Need an International Book

[ohlhauc1]

Hello!

For my English class, I need to find a fiction novel that has not been written by either an American, British, or Canadian author. I was hoping that you guys and girls could propose a few good reads so that I can head in the right direction.

Some things that I am extremely interested in for books are: rhythm, structure, and word choice. Also, I do enjoy historical fiction.

Thanks
ohlhauc1

Note: An excellent book is The Court of the Lion by Eleanor Cooney and Daniel Altieri. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in a book about China.

[Idril]

You can always go with War and Peace by Tolstoy, that's a great historical fiction, it's long but it's brilliant. There's also Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov, it's about the Don Cossacks and it covers the years leading up to and including, WWI, the Russian Revolution and the years of Civil War after the Revolution, another absolutely brilliant book.

[PeterL]

Anything by Umberto Eco should work for you.

[ennison]

What kind of books do you like? Some things I could suggest might be too old for you or you might find them boring.
Maybe 'Io Non Ho Paura' by Niccolo Ammaniti or 'The Hiding Place' by Corrie ten Boom (not a novel though) or 'Courrier Sud' (not a novel) by Saint Exupery or 'The Cowards' by Joseph Skvorecky or 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (dialogue pretty gritty if you're below sixteen) or 'Rock Crystal' by Adalbert Stifter or 'The Life And Extraordinary Adventures of Private Chonkin' by Vladimir Voinovich or 'The Diary of Ann Frank' (not a novel either). Depends on your age and interests and how accessible books are to you.
I take it books written in English first are all out so that knocks out the Antipodean authors and several Africans. The ones I've mentioned have all been translated. Novels are always fiction by the way.

[Eagleheart]

Few choices spring in my mind- Russian literature seems indeed the best- I personally recommend Gogol's "Dead Souls"- the historical in it is in a way alarmingly hovering over the present- its humour is proverbially Russian- that is, you are not quite sure you are not yourself the target of it..But most importantly it deals with the threats of humanism...differently but still connected with the current problems...

[EAP]

Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie (the Indian sub-continent)
God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy (India)
Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami (Japan)
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spain)
Ficciones - Jorge Louis Borges (Argentina)

[MondayFairchild]

Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami (Japan)
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)


I've read these two, they're really good:thumbs_up, though I prefer Murakami. I'd recommend any book of his. ;)

Or since you prefer historical fiction, you could try Without Seeing the Dawn by Stevan Javellana, a Filipino author. It's about the Japanese Occupation in the Philippines.

[Whifflingpin]

"rhythm, structure, and word choice. Also, I do enjoy historical fiction"

hmmm:

And not originally written in English? That makes rhythm & word choice dependant on the translator, unless you read in the original language.

hmmm:

Voltaire's "Candide" ? Voltaire is one of the French and World greats. "Candide" has a structure that is worth a paragraph or six in an essay. It is historical, sort of; at least it has many historical references that you may like to track down. It has a particular philosophical idea at its heart, but touches on many political/philosophical/social/religious questions. It has some lines which are still quoted internationally (e.g. "pour encourager les autres.") It is a good yarn. It is shorter than "War & Peace." It is funny. It would impress your teacher. etc.

[Jsokol]

You may also want to check out Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky or Don Quixote by Cervantes. If you haven't already read these, you'll probably have to anyway. Even if they are not on your reading lists for school, they are worth reading. There is probably a section on this site that talks about both books.

Good luck

[grace86]

I second the recommendation for Shadow of the Wind by Zafon. It's translated to English from Spanish. It is really a wonderful read.

[subterranean]

Incase you also want a non fiction, The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad potrays interesting real life stories about the Afghans.

[bouquin]

"rhythm, structure, and word choice. Also, I do enjoy historical fiction"

hmmm:

And not originally written in English? That makes rhythm & word choice dependant on the translator, unless you read in the original language.

hmmm:

Voltaire's "Candide" ? Voltaire is one of the French and World greats. "Candide" has a structure that is worth a paragraph or six in an essay. It is historical, sort of; at least it has many historical references that you may like to track down. It has a particular philosophical idea at its heart, but touches on many political/philosophical/social/religious questions. It has some lines which are still quoted internationally (e.g. "pour encourager les autres.") It is a good yarn. It is shorter than "War & Peace." It is funny. It would impress your teacher. etc.

I agree about Candide.

I would also recommend ETRE SANS DESTIN by Imre Kertész (Hungary). The version that I read was in French, if I'm not mistaken the English title is Fateless. I think there's even a movie that's about to be released based on that book.

[Annamariah]

You might like Mika Waltari's The Egyptian.
For more information, click here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Egyptian) (Wikipedia)

[Niamh]

the Alchemist- Paulo Coelho- brazil. It's wonderful!

[Scheherazade]

the Alchemist- Paulo Coelho- brazil. It's wonderful!I have heard such mixed reviews of this book that I will have to give it a try myself one of these days.

[Virgil]

It's a nice book Scher, but it's no masterpiece. In my opinion.

[vheissu]

I went through a phase when I was younger of reading Paulo Coelho...The alchemist never was my favourite really and I never quite understood WHY everybody loved it so much when it was first published. The one book I did really like was Veronica decides to die. Although, I've read 4-5 of his books and they tend to be similar at the end!