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LOL, exactly - I really don't see the point of the question myself.
World class literature? Even the term is a little strange.
I don't think it is strange if a person is seeking commonalities, but I guess it is a little odd if there is no intention of reading it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jertheber
Studs Terkel's books should be considered a work of world class consideration, his style is unique and the content provides the kind of insight that is rare in today's writing.
Superb choice.
I've read all his stuff. What a down to earth, yet sensitive author.
...I can go on and on, but you are not going to read these books, so what is the point? Why did you ask the question? I am just curious
Did you want to see if Americans have the same taste in books as the rest of the world?
You missed where he said, twice I think, that he would be interested in reading some.
I don't get what the beef is that some people seem to be having with the question....we ask each other about about world class restaurants, world class athletes, etc.
You missed where he said, twice I think, that he would be interested in reading some.
Only once that I can see, but here it is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Visvaldis
True, but I 'd like to read some book titles in this thread.
Quote:
I don't get what the beef is that some people seem to be having with the question....we ask each other about about world class restaurants, world class athletes, etc.
True enough.
It's actually kind of interesting to think about what Americans consider to be world class lit.
You missed where he said, twice I think, that he would be interested in reading some.
I don't get what the beef is that some people seem to be having with the question....we ask each other about about world class restaurants, world class athletes, etc.
The OP wrote "I 'd like to read some book titles in this thread".
No "beef" on my part , I am (just like OP) simply curious.
Unless the American in question has native fluency in the original language, and appreciate every idiom and pun, he would be in no position to judge the literary quality of a non-English work, any more so than if he saw a movie based on the novel.
What, exactly, is it that makes reading "Anna Karenina" a more fulfilling experience than seeing the movie? Don't you think just as much is lost in reading an English translation of "Anna Karenina", which is just another form of having Tolstoy delivered to us through a filter controlled by somebody else's interpretation? There have been several versions of the film, some better than others. Similarly, there are several translations of it, some better than others. So how, then, is the non-Russian reader to evaluate the original?
I can't read a British novel and properly evaluate it, because I've never lived in Britain and learned to understand the nuances of British life, which is what makes a novel great or not great. I can't even read Ring Lardner with full critical appreciation, because I've never lived in New York City (unless I get residency credit for watching Seinfeld). All I can do is accept the word of New Yorkers as an article of faith that his work is great. And then, I am using Lardner to define New York, rather than using New York to define Lardner.
Unless the American in question has native fluency in the original language, and appreciate every idiom and pun, he would be in no position to judge the literary quality of a non-English work, any more so than if he saw a movie based on the novel.
What, exactly, is it that makes reading "Anna Karenina" a more fulfilling experience than seeing the movie? Don't you think just as much is lost in reading an English translation of "Anna Karenina", which is just another form of having Tolstoy delivered to us through a filter controlled by somebody else's interpretation? There have been several versions of the film, some better than others. Similarly, there are several translations of it, some better than others. So how, then, is the non-Russian reader to evaluate the original?
I can't read a British novel and properly evaluate it, because I've never lived in Britain and learned to understand the nuances of British life, which is what makes a novel great or not great. I can't even read Ring Lardner with full critical appreciation, because I've never lived in New York City (unless I get residency credit for watching Seinfeld). All I can do is accept the word of New Yorkers as an article of faith that his work is great. And then, I am using Lardner to define New York, rather than using New York to define Lardner.
Of course. Should one read for his own pleasure, or just to validate schoolbook editors? How much Sir Walter Scott has to be pushed down our throats, to validate the inertia of the idea that he was any more than a hack, who never had to work, so could indulge in his graphomania?
I think the purpose of an author is to reveal universal truths, so to question our comprehensive understanding of a culture, its politics, its social mores, etc., isn't necessarily the reader's errand. Of course, we can also dispense with the enterprise of fiction by reducing the writer's effort to Cliffs Notes, but by the same token we can reduce our own lives to Cliffs Notes and leave novels out of it.
It is interesting still, to consider what objectively constitutes "important work". Personally, I didn't care for Roth's Portnoy's Complaint. But I recognize as a cultural artifact that it was a daring work for its time. Many (most, actually) modern novels deal with individual alienation and that positions the work within a specific cultural or social milieu. How well an author renders that milieu while issuing utterly resonant portraits of the people within it, purely through words, is the difference between good and great work. So culture studies are important, not as important as the actual construction of a work.
My list would include novels by Saul Bellow, Vladimir Nabokov, John Updike (who's another one I don't relate to personally), Gunter Grass, Italo Calvino, Kobo Abe...wow, lots more so let that just be a start because it's a common list. Personally, I want to include JG Ballard. Startling, surreal, visionary fiction: Crash and The Atrocity Exhibition for a start.
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