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Original poster

long, challenging novels not many people have heard of - recommendations please?

117 replies

highlandcoo · 12/12/2023 17:54

I have a tradition going with my nephew .. he's very well-read and every year I take on the challenge of sending him something he hasn't already come across. I've often chosen English translations of books set in Eastern Europe or Russia but I don't always succeed in finding a book he hasn't read.

In recent years I've sent:

Second Hand Time
The Pear Field
The Tsar of Love and Techno
Angel Maker
The Gone-Away World
The Story of a Life

I wondered about Prophet Song this year but would like one or two other novels to add to it. Any suggestions gratefully received.

TIA 😊

OP posts:
anythinginapinch · 12/12/2023 23:02

I'd second The People's Act of Love, and Life and Fate, and chuck in the Klemperer Diaries - Victor Klemperer a jewish academic kept a diary all his life and the ones between 1920s to end of WW2 are absolutely amazing. Your nephew will thank you

exexpat · 12/12/2023 22:55

By the way, thanks to whoever recommended Leica Format upthread: that book has been on my wishlist for ages, ever since I read a review of it, but I don't think it ever made it into paperback print in English. Seeing the name prompted me to check, and it is now available on kindle, so I have just bought it. Thank you for the reminder!

exexpat · 12/12/2023 22:49

The Luminous Novel - Mario Levrero (Uruguayan meta-fiction)

Traveller of the Century - Andres Neuman (set in Europe, but author is Argentinian)

The Last Samurai - Helen Dewitt (not set in Japan, but the original film of the same title is a theme)

The People's Act of Love - James Meek (stranded soldiers, shamans, a Siberian castration cult and other oddities based on actual early 20th century history)

The Industry of Souls - Martin Booth (Englishman emerges from the gulag after a long imprisonment)

Orders76 · 12/12/2023 22:33

Moby dick- very tough to get through
Portrait of the artist- couldn't get further than chapter three
Alias grace- Atwood fan and this is one of the more factual ones

And genuinely serious, the bible very interesting from a totally different view, perhaps parts to skip though

bcnmadre · 12/12/2023 21:45

In the First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - it covers one day in the Soviet Union (so fits the Eastern Europe / Russian theme) with so many different layers and characters.

Someone gave it to me and I was daunted at first as it's huge, but ended up loving it.

Time40 · 12/12/2023 21:36

A Glastonbury Romance, The Brazen Head or Weymouth Sands, all by John Cowper Powys.

And another vote for A Fine Balance, which is a truly brilliant book.

Wanttobekind · 12/12/2023 21:33

The Story of Tonle by Mario Rigoni Stern, exploring the shifting border and the creation of the Italian nation state in the early C20th from the perception of a peasant farmer/smuggler (this is a translation so will lack something but I read it in the original at university and absolutely loved it.) Partly set in Central Europe where he goes when he falls foul of the military as a smuggler which might tick that box for you?

Quickredfox · 12/12/2023 21:30

The Man Without Qualities (Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften)
Anniversaries (Jahrestagen)

Phineyj · 12/12/2023 21:29

Great thread!

What about The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, or Kavalier and Clay (same author)?

BlueberryBasket · 12/12/2023 21:27

Anathem - Neal Stephenson

HalebiHabibti · 12/12/2023 21:23

The Little World Of Don Camillo

JaninaDuszejko · 12/12/2023 21:17

CavalierApproach · 12/12/2023 20:09

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristin_Lavransdatter

I was going to suggest this but make sure you buy the more recent translation by Tiina Nunnally rather than the atrocious 'ye olde worlde' style one from the 30s.

Staying in Norway what about Alberta and Jacob by Cora Sandel? Recently reissued.

Or Childhood, Youth, Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen

What about Leïla Slimani's trilogy based on her family history. I adored The Country of Others which is the first.

And I've now realised I've just suggested nothing but trilogies!

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 12/12/2023 20:32

Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer

ChristmasBarginShop · 12/12/2023 20:28

Would you be prepared to try something contemporary from the far east?

I can suggest Haruki Murakami - I am currently reading 1Q84 and have read The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and can recommend both!

Or a real classic gem that's challenging is Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić. However very difficult to understand if you are unfamiliar with geography and Slaving tribes and their neighbours.

Sauvignonblanket · 12/12/2023 20:14

Life and Fate?

DrivingonIce · 12/12/2023 20:13

The Lymond Chronicles (The Game of Kings, Queens’ Play, The Disorderly Knights, Pawn in Frankincense, The Ringed Castle, Checkmate) by Dorothy Dunnett.
Judging by the rash of Lymond-related user names, I think quite a lot of MNers have heard of these.

Maybe King Hereafter, by the same author, is less well known?

CavalierApproach · 12/12/2023 20:11

I haven’t actually read Kristin Lavransdatter — I just saw it on a friend’s parents’ bookshelf years ago and was curious, and never quite forgot about it

Savourycrepe · 12/12/2023 20:08

All for Nothing by Walter Kempowski

OhComeOnFFS · 12/12/2023 20:06

The Tin Drum, by Gunter Grass. Amazing book.

Sadik · 12/12/2023 20:06

Or what about An Instance of the Finger post Iain Pears.
Or the Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell is less read nowadays & definitely long & challenging

WhompingWillows · 12/12/2023 20:05

Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren.

Shf · 12/12/2023 20:05

The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford. Possibly not that long but it’s a corker of an unreliable narrator.

maybejustonemoretime · 12/12/2023 20:04

Mary Barton - Elizabeth Gaskell

Sadik · 12/12/2023 20:03

Too Like The Lightening by Ada Palmer - very good, but also very dense!