By the way, be sure to check out some other polish writers like Władysław Reymont (The Peasants, The Promised Land), Henryk Sienkiewicz (Quo Vadis, The Trilogy) or Stanisław Lem (Solaris, and much more sci fi books)
I highly recommend another remarkable novel written by B. Prus "The Pharaoh". Even though its plot is set in the Ancient Egypt, it greatly depicts the methods of manipulations used by the powers that be in a suprisingly modern way. Somehow it reminds me Shakespeare's "Julies Cezar" theme
What a great video. So many classics videos retread the same books over and over, 'how to start with the classics' type things - it's so nice to have ideas for those of us who've read (or are at least quite familiar with) the old chestnuts. There's a whole world of books out there! Of these, I'd only heard of three, Forty Days of Musa Dagh, Train to Pakistan, and The Birds, but haven't yet read them. For the last, I have read another of the author's books, the Ice Palace, and I've been wanting to read The Birds. Going to be adding many of these others to my TBR!
I’ve just discovered you on RUclips and joined your Patreon. I love your analysis of books and I’m excited to read alongside you. It’s also a welcome relief from news and politics. Books are such a wonderful escape.
So refreshing to see so many non-english books! Ive read The Doll by Prus at school and remember being furious at the girl who is the objekt of love of the main character. I’ve heard of a couple more - never read them though but super happy for Scandinavian recommendations that are not crime/ horror. I just checked the reading list for secondary schools in Norway and Vesaas is on the list. A newer book talking about partition of India and Pakistan and how war and politics shape lives of ordinary people is Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie.
Triste fim de Policarpo Quaresma is a classic here in Brazil. I highly recommend it. I also suggest, if you haven't read it, Chronicle of the Murdered House, it is one of the best books in Brazilian literature. Good to see recommendations for works not originally written in English. I love to know the literature of other countries.
I just want to say thank you, you are absolutely amazing. I wanted to get into classics and start my journey and you are the perfect guide to literature. I wish to be as well spoken and as brilliant minded as you.
These are my favorite videos of yours! I'm kicking myself because I passed on a copy of The 40 Days of Musa Dagh used a few years ago, and now I'm dying to read it.
Alas, i have not heard of any of them. Some did sound interesting, but i dont know how many more i can add to this 71 year old's TBR list! I still enjoy hearing your discussions, though!
Amazing video as always! Btw i am the only one who wants a reading vlog from you? i would love to see one if it's something you are up too! Thank you so much for your hard work making these videos!! ☺
I've heard of most of these, but then again I used to work in a graduate school library at a liberal arts uni, so I may have a slight advantage over other viewers. Haven't read any of them, as they don't really fall into my interests past or present, but have heard about them!
Just a quick pop in to say: Wokulski - you read "w" like "v", like in "viking". The rest is mostly straightforward. However Rzecki is a tough one - you should read first two letters like "j" in French (joure, je - for example). Than "e" - like "elk" and "c" is like "z" in German (like in 'zeit"). "K" - as you would read it in "kettle". At the end"i" is like in "is". Actually I find The Doll actually quite good for Polish literature, which is in general far from superb in my opinion... so I would quite like to hear your opinion on it. Best wishes! Kath
The Red Room and Strindberg in general is really famous in Sweden. He's a great playwright and that's probably what he's the most famous for internationally. I recommend A Dream Play, which expresses class struggles and materialism but everything is set in a dream
Fascinating list! Khushwant Singh's "Train to Pakistan" is a heart wrenching one! It portraits the core emotions and struggle of that horrific time which left a hypnotic scar on the minds of us for generations. It can transport one to that place and cause flood in your soul. Great choice! You can also go for the writings of Salman Rashdie and Girish Karnad. Please do have them in your life. 💙
Congratulations Tristan, you presented me with an astonishing number of unknown novelists. The exception is Boleslaw Prus, not the Doll but the Pharaoh, which I read in a Spanish translation and much admired. I took note of the others and will, in time read several of them. Your past videos introduced me to some outstanding reads. Though I must add that most books you introduce us to I have read in years past. At any rate, thank you very much for your book introductions. I will stay alert to any new ones you will present us with.
Thank you for introducing me to works by writers I would never have entertain reading. Your enthusiasm for world literature sits well with me. I feel so provincial being only exposed to western classics growing up. So grateful to your channel!🙏
As a Brazilian, I am impressed to see Lima Barreto on this list. A writer who has been widely discussed recently is Machado de Assis, with his book The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas. (Original title: Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas)
I'm a big fan of Machado de Assis and have read everything (I think) of his available in English, including The Alienist and Helena. I also read the Barreto.
@@aadamtx Cool! I've only read The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas and Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis a few years ago. It's interesting how we sometimes overlook great national authors and look for foreign ones instead. I'll definitely check out the other books you mentioned! Happy reading!
So glad you mentioned The Doll. Ive checked it out 2x over the years and was interested as I began it, though had to return too soon. Will try again. I just raced theough a marvelous, emotionall draining, but ultimately satisfying denouement. It is The Fertile Earth which begins and ends in 1970, a very modern world. I knew, but the Telegu- speaking India it is still a world of immense land ownership and peons the wealthy rely on totally. Ruthvika Rao is a marvelous new writer. What a Wow of a book. I think her novel should have been up for the Booker. I wish there were an immediate second novel. It is a forbidden romance. What a brilliant young woman writer. And she does credit her exceptional teachers. I hated to drop it in Library bin this wet day. Thanks for the many new to me, books! You are always so, so helpful!
I have not heard of any of these except The Birds, which I currently have on my bookshelf but haven’t read. They all look fascinating! Thank you for the recommendations.
I've wanted to read Train to Pakistan for a few years now. I've heard of The Red Room, not sure I want to read more Strindberg. The Birds sounds quite good! For a classic, richly descriptive book I recommend Giants in the Earth by Rolvaag. I read it as a teen and began my oral book report by saying I didn't feel like I was reading a book but instead was watching a tapestry unfold with all its texture and rich colors. That was over 50 years ago and I've never forgotten it. It's on my TBR for next year; I'm excited to get back to it.
I love The doll by Bolesław Prus! I had a pleasure of reading it in its original language but I am wondering what the English translation is like. Keen to hear your thoughts if you ever get a chance to get to it!
It would be wonderful to read all books in their original language. Though, great books still manage to overcome this barrier. But the colour of the language is never as good in translation.
I have Fuglane (the birds) in Norwegian right in front of me now! I didn't read it yet, but I plan to soon. Vesaas is well known in Norway, I can't speak for the rest of Scandinavia.
I love these recommendation videos. I am excited to hear about Tarjei Vesaas, The Birds . It sounds just right for me. I am looking forward to discovering these new authors and now have three more books on my ever-growing Must Read list. 😍
First off, I think you have an editing glitch around the 20-21 minute mark. Either that or it was my phone. I've heard of Strindberg and Montesquieu, but that's it. Like many English speakers, I rarely move outside of that world. My TBR has been out of control for some time, but I love the sound of The Persian Letters and Vaase particularly. Thank you, again, for all the great work you do for this channel.😊
I've heard of most of these but honestly haven't read any of them. Several do seem intriguing, especially the Werfel book and I hope I eventually get around to it. Among the great classic books I have read that are less well known, I include The Case of Comrade Tulayev by Victor Serge, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G. B. Edwards, and The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark.
Two. I saw Alec McCowen in his Tony-winning performance as Hadrian VII and I’ve read several other of Corvo’s books and two biographies of him. Musa Dagh is good, but my favorite Werfel novel is VERDI: A Novel of the Opera. It’s 1882. Verdi, old and venerable, comes to Venice only to find who is there? His nemesis! Wagner! He spends several weeks trying to decide whether to confront the man he’s never met, his only rival as the world’s greatest opera composer. At last one day he is resolved, he summons a gondola, he rides through the city as his recent experiences return to him … he reaches Wagner’s palazzo only to learn - Well, but let me recommend ten novels you may not know: The Bridge on the Drina (Ivo Andric) A High Wind in Jamaica (Richard Hughes) A Full House (Molly Keane) The Sibyl (Per Lagerkvist) Too Loud a Solitude (Bohumil Hrabal) The Picnic at Saqqara (P H Newby) The Bell of Iceland (Halldor Laxness) The Master of Ballantrae (RL Stephenson) At Freddie’s (Penelope Fitzgerald) The Blind Owl (Sadegh Hedayat) All the King’s Men (Robert Penn Warren)
That's an interesting list. I had a couple of those on my radar but some of them sound fascinating. I've meant to read 'The Train' for ages. But lots of potential reading there and mostly in print and relatively affordable too.
I've heard about two books Doll and Red Room, but did not read any though I own those two in Ukrainian translations. Flaubert is pronounced with long o -- Flober. In Polish language, the stress always falls on the penultimate syllable. It may sound strange for an English ear, but you can practice: BolEslav, StanIslav. At least they do not have two stressed syllables like English.
Thank you, I appreciate the advice with pronunciation. It's terrible having to go in front of the world, on screen, and show how bad my pronunciation is. 😂
Most of these books sound intriguing. I wish more were known enough to be available in audio. I mostly listen due to severe dry eyes. Have you considered adding chapters to your videos?
Thank you for including The 40 Days of Musa Dagh. My great-grandfather escaped the massacres of Armenian genocide, but his family did not. He never talked about it, so I have tried to read as much as I can about it to gain some understanding.
Sorry to say that the only one I know and read in secondary school is Montesquieu’s Lettres persanes, a monument of French classic literature. To be read in the original for the beauty of the style. But probably best appreciated at an older age, which is why it’s joining my TBR (or TBRR) today.
Manette Salomon and The Red Room sound extremely intriguing. When I am done with The Woman in White, I will have to read these. I will probably start with The Red Room. Thanks for the video.
Montesquieu! I hadcto readcthis when I was at school...16 years old...I can’t say whether I actually grasped the whole meaning at the time...but as it is the case for many books it took me some years to appreciate it thoroughly. I had the same experience with Moby dick for instance which I struggled through when I was at university and reread it 30 years later with a real pleasure and interest. Thank you for this présentation of ”lesser known books”...very ”apetising ”😅
Tristan, thanks so much for the video! I am wondering whether you have you ever read The Razor's Edge by Sommer set Maugham? P.s. You might want to edit the video, since in the end, when you talk about the 10th book, you repeat yourself three times.
Tristan, to get more obscure classics, you may want to purchase a copy of “Penguin Classics: A Complete Annotated Listing” which is basically a catalog of all 1,500 classics in their library. I found one at my local library book store and find it incredible in discovering classics I never knew about
I had not heard of any of these books and they do sound interesting. I look forward to trying them out.😊 BTW I'm halfway through the Lady in White and love it...kicking myself for waiting so long💕
haven't heard of any of the books mentioned here, unfortunately. would love to dive into lesser known classics some day. halfway through 'frankenstein' at the moment...
Just a couple of suggestions, "Fortunata y Jacinta" by Benito Pérez Galdos in 1887 and another Spanish writer Leopoldo Aldos with "La Regenta" in 1884. In regards to popes, Zola wrote a fine novel "Rome" where a credulous priest in France is sent to Rome where he discovers the skulduggery and back-stabbing in the Vatican. It is part of his trilogy "The Three Cities". Actually, the best one of those is "Lourdes". Yes, you should read Montesquieu. Strindberg so-so.
Loved Fortunata y Jacinta and La Regenta! Read three others (in English) by Galdos plus Alas' His Only Son. Not many of either authors' works available in English.
I've read The Doll, Persian Letters, Hadrian the Seventh, and Sad End, but I'll admit to not having heard of the other works. Strindberg I know from his plays - I saw Ian McKellan perform in The Dance of Death ages ago in the West End - and the Goncourts I know from their journals. Lots of good suggestions in these comments, and I'll second Book of Ebeneezer Le Page as a must-read. Anything by Eca de Queiros is also worth reading, as are the three great novels by J.G. Farrell.
Heard of one and two, have heard of the story of 7, but not of the book, have read 8. 9 is now on my 'to read' list (thank you). Totally oblivious of the rest
Heard of all of them and several of them are sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read. I would like to mention that Penguin put out several Latin American classics in the last year. Alejo Carpentier's The Lost Steps and Explosion in a Cathedral. Explosion in a Cathedral I read many years ago, but the only translation that was available until now was an English translation of the French translation of the Spanish original. New Directions also put out Jose Donoso's The Obscene Bird of Night, also newly translated with 22 pages that were cut from the original translation back in the 70's. Finally I think Portuguese literature from Portugal is really under-read. Eça de Queiroz has most of his books translated into English, but I think he isn't as well known as he should be. The Maias is his masterpiece, but I think The Illustrious House of Ramires is also pretty great.
Interesting that you mention Werfel. One of my other favorite Booktubers, Bookpilled, is constantly praising his sci-fi novel Star of the Unborn, which apparently is almost impossible to find.
I've only heard of and read portions of "Les lettres persanes" only because it was required reading in a French class many many moons ago and I'm embarrassed to say I remember none of it! I still have my copy from back in the day. It's not a long "book" at all, just a series of letters, so I might give it another go to brush up on the old French. It is interesting how we in the "Anglosphere" are only aware of a small number of non English writing authors. We are missing out on a lot!
Thanks. Your picks really stunned me. I recognized none of them, but I'm glad to learn how wonderful they are. I cannot find an English translation of "Manette Salomon," however. Of all the books you mentioned, this one was the one I most relish reading.
I have heard of Hadrian the Seventh. I have read The Quest for Corvo. Baron Corvo, the pen name of Frederick Rolfe, wrote Hadrian. A bit convoluted, but there you go. Haven’t read it, but the Quest is a good read.
I have read August Strindberg’s The Red Room a million years ago in my late teenage, at around the age of 18. I don’t remember a thing, except for one scene, that was etched into my memory. I’m not sure what happened in Sweden in mid 1800’s, perhaps it was a constitution, or some sort of other major political change. And as someone born and raised in the former Eastern Bloc, I’ve experienced a sudden political shift, so I did and do have a frame of reference. Now in The Red Room, Strindberg wrote what is in my estimation the best satirical and sociological description of major political change. In one short paragraph, he managed to satirize both the naïve notion, that through sudden political change, the nature of the society will somehow magically change for the better, the passivity with which everyone was expecting that change to occur spontaneously, and the utter sabotage of that change by the individuals involved in the state’s bureaucratic machinery. It’s literally half a page, and it’s absolutely brilliant. Thank you for reminding me. I need to re-read that book.
Röda Rummet by August Strinberg is not Sweden's first novel. The Red Room is well worth reading though and one of our most loved novels in Sweden. I read it first in school and then again at university. We often say the first novel in Swedish is Stratonice by a man named Urban Hierne. It came 1666 and is nothing one would read today as it is about a man, Hierne himself, as it is autobiographic, trying to seduce a 12 year old nobelwoman named Margareta Bielke, or rather she is a girl/child and not a woman so the book as disturbing today as it was back then) The only other book here I heard of before is Persian Letters.
Thank you Henrietta. I was positive that the information about it being the first novel must be erroneous. The reason I put it in the video was to elicit a comment just like yours. Thanks for the added info about Stratonice.😀❤️
New to me and if I ever heard of them, I've forgotten. Hadriam VII by Rolfe sounds interesting and somewhat similar to The Shoes of the Fisherman. Thank you.
I knew only two of them. The Persian Letters, and The Red Room. Unfortunately I have none. From Strindberg, I have only read his Plays, quite many of them but not his novels, from Montesquieu, I have not read anything but only things about him in the context of Philosophy books particularly those with focus on enlightenment. Apparently, Montesquieu has had a great influence on the modern shape of political power.
Thanks for the Franz Werfel recommendation. I had never heard of it before. My wife is Armenian, and I just bought it for her as a present. The Armenian genocide laid the groundwork for the Holocaust.
@Roderic07 Translations are never equal to the original, but I think great books can hurdle that barrier if the have something to say on over-arching human themes. I agree with you though, Translations will never allow for the finer shades and nuances of meaning.😀❤️
I’m an American who did not vote for Trump. I have been binging your videos as a way to keep going. I’m terrified of what may happen and I’m going to escape in books.
You are right, I've never heard of any of these books. Except for Montesqiue I've never heard of the authors. Here's a mostly forgotten classic I've read that most people haven't heard of: Look to the Mountain by LeGrand Cannon Jr. It was big when published in 1942 and has sold over a million copies but is now largely ignored. It's about a man born in the 1700s in New Hampshire. He's raised to be industrious and a hard worker. Marries a woman then together they move to a frontier settlement in New Hampshire to build a home and town, Tamworth. The mountain of the title is Mt. Chocorua. It's a frontier story without the Wild West and Native American elements.
Thank you so much for the wide range of classics. Every time I watch your channel I learn more and more about classics.
So surprised by The Doll being here, as a Pole thank you for including it.
You are welcome. I've heard his name before but never knew any specific works. This one appeals to me.
By the way, be sure to check out some other polish writers like Władysław Reymont (The Peasants, The Promised Land), Henryk Sienkiewicz (Quo Vadis, The Trilogy) or Stanisław Lem (Solaris, and much more sci fi books)
@@tristanandtheclassics6538I had to do an exposé about Bolesław Prus at University in Polish! Great to hear you speaking about Lalka!
@konradk7670 thank you for the recommendations.
I highly recommend another remarkable novel written by B. Prus "The Pharaoh". Even though its plot is set in the Ancient Egypt, it greatly depicts the methods of manipulations used by the powers that be in a suprisingly modern way. Somehow it reminds me Shakespeare's "Julies Cezar" theme
What a great video. So many classics videos retread the same books over and over, 'how to start with the classics' type things - it's so nice to have ideas for those of us who've read (or are at least quite familiar with) the old chestnuts. There's a whole world of books out there!
Of these, I'd only heard of three, Forty Days of Musa Dagh, Train to Pakistan, and The Birds, but haven't yet read them. For the last, I have read another of the author's books, the Ice Palace, and I've been wanting to read The Birds. Going to be adding many of these others to my TBR!
I love it that you’re discussing non English language books in this video. Great work and make more of those!
I’ve just discovered you on RUclips and joined your Patreon. I love your analysis of books and I’m excited to read alongside you. It’s also a welcome relief from news and politics. Books are such a wonderful escape.
I never get tired of your videos. I've only heard of and read The Birds which was excellent but I prefer his The Ice Palace. That book was HAUNTING!
So refreshing to see so many non-english books!
Ive read The Doll by Prus at school and remember being furious at the girl who is the objekt of love of the main character.
I’ve heard of a couple more - never read them though but super happy for Scandinavian recommendations that are not crime/ horror. I just checked the reading list for secondary schools in Norway and Vesaas is on the list.
A newer book talking about partition of India and Pakistan and how war and politics shape lives of ordinary people is Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie.
Triste fim de Policarpo Quaresma is a classic here in Brazil. I highly recommend it. I also suggest, if you haven't read it, Chronicle of the Murdered House, it is one of the best books in Brazilian literature. Good to see recommendations for works not originally written in English. I love to know the literature of other countries.
Thank you for the recommendation.
I just want to say thank you, you are absolutely amazing. I wanted to get into classics and start my journey and you are the perfect guide to literature. I wish to be as well spoken and as brilliant minded as you.
These are my favorite videos of yours! I'm kicking myself because I passed on a copy of The 40 Days of Musa Dagh used a few years ago, and now I'm dying to read it.
Ugh, that always happens! I hope you find another copy some day. 🥰
Alas, i have not heard of any of them. Some did sound interesting, but i dont know how many more i can add to this 71 year old's TBR list! I still enjoy hearing your discussions, though!
Amazing video as always!
Btw i am the only one who wants a reading vlog from you? i would love to see one if it's something you are up too!
Thank you so much for your hard work making these videos!! ☺
I've heard of most of these, but then again I used to work in a graduate school library at a liberal arts uni, so I may have a slight advantage over other viewers. Haven't read any of them, as they don't really fall into my interests past or present, but have heard about them!
Just a quick pop in to say: Wokulski - you read "w" like "v", like in "viking". The rest is mostly straightforward. However Rzecki is a tough one - you should read first two letters like "j" in French (joure, je - for example). Than "e" - like "elk" and "c" is like "z" in German (like in 'zeit"). "K" - as you would read it in "kettle". At the end"i" is like in "is". Actually I find The Doll actually quite good for Polish literature, which is in general far from superb in my opinion... so I would quite like to hear your opinion on it. Best wishes! Kath
The Red Room and Strindberg in general is really famous in Sweden. He's a great playwright and that's probably what he's the most famous for internationally. I recommend A Dream Play, which expresses class struggles and materialism but everything is set in a dream
Fascinating list! Khushwant Singh's "Train to Pakistan" is a heart wrenching one! It portraits the core emotions and struggle of that horrific time which left a hypnotic scar on the minds of us for generations. It can transport one to that place and cause flood in your soul. Great choice! You can also go for the writings of Salman Rashdie and Girish Karnad. Please do have them in your life. 💙
I have to let you know how much my husband and I enjoy watching your videos and have been spurred on to read the classics. Thank you so much.
Congratulations Tristan, you presented me with an astonishing number of unknown novelists. The exception is Boleslaw Prus, not the Doll but the Pharaoh, which I read in a Spanish translation and much admired. I took note of the others and will, in time read several of them. Your past videos introduced me to some outstanding reads. Though I must add that most books you introduce us to I have read in years past. At any rate, thank you very much for your book introductions. I will stay alert to any new ones you will present us with.
thank you Tristian!!! thank you. love your book interest building vids!!!
Thank you for introducing me to works by writers I would never have entertain reading. Your enthusiasm for world literature sits well with me. I feel so provincial being only exposed to western classics growing up. So grateful to your channel!🙏
Alma Classics are excellant for reprinting obscure old classics, beautiful covers too, look great on the shelf.
Ooh, caught this when freshly posted! That’s a first for me!
@tahlia__nerds_out congratulations on being the first one 👏
As a Brazilian, I am impressed to see Lima Barreto on this list. A writer who has been widely discussed recently is Machado de Assis, with his book The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas. (Original title: Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas)
I want to read this book by Barreto. I've read Posthumous Memoirs and have Dom Casmurro on my shelf.
I'm a big fan of Machado de Assis and have read everything (I think) of his available in English, including The Alienist and Helena. I also read the Barreto.
@@aadamtx Cool! I've only read The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas and Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis a few years ago. It's interesting how we sometimes overlook great national authors and look for foreign ones instead. I'll definitely check out the other books you mentioned! Happy reading!
So glad you mentioned The Doll. Ive checked it out 2x over the years and was interested as I began it, though had to return too soon. Will try again. I just raced theough a marvelous, emotionall draining, but ultimately satisfying denouement. It is The Fertile Earth which begins and ends in 1970, a very modern world. I knew, but the Telegu- speaking India it is still a world of immense land ownership and peons the wealthy rely on totally. Ruthvika Rao is a marvelous new writer. What a Wow of a book. I think her novel should have been up for the Booker. I wish there were an immediate second novel. It is a forbidden romance. What a brilliant young woman writer. And she does credit her exceptional teachers. I hated to drop it in Library bin this wet day. Thanks for the many new to me, books! You are always so, so helpful!
I have not heard of any of these except The Birds, which I currently have on my bookshelf but haven’t read. They all look fascinating! Thank you for the recommendations.
The Birds really intrigues me. I hadn't even heard of Vesaas before stumbling upon him in my research.
LOVE your videos! I know it’s not a classic read, but I’d love to know what you think of Cartarescu
I've wanted to read Train to Pakistan for a few years now. I've heard of The Red Room, not sure I want to read more Strindberg. The Birds sounds quite good!
For a classic, richly descriptive book I recommend Giants in the Earth by Rolvaag. I read it as a teen and began my oral book report by saying I didn't feel like I was reading a book but instead was watching a tapestry unfold with all its texture and rich colors. That was over 50 years ago and I've never forgotten it. It's on my TBR for next year; I'm excited to get back to it.
I love The doll by Bolesław Prus! I had a pleasure of reading it in its original language but I am wondering what the English translation is like. Keen to hear your thoughts if you ever get a chance to get to it!
It would be wonderful to read all books in their original language. Though, great books still manage to overcome this barrier. But the colour of the language is never as good in translation.
The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas is the best book I've read this year, so far. The (translated) prose is magical.
Yes, I saw that one too. I wish I had more time to get through all these wonderful sounding books.
I’ve just read The Ice Palace and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I have Fuglane (the birds) in Norwegian right in front of me now! I didn't read it yet, but I plan to soon. Vesaas is well known in Norway, I can't speak for the rest of Scandinavia.
Wow, so many interesting sounding books! I’ve only ever heard of one of them!
I love these recommendation videos. I am excited to hear about Tarjei Vesaas, The Birds . It sounds just right for me. I am looking forward to discovering these new authors and now have three more books on my ever-growing Must Read list. 😍
First off, I think you have an editing glitch around the 20-21 minute mark. Either that or it was my phone.
I've heard of Strindberg and Montesquieu, but that's it. Like many English speakers, I rarely move outside of that world. My TBR has been out of control for some time, but I love the sound of The Persian Letters and Vaase particularly. Thank you, again, for all the great work you do for this channel.😊
I've heard of most of these but honestly haven't read any of them. Several do seem intriguing, especially the Werfel book and I hope I eventually get around to it. Among the great classic books I have read that are less well known, I include The Case of Comrade Tulayev by Victor Serge, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G. B. Edwards, and The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark.
Two. I saw Alec McCowen in his Tony-winning performance as Hadrian VII and I’ve read several other of Corvo’s books and two biographies of him.
Musa Dagh is good, but my favorite Werfel novel is VERDI: A Novel of the Opera. It’s 1882. Verdi, old and venerable, comes to Venice only to find who is there? His nemesis! Wagner! He spends several weeks trying to decide whether to confront the man he’s never met, his only rival as the world’s greatest opera composer. At last one day he is resolved, he summons a gondola, he rides through the city as his recent experiences return to him … he reaches Wagner’s palazzo only to learn -
Well, but let me recommend ten novels you may not know:
The Bridge on the Drina (Ivo Andric)
A High Wind in Jamaica (Richard Hughes)
A Full House (Molly Keane)
The Sibyl (Per Lagerkvist)
Too Loud a Solitude (Bohumil Hrabal)
The Picnic at Saqqara (P H Newby)
The Bell of Iceland (Halldor Laxness)
The Master of Ballantrae (RL Stephenson)
At Freddie’s (Penelope Fitzgerald)
The Blind Owl (Sadegh Hedayat)
All the King’s Men (Robert Penn Warren)
Thanks for the video! I’d recommend ‘Agua Viva’ by Clarice Lispector ❣️my favourite Brazilian writer
Clarice Lispector has long been one of the authors I've wanted to read. There's so little time ad so many books!!!😅❤️
That's an interesting list. I had a couple of those on my radar but some of them sound fascinating. I've meant to read 'The Train' for ages. But lots of potential reading there and mostly in print and relatively affordable too.
I've heard about two books Doll and Red Room, but did not read any though I own those two in Ukrainian translations.
Flaubert is pronounced with long o -- Flober. In Polish language, the stress always falls on the penultimate syllable. It may sound strange for an English ear, but you can practice: BolEslav, StanIslav. At least they do not have two stressed syllables like English.
Thank you, I appreciate the advice with pronunciation. It's terrible having to go in front of the world, on screen, and show how bad my pronunciation is. 😂
Most of these books sound intriguing. I wish more were known enough to be available in audio. I mostly listen due to severe dry eyes. Have you considered adding chapters to your videos?
Thank you for including The 40 Days of Musa Dagh. My great-grandfather escaped the massacres of Armenian genocide, but his family did not. He never talked about it, so I have tried to read as much as I can about it to gain some understanding.
Sorry to say that the only one I know and read in secondary school is Montesquieu’s Lettres persanes, a monument of French classic literature. To be read in the original for the beauty of the style. But probably best appreciated at an older age, which is why it’s joining my TBR (or TBRR) today.
Manette Salomon and The Red Room sound extremely intriguing. When I am done with The Woman in White, I will have to read these. I will probably start with The Red Room. Thanks for the video.
Really excited to check out your recommendations!
The Doll is beautiful.
Montesquieu! I hadcto readcthis when I was at school...16 years old...I can’t say whether I actually grasped the whole meaning at the time...but as it is the case for many books it took me some years to appreciate it thoroughly. I had the same experience with Moby dick for instance which I struggled through when I was at university and reread it 30 years later with a real pleasure and interest. Thank you for this présentation of ”lesser known books”...very ”apetising ”😅
Tristan, thanks so much for the video!
I am wondering whether you have you ever read The Razor's Edge by Sommer set Maugham?
P.s. You might want to edit the video, since in the end, when you talk about the 10th book, you repeat yourself three times.
Tristan, to get more obscure classics, you may want to purchase a copy of “Penguin Classics: A Complete Annotated Listing” which is basically a catalog of all 1,500 classics in their library. I found one at my local library book store and find it incredible in discovering classics I never knew about
I had not heard of any of these books and they do sound interesting. I look forward to trying them out.😊 BTW I'm halfway through the Lady in White and love it...kicking myself for waiting so long💕
It's marvellous isn't it.
haven't heard of any of the books mentioned here, unfortunately. would love to dive into lesser known classics some day. halfway through 'frankenstein' at the moment...
Just a couple of suggestions, "Fortunata y Jacinta" by Benito Pérez Galdos in 1887 and another Spanish writer Leopoldo Aldos with "La Regenta" in 1884.
In regards to popes, Zola wrote a fine novel "Rome" where a credulous priest in France is sent to Rome where he discovers the skulduggery and back-stabbing in the Vatican. It is part of his trilogy "The Three Cities". Actually, the best one of those is "Lourdes".
Yes, you should read Montesquieu. Strindberg so-so.
Fortunata and Jacinta is also on my wishlist.😀❤️
Loved Fortunata y Jacinta and La Regenta! Read three others (in English) by Galdos plus Alas' His Only Son. Not many of either authors' works available in English.
I have never read any of these but the ones that sound the most interesting are The Doll, The Red Room, and Hadrian the Seventh.
In Russia we know Boleslav Prus very well. His works have been published in the USSR.
Yes, I was aware that he was a big name in Russian literature but not so widely known in the western part of Europe and the Americas.
This is a great video.
I love that you haven't read them. It's almost like being in an adventure together. Rediscovering.
Great video! Sadly, I have never heard of any of the classics, but I have added them to my "want to reads."
I've read The Doll, Persian Letters, Hadrian the Seventh, and Sad End, but I'll admit to not having heard of the other works. Strindberg I know from his plays - I saw Ian McKellan perform in The Dance of Death ages ago in the West End - and the Goncourts I know from their journals. Lots of good suggestions in these comments, and I'll second Book of Ebeneezer Le Page as a must-read. Anything by Eca de Queiros is also worth reading, as are the three great novels by J.G. Farrell.
Heard of one and two, have heard of the story of 7, but not of the book, have read 8. 9 is now on my 'to read' list (thank you). Totally oblivious of the rest
Grazie, finalmente qualcuno che consiglia di leggere i classici e non di venderli come l'irritante pubblicità wallapop che gira sulle tv commerciali.
2/10 ain't bad. Already have Hadrian VII and The Birds. Haven't read either though. Tempted to add some others to my owned but unread pile.
The only one I've of was _Hadrian VII_ which I haven't read. Thank you for giving me some works to read.
Good for you. I'd never heard of that work before. It sounds just my cup of tea though.
Oh great, my list just got 10 books longer 😳
Tee hee. I know what you mean. 😂 Keep your eye out for an upcoming video about this problem. 😀👍
Heard of all of them and several of them are sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read. I would like to mention that Penguin put out several Latin American classics in the last year. Alejo Carpentier's The Lost Steps and Explosion in a Cathedral. Explosion in a Cathedral I read many years ago, but the only translation that was available until now was an English translation of the French translation of the Spanish original. New Directions also put out Jose Donoso's The Obscene Bird of Night, also newly translated with 22 pages that were cut from the original translation back in the 70's. Finally I think Portuguese literature from Portugal is really under-read. Eça de Queiroz has most of his books translated into English, but I think he isn't as well known as he should be. The Maias is his masterpiece, but I think The Illustrious House of Ramires is also pretty great.
Interesting that you mention Werfel. One of my other favorite Booktubers, Bookpilled, is constantly praising his sci-fi novel Star of the Unborn, which apparently is almost impossible to find.
I've only heard of and read portions of "Les lettres persanes" only because it was required reading in a French class many many moons ago and I'm embarrassed to say I remember none of it! I still have my copy from back in the day. It's not a long "book" at all, just a series of letters, so I might give it another go to brush up on the old French. It is interesting how we in the "Anglosphere" are only aware of a small number of non English writing authors. We are missing out on a lot!
Thanks. Your picks really stunned me. I recognized none of them, but I'm glad to learn how wonderful they are. I cannot find an English translation of "Manette Salomon," however. Of all the books you mentioned, this one was the one I most relish reading.
I have heard of Hadrian the Seventh. I have read The Quest for Corvo. Baron Corvo, the pen name of Frederick Rolfe, wrote Hadrian. A bit convoluted, but there you go. Haven’t read it, but the Quest is a good read.
I have Hadrian the 7th, and it is on my to read list. It sounds fascinating .
I have read August Strindberg’s The Red Room a million years ago in my late teenage, at around the age of 18.
I don’t remember a thing, except for one scene, that was etched into my memory. I’m not sure what happened in Sweden in mid 1800’s, perhaps it was a constitution, or some sort of other major political change. And as someone born and raised in the former Eastern Bloc, I’ve experienced a sudden political shift, so I did and do have a frame of reference.
Now in The Red Room, Strindberg wrote what is in my estimation the best satirical and sociological description of major political change. In one short paragraph, he managed to satirize both the naïve notion, that through sudden political change, the nature of the society will somehow magically change for the better, the passivity with which everyone was expecting that change to occur spontaneously, and the utter sabotage of that change by the individuals involved in the state’s bureaucratic machinery. It’s literally half a page, and it’s absolutely brilliant.
Thank you for reminding me. I need to re-read that book.
The Birds appeals to me... another for the TBR pile.
Röda Rummet by August Strinberg is not Sweden's first novel. The Red Room is well worth reading though and one of our most loved novels in Sweden. I read it first in school and then again at university. We often say the first novel in Swedish is Stratonice by a man named Urban Hierne. It came 1666 and is nothing one would read today as it is about a man, Hierne himself, as it is autobiographic, trying to seduce a 12 year old nobelwoman named Margareta Bielke, or rather she is a girl/child and not a woman so the book as disturbing today as it was back then) The only other book here I heard of before is Persian Letters.
Thank you Henrietta. I was positive that the information about it being the first novel must be erroneous. The reason I put it in the video was to elicit a comment just like yours. Thanks for the added info about Stratonice.😀❤️
Manette Salomon Intrigues me...Thank you for suggesting this one 📚
New to me and if I ever heard of them, I've forgotten. Hadriam VII by Rolfe sounds interesting and somewhat similar to The Shoes of the Fisherman. Thank you.
I knew only two of them. The Persian Letters, and The Red Room. Unfortunately I have none. From Strindberg, I have only read his Plays, quite many of them but not his novels, from Montesquieu, I have not read anything but only things about him in the context of Philosophy books particularly those with focus on enlightenment. Apparently, Montesquieu has had a great influence on the modern shape of political power.
Thanks for the Franz Werfel recommendation. I had never heard of it before. My wife is Armenian, and I just bought it for her as a present. The Armenian genocide laid the groundwork for the Holocaust.
I have heard of none of these, and I’ve been a high school English teacher for nearly a decade!
Montesquieu's Persian Letters, nada mas.
nope none of them i ever heard of...but the one i would love to read is Lima Barreto ( but in portuguese)
Ah, to read it in the original language must be a real treat.
@@tristanandtheclassics6538 i was born in Brazil and Portuguese books translated into English ...i am always hesitant to try that
@Roderic07 Translations are never equal to the original, but I think great books can hurdle that barrier if the have something to say on over-arching human themes. I agree with you though, Translations will never allow for the finer shades and nuances of meaning.😀❤️
Are you kidding me? Everybody reads the Doll by Prus at school. Of course I read it (good book by the way).
Considering so few classic books get mainstream representation from Pakistan, I wish this list included a better book than 'A Train to Pakistan.'
Which ones would you recommend. I'd be delighted to know. 😀❤️
please list your books titles and authors for future videos
Werfel married Alma Mahler. But then, who didn’t?
Not one, and I’ve read a lot of books.
I’ve not heard of any of them but 3 in particular took my fancy. The Doll, the Train to Pakistani and The Red Room will be added to my TBR list.
I’m an American who did not vote for Trump. I have been binging your videos as a way to keep going. I’m terrified of what may happen and I’m going to escape in books.
😂😂😂
You are right, I've never heard of any of these books. Except for Montesqiue I've never heard of the authors.
Here's a mostly forgotten classic I've read that most people haven't heard of: Look to the Mountain by LeGrand Cannon Jr. It was big when published in 1942 and has sold over a million copies but is now largely ignored. It's about a man born in the 1700s in New Hampshire. He's raised to be industrious and a hard worker. Marries a woman then together they move to a frontier settlement in New Hampshire to build a home and town, Tamworth. The mountain of the title is Mt. Chocorua. It's a frontier story without the Wild West and Native American elements.
Nope none. So many books.