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Original poster

A Classic from a foreign language

65 replies

AnonymousBird · 07/01/2013 13:34

I really fancy something a bit different, read lots of recent/contemporary type fiction as well as some wonderful wonderful American literature recently and I think I am getting a bit jaded and need some shock tactics!!

I fancy something quite meaty, preferably not 1000 pages but perhaps French/Russian/Spanish (but translated into English!) - Hugo? Zola? Tolstoy? Garcia marquez?

I have read and adored Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, Several Marquez books, I have Ladies Paradise which I have meant to read for years and I have a kindle so can access free/cheap books that way!

TIA for any suggestions, whether foreign or british on the classic side of things.

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LoopsInHoops · 07/01/2013 14:45

Ah, Primo Levi's 'If this is a man' and 'the truce'? (is it truce? I think)

Original poster
AnonymousBird · 07/01/2013 14:30

Oh my, some really great suggestions here, I have LOADS of research on Amazon/Goodreads to do!!!

Thanks all. xx

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Original poster
AnonymousBird · 07/01/2013 14:29

Anyone read Don Quixote or the Count of Monte Cristo?

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Francagoestohollywood · 07/01/2013 14:24

I also recommend most of the novels written by Georges Simenon, I wonder whether they've been translated into English too.

Francagoestohollywood · 07/01/2013 14:23

I second the Dangerous Liaisons too.

If you are into Jewish/in between the 2 wars literature, then it doesn't get better than Joseph Roth, who is, imo, one of the best writers of the xx century. Not sure if all his novels have been translated into English.

I have just finished to read Margaret Drabble's The Radiant Way, I know you asked for European literature, but I found it quite "meaty" and a beautiful read.

HelpOneAnother · 07/01/2013 14:18

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artifarti · 07/01/2013 14:15

Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude (Marquez) are both great as is Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

Marcel Pagnol's The Water of the Hills?

Original poster
AnonymousBird · 07/01/2013 14:11

Maybe, finally, it will be my biggy for the first part of the year. My recent reads have been mostly good but a touch "light" and la la la. I want meatiness, and I suspect it does get much meatier than W&P!!!!

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HoratiaWinwood · 07/01/2013 14:04

I read War and Peace last year. It is amazing, although Tolstoy occasionally goes off on one for a bit but you can skim those pages.

Original poster
AnonymousBird · 07/01/2013 13:59

Is War and Peace worth a go?? Have often wondered but never tried, maybe this is the year!

Have read Name of the Rose - forgot about that and agree, yes, very good indeed.

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Original poster
AnonymousBird · 07/01/2013 13:56

I must say that I wondered about Les Miserables. I know the story very well, but have not read the book. Good recommendation, thanks.

Buddenbrooks I have not heard of, but sadly it's not on Kindle in English by the looks. May keep my eye out at my second hand bookshop or the library.

The Trial - not read that either, but have heard of it! Vaguely remember it being on the shelf at a house share I was in for a while and I was a bit scared of it at the time!!! Maybe I can handle it now!

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LoopsInHoops · 07/01/2013 13:48

The Name of the Rose is an excellent read. Dangerous Liaisons is amazing too.

HelpOneAnother · 07/01/2013 13:48

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HoratiaWinwood · 07/01/2013 13:45

Der Prozess by Kafka, The Trial in English, is a headfuck challenging but short read.

Francagoestohollywood · 07/01/2013 13:42

Don't get scared by the length of Les Miserables, it is wonderful and a page turner.

Have you read The Buddenbrooks?