I realize that I’ve spent the majority of my life reading American authors and viewing life from an American perspective, thinking that it is the epitome of culture that the world should strive for.
Well, I was absolutely wrong, I admit it. I apologize to all the non-American authors that I have ignored and I want to make up for it.
Please give me your suggestions for the non-American novels that have impacted you the most. I really like books where there is strong character development and where I also learn a little bit about the country’s history or current state. (ETA: Not too dark; I can’t handle violent or gore stuff.)
I want to do my best to now support authors who’ve been ignored by readers like myself. ♥️
Please know that I might not respond to or read comments right away as I try not to use my phone too much in front of my toddler, but I will read each and every one of your suggestions as soon as I can.
You can also direct me to a list of world literature or international literature if you know of one.
Thanks a lot, amazing folks.
by AcademicPreference54
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The Tin Drum – Gunter Grass
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Power of One by Bryce Courtney
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Dragonfly Sea, by Yvonne Owuor; main setting is an island off the coast of Kenya, beautifully written.
I just finished Pillars of the Earth by Welsh author Ken Follett. I tried to read it when I was younger but I didn’t have the knowledge of religion or politics to grasp its gravity. It is *astonishing.* History. Architecture. Religious in-fighting. Incredible plot lines that are strung over 1000 pages and 50 years. Characters that are flawed exactly correctly.
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime is a really good look at life in South Africa, the culture, the racism, and the poverty he and his mother experienced
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata gave me some insight into Japanese culture
*One Hundred Years of Solitude* by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
*The Palm-Wine Drinkard* by Amos Tutola (the last word in the title is not a typo).
The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz: *Palace Walk*, *Palace of Desire*, and *Sugar Street*.
Any book by Claire Keegan but Foster is one of my favs
Zuleikha by Guzel Hakhina
The housekeeper and the professor.
One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez for his depiction of some of the history of Colombia through his mythical town of Macondo and the Buendía family.
Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo and The Burning Plain also by Juan Rulfo.
The first is a depiction of the rise and fall of a pueblo pre- and post-revolutionary Mexico but with proto-magical realist elements (this one inspired Marquez to write 100 years).
The second is a collection of short stories of the people and their struggles after the Mexican revolution.
Hope this helps!
Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Happiness by Will Ferguson
The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb
A Jest of God by Margaret Lawrence
Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toewes
I literally beg you to read A Thousand Splendid Suns (female perspective) or Kite Runner (male perspective) about Afghani culture
American myself I almost only read foreign novels.
Lately I’m getting into Javier Marias, recently deceased Spanish author who writes thoughtful and intriguing novels, usually ones in which the questions are more interesting than any answers. I highly recommend his three part trilogy Your Face Tomorrow, as well as All Souls
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books
Alexander Dumas, Count of Monte Cristo, Three Musketeers
The Bronte Sisters, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre
Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses
Neville Shute, A Town Like Alice, On The Beach
Bryce Courtenay, The Power Of One, Jessica
The Handmaid’s Tale, A Tale of Two Cities, half a Yellow Sun, Cry the Beloved Country, Doris Lessing’s Martha Quest series, Isabel Allende’s books.
heart of darkness, love in the time of cholera, minor detail, i who have never known men
Blindness by Jose Saramaggo
Pachinko, Americanah, Half Of A Yellow Sun, My Brilliant Friend
A Minor Apocalypse by Tadeusz Konwicki
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.
The Third Policeman by Flann O’brien.
The Bone People by Keri Hulme.
The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh.
Anything by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
The Sea of Poppies (first in a trilogy) by Amitav Ghosh
Never let me go/ Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Small Island by Andrea Levy
…and loads more
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie.
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks.
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink.
Anything by Thomas Hardy or Charles Dickens
I’m going to leave out English writers, because I’m betting you’ve grouped them in with the Anglophones.
*Madame Bovary* is one of the greatest novels ever read, and I cannot believe I waited so long to read it. It’s a book that you’ll think about for years.
If you like Cormac McCarthy, you owe it to yourself to read one of his heaviest inspirations, groundbreaking Mexican author Juan Rulfo.
On the other hand, if you’d like science fiction and you haven’t read *Roadside Picnic* and *Solaris,* you should read them – actually, you should read them anyway, they are amazing!
Other books that I’ve had a massive impact – Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as so many people are saying – and some Japanese literature I’ve read has also left a mark on me – *Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight,* *Heaven,* and *All the Lovers
In the Night.*
Two books about Palestine changed and challenge my understanding of that part of the world— *Palestinian Walks* (which also won the Orwell Prize) and the amazing novel *Let It Be Morning.*
Back in the 80s, everybody read Kazantzakis’ *Last Temptation of Christ.* Even if you’re not Christian – maybe especially if you’re not Christian – it’s a phenomenal book still!
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima
I feel like reading it made me feel less alone, and have more drive to improve my life.
Atonement (McEwan)
Brothers Karazov (Dostoyevsky)
Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)