All About Books discussion

A place to discuss world literature. Perhaps a good start to the discussion would be to tell us what you consider this term to mean!

Good question! FOr me it could also mean english literature, if we mean a literature other than that of your own country or mothertongue ...

I think because I'm from Britain, I would take the concept of world literature to be any literature written by anyone not from the British Empire.

Personally, I consider books originally published in any language other than English to be world literature. That, I'm sure, is just my American bias but there it is.

Leslie wrote: "Personally, I consider books originally published in any language other than English to be world literature. That, I'm sure, is just my American bias but there it is."

I think you just said what I was trying to in a more simpler way Leslie.

So you do agree with me, more or less!!!
Even if, liking much more english or angloamerican literature than even italian one, I feel with english books a bit "at home"

Books that are written in different cultural settings and are mostly available to the readers through the translations.

What books have you all read that you would class as 'world literature'?

Most of my reading is of worl literature. Lately I've finished The Belly of Paris - which I read translated since I can't speack a word of french. I don't particularly love french literature - as I don't particularly like their language!!! - but this was for me a masterpiece!!!

Alannah wrote: "What books have you all read that you would class as 'world literature'?"

Some examples:
Chronicle of a Death Foretold (South American literature)
After Dark (Japanese)
What the Family Needed (Oceania)
Devil on the Cross (African)
A Hero of Our Time (Russian)
To me even the European literature (Italian, Irish, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese) are all world literature. But in such an online book group the members can surely decide on the criteria for the term world literature and that can be mutually accepted.

I read books in three different languages, but since English is the first that I've learned, despite having a french education, it's the one that I'm the most comfortable with. But that's where it gets fuzzy: does that mean that every book I read in French or Arabic falls into the category of world literature? I think "world literature" describes a broad spectrum of books that are globally acknowledged as books worth reading; books that can go beyond language and cultural, as well as geographical, boundaries. What I mean is, suppose there is a book that is set in a non-English speaking country, written by an author whose also not from an English speaking land but it's originally written in English? How do we describe such a book?

Dhanaraj wrote: "But in such an online book group the members can surely decide on the criteria for the term world literature and that can be mutually accepted..."

Definitely, Dhanaraj! But I think it is interesting for each of us to see what others use as criteria, don't you? I wasn't intending to come up with a 'group definition' but just to explore the term. Sorry if that was unclear.

@Charbel - good question! I like your idea "a broad spectrum of books that are globally acknowledged as books worth reading; books that can go beyond language and cultural, as well as geographical, boundaries."

Dhanaraj wrote: "Alannah wrote: "What books have you all read that you would class as 'world literature'?"

Some examples:
Chronicle of a Death Foretold (South American literature)
After Dark (Japanese)
What the Fa..."

Yeah, to me that would be the same, my only difference to me would be Irish literature as most authors or poets even from Northern Ireland would be seen to contribute to Irish Literature and not British Literature even though technically Northern Ireland is apart of the UK.

I'm with Leslie on this one, for me it is any book originally written in a language other than English, so I am reading a translation. I like Charbel's and Dhanaraj's definitions too. Some good discussion here.

Alannah wrote: "What books have you all read that you would class as 'world literature'?"

I have read very little world lit - embarrassingly few really! Mostly French and German, with a few South American, Russian, and miscellaneous others.

Charbel wrote: "I read books in three different languages, but since English is the first that I've learned, despite having a french education, it's the one that I'm the most comfortable with. But that's where it ..."

Can you read Arabic? How I do envy you!!!!

LauraT wrote: "Charbel wrote: "I read books in three different languages, but since English is the first that I've learned, despite having a french education, it's the one that I'm the most comfortable with. But ..."

Yes, but I wish I could also read Italian. It's such a beautiful language!

Not so beautiful literature though! Even if Dhanaraj won't agree with me here!!!!

LauraT wrote: "Not so beautiful literature though! Even if Dhanaraj won't agree with me here!!!!"

But you can't deny the magnificent art that came out of Italy. And some Italian literature is brilliant, granted I have only read a few, but those that I have were really good.

LauraT wrote: "Not so beautiful literature though! Even if Dhanaraj won't agree with me here!!!!"

Presently I am in love with Italian literature and I do not think that my love would fade in the near future.

@ Leslie: "Definitely, Dhanaraj! But I think it is interesting for each of us to see what others use as criteria, don't you? I wasn't intending to come up with a 'group definition' but just to explore the term. Sorry if that was unclear."

It was very clear. But a term like 'world literature' can never be exhausted of its meaning especially in a book club where the members come from all over the globe. And so, it was a kind of suggestion that I proposed for us to decide on the term 'world literature'.

By the way, I am always for any discussion and the discussion is turning out to be very interesting.

Dhanaraj wrote: "@ Leslie: "Definitely, Dhanaraj! But I think it is interesting for each of us to see what others use as criteria, don't you? I wasn't intending to come up with a 'group definition' but just to expl..."

Absolutely! "World Literature" is one of those things that can never be discussed enough.

Leslie wrote: "Personally, I consider books originally published in any language other than English to be world literature. That, I'm sure, is just my American bias but there it is."

Too easy :P
You forget India: there are a lot of Indian authors who write primarily in English but it could be considered world literature.

I agree, no easy solution to this one. In a way I feel it is defined by my definition also of my own cultural and literary background. My culture is of the Western World in the bigger scale, European if we go for middle sized scale and German if I apply an even narrower lens (East German if I was going to be tight about it) In a way world literature from my point of view is literature with a cultural background that I am not necessarily familiar with and that has a different literary culture/culture of language than whatever I define mine to be. Depending on the viewpoint (Western/European/German) this can vary quite a bit.

One thing I noticed in a few groups around GR now, is that it seems that non-English speakers (not native, I mean) are much more used to reading translated literature which I suppose also has lot's to do with the fact that the Anglo-American field of literature is so wide that you could happily spend a life without ever touching a French book for example and still not feel like you are running out of books to read.

Jenny wrote: "One thing I noticed in a few groups around GRnatives that it seems that non-English speakers (not native, I mean) are much more used to reading translated literature which I suppose also has lot's to do with the fact that the Anglo-American field of literature is so wide that you could happily spend a life without ever touching a French book for example and still not feel like you are running out of books to read..."

Do you think that there is a bias towards that subset of non-native English speakers by the very fact that they have joined GoodReads?

I'm reading Cousin Bette right now and I consider it world literature. I'm from small town, everyone only speaks English, never-been-anywhere America so anything that originated in another language, or from another country, is world lit to me. haha

Charbel wrote: "Dhanaraj wrote: "@ Leslie: "Definitely, Dhanaraj! But I think it is interesting for each of us to see what others use as criteria, don't you? I wasn't intending to come up with a 'group definition'..."

I agree!

I would love to try Eastern Literature, you know Japanese, Chinese, etc.

Alannah wrote: "I would love to try Eastern Literature, you know Japanese, Chinese, etc."

Me too! It feels as if that part of the world has not been explored enough from a literary perspective.

Leslie wrote: "Jenny wrote: "One thing I noticed in a few groups around GRnatives that it seems that non-English speakers (not native, I mean) are much more used to reading translated literature which I suppose a..."

I am not sure Leslie, my impression is that also my German non-GR friends read more in translation. But again, I think this has a lot to do with the fact that - eventhough German literature is quite a wide field as well - it is nowhere as wide a field as English language literature. However I think most of my friends read Western literature mainly, maybe even European mostly, so there is a clear frame there as well. However what I did notice for myself is that my reading of Anglo-American lit has tremendeously increased since joining here;)

Would the brothers grimm count as world literature because I've read their collection of stories and was pretty good.

Alannah wrote: "I would love to try Eastern Literature, you know Japanese, Chinese, etc."

Alannah, I have read few Japanese authors and they are superb.

Charbel wrote: "LauraT wrote: "Not so beautiful literature though! Even if Dhanaraj won't agree with me here!!!!"

But you can't deny the magnificent art that came out of Italy. And some Italian literature is bril..."
Mainly painting and sculpture though!!!

Amber wrote: "Would the brothers grimm count as world literature because I've read their collection of stories and was pretty good."

I would consider that world lit - it is certainly universal!

Awesome! Thanks leslie. :-)

Nice topic! To me world literature are all those books that travel us on far away places and tell stories of countries we wouldn't easily visit otherwise. World literature can be a glimpse in the everyday life of an american family (The Corrections), of a teenager in modern Tokyo (A Tale for the Time Being), of young students bus hopping around Turkey (The New Life), tales of an Indian driver (The White Tiger), stories from some lost city in Peru (The Green House) and so much more...
Even though I have a sweet spot for Japanese literature (translated in English), I always try to read books from different countries, one never gets bored like that :)

Ath wrote: "Nice topic! To me world literature are all those books that travel us on far away places and tell stories of countries we wouldn't easily visit otherwise. World literature can be a glimpse in the e..."

Got any japanese literature recommendations?

@ Charbel: "Got any japanese literature recommendations? "

I have not read many Japanese authors. But I have read few and all of them were very good.
Try with Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country and Thousand Cranes.
Or try with Yukio Mishima's Patriotism
or try with Shusaku Endo's Silence.
And you might have surely read some books by Haruki Murakami. These are the books I have read and all of them are, according to me, literary gems.

There are many more good Japanese writers. May be this article would help: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005...

Dhanaraj wrote: "There are many more good Japanese writers. May be this article would help: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005..."

Brilliant! Thanks Dhanaraj!

Charbel, I've just read a few Japanese authors and I've enjoyed them a lot.

I recommend Haruki Murakami. I've read his book 1Q84 and really enjoyed it. I've heard that his books are on all sorts of topics and can, therefore, be rather hit-and-miss. He's worth checking out. I have The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle on a shelf at home and hope to read it soon.

I read a book of short stories by Banana Yoshimoto and found them interesting.

The Housekeeper and the Professor was really good.

Hotel Iris was weird.

The River Ki is a story of 3 generations of Japanese women of one family and the change of traditions and roles in society over the generations.

would The Phantom of the Operabe world literature too? because I've also read that one. Just curious.

@ Petra: The list contains the contemporary Japanese writers.

@ Cahrbel: As an introduction into Japanese literature as a new reader do not also forget the great authors like Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima, Kobo Abe, Shusaku Endo and Junichiro Tanizaki.

Christine wrote: "I'm reading Cousin Bette right now and I consider it world literature. I'm from small town, everyone only speaks English, never-been-anywhere America so anything that originated in another language..."

That's interesting Christine, because when I read about small town America, that feels like a different world to me!

This site gives the 100 top fiction and non-fiction world literature books:
http://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/28

"Top 100 Works in World Literature

The editors of the Norwegian Book Clubs, with the Norwegian Nobel Institute, polled a panel of 100 authors from 54 countries on what they considered the “best and most central works in world literature.” Among the authors polled were Milan Kundera, Doris Lessing, Seamus Heaney, Salman Rushdie, Wole Soyinka, John Irving, Nadine Gordimer, and Carlos Fuentes. The list of 100 works appears alphabetically by author. Although the books were not ranked, the editors revealed that Don Quixote received 50% more votes than any other book."
- Norwegian Book Clubs, with the Norwegian Nobel Institute

Great link Julia, thanks!! I've added the link here again as I couldn't get yours to work http://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/28
A really nice selection of books on first sight!

Really interesting list Julia! I've read several of those, many others are on my TBR list.

Thanks, Jenny--I noticed that I hadn't posted the link properly, so appreciate your getting it right, and I've fixed my post.

What I like about this list is that it was chosen by some excellent authors :-)

Moved from "Ask the Moderators" thread - Message from Timothy...

People have commented pro and con about the idea of a general discussion of literature from the US. Mostly it seems that I have not been clear about what I mean. I can give an idea of what I am interested in by suggesting a few questions.

I have the sense that Poe and Frost are probably the most well knows US poets elsewhere in the world. Is that true? If not, who is/are?

Is Whitman well known? How is he regarded? What about Emily Dickenson?

My impression is that though American film and popular music are quite popular and influential in many parts of the world, America’s “serious” literature is not similarly regarded. Is the US viewed as insular, in particular, with respect to literature? My impression is that continental literature is more open to a variety of influences and that American poetry is to a considerable extent immune to influences from elsewhere, although there has been a little influence from Southeast Asia. (I am speaking about the last sixty years or so.) What does it look like from Europe and elsewhere?

Eliot and Pound (Americans both) had big influence on European and even world literature in the early 20th century. How are they and their influence regarded today?

Are certain literary movements such as “Confessional” poetry and “Language” poetry known elsewhere? If so, how are they perceived?

About the possible entry of politics into such a discussion:
I believe I already have some sense of how America is viewed abroad (politically), and in any case that is not what I am interested in here. However, it occurred to me that politics might enter the discussion incidentally. One could hardly discuss Langston Hughes, or Toni Morison without race entering the picture. A discussion of Whitman might turn to his optimism about American democracy vis a vis its present state. There is a very interesting thread initiated by Gill concerning Ungaretti’s involvement with Fascism. But Mussolini is dead and discredited, so, in this case, there is probably no major disagreement or big risk of offending. But American political/social disputes are alive and well. I want to avoid them, but is it possible?


Dely asked why I was interested opinions of non-Americans. I’ve been told that I ask too many questions and maybe this is just another instance. But to try to answer (and probably get myself into trouble), I feel that American literature currently does not offer very much. For me, there is a claustrophobic feel. America feels provincial or “small town.” There are many foreign literatures which I like much better (British, Greek, Latin, Chinese and Indian - even when I have to make do in translation, which is frequently). I want to know, in a general sense, know American literature appears elsewhere. This is an intelligent group and I am particularly impressed with those whose native language in not English participating in an English language group devoted to literature - it can’t be easy. I want those opinions.

It occurred to me that if I were asked to comment on (say) French or Italian culture, and I had something negative to say (I don’t - I very much admire what I know of both - it isn’t a lot), I might well be hesitant to give my opinion for fear of offending someone. However, in the case of British literature, I would not hesitate, probably because I feel it is my own (rightly or wrongly) and any dispute would be almost a family matter. I had almost given up on the idea as risking to much controversy, but after reading some of the comments, I’d still like to try.

Jean said: Yes, there are potential areas of conflict, but nearly all of us would want to do this sensitively, I think.

Gill said: I'm very happy with the idea of threads relating to the literature of any country, but not keen on the idea of threads relating to a country's culture or to a country in general. I think there is a lot of scope for people being offended etc by posts on the latter.

Yes and Yes, literature only.

Also, several people have suggested something similar with respect to British literature. I hope somebody does it.

Moved from "Ask the Moderators" thread - Message from Alannah.

Timothy wrote: "People have commented pro and con about the idea of a general discussion of literature from the US. Mostly it seems that I have not been clear about what I mean. I can give an idea of what I am in..."

I like that idea and the I am now thinking for the likes of British Literature? We can use questions like 'Do you think the education secretary was right to take To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice And Men should be replaced with British texts for the curriculum?' and 'What do you think would be better replacements instead of Dickens and Austen for 16 year olds?'
That sort of thing? It is not like we necessarily have to go into any political discussions.