a book from every country in europe 🌍
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- it's the eurovision book contest
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🇦🇱 Albania: A Girl in Exile by Ismail Kadare (translated by John Hodgson)
🇦🇩 Andorra: The Teacher of Cheops by Albert Salvadó
🇦🇲 Armenia: The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan (translated by Yuri Machkasov)
🇦🇹 Austria: The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler (translated by Charlotte Collins)
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: The Orphan Sky by Ella Leya
🇧🇾 Belarus: Red Crosses by Sasha Filipenko (translated by Elln Vayner)
🇧🇪 Belgium: The Melting by Lize Spit (translated by Kristen Gehrman)
🇧🇦 Bosnia: Catch the Rabbit by Lana Bastašic
🇧🇬 Bulgaria: Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov (translated by Angela Rodel)
🇭🇷 Croatia: Baba Yaga Laid an Egg: 2 (Myths) by Dubravka Ugresic (translated by Celia Hawkesworth)
🇨🇾 Cyprus: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
🇨🇿 Czechia: The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera (translated by Aaron Asher)
🇩🇰 Denmark: The Trouble with Happiness: and Other Stories by Tove Ditlevsen (translated by Michael Favala Goldman) / The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen
🇪🇪 Estonia: Oskar and the Things by Andrew Kivirahk (translated by Adam Cullen)
🇫🇮 Finland: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
🇫🇷 France: My Husband by Maud Ventura
🇬🇪 Georgia: Hard By a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili
🇩🇪 Germany: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
🇬🇷 Greece: Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis (translated by Carl Wildman)
🇭🇺 Hungary: A Mountain to the North, A Lake to The South, Paths to the West, A River to the East by Laszlo Krasznahorkai (translated by Ottilie Mulzet)
🇮🇸 Iceland: Independent People by Halldor Laxness (translated by J A Thompson)
🇮🇪 Ireland: The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright
🇮🇹 Italy: If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino (translated by William Weaver)
🇽🇰 Kosovo: My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci (translated by David Hackston)
🇱🇻 Latvia: Soviet Milk by Nora Ikstena (translated by Margot Gailitis)
🇱🇹 Lithuania: I Must Betray You by Ruth Sepetys
🇲🇩 Moldova: The Good Life Elsewhere by Vladimir Lorchenkov (translated by Ross Ufberg)
🇳🇱 Netherlands: The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld (translated by Michele Hutchison)
🇳🇴 Norway: A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
🇵🇱 Poland: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk (translated by Jennifer Croft)
🇵🇹 Portugal: Pessoa by Richard Zenith
🇷🇴 Romania: Nostalgia by Mircea Cartarescu (translated by Julian Semilian)
🇷🇸 Serbia: Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić
🇸🇮 Slovenia: Yugoslavia, My Fatherland by Goran Vojnovic
🇪🇸 Spain: A Heart so White by Javier Marías (translated by Margaret Hull Costa)
🇸🇪 Sweden: And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Frederik Backman
🇨🇭 Switzerland: Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse (translated by David Horrocks)
🇹🇷 Turkey: Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali (translated by David Selim Sayers)
🇺🇦 Ukraine: Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov
🇬🇧 UK: You Are Here by David Nicholls
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😭 what happened to your intro? it got copyrighted ://///
🤠 how old are you? 25!
📆 when is your birthday? 18th october 1998 (libra)
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a note: a handful of countries are missing as I unfortunately couldn't find any books in english (or translated into english) from these places -- for example Luxembourg, Slovakia, Malta, etc. -- if you have recommendations from these countries, please send them my way! I added a note at the end of the video but appreciate it's a long one so you may look at the comments before getting all the way to the end. i'll be doing a bonus video at the end of the series where i fill in the gaps i had to miss along the way, as it was incredibly difficult to research sometimes!! and please also send me your recs for other countries outside of europe, as I'm working on compiling these lists as we speak!
Uršuľa Kovalyk from Slovakia has English translations of her two books: The Night Circus and other stories & The Equestrienne
Recommendations from MALTA: I would suggest 'In the Name of the Father (& of the Son)' by Immanuel Mifsud or 'The Lives and Deaths of K. Penza' by Clare Azzopardi ... Trust me!
I think there's an English translation of "Amok" by Tulio Forgiarini (for Luxembourg) floating around the internet somewhere
For Slovakia, the best one I would recommend is The Taste of Power (Ako chutí moc) by Ladislav Mňačko!
Slovakia: And That's The Truth poetry collection by Milan Rúfus
I love this! As a translator, it feels great to be mentioned:)
Your work is crucial! I did a translation certificate with my MFA, and I am in awe of brilliant translators, whose names should always appear on book covers with the authors’ names. ✨
Without translators millions of people around the world wouldn’t be able to discover and love so many books. You guys are so important and deserve more appreciation, I’ve read many translated books 😊
I’m a translation and interpretation student and is so crucial the way you have to educate yourself with cultural context when doing a translation specially for context in stories!
I read a translation of an English cook book were the translator did more than just converting measures like cups, ounces and fahrenheit into the metric system and celsius. This translator also put some extra effort into the work, and must have actually cooked several of the dishes in the book.
When exotic ingredients to non UK citizens were mentioned, the translator included his/her own suggestions to substitutes, and how to make them on your own.
I make that dish perhaps five times each year, and I'm grateful every time I read the recipe.
On the other side of the spectrum you have low wages, tight deadlines and probably a company policy of translating word by word.
I read a car manual which at times felt awkward to read and hard to understand. At one point in the text had logical errors. How to handle the windscreen wipers mad no sense. Something was missing.
Part of this could probably be blamed the original author, who probably was an engineer. The sentences were too long and tried to convey too much information.
The translator could have improved the text. Shorter sentences and organizing many details into easy to read lists would have improved the final product. But no, just a word by word translation of an already bad text.
It’s about time a big book influencer starting something like this, I know sometimes they do a “travel over the world book search” but it’s always like Japan, Italy, India… But a complex project like this deserves a lot of credits.
Exactly! Not to mention this series will, hopefully, help with possibly internationalising the careers of some of the authors mentioned in these videos
Not a big book influencer but Emmie has been doing this for years and she now created a book club on Fable where she reads books from all over the world (truly, she has Zimbabwe, Iceland, Chile, Syria...) Definitely recommend, she's an amazing reader and has wonderful insights into the books she reads and shares!
This video shows how much we can learn from different cultures. If you’re into discovering profound knowledge, Nixorus is another place where you might find life-changing ideas.
Intro 0:00
Albania 2:35
Andorra 3:36
Armenia 4:34
Austria 6:03
Azberbaijan 7:09
Belarus 8:18
Belgium 9:07
Bosnia Herzegovina 10:17
Bulgaria 11:16
Sponsor AD 12:10
Croatia 13:14
Cyprus 14:40
Czechia 15:02
Denmark 16:12
Estonia 16:43
Finland 17:54
France 18:48
Georgia 19:46
Germany 21:11
Greece 22:01
Hungary 22:46
Iceland 24:06
Ireland 25:19
Italy 26:37
Kosovo 27:41
Latvia 28:52
Lithuania 29:52
Moldova 31:00
Netherlands 32:08
Norway 33:15
Portugal 33:51
Poland 34:24
Romania 35:37
Serbia 36:46
Slovenia 37:51
Spain 39:13
Sweden 40:04
Switzerland 41:28
Turkey 42:31
Ukraine 43:09
United Kingdom 44:20
Outro 45:36
+ Armenia 4:50
Russia?
@@ТараБургустина Russia was not in the video
Legend!
*Ukraine
Hi, from Lithuania here. Ruta Sepetys is of Lithuanian descent, however, she was born in the USA. In Lithuania, she is not considered a Lithuanian author. Even though I did not read this particular book, I would recommend "A White Shroud" by Antanas Škėma or "Vilnius Poker" by Ričardas Gavelis instead. Happy reading!
Same thing with Ukrainian book. I don't know if there was any kind of research done. I feel like Kurkov is much more popular abroad than in Ukraine. Plus, we consider him a bit controversial.
I'd recommend Jack to check out HURI Books, as they now actively translate classic and modern authors people in Ukraine actually read and enjoy, like Serhii Zhadan, Valerian Pidmohylnyi, Lesya Ukrainka, etc.
The moment I saw the name of this video I knew you would pick a Ruta Sepetys book for Lithuania. Unfortunately, she does not speak Lithuanian or write in Lithuanian. Agree with above comment, there are much more Lithuanian authors out there :)
Not even the EU can unite the continent like Jack can.
Edit: Caro6367 suggested the best name: Union Jack
Now that just patronising. 😢
Union Jack 👀😂
@@Caro6367 DAMNNNNN I SHOULD USE THAT. Thanks
haha you’re welcome ☺️
True 😂
Hahahah the eurovision book contest😂 love this series already! The reccs by Jack and also by the comment section🤌 Can't wait for the rest!
hey jack, a fellow serbian reader here! i’ve read the dictionary of the khazars and i need you to follow my advice on it - do not read this book as you normally would (from back to back). it’s formated as an actual dictionary, with terms and their explanations and reading it from the beginning to the ending only makes it hard to understand. it’s also separated into three “books”, and each book represents the beliefs of 3 different religions. what i suggest you to do instead, and what my literature teacher suggested me to do, is to read about princess ateh, the khazars, the khazar polemics and the kaghan, which are the terms that appear in all 3 books! that way, you’ll be able to understand the premise of the story and how each religion looks at the khazars. then, read about anything else you want in a completely random order because it will be a lot easier, regardless of how crazy it sounds, trust me! oh and it would make it easier if you took notes while reading, because i really want you to understand and enjoy this novel in order to get a proper introduction of the serbian postmodernism, which is the period this book belongs to :) however, in case this one doesn’t work, i’d recommend “when pumpkins bloomed” by dragoslav mihailović, which is my favorite serbian novel of all times! enjoy :)
Not a Serbian; but here to agree. The book welcomes you to create your own unique experience with it.
Noted on the novel rec as well!
Mi baš nemamo lako štivo za preporuku 😂
@@PileceKrilceUpravo tako, ahaahah
This sounds like the most insane way to read a book but now I’m really intrigued
To je meni štivo za uzrast srednje škole. (Bez uvrede.) Bila sam oduševljena tada, ali sada, posle dvadeset godina, ne smatram ga tako dobrim piscem. Prosečnim, možda. Više izvikanim da je nešto posebno. Žao mi je što je odabrao njega kao predstavnika naše književnosti. Možda bi Jelena, žene koje nema bila bolja...
I have NEVER seen an English book tuber talk about The gray house!!! I literally awed when I looked at the screen and saw it!
same!!! i hope it'll get more recognition abroad
Omg, yes! I was doing some house chores while listening to this video and didn’t even know that it’s English name is the “Gray house”, but then the description hit me and I was like, wait, isn’t it? Wouldn’t compare it to the House in the cerulean sea, tho😅
Morlest holds the key to forbidden money books, which have truly transformed my life, it's worth exploring.
Tove Jansson also created Moomin! Her Moomin books are great, my favorite is Moominvalley in November. Greetings from Finland!
wow i actually didn't realise this!! thank you!!
I was going to say, definitely a great choice to represent Finland.
@@jack_edwards love that you chose Jansson
i literally thought it was common knowledge and everyone knew that but i guess not lol
My fave from moomin books is Moominpappa at Sea it is a great book about a father who feels the toxicly masculine urge to move his entire family to a far away island just because he wants to study the sea and protect his family. The book delves themes like loneliness, homesickness, acceptance, uncertainty, ownership and family.
tove
the Summer Book was also really nice, just a little slice of life with old grandma and her granddaughter (Tove's mother and her niece)
Love this project! For Ukraine, I would also recommend Metamorphosis and The Orphanage, both by Serhiy Zhadan. Zhadan is a treasured and celebrated writer and his books and poetry are incredible - harrowing, brilliant, fierce, dazzling, lyrical, and magical. He is often called the bard of Ukraine. I think you would really enjoy his work!
Amazing video! I have couple additions for Balkan region. For Montenegro, the most famous one is "Mountain Wreath" by Petar Petrović Njegoš, but I would suggest "The Ray of the Microcosm". For North Macedonia I would suggest "My Husband", a short stories book by Rumena Bužarovska. And I would recommend Ivo Andrić, who won Nobel prize for literature in '61 ("The Bridge on the Drina" is the most famous one, but I would suggest "The Damned Yard" or "The Woman from Sarajevo")
I was about to write the exact same comment. It's a real, real shame to have a video about European literature and leave out all these classics.
I second "My Husband". I couldn't put that book down.
Haven't read the other ones yet. Thanks for the recommendations.
Such a cool video!
Hermann Hesse is an interesting choice for the Swiss book, because we, the people from Switzerland, don‘t really see him as a Swiss author😄 Another good pick would be Franz Hohler, who has been super popular here for many years, or if you like classics, the black spider by Jeremias Gotthelf is incredible!☺️
Hi! I'm from Romania and I must tell you that Ruta Sepetys's book is also about our country, the book is about Florian, a boy who lives in the communism times, in Bucharest. I really enjoyed it, but i must admit that if you want something about Lithuania, you must read Between shades of gray! Also this is such an interesting series👏🏻 ❤!
the Gray House is my most favorite book. Never EVER seen anybody mention it!!! It's incredible! The world building within just one house, the characters, the writing, everything is so amazing. I reread it fully about three times and every single I pick up all the hints and secrets you don't understand the first time. I haven't read it in English, so hopefully the translation is as good as the original.
YESSSS its sooooo good🤌🤌🤌🤌
it's my favourite book as well, i got so hyped when he mentioned it
Best book I've ever read
Every time I reread it (like 10+ times over 9 years) I always find something new for myself it's just incredible
It's SO good !! Read this in November and I think about it all the time
you would love the brillian friend by Elena ferrante, also new York times gave it the best book of the 21st century
I just wanted to add that it's not a stand-alone book, but a book series consisting of 4 books. Also the first book ends right in the middle of the plot. I would still highly recommend it of course.
@anjah8249 this is crazy I'm in the middle of reading the story of a new name and found out from your comment that it's a part of a four-book series and I feel so stupid😭😭
@@ashleydolan1964 LOL
Those books got me so frustrated that no one was communicating how they felt about each other 😂
if you really wanna have a taste of Ukrainian literature, I would highly recommend anything from Oksana Zabuzhko you can find, Serhiy Zhadan (he's like a modern classic, and he's currently fighting in the East of Ukraine), Sophia Andruhovych, Yuri Izdryk's poetry, Artem Chekh, Tamara Duda's Daughter, or Maria Matios. This is obviously not a complete list =)
You can also try the book Ukraine 22: Ukrainian Writers Respond to War (the title's self-explanatory)
Those are some good, good suggestions!
@@the_doomcliff hope it helps =)
agree, andriy kurkov def not the best choice
Tamara Duda's Daughter!!!!!
THE GRAY HOUSE!! its my favourite book ever. i've read it when i was 14 and listened to an audiobook when i was 18 and this book got stuck in my heart ever since. Its so good to see the gray house get recognision it deserves. Mariam's writing is amazing!! i hope to see more english speaking booklovers talk about it after your video.
Another must-read from Sweden is the devastating Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren - it is absolutely brilliant (and will emotionally wreck you) 💛💙
I loove Astrid Lindgren, she’s such a big part of my childhood ❤️
I am not even swedish but I loved every single one of her storys. I basically grew up on her, definitely one of my fav authors of all time. I recently reread brothers lionheart, it is such an incredible book.
Every scandi/nordic children bookshelf has at least one book of Astrid Lindgren. ❤ Wonderful writer.
Oh Pippi Longstocking. With her horse and monkey. A precious part of my childhood
🇦🇱 Albania 2:35
🇦🇩 Andorra 3:37
🇦🇲 Armenia 4:33
🇦🇹 Austria 6:02
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan 7:09
🇧🇾 Belarus 8:18
🇧🇪 Belgium 9:07
🇧🇦 Bosnia 10:17
🇧🇬 Bulgaria 11:16
🇭🇷 Croatia 13:15
🇨🇾 Cyprus 14:37
🇨🇿 Czechia 15:03
🇩🇰 Denmark 16:14
🇪🇪 Estonia 16:42
🇫🇮 Finland 17:53
🇫🇷 France 18:47
🇬🇪 Georgia 19:46
🇩🇪 Germany 21:10
🇬🇷 Greece 22:01
🇭🇺 Hungary 22:44
🇮🇸 Iceland 24:05
🇮🇪 Ireland 25:19
🇮🇹 Italy 26:38
🇽🇰 Kosovo 27:41
🇱🇻 Latvia 28:51
🇱🇹 Lithuania 29:51
🇲🇩 Moldova 31:00
🇳🇱 Netherlands 32:07
🇳🇴 Norway 33:15
🇵🇱 Poland 34:24
🇵🇹 Portugal 33:50
🇷🇴 Romania 35:37
🇷🇸 Serbia 36:46
🇸🇮 Slovenia 37:51
🇪🇸 Spain 39:13
🇸🇪 Sweden 40:04
🇨🇭 Switzerland 41:28
🇹🇷 Turkey 42:31
🇺🇦 Ukraine 43:09
🇬🇧 UK 44:20
Amazing idea!
I am from Slovakia and one of my all time favourites is "The Taste Of Power"-Ladislav Mňačko. It's a novel which criticises the totalitarian regime (especially in the 50s in Slovakia) but also debates power, propaganda, etc. I would say it's a bit similar to Orwell's 1984, so I definitely recommend the book since it's relevant even today. However, I've read it in Slovak so I cannot garantee the translation will be as good as the original.
PS: I love your videooos 🩷💗 you're such an inspiration 😚
Love this idea! Also, a note about Lithuanian choice: Ruta Sepetys is an american author of lithuanian decent, so reading something from an author who lived and wrote in Lithuania might provide even more interesting insights. You could pick up something like Tula by Jurgis Kuncinas or The White Shoud by Antanas Skema which I know are translated to English.
If people prefer contemporary authors, Kristina Sabaliauskaitė could be a good choice.
I love that you do this Jack!
I'm from Estonia and I would definitely recommend another one for you - The Man Who Spoke Snakish, also by Andrus Kivirähk. I cannot put into words how good it is.
For something a bit slower, but still a great read is Vargamäe - First volume of Truth and Justice pentalogy by A.H. Tammsaare, translated by Inna Feldbach and Alan Peter Trei. It was written in early 1900s so can be a bit slow going, but also worth a read as it is a classic in Estonia.
I also loved the Summer Book by Tove Jansson, it was so sweet! If you liked that then definitely also explore her other books!
Thank you so so so much for the recommendation!!
There's also Radio by Tõnu Õnnepalu. It's about a film maker that has an obsession for a woman from his youth. It's meandering but also hypnotic. At first I thought I was going to be confused and lost and now it's stuck with me for years after I read it.
I read "the man who spoke snakish" earlier this year and have to say I was really disappointed. There was so much sexism and violence that I didn't have a good time reading it. The themes explored were quite interesting (colonisation within Europe, disappearance of a culture, religion/ organized religion...) but the style of writing and the killing of nearly every character was too much for me. I did like the snake friend, though ;)
Was also coming here to recommend books from Estonia! "Man who spoke snakish" is one of the biggest modern hits by the same author as the children's book though yeah it can be a bit of a hit or miss, I've gifted it to several of my foreign friends some of whom have liked it and others not at all, it's a sort of pseudomythology of Estonia. If you like classics and historical fiction I'd recommend something by Jaan Kross, he has several books in English, for example "The Czar's madman", if you're interested in the soviet time "Burning cities" by Kai Aareleid, and for poetry "Vivarium" by Maarja Pärtna. I'm imagining the translated fiction shelf in the book store I worked in... Tõnu Õnnepalu's "Border state" is also in English, but I don't remember it much. And I was fond of Mati Unt's "Diary of a blood donor" in high school but don't remember that much either except that it's a sort of reimagining of "Dracula"...
@@jack_edwardsI second both, but Truth and Justice is THE book every estonian has to read (also in the school curriculum)
Romanian here✋🏻 I just wanted to say that I love the concept of this challenge!
I’ve read I Must Betray You by Rita Sepetys (Lithuanian option) and absolutely loved it, and I know you will too. However… the book is actually set in Romania 1989, just before the fall of the communist regime. It’s from the point of a 17 year old living in the capital city and it really resonated with me on multiple levels, especially since my parents were of high school age when these events happened.
Anyways, I haven’t personally read another book by a Lithuanian author, but if someone else suggests one I hope you will swap it because it’s not really a representation of Lithuania.
She's also not Lithuanian, she's American of Lithuanian descent who hasn't lived in Lithuania.
OMG!!! I love this video! 🥹🫶🏻
🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿 there's a little tiny problem with Kundera, he left Czechia after 1968 and since that time he lived in France and later wrote books just in french and "forgot" about Czech (i wrote it just in a few words, it's more complicated story). we consider Milan Kundera as Czech author and he is one of the biggest, but it's complicated. 😄💛
🇮🇹 Italian subscriber here, I love that you are going to read Calvino! It feels somewhat like an unusual choice, even if he is one of the most important Italian writers of the 20th century. I can’t wait for you to share your opinions.
With that being said, as someone already commented, I suggest you read Elena Ferrante's "My Brilliant Friend" book series. I tend to overlook very popular books because I sometimes find that they don't hold up to the hype, but I read the first book ("My Brilliant Friend") many years ago and it stuck with me. I genuinely think reading Elena Ferrante's work marked a turning point in my life; her writing shaped me both as an individual and a reader. Elena and Lila, Ferrante's most famous characters, feel like real people to me, and I still think about them in my day-to-day life, even after all these years.
Off topic, I have a question about the English schooling system: don't you study other countries' literature? Not even a bit? Because in Italy, in high school, in the "Italian literature" class, alongside Italian literature, we study English, French, German and at times Spanish and Russian literature to give context and better understand Italian authors in their historical and cultural context. This is still absolutely not enough but I find it very useful and it taught me to have a very open approach to literature.
Jack! While I'm a little late to the conversation, I really recommend checking out one of Swedens biggest children's book author Astrid Lindgren, if you haven't already. I recommend her more "darker" books such as The Brothers Lionheart, Mio, my Mio and Ronja, the Robber´s Daughter. (I've seen that other people in the comment section has mentioned her too) Fredrik Backman is also an amazing author and I think you will really love the book you picked out! All his other books are really amazing!
i have a really cute story relating to "the time shelter" as a Bulgarian myself.
my friend's grandmother had a birthday and her grandpa gifted her this book. the message inside read "to you, my love, for being my shelter for 50 years"
it was the cutest thing i have ever heard
I have not read any of these but I asked some friends and some Slovak books that have been translated are
- Rivers of Babylon by Peter Pistanek (the name of the book is the same in slovak so be careful to find rhetorical english version) the book was also adapted into a movie
- Fleeting Snow by Peter Vilikovsky (and his other books) he sadly died in 2020 but is well renowned for his prose and he’s won a slovak literary prize
- Or if you want a classic author Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav was a poet in 18th century, his books are taught in literature classes to this day and one of his collections has been translated The Bloody Sonnets or A Song of Blood
I would also recommend a tiny Icelandic book The Blue Fox by Sjon I got it recommended by an employee in a bookstore when I was there last year and it was magical and strange.
Hi Jack, great video, my TBR just got longer 🙈😅
While Der Steppenwolf from Herman Hesse is a great book that I recommend, I am not sure if it really counts for Switzerland. A Swiss author that I would recommend is Friedrich Dürrenmat, especially two plays, now modern classics in the German language:
- The physicists
- The visit
100% agree, those are my 2 favorite Dürrenmatt books and also some of my fave books ever tbh 🤓🤓
Wholeheartedly agree!
Relieved to see I am not the only one who was surprised by that Swiss choice.
My quick French-speaking suggestions :
- Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz. "Derborence" ("When the Mountain Fell") is probably is his best-known work. To get a full blast of the Alpine life...
- Blaise Cendrars. I loved "L'Or" ("Sutter's Gold"), more poetry than novel.
@@lilyb.9789 yes, ramuz is a GREAT suggestion! My favourite is Farinet's gold
@@lilyb.9789 thank you for the suggestions 😊
This is really amazing, thank you so much! As alternatives for Switzerland, I can recommend Max Frisch (Homo Faber, Andorra) or Friedrich Dürrenmatt (Physicists, The Visist, The Pledge - which was made into a great movie with Jack Nicholson) :)
I definitely second that, those were the first two I thought of.
And Nicolas Bouvier if one wants to add travel literature.
Madonna in a Fur Coat is an amazing book. Soo excited for the review video
So excited for this series!! Especially for Africa. Im from Eritrea which is a tiny country in East Africa that's often overlooked but I hope you include it here
I just finished Black Foam by Haji Jabir and it had me gripped all the way through! That ending will stay with me forever.
I think Eritrea will be fine, I am wondering about Djibuti... 😂
@@emilyerdmann7553For Djibouti, I read Les enfants du khat by Mouna-Hodan Ahmed, so that’s an option if you read French! I’ve been reading books for many African countries in French because I can’t always find English translations, especially for women writers (I’m reading only women for the challenge). If you don’t speak French, sorry to be unhelpful. 😬
@@emilyerdmann7553 Transit by Abdourahman A Waberi
Doing this challenge myself and it's super fun! I have to say I am a bit disappointed your not reading a Samarago book from Portugal (our only literature nobel prize winner) if your interested in reading outside of this challenge "Blindness" by Saramago is an amaziiing character study of people in extreme situations, I really believe its the type of novel you would enjoy, its truly world shifting.
That was my immediate thought: José Saramago and Blindness. 🤍
omg i read it recently and it's one of the most amazing books I've read. only annoying thing was the way that the dialogue was written LOL
thank you for the recommendation! looking forward to reading it!!
Was about to comment exactly this. Blindness is an absolute must.
@@jack_edwards José Saramago from Portugal is a must! He’s the only portuguese writer with a Nobel prize. The book Blindness is the most famous but I also love Death at Intervals, if you are looking for one that is at the same time clever and good sense of humor ❤
The Gray House is... different. That's the word. It's haunting and piercing, a surreal experience, definitely not for everyone, but it sure needs to be read. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it!
Oh, also! The best book from Finland I've ever read was The Forest of the Hanged Foxes by Arto Paasilinna. Just brilliant! Highly recommend.
This project is incredibly cool, I hope you find many new favourites! Some more recommendations from Latvia (the ones I like the most are sadly not translated to English but these are either classics or modern bestsellers): "The Cage" by Alberts Bels, "Five Fingers" by Māra Zālīte, and "Doom 94" by Jānis Joņevs.
"Five Fingers" was very good.
Thank you for this, Jack! This is incredible. I'm from Ukraine and I would definitely recommend another one for you "Voroshilovgrad" by Serhiy Zhadan and "The Moscoviad" by Yuri Andrukhovych
Hello from Norway. Happy to see you reading Henrik Ibsen as he is one of our most well-known authors, but i would like to recommend Jon Fosse to you as he won the nobel price last year.
I second this!
I think he read one of his books last year, so maybe that's why he chose a different author
Another Norwegian here, many has put Ibsen behind Shakespear so he would have to read him sometime :) I love Peer Gynt.
Also Norwegian here. I absolutely recommend “the birds” by Tarjei Vesaas, one of my favourite books ever!
HES READING IF ON A WINTERS NIGHT A TRAVELER!!!!
I have loved this book for years and have actually recommended it to Jack before. I had all but given up hope of ever seeing it on this channel. The excitement is unreal.
I flipped out when I saw it, I was ready to be disappointed by no Calvino pick. Hopefully more people will check him out now!
Italo Calvino and Milan Kundera are two of my all time favorite authors and I'm so glad they made the list. To be fair though my favourite Italo Calvino is The Invisible Cities.
34:18 Have you ever read José Saramago? A Nobel Prize Portuguese author that I love. I read all his work already and it's marvellous.
noted! i will do my research into him!
@jack_edwards From Saramago, my favourites are (titles in Portuguese):
A Jangada de Pedra,
Memorial do Convento,
Ensaio sobre a Cegueira,
O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo,
História do Cerco de Lisboa.
Another Portuguese authors:
Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (poet)
Afonso Cruz (poet)
João Tordo (fiction)
Domingos Amaral (historical fiction)
...
Excelent idea this one of travelling through Europe without leaving your chair!! Enjoy your readings 📚
@@fernandabarbosa5015Sophia de Mello Breyner is one of my favourites! But not sure if she is translated in english.
one of my favourite authors, brilliant. Please read "Blind" and then "Seeing". Just fantastic, I can't get these books out of my head.
Please do! Blindness is one of my favourite book ever, you won't expect what it is until you are a couple of chapters in. Masterfully written, a suggestive premise that serves as an excuse for a social and philosophical analysis on human kind. It is gruesome as, thanks precisely to that gruesomeness, it has some of the most impactfully beautiful scenes (without spoiling, there is one very simple scene, almost at the end of the book, where Saramago compares some characters to the 3 graces, that I keep thinking about randomly years after having reading it. A super simple scene, but brings a much needed beautiful and pure moment to the story)
I’m gutted the UK Countries weren’t split up :( Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have such great fiction outside of the ‘English’ literature we’re always overshadowed by. Local Fires by Joshua Jones is a personal Welsh favourite but Waterstones do ‘Welsh Book of the Month’ which you can find online. I really hope to see some Welsh rep soon :)
I just bought Local Fires, thank you for the recommendation
this is such a cool idea! i think i will attempt something similar:)
also some more books i could recommend:
finland: "Dog Park" by Sofi Oksanen and literally anything by Tove Jansson, but if i could give something specific, then my favorite from the Moomin series is "Moominvalley in November". if you like her works, then i would also highly recommend Tove Jansson's biography "Tove Jansson: Work and Love" by Tuula Karjalainen (easily one of my favorite books).
netherlands: "The Republic" by Joost de Vries
ukraine: "Depeche Mode" by Serhiy Zhadan
france: "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery and "Froth on the Daydream" by Boris Vian
estonia: "The Autumn Ball" by Mati Unt
Already so excited about those series!! 😻😻😻 love how you constantly try to bring people’s attention to literatures from all over the world. It’s lovely and wonderful🩶
Hi I’m from Lithuania, highly recommend to read two classics from my country: Forest of the gods (almost a documentary of a concentration camp) and especially The white shroud (about an immigrant and ones identity, heavy on language, a great one to analyse and think about)
I agree! This chosen book is about Romania, not even represent our country 🫤
@@milda5127 and written by an American author in English. I am disappointed 😢
Tove Jansson has such a wholesome way of writing, I truly hope the sentiments get trough in the translation! Another (more modern) Finnish writer I would recommend checking out (for real standout writing) is Miki Liukkonen. The Master of Silence is at least one that has been translated into English already, and it’s also one of his shorter works so not a too intense one to start with.
thanks for the recs!!
I've read most of Tove Jansson's adult books in English and the translation is really on point and some of the books have great forewords etc as well (by Ali Smith for example! Another of my favourite writers) so nothing to worry about there! "The summer book" is a good starting point but my personal favourite is "Fair play" :D And for wild Finnish experiences I'd recommend "Summer fishing in Lapland" by Juhani Karila. It's a strange one but was my favourite book of last year - hope the English translation does it justice, I read it in Estonian myself.
Arto Paasilinna as well. He is one of the most translated authors in Finland.
🇫🇷 Charlotte Salomon - David Foenkinos
🇭🇺 Embers - Sandor Marai
🇳🇴 Gunnar's Daughter - Sigrid Undset
💜 Madonna in a fur coat, Olga Tokarczuk, Marias
For later on in series:
🇪🇬 Naguib Mafouz (Various)
🇦🇫 Khaled Hosseini (A thousand splendid suns)
🇲🇾 Tan Twan Eng (The house of doors)
🇮🇳 Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things)
🇦🇺 Gregory David Roberts (Shantaram)
🇸🇱 Aminatta Forna (The Memory of Love)
🇻🇳 Ocean Vuong (On Earth we are briefly gorgeous)
🇷🇺 Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master and Margarita
🇮🇷 Negar Djavid - Disoriental
I really love how invested you are in not just reading but in reading different things. This has made me really explore different genres and i plan to soon start exploring different language authors too! ❤
Love this thumbnail!! 🗺️
omg thank you I spent so long making it ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Same - It is so intriguing and brings the point across excellently.
Same!
When you get to Africa, specifically South Africa, I'd recommend The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena. 🇿🇦 Love your work😅
Yes! It's a good overview
Well done!!! great initiative although I am very sad to see there was nothing from Slovakia which might be due to the lack of translations. Thats why Im so happy about an upcoming translation (Spring 2025) of an amazing debut This Room Is Impossible to Eat by Nicol H. translated by the great Julia Sherwood. I am sure you will like this book!
Thomas Mann is a classic German author; his book Buddenbrooks got him the Nobel Prize for Literature. If you want to read Anti-War " All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque is also a famous German book. For more Fantasy I can recommend Michael Ende's "Neverending Story" and "Momo". :)
I really wanted to get through Buddenbrooks but I haven't made it yet. And I've heard The Magic Mountain would be even harder to get through. So I recommend everyone to make sure they are into that kind of books. (I really enjoyed everything I read from Michael Ende though.)
Death in Venice is a good place to start, a short book, pretty dark but worth it.
The Neverending Story is very much a book that deserves to be read/analysed more! I read it as a teenager because I really liked the song and finally understood why they couldn't fit everything into the movie. Really recommend people to read it for just the last arc alone
Also quite good by Erich Maria Remarque (even if sadly not as famous): Arc de Triomphe, Der schwarze Obelisk and Drei Kameraden. I've read nearly everything Remarque has published and if you enjoy reading about people in the 1920s - 1940s and their circumstances (later on especially circumstances of being a German refugee) then Remarque will be great for you!
I absolutely love this concept and can't wait for all the book recs and reviews from around the world! Just an addition for a great contemporary German writer: Mariana Leky, especially "What You Can See From Here" (translated by Tess Lewis) - witty, quirky, charming, down-to-earth characters that will win your heart. I personally have so far shied away from reading The Magic Mountain, as I think a lot of native German speakers have. But Jack tackling it motivates me to try as well at some point. Love Michael Ende, but who doesn't ;)
Hello there! Just wanted to give a heads up that Ruta Sepetys is from the Lithuanian diaspora, so the writing style is very much North American. That being said, very few Lithuanian authors are translated into English, so I understand the difficulty (especially when others recommend The White Shroud which is available but directly speaks about the LT immigrant experience in 1950s NYC so catch-22). Could you be more clear about this when doing the reviews with all the authors? This may seem like a technicality, but it definitely changes the lens of analysis imho
Great pick for Bosnia and Herzegovina Jack 😊 I just read it and really liked it, reminded me of the female friendship in Elena Ferrante's series. They're developing the book into a play later this year in Sarajevo!
Much love from Finland! 🫶🏼Tove Jansson is a national treasure and I'm so glad you picked up one of her books ❤ I would also recommend a book called Purge by Sofi Oksanen. The setting is actually in Estonia but the book was originally written in Finnish and the author is Finnish-Estonian. It is such an interesting and touching book and truly a classic here in Finland! 💌📚
29:52 For Lithuania, I think 'Between Shades of Gray' by the same author, Ruta Sepetys, is more suitable recommendation, since the setting of the story is started in Lithuania. The story is also poignant and heartbreaking in the best possible way. Well, this is just another recommendation, I'm a fan of Ruta Sepetys and I love all of her books, I will definitely read her grocery list if she allows me 😂😂
Hi jack! so excited for the rest of this series!! I am from sweden and my personal favourite book from here is "Stolen" by Ann-Helen Laestadius which is about our native population Sami. i wholeheartedly recommend it as it truly changed my perspective on my own country. Such a good book.
I read the German translation of that book and loved it! I didn't know a lot about Sami culture and reindeer and it broke my heart to read about the traumatic experience of the people!
@@maika0395 i’m glad you enjoyed it! it feels like a very important read
Yes yes yes Stolen is so good and important! I for some reason haven't read the sequel Straff (don't know if it's been translated to English yet?) yet, but I definitely will soon.
@@isabelleakerlindhognert1076 straff is also very good, not as good as stolen but still amazing. it’s pretty new so it might now have been translated yet but it will for sure
I have had Stolen in my TBR list for a while. I may have to bump it up and read it sooner!
I'd love this type of video for Africa!! That'd be superrr intriguing for me.
Momo, please read Momo by Michael Ende (author of the neverending story).
I think Momo is more approachable and easier to read, especially for people that try to get into reading again and don’t know where to start, it’s technically for children, but I think it’s so much better as an adult, very philosophical for children, perfect and reflective for grown ups.
Greetings from Czechia!
If you ever feel like reading another Czech book, I highly recommend The Cremator by Ladislav Fuks. That book really spoke to me, it was the perfect balance between disturbing, strange and humorous. There is also a film from 1969 based on this book.
Jack this is such a good idea 👀 I will definitely join you with some of it. I am from Turkey 🇹🇷 and I really wonder how did you choose the books you choose from each country. I immediately thought what would I recommend to someone from Turkey and would it be Madonna In A Fur Coat. I will read Madonna In A Fur Coat again thinking of you😄
Yay this is the best news!!
You should absolutely read “Homo faber” from Max Frisch and “The Pledge” from Dürrenmatt!!! Two of the most famous authors from Switzerland! ❤ Both books have been adapted to movies, in the film The Pledge, Jack Nicholson plays so so well!!
Love you for doing this🫶 I’m from Czechia but my biggest problem with our literature at school is exactly the same as yours, only that we only get to know authors from few european countrys (England, Germany, France, Russia) + Czechia + some US… and that’s fucking all… I recetly read a book by a nigerian author (it was Famished road by Ben Okri…weird but beautiful and really painful book) and was thinking , how come there’s no attention towards this literature, we never realy talk about African and Asian culture in our school, so I think, this what you do is very cool..🫶🫶
Hi Jack! White Rūta Šepetys is of Lithuanian descent, I am pretty sure she has never lived in Lithuania herself, so in my opinion her work can't quite be considered as "from Lithuania". If you'd rather read something by a Lithuanian writer that has actually lived in Lithuania, I very much recommend Vilnius Poker by Ričardas Gavelis, it's an incredible book with a great English translation. I have lived in Lithuania for a while myself, and it is a very important book there.
Mann I thought my country was going to appear in a Jack Edward’s video before and now it finally happened 😭😭
What country?🤭
@@Bncmp Georgia
@@v1nnc makes sense everyone forgets about georgia😭 i was surprised he added Cyprus too
@@Bncmp yeah 😄
Привет из Молдовы 🩵
Love this idea Jack. I have to say I am a little disappointed you didn't choose Meša Selimović "The Fortress" for Bosnia and Herzegovina because it is a classic and my favourite book of all time. If you can find a translation, I highly recommend it. 😊
Tbh I think Jack would love Catch the Rabbit ✨
actually very surprised by your choice of the hungarian book. but anyway heres a fun fact. lászló krasznahorkai also wrote a book titled satantango, and theres a movie adaptation of it that is 7 and a half hours long. happy reading jack, or anyone that ever wants to get into hungarian lit! there are so many gems.
hiii! i'm guessing you're a fellow hungarian, but for the sake of everyone else understanding us, i'll continue in english. i have a genuine question: where did you hear about krasznahorkai? i'm asking, because until i started watching english-language booktubers who are doing this challenge i had never, ever heard of the guy and i don't know if i was failed by our spectacular school system or it was just my streak of misfortune. and may i ask for a review of the 7+ hour film, pretty please?
@@svetlana7579 Hello fellow Hungarian! :) It is strange and sad to see that many Hungarians have never heard about him. He is among the Nobel Prize speculations for a decade now, he also won the Man Booker Prize, and his books are sold in every bookshop in Hungary. In literary podcasts, or online magazines he is mentioned almost every week, and he participates in all literary events. To be honest, I don't think that his books are for everyone, their language is VERY difficult, pacing is really slow, so I would not recommend them for a summer holiday. But once in a lifetime it worth it, my favourite is definitely Sátántangó. The film was an interesting experience, if you like the novel, it would be a great weekend program with some friends and a lot of food and drink. :)
@@dorottyaantal6542 Wow, this man has amassed quite the accomplishments! I feel rather sheepish for not knowing any of this, but I will make up for it by reading some of his works once I have the time to do so. Hopefully having read Anna Karenina voluntarily means that I will enjoy Sátántangó (your description of his writing style reminded me of AK). Thank you so much for the information and the review too, both the film and the book are now on my 'to consume' list and I think with enough food I could bribe a few friends to watch the former with me!
I’m not Hungarian but I would have thought The Door by Magda Szabó would be the book for Hungary.
Oh I read Satantango but I felt I was missing some cultural context to the book which probably makes it so worthwhile
I'm so glad to see Lithuania represented here, but I feel like there are better choices for literature. As much as Rūta Šepetys is loved in Lithuania, she is a fully american author. She was born and raised there, plus continues living there. Even though she is the daughter of lithuanian immigrant parents, she herself (as far as I'm aware) has never actually lived here. On top of that, if you google Rūta Šepetys, the first thing you'll see is AMERICAN writer. I still think she is a great author, however, the book you choose is not even set in Lithuania, which is why I just felt like commenting a few extra options if you ever get the chance to dive into them. One of the most celebrated lithuanian books, by a lithuanian author, is "forest of the gods" by Balys Sruoga. This book is about the author himself and his experience being a war prisoner in a concentration camp. It's filled with dark humor and is mandatory reading here. The other book I wanted to recommend is by an jewish lithuanian writer. It's called "Stalemate" by Icchokas Meras. It has a very interesting structure, all odd chapters follow our main character and all the even ones are about his siblings (or the other way around, I can't recall exactly). On top of that, through out each chapter there is a chess game happening which will determine who lives and who dies. The one thing about this book I feel the need to add is that the lithuanian title is so much better. If I were to translate it, it would be something like "a draw only lasts a moment". This title will explain the crucial decisions made in this book. Lastly, if you still plan on reading something else by Rūta Šepetys, I recommend either "Between shades of grey" and "Salt to the sea" as those are the two books of hers that are actually popular here. I know you probably won't even see my comment or read it, but if by chance you do, I wanted to say that I truly appreciate you even helping promote literature from all around the world. You are such an amazing creator and I love your content
This ^^^ I was about to comment before I saw this. I want to add The White Shroud by Antanas Škėma and Whitehorns Windmill by Kazys Boruta.
važiojamm
Hello, I'm from Bulgaria and I would recommend you read 'The Case of Cem' by Vera Mutafchieva and also everything by Georgi Gospodinov is WOW and I find similarities between his topics and Olga Togarczuk's ones. For Italy, I would also recommend 'Malinverno' by Dominico Dara. And looking forward to hearing from you about this books, I am really into reading books from different countries and I could also give you ideas about more of them. :)
it’s always so interesting to note the intersectionality of popularity in literature. i’m moldovan and have never heard of the author mentioned, so of course i wanted to recommend the english versions of some of our most famous books - only to find they haven’t been translated in english! this comes in contrast with my experience of walking into any spanish bookstore and seeing moldovan fiction on the top of current best seller lists. how interesting that some books get translated and acquire popularity in some languages only, while never making it to others.
thank you for the reccs!!! jotted down a few 🤓
(and for the spanish speakers (readers??) i recommend la ciudad prometida by moldovan writer valentina scerbani 😋)
p.s. cartarescu is fantastic
nu știu dacǎ ai cǎutat cartea care a recomandat-o el, dar e scrisǎ în rusǎ. niciodatǎ nu a fost tradusǎ în românǎ :((((((
@@victoriaprepelita o, ok! makes sense de ce nu o stiu :(
chiar mi-a starnit o curiozitate subiectul asta - cum de o avem, de ex, pe tibuleac, care se gaseste in spania si in franta nu ca in librarii de specialitate, dar in supermarket-uri la sectia “carti” sau in aeroporturi (aka e de mass market), dar uite ca in engleza nu e tradusa de loc? nu neg ca si populatia rusofona are ceva de zis de experienta “moldoveneasca”, dar cum se intampla ca, in cazul strainilor care chiar ca-s interesati de literatura din MD, scriitorii “nostri” nu sunt scriitorii “lor”, iar scriitorii “lor” nu sunt scriitorii “nostri”? :(
dar p.s. se pare ca e mai putin problema noastra si mai mult problema industriei anglofone. stiu ca, de exemplu, noi avem multa literatura catalana tradusa in romana care nu exista de loc in engleza. macar iesim cu basmaua semi-curata din intriga asta 🥸 poate nu e ca noi nu traducem, da’ ca ei nu cumpara 🤞
@@licoricegirl daaa, nu cred că e vina noastră. uite ce fenomen e tema pentru acasă de dabija sau în 2016, când toți citeau amintiri din viitor, și niciuna din cărțile astea au fost traduse.
@@victoriaprepelita adeverat! tac deja de canonul literar. de fapt, daca nici el n-a fost tradus, de ce mai sper la tibuleac si scerbani? 🤓
Would definitely recommend waiting for the other danish book to arrive! I haven’t read that specific Tove Ditlevsen book yet, but I do think she is a better representative and more interesting choice for the current day. No hate to my man H.C.
Do I see a fellow Dane here? Godt at mødes.
For America and/or Canada it would be so special to me if you could highlight an indigenous author!
That’s such a great concept jack im so excited to follow this series!
Another great idea for Belgium is The Real Life by Adèle Dieudonné, a gripping thriller that’s only like 200 pages
loved the video! You HAVE to read Baltasar and Blimunda by José Saramago (the only Portuguese author to win the Nobel Prize), it's nabout the construction of Convento de Mafra but its also a beautiful love story and a portrait of the Portuguese people at that time
such a beautiful idea!
i am from germany and one of my favoriten books is called „alte sorten“ by ewald arenz, which is getting translated now under the title „tasting sunlight“!
i had to read it for an educational uni class and turns out, i absolutely loved it!
Love this new series! Excited for the Asia video. It's gonna be MASSIVE!
africa is going to be massive too and i’m excited for the rest of the videos
@@lapvonaOMG YES!
I hope you enjoy Zorba the Greek. It's not what I would have picked but it's still a solid choice. Can't wait for your review!
What would you pick? Im always looking for new books from outside US/UK.
great recs! i am happy to say i have already read a few of these authors before! but without really thinking about where they were from. it's definitely important to read perspectives from totally different countries, languages, worldviews. the world is a beautiful place and im so grateful these stories are accessible to speakers of other languages!
42:31 - 43:09
Ayyy so happy to hear you are excited to read Madonna in a Fur Coat!
Here are some facts about it (no spoilers):
-> It was first published between December 1940 - February 1941 in a newspaper, and got published in book format in 1943.
-> The author wrote the book while serving in the military and would rush to get it received by the newspaper on specific days.
In one of those days he fell from a horse he was riding and broke his right arm, thus he started writing the rest of the novel with his arm rested in a can filled with hot water.
-> Initially, the author thought of 3 different titles before settling on "Madonna in a Fur Coat". These titles were:
"Büyük Hikaye" (The Big Story)
"Lüzumsuz Adam" (The Unnecessary Man)
"Yirmi Sekiz" (Twenty Eight)
-> At the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that a Vietnamese-Indian movie will be released based on this book! The movie is currently in production! 🌟
-> The book mostly takes place in 1920s Berlin and is a love story between Maria (a Jewish artist and singer from Berlin, she is dominant, outspoken and successful) and Raif (a Turkish soapmaker-to-be from Balıkesir, he is submissive, shy, melancholic and silent. I loved reading every word of his monologues so much)
Although the plot may seem like just another love story, as its critiques usually say, it is deeper and way more layered than that with its intriguing character dynamics, with a few plot twists, with its touches to relatable issues like how a person can make many mistakes with their nice and posh life due to how unfamiliar he is with himself and with the society he lives in etc.
Mind I remind you that the book is only 177 pages.
-> Apparently, Maria is a real person whom Sabahattin Ali, the author, was in love with when he was a young man in 1920s Berlin.
The author's daughter said in a BBC interview that as she read the letters of the two; Maria and Ali would take long walks hand in hand for example.
Trivia/Bonus:
There is a comment by a user named Lavinia on a popular Turkish book-review website about the book, and this comment literally embodies my relationship I had while reading the book.
❗️(I don't think it may count as a spoiler but if you feel like you can get spoilers from the roller coaster of specific emotions while reading the book, you should not look any further. And btw, I hope you will read the book if you haven't, it's worth the hype!)❗️
It goes as; "The book goes very well at the beginning, it makes you experience multiple emotions near the middle, and in the middle you feel, "Enough is enough!" You feel like crying, everything goes great in the middle-end, but in the end it leaves you with a huge trauma..."
I hope you'll read this book, as it's worth its hype!
Olga Tokarczuk mentioned!!! I personally consider "The Books of Jacob" being her magnum opus
Agreed! One of my fabourite writers.
The Books of Jacob has been on my list for ages, but I'm a little intimidated by it! I must commit to it this summer.
interesting fact: whenever her name appears in a public discussion, Polish people tend to speak about this author very hatefully. Not sure why, being polish myself.
@@stellarfrostingshe has quite classist views about literature, especially her own, basically saying that it's not for everyone and she doesn't want stupid people reading it. considering her leftist views it's very hypocritical.
I really loved Flights
Hi Jack! I have a an idea for a Slovak book: The Shop on Main Street by Ladislav Grosman. "Looking at the Holocaust through the eyes of a complicit individual, the narrative follows a good-natured carpenter living in a Slovak town in 1942 who unwittingly becomes a participant in a moral crisis involving the abuse and persecution of Jews." There was a also a movie based on the novel which won the1965 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
I mean Thomas Manns the Magic Mountain is a classic, buuuuut I feel like something from this century represents the country and mentality much more, I would highly highly suggest What you can see from here by Mariana Leky
As a huge fan of Slavic mythology who has a tattoo of Baba Jaga’s hut, I immediately added the Croatian book to my tbr! Thank you, Jack 🩶
Hi! What a fantastic idea! From my lovely country Portugal definitely any book from Nobel Prize Saramago is a must, but your poetry choice of Pessoa made me quite happy ;) From Italy I would read Umberto Eco, but he is one of my favorites, so I´m biased ;)
Thank you for this video 😍 For Belarus, I'd definitely recommend King Stakh's Wild Hunt by Uladzimir Karatkievich and The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich (currently in exile)💔
Great ideas! But Sasha Filipenko's books are also good, I didn't know that English translations of his books exist.
Absolutely loved the symbolism of the Ex-Son by Sasha Filipenko. I wish I could recommend it to my non-Belarusian friends but I'm afraid that some of the most important details may be missed by them. Still such a beautiful yet heartbreaking story.
I wish more books by Belarusian writers were translated into English. My latest Amazon discovery was the English translation of Vasil Bykau's Alpine Ballad:)
@@dianaolesjuk1012 I know that "Па што ідзеш, воўча" by Eva Vieznavec was translated into German as "Was suchst du, wolf", but not into English yet, unfortunately.
Khatyn by Ales Adamovich and Alhierd Bacharevič's Alindarka Children can be ordered online too. Looking forward to Eva's book's English translation. So many good books to share and only so few of them have been translated:(
'Flights' is such a peculiar book! It touches a lot of difficult topics - what I remember most is the story with the syringe... won't spoil it though.
But at the same time the book seems unfinished or as it is a collection of never published before fragments of Tokarczuk's prose.
Fun fact: in May in Wrocław there was a music festival on which they played concerts inspired by 'Flights', and the fragments were recited - amazing combination!
As a lit graduate from Italy, I would highly suggest to research deeply Italo Calvino’s life. He was such an important personality, and his books can be really understood after knowing about his life and pursuits. For example, his mother was an important botanist, hence his love for plants and nature (especially evident in his other works) ❤️
He was even born in Cuba! :-)
Not only as something from Lithuania I would highly recommend I Had Nowhere To Go by Jonas Mekas. His writing is so accessible yet poetic. This book layers so many themes, starting with Lithuania under soviets, ww2 aftermath, the love for literature and art forming in the refugee camps and poverty.
Every youtuber, lover of video format would find inspiration and comfort in Jonas Mekas approach to film making. I would say he did the youtube way before internet. The brightness of his mind, the trust in his soul - inspiring, shaping, grounding.
Ruth Sepetys is half American, half Lithuanian, born in the U.S., lives in the U.S., and as much as we Lithuanians are proud of her, not sure if you can claim her book to be "from Lithuania" (I'm pretty sure she doesn't speak Lithuanian) :-) I recommend such classics as Ričardas Gavelis "Vilnius Poker" or maybe Jurga Ivanauskaite's "Placebo". Not sure how difficult it is to get these book in English, I would be more than happy to gift "Vilnius Poker" you! :-) Ruth Sepetys' books are great though!
Omg as an azerbaijani, I really loved this video. I would also recommend Ali and Nino, it is a romance story between an azerbaijani boy and a georgian girl and I think you would really like it.
long time lover; first time commenter - i am SO excited to hear you talk more about these books!! The Summer Book is such a wonderful little read and it captures the feeling of summer in the Finnish archipelago so beautifully i revisit it almost every summer🤍 not gonna lie though, i was quite certain that you would pull out Sofi Oksanen’s Purge for Finland (although it centers around Estonia), as you’re known to enjoy quite tragic stories😅 i would definitely recommend it to you for an interesting read by a Finnish-Estonian writer. i believe Sofi is the youngest person to have won the Finlandia award (the most prestigious book award in Finland)!
anyway, this is such a great idea and i’ll definitely start incorporating even more countries to my own TBR as well🧡 have a great rest of your week Jack!
also love the Copenhagen trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen from Denmark, i really hope you get the book you ordered by her! i guess anything by a Tove will do the trick😁
Looove The Summer Book! And I read Sofi Oksanen’s Norma, which was quite entertaining.
This is a perfect video to come back to for recs. Not just for Jack's list, but for the comment section as well. Looking forward to the other videos as well!
And respect to you, Jack, for picking Mann's Magic Mountain despite your big book fear, so far I've only dabbled in his earlier shorter work and his longer work like Magic Mountain and the Buddenbrocks intimidates me so much 😅
You should read tasting sunlight (Alte Sorten) by Ewald Arenz. He is very popular in Germany as he writes incredible books that are just a vibe. This Book in particular was the first one I read by him and when I did I had the smell of freshly mown grass in my nose and the rays of late summer sunshine on my face. Just by the way he captures the atmosphere. Loved it
As a Lithuanian, I’d recommend adding a book by a Lithuanian author that lives and writes in Lithuanian like Kristina Sabaliauskaite. Ruta Sepety’s books are brilliant, but she writes in English and lives in the USA.
The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan is super good! ❤
As a Ukrainian, I can also recommend "The Orphanage" by Serhiy Zhadan or "The Longest Journey" by Oksana Zabuzhko
It was so interesting to see "The Tobacconist" in this video. At first I thought i don't know the book but then you read the blurp and i recognized it. In German it is called "Der Trafikant" and we had to read it for German class and i really liked it!❤
Hello Jack! I’m from Mexico, and I’d recommend to you The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia or Like water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, both are stories which celebrate our culture and traditions told through Magical Realism. ✨
Jack, my brother, you are up for such a treat in the form of Cartarescu's "Nostalgia" that I feel intensive visceral envy. I wish I could read this for the first time again somehow!
interesting choice for Lithuania, as the events in the book are set in a different country lol. hope u like it either way!
Not a "hungry Hungarian" joke, Jack! 😂 never heard that one before... Good luck with Krasznahorkai, I haven't read anything from him but I hear it's a challenge. Thank you for your videos, and for always championing translators! Lots of love from a Hungarian translator
Your work is so necessary! 📚❤