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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?

#161

Post by jxub »

lappet wrote: post #159
jxub wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Any idea if the english translation of Witcher by Danusia Stok is good? I've just doublechecked that the official English translation is good indeed, I haven't got first hand knowledge though https://www.quora.com/I-intend-to-read-the-Witcher-books-but... My knowledge of Slavic literature limits mostly to the Polish and some Russian authors, despite that I can recommend a Czech satire book that I liked: https://en.…

Thank you! I will definitely check those out :)

All pleasure is mine! Also, glad that you like the Life of Boris :D (in the blog post)!

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

#163

Post by lappet »

jxub wrote: post #161
lappet wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you! I will definitely check those out :)

All pleasure is mine! Also, glad that you like the Life of Boris :D (in the blog post)!

Oh man, Boris is awesome, I watch his stuff almost every other day! Are you from Poland?

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

#164

Post by lappet »

x0x0 wrote: post #156
jxub wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Any idea if the english translation of Witcher by Danusia Stok is good? I've just doublechecked that the official English translation is good indeed, I haven't got first hand knowledge though https://www.quora.com/I-intend-to-read-the-Witcher-books-but... My knowledge of Slavic literature limits mostly to the Polish and some Russian authors, despite that I can recommend a Czech satire book that I liked: https://en.…

Don't miss _A Hero of Our Time_ by Lermontov. Plus, it's short!

Thank you, will do!

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

#165

Post by icsllaf »

_jgdh wrote: post #121
zawerf wrote: post #27

The "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.

I think it’s interesting because even when a person outside of China is exposed to them, they might not realise the influence. Close to a million people a day play Dota 2 but I doubt they know that the Monkey King ( https://youtube.com/watch?v=guGFT27SavM ) is the main character of Journey to the West. About these 4 books, are there any translations or Kindle versions you recommend?

I'm currently reading Water Margin which was translated to English by the Foreign Language Press[0]. Although very simplified in tone and diction, the translation is still amazing and it comes in four volumes as well so it's around 2000 pages of text.

[0]http://www.flp.com.cn/en/

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

#166

Post by piecu »

lappet wrote: post #138
jxub wrote: post #23

From where I stand, Hispanic and Slavic literature is fairly unknown and underrated on the other side of the pond. Ramón del Valle Inclán's "Lights of Bohemia": A great portrait of Madrid and the dirty guts of the Spain from 100 years ago, written in a gorgeously precise, dark and multifaceted range of vocabulary. Ortega y Gasset's "Rebellion of the Masses". It is centered in the individual "I am me and my circumstan…

Can you please provide more examples of Slavic literature? I am only aware of Russian authors. Any idea if the english translation of Witcher by Danusia Stok is good? I am very curious about Slavic culture and recently blogged about "Slavs"[1], I would love to add a literature section to my post. [1] https://raviramanujam.com/post/blog/slavs.html

I would recommend Boris Akunin (I suggest to start with Erast Fandorin series), I don't know whether he is known in the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Akunin

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

#167

Post by jxub »

lappet wrote: post #163
jxub wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All pleasure is mine! Also, glad that you like the Life of Boris :D (in the blog post)!

Oh man, Boris is awesome, I watch his stuff almost every other day! Are you from Poland?

Yep. I was born there (in Silesia) but I'm living in Spain since I was ten.

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

#168

Post by marttt »

jxub wrote: post #153
lappet wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you please provide more examples of Slavic literature? I am only aware of Russian authors. Any idea if the english translation of Witcher by Danusia Stok is good? I am very curious about Slavic culture and recently blogged about "Slavs"[1], I would love to add a literature section to my post. [1] https://raviramanujam.com/post/blog/slavs.html

> Any idea if the english translation of Witcher by Danusia Stok is good? I've just doublechecked that the official English translation is good indeed, I haven't got first hand knowledge though https://www.quora.com/I-intend-to-read-the-Witcher-books-but... My knowledge of Slavic literature limits mostly to the Polish and some Russian authors, despite that I can recommend a Czech satire book that I liked: https://en.…

I think Leo Tolstoy might be fairly well known in the US due to "War and Peace" and, possibly, "Anna Karenina". But his nonfiction or autobiographical works deserve attention as well. I would highlight two of these:

"The Kingdom of God is Within you" -- I think Mahatma Gandhi considered this to be one of the three most influential books for his philofophy of "nonviolent resistence". Even though Tolstoy was already considered a literary genius in his country, the Russian czar initially banned this book due to negative imagery of the Russian church. So I think it was first published in Germany or elsewhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_Y...

"A Confession" -- a short book that is somewhat related to the previous one; depicts young Tolstoy's "search for the meaning of life" (or, God). It had a huge impact on me (even though I read it first being 30+). This would be among my first recommendations for books to read when you're 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confession

Also, this might give some more context to understand Tolstoy's nonfiction: https://libertarianchristians.com/2010/07/09/leo-tolstoy-aga...

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

#169

Post by paolgiacometti »

I suggest "The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati". A great book about the meaningless of everyman planning about leaving a successful life. Mr. Paolomar by Italo Calvino is another last century Italian masterpiece with the reflection of a math teacher about the world and life in general.

wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tartar_Steppe

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

#170

Post by copperx »

The Eight Day of Creation by Horace Freeland Judson. It was popular in the 80's, but I haven't met anyone who has read it or even heard of it.

It is a brilliant account of the discovery of DNA. Simply astounding. It should have been made into a movie, or more appropriately, in a TV series.

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