Confession by Leo Tolstoy. (About the meaning of life :) http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/confessions-tolst...
What self-respecting literature enthusiast hasn't heard of Tolstoy?
Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
21–30 of 175 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#22Confession by Leo Tolstoy. (About the meaning of life :) http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/confessions-tolst...
What self-respecting literature enthusiast hasn't heard of Tolstoy?
I've read some of Tolstoy's stuff, but I'd not heard of this particular work. Wasn't that the question, about works, not authors?
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#23From 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 circumstances" and its evolution since the enlightenment.
Sapkowski's "Witcher". Look for a good translation, lots of Slavic mythology tidbits and wonderfully juicy curse words.
Stanislaw Lem's "The Star Diaries". Nice if you like to fantasize about buying pieces for your spaceship in a shopping centre or think about chair-like aliens with 11 different sexes (in the book).
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "A hundred years of solitude". The book is all about "realismo fantástico", joining the real and imaginary words in an unforgettable blend.
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#24Foreign:
* Life: a users manual by George s Perec.
* Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal
* Auto-da-fe by Elias Canetti
Domestic:
These are harder because I feel like they’re all pretty well known, but maybe they’re not actually read. Like, known bc people have heard the name, but are not read as much anymore.
* Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
* Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
* Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Actually unknown (but super good) domestic:
* Stuff by Larry McMurtry (only famous for lonesome dove)
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#25Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#26https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tartar_Steppe Also, on the technical side (sorry I couldn't resist), CTM https://www.info.ucl.ac.be/~pvr/book.html is really underrated.
Basically everything by Buzzati is awesome and virtually unknown to foreigners.
I would suggest a short story collection though, like "sessanta racconti".
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sessanta_racconti
It's up there with the best Asimov or Calvino or Borges: simple brilliant ideas, perfect execution.
And yes, CTM is awesome too!
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#27The "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.
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#28The Master and Margarita.
Yes. This book is fantastic.
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#29Alamut by Vladimir Bartol
Written in 1030's by a Slovenian, it's a historical fiction novel set in the in 11th century what is now Iran. It tells the story of how a radical leader of an Islamic faction, based in the impenetrable mountain fortress "Alamut", manipulates young men into perfect obedience and turns them against his enemies through the use of drugs and a fake paradise full of women purporting to be heaven.
It is also one of the major inspirations for the Assassin's Creed series of games.
Re: Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?
#30Candide by Voltairre , really short drama, funny with a really unique point of view of pestilence.
Confessions by Rousseau, superb biography of an amazing life.
Zeno's conscience, a psycho analysts novel with a different point of view.