trip across the US and gathered their experiences in a book called "Single-Story America" (or "Little Golden America" in English). The translation by Charles Malamuth seems rather wooden compared to the hilarious, witty tone of the original Russian, but I think it's still very much worth reading: an uncanny number of their observations about American life and culture are still completely relevant today.

(Some choice quotes in my Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6708623)

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