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I think this is the best forum to put this, as opposed to book forums, cause im looking for variety, personal experiences of people from all over the world, about authors that could be unknown by people from other nations.
Im a very curious person and think the BEST way to know a different country is through their culture. Its true that i also am a major in Literature, and the career basically teach you that. Its like history of the world, but subjective, from the eyes of a person of the times instead of a supposedly "objective" view. Ive learned a lot about literature from many countries, and their history and way of living/thinking, but of course im far from knowing authors from all over the world.
For instance i dont know about many African authors, i know very little next to none about Asian literature (only read Haruki Murakami that is a bit westernized in his topics, and Kazuo Ishiguro but he lives in England), and i dont know much about current authors of many nations.
Of the literatures im familiar with, i wanna recommend:
From Argentina: is a MUST to read Jorge Luis Borges. Regarded as one of the most brilliant writers of the 20th century, it is hard to gasp in the beggining, but once you do, its like an onion, you can peel it and keep peeling it and you will keep finding more infinite universes and magic! It is amazing. Manuel Puig and Julio Cortázar are others i strongly recommend.
From Chile: probably my favourite author in the entire world, Roberto Bolaño. His novel "the savage detectives" is the best thing i ve ever read, and like the ultimate bohemian novel, but basically a novel about becaming and adult and growing up and crushed dreams. Universal and WONDERFUL. Also, funny. An instant classic, and its been edited in many countries (i know it was a hit and top 1 according to the new yorker a few years ago).
From USA: Aside the classics (i guess everyone knows about Melville, Sallinger, Fitzgerald, Hemingway) i strongly recommend Raymond Carver. Raw literature in a way. Like a disciple of Chejov, describing the normal life of the normal men. It is made in a way that its painful and profound, but not in the way its written, but in whats left out of whats written.
From Canada: Alice Munro. Kinda like Carver in the sense it narrates the normal life of normal men (although mostly women in her case, but i say "men" as "human kind) and all her stories are like novels contained in a smaller format. Her stories and her writing are powerful.
Russia: I would have to recommend the classics cause i dont know more modern ones, but if someone does i would LOVE to know good modern (from half of the 20th century and on) authors, cause i adore russian literature. Of course Chejov, Dostoievski, Gogol, Tolstoi. Classics and im a big fan of each one of them (Dostoievski being number one, but i was a huge fan of Chejov back in the day, too).
England: Julian Barnes. He still lives and writes (published a novel last year called "the sense of an ending") and he is amazing! "Talking it over" and "Love, etc" are super entertaning and compelling. The Lemon table is a great recollection of short stories. Great to read and recommend since it seems impossible not to like him.
I could go on and on but i dont wanna list all the classic authors of europe, most people are familiar with this. I would like to read recommendations of other people that likes to read and are familiar with authors of any country. This are my recommendations. I only picked few countries and few authors to not make a super long post.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Most of my favourite authors tend to be British, American, Australian, with a few other Europeans, but I always enjoy reading a book by an author whose background is not English or is not from elsewhere in Europe.
For Australia, well there are the acclaimed authors like Patrick White, Tim Winton, Miles Franklin, Kate Grenville, but there are also children's book writers like John Marsden and Paul Jennings who are really famous.
Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson are two famous poets often writing about the outback and rural colonial life.
Most of my favourite authors tend to be British, American, Australian, with a few other Europeans, but I always enjoy reading a book by an author whose background is not English or is not from elsewhere in Europe.
For Australia, well there are the acclaimed authors like Patrick White, Tim Winton, Miles Franklin, Kate Grenville, but there are also children's book writers like John Marsden and Paul Jennings who are really famous.
Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson are two famous poets often writing about the outback and rural colonial life.
Thanks for the tip, ill look those authors up! What are the themes they usually write about?
Sticking strictly to relatively recent authors, mine would be:
Michael Ondaatje, probably the best current Canadian author, should be mentioned.
Also, for Sweden, the late Stieg Larsson Peter Carey, now in America, and Peter Temple, both very good Australian writers. Along with the above-mentioned Tim Winton.
Others worth mentioning are J. M. Coetzee, South African Peter Hoeg, Denmark David Lodge, the best I've read among many British authors Per Petterson, Norway
I've only read "The Reader" by German Bernhard Schlink, but it towers above almost every book I've ever read.
I've read several books recently by Indian and Japanese authors, but none stand out.
For American writers of recent decades, Cormac McCarthy is in a class by himself.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SophieLL
Thanks for the tip, ill look those authors up! What are the themes they usually write about?
Depends on the author. As for books, I would recommend Tim Winton's classic 'Cloud Street', which is about life in post-war Western Australia, and Kate Grenville's 'The Secret River' which is about the relationship between early settlers and aborigines in the Sydney area.
From Argentina: is a MUST to read Jorge Luis Borges. Regarded as one of the most brilliant writers of the 20th century, it is hard to gasp in the beggining, but once you do, its like an onion, you can peel it and keep peeling it and you will keep finding more infinite universes and magic! It is amazing. Manuel Puig and Julio Cortázar are others i strongly recommend.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88
For American writers of recent decades, Cormac McCarthy is in a class by himself.
I agree with those suggestions above. Borges was a genius.
As far as French-Canadian authors go, I love Nicolas Dickner, but I don't think his works have been translated yet. Dany Laferrière (born in Haiti, lives in Montreal) too.
Has anyone else read Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts? This man has had a very unique and interesting life. We very seldom run across people who have experienced what he has and it gives us a very different perspective on things.
He is Australian and most of the experiences are in India.
I agree with those suggestions above. Borges was a genius.
As far as French-Canadian authors go, I love Nicolas Dickner, but I don't think his works have been translated yet. Dany Laferrière (born in Haiti, lives in Montreal) too.
Dickner's Nikolski is available in English I think.
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