I
personally detest (identity-obsessed, anti-white) BookRiot. I also don’t
like the phrase “people of colour”, especially outside the West—a Japanese
person in the US or elsewhere in the West may be called a person of colour, as
white people are the dominant group—why would you call a Japanese woman in 11th
century Japan a person of colour? she didn’t even know other races
existed!—that phrase places white people in the centre of the world and
everyone else is just vaguely “people of colour”.
Anyway…
having said that, I find this an interesting list. The anti-Western canon philistines usually attack classic literature and, in the name of decolonisation and
all that, promote contemporary fiction including YA. For the past several
years, I have wanted to, and urged others to, read non-Western classics.
So this
list is interesting.
I
use a strikethrough for the books I have read, and add some
comments.
The Analects by Confucius (476).
“A collection of Confucius’ sayings, compiled by his pupils shortly after his
death in 497 B.C., and they reflect the extent to which Confucius held up a
moral ideal for all men.”
(Di’s
comment: The list includes a few poetry collections, then where is Tang poetry?
Li Bai, Bai Juyi, Du Fu, Wang Wei, etc. I myself should read more, and will try to get hold of Vietnamese translations).
One Thousand and One Nights by
Anonymous (800). “These are the tales that saved the life of Shahrazad, whose
husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of
marriage.”
(Di’s
comment: I have read some of them as a kid).
The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon
(1002). “Moving elegantly across a wide range of themes including nature,
society, and her own flirtations, Sei Shōnagon provides a witty and intimate
window on a woman’s life at court in classical Japan.”
The Diary of Lady Murasaki by
Murasaki Shikibu (1008-1010). “The Diary recorded by Lady Murasaki (c. 973 c.
1020), author of The Tale of Genji, is an intimate picture of her
life as tutor and companion to the young Empress Shoshi.”
(Di’s
comment: No, the book to read is The Tale of Genji. That is Japan’s
greatest work of literature. Murasaki Shikibu’s diary is of interest only to
people who have read Genji).
Theologus Autodidactus by Ibn Al-Nafis (1277). “This work, written
sometime between 1268 and 1277, is one of the first Arabic novels, may be
considered an early example of a science fiction, and an early example of a
coming of age tale and a desert island story.”
The Confessions of Lady Nijō by
Lady Nijō (1307). “A tale of thirty-six years (1271-1306)in the life of Lady
Nijō, starting when she became the concubine of a retired emperor in Kyoto at
the age of fourteen and ending, several love affairs later, with an account of
her new life as a wandering Buddhist nun.”
On Love and Barley by Bashō Matsuo
(late 1600s). “Bashō’s haiku are the work of an observant eye and a meditative
mind, uncluttered by materialism and alive to the beauty of the world around
him.”
(Di’s comment: I have read some Basho. Is he good? Yes. But I can’t help thinking that haiku is to blame for the silly is-that-really-poetry poems I keep seeing on the internet).
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by
Pu Songling (1740). “In his tales of shape-shifting spirits, bizarre phenomena,
haunted buildings, and enchanted objects, Pu Songling pushes the boundaries of
human experience and enlightens as he entertains.”
(Di’s
comment: I’ve marked it as read even though I have not read all the stories—has
anyone?—there are nearly 500 of them. I also grew up with screen adaptations of
these tales. Enjoyable, though I don’t think there’s much to them
artistically).
Phyllis Wheatley, Complete Writings by
Phyllis Wheatley (1761). “This volume collects both Wheatley’s letters and her
poetry: hymns, elegies, translations, philosophical poems, tales, and
epyllions—including a poignant plea to the Earl of Dartmouth urging freedom for
America and comparing the country’s condition to her own.”
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah
Equiano by Olaudah Equiano (1789). “The first slave narrative to
attract a significant readership reveals many aspects of the eighteenth-century
Western world through the experiences of one individual.”
The Golden Days (The Story of the Stone, part
1) by Cao Xueqin (1791). “This rich, magical work sets worldly
events—love affairs, sibling rivalries, political intrigues, even murder—within
the context of the Buddhist understanding that earthly existence is an illusion
and karma determines the shape of our lives.”
(Di’s
comment: Why would you read only Volume 1? That’s 26 chapters out of 120. I’ve
read 85—the first 80 chapters are by Cao Xueqin and the last 40 are
disputed—perhaps some day I will return and read the last 40 chapters out of
curiosity, but 81-85 felt different enough for me to lose interest. But reading
Volume 1 alone is not enough. Cao Xueqin’s qualities are not immediately
obvious—it’s not the kind of genius that hits you right in the face like
Melville’s or Tolstoy’s—I also think that it takes Cao Xueqin longer than
Tolstoy or other major European novelists to give life to his characters, to
give them a vivid existence).
The Count of Monte Cristo by
Alexandre Dumas (1845). “Dumas’ epic tale of suffering and retribution,
inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular
success when it was first serialised in the 1840s.”
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by
Frederick Douglass (1845). “Douglass’ own account of his journey from slave to
one of America’s great statesmen, writers, and orators is as fascinating as it
is inspiring.”
Narrative of Sojourner Truth by
Sojourner Truth (1850). “Truth recounts her life as a slave in rural New York,
her separation from her family, her religious conversion, and her life as a
traveling preacher during the 1840s.”
Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon
Northup (1853). “Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve
Years a Slave is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods
in American history.”
(Di’s
comment: I have seen the film).
Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter by
William Wells Brown (1853). “A fast-paced and harrowing tale of slavery and
freedom, of the hypocrisies of a nation founded on democratic principles, Clotel is
more than a sensationalist novel.”
Biography of an American Bondman, By His
Daughter by Josephine Brown (1855). “Josephine Brown (1839-?).was
the youngest child of the abolitionist and author William Wells Brown
(1814-1862).and his wife Elizabeth. She was moved to finish the book when she
discovered that her father’s autobiography was out of print.”
Our Nig by Harriet E. Wilson
(1859). “The tale of a mixed-race girl, Frado, abandoned by her white mother
after the death of the child’s black father.”
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by
Harriet Jacobs (1861). “A rare firsthand account of a courageous woman’s
determination and endurance, this inspirational story also represents a
valuable historical record of the continuing battle for freedom and the
preservation of family.”
(Di’s
comment: I’m not sure if I’ve read all of it, but I’ve definitely read at least
some of it).
The Curse of Caste, or The Slave Bride by
Julia C. Collins (1865). “The first novel ever published by a black American
woman, it is set in antebellum Louisiana and Connecticut, and focuses on the
lives of a beautiful mixed-race mother and daughter.”
Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and
Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley (1868). “Traces
Elizabeth Keckley’s life from her enslavement in Virginia and North Carolina to
her time as seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln in the White House during Abraham
Lincoln’s administration.”
Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims by
Sarah Winnemucca (1883). “Sarah Winnemucca, daughter of a Paiute chief,
presents in her autobiography a Native American viewpoint on the impact of
whites settling in the West.”
Wynema: A Child of the Forest by
S. Alice Callahan (1891). “The first novel known to have been written by a
woman of American Indian descent. … it tells the story of a lifelong friendship
between two women from vastly different backgrounds—Wynema Harjo, a Muscogee
Indian, and Genevieve Weir, a Methodist teacher from a genteel Southern
family.”
Iola Leroy by Frances Ellen
Watkins Harper (1892). “The story of the young daughter of a wealthy
Mississippi planter who travels to the North to attend school, only to be sold
into slavery in the South when it is discovered that she has Negro blood.”
A Chinese Ishmael and Other Stories by
Sui Sin Far (1896). “Fictional stories about Chinese Americans, first published
in 1896, were a reasoned appeal for her society’s acceptance of working-class
Chinese at a time when the United States Congress maintained the Chinese
Exclusion Act.”
Hawai’i’s Story by Hawai’i’s Queen by
Queen Lili’uokalani (1898). “Possibly the most important work in Hawai’ian
literature, Hawai’i’s Story is a poignant plea from Hawai’i’s
queen to restore her people’s kingdom.”
Contending Forces: A Romance Illustrative of
Negro Life North and South by Pauline Hopkins (1900). “Like
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Pauline Hopkins writes of the injustices suffered by
blacks at the hands of whites. But her novel penetrates deeper than Uncle
Tom’s Cabin.”
Up From Slavery by Booker T.
Washington (1900). “Washington reveals his inner most thoughts as he
transitions from ex-slave to teacher and founder of one of the most important
schools for African Americans in the south, The Tuskegee Industrial Institute.”
The Heart of Hyacinth by Onoto
Watanna (1903). “The coming-of-age story of Hyacinth Lorrimer, a child of white
parents who was raised from infancy in Japan by a Japanese foster mother and
assumed to be Eurasian.”
The Souls of Black Folk by WEB Du
Bois (1903). “Du Bois penned his epochal masterpiece … in 1903. It remains his
most studied and popular work; its insights into life at the turn of the 20th
century still ring true.”
I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki
(1905). “The chronicle of an unloved, unwanted, wandering kitten who spends all
his time observing human nature—from the dramas of businessmen and
schoolteachers to the foibles of priests and potentates.”
(Di’s
comment: I have not read I Am a Cat, but I would pick Kokoro.
Some people might pick Kusamakura).
The Soul of the Indian by Charles
Alexander Eastman (1911). “Brings to life the rich spirituality and morality of
the Native Americans as they existed before contact with missionaries and other
whites.”
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by
James Weldon Johnson (1912). “Narrated by a man whose light skin allows him to
‘pass’ for white, the novel describes a pilgrimage through America’s color
lines at the turn of the century.”
The Home and the World by
Rabindranath Tagore (1916). “Set on a Bengali noble’s estate in 1908, this is
both a love story and a novel of political awakening. The central character,
Bimala, is torn between the duties owed to her husband, Nikhil, and the demands
made on her by the radical leader, Sandip.”
The Plays of Georgia Douglas Johnson by
Georgia Douglas Johnson (1920s). “This volume collects twelve of Georgia
Douglas Johnson’s one-act plays. … As an integral part of Washington, D.C.’s,
thriving turn-of-the-century literary scene, Johnson hosted regular meetings
with Harlem Renaissance writers and other artists, including Countee Cullen,
Langston Hughes, May Miller, and Jean Toomer, and was herself considered among
the finest writers of the time.”
American Indian Stories by
Zitkala-Sa (1921). “One of the most famous Sioux writers and activists of the
modern era, Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) recalled legends and tales from oral
tradition and used experiences from her life and community to educate others
about the Yankton Sioux.”
A Dark Night’s Passing by Naoya
Shiga (1921). “Tells the story of a young man’s passage through a sequence of
disturbing experiences to a hard-worn truce with the destructive forces within
himself.”
The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China by
Lu Xun (1921). “Lu Xun is arguably the greatest writer of modern China, and is
considered by many to be the founder of modern Chinese literature. Lu Xun’s
stories both indict outdated Chinese traditions and embrace China’s cultural
richness and individuality.”
(Di’s comment: Have I read Lu Xun? I must have).
Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral by
Gabriela Mistral (1922). “Poems by the late Chilean poet who, in 1945, became
the first Latin American author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.”
Cane by Jean Toomer (1923). “A
literary masterpiece of the Harlem Renaissance, Cane is a
powerful work of innovative fiction evoking black life in the South.”
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
(1923). “A collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and,
above all, inspirational.”
There Is Confusion by Jessie
Redmon Fauset (1924). “Traces the lives of Joanna Mitchell and Peter Bye, whose
families must come to terms with an inheritance of prejudice and discrimination
as they struggle for legitimacy and respect.”
Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey Or,
Africa for the Africans by Marcus Garvey (1924). “The most famous
collection of Garvey’s speeches and essays.”
The New Negro edited by Alain
Locke (1925). “From the man known as the father of the Harlem Renaissance comes
a powerful, provocative, and affecting anthology of writers who shaped the
Harlem Renaissance movement and who help us to consider the evolution of the African
American in society.”
Chaka by Thomas Mofolo (1925).
“Tells the classic story of the Zulu hero Chaka.”
The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
(1926). “Hughes spoke directly, intimately, and powerfully of the experiences
of African Americans, at a time when their voices were newly being heard in our
literature.”
(Di’s comment: I have read a bit of Langston Hughes. When he’s good, he’s really good).
Rashomon and Other Stories by
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1927). “Writing at the beginning of the twentieth century,
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa created disturbing stories out of Japan’s cultural
upheaval.”
(Di’s
comment: Great choice. Akutagawa is one of my favourite short story writers.
Possibly my favourite Japanese writer of the 20th century).
Quicksand by Nella Larsen (1928).
“Larsen’s powerful first novel has intriguing autobiographical parallels and at
the same time invokes the international dimension of African American culture
of the 1920s.”
Some Prefer Nettles by Jun’ichirō
Tanizaki (1928). “It is a tale of sexual passion and disorientation that
explores modern Japan’s conflict between the values of Western culture and
Occidental tradition.”
(Di’s
comment: I will not dismiss Tanizaki till I have read The Makioka
Sisters, but so far I’m not particularly impressed. Some Prefer
Nettles is rather flat and forgettable).
Home to Harlem by Claude McKay
(1928). “With sensual, often brutal accuracy, Claude McKay traces the parallel
paths of two very different young men struggling to find their way through the
suspicion and prejudice of American society.”
My People the Sioux by Luther
Standing Bear (1928). “A landmark in Indian literature, among the first books
about Indians written from the Indian point of view by an Indian.”
The Blacker the Berry by Wallace
Thurman (1929). “One of the most widely read and controversial works of the
Harlem Renaissance, The Blacker the Berry was the first novel
to openly explore prejudice within the Black community.”
My Soul’s High Song: The Collected Writings of
Countee Cullen by Countee Cullen (1920s-1940s). “A generous
introduction to new readers of Countee Cullen and a more than generous offering
to those of us who hold the poet dear.”
Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida
B. Wells by Ida B. Wells (1930s). “This engaging memoir tells of
her private life as mother of a growing family as well as her public activities
as teacher, lecturer, and journalist in her fight against attitudes and laws
oppressing blacks.”
Black No More by George S.
Schuyler (1931). “What would happen to the race problem in America if black
people turned white? Would everybody be happy? These questions and more are
answered hilariously in Black No More, George S. Schuyler’s satiric romp.”
Jonah’s Gourd Vine by Zora Neale
Hurston (1934). “Tells the story of John Buddy Pearson, ‘a living exultation’
of a young man who loves too many women for his own good.”
Native Son by Richard Wright
(1940). “Tells the story of a young black man caught in a downward spiral after
he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic.”
Love in a Fallen City by Eileen
Chang (1943). “Written when Chang was still in her twenties, these
extraordinary stories combine an unsettled, probing, utterly contemporary
sensibility, keenly alert to sexual politics and psychological ambiguity, with
an intense lyricism that echoes the classics of Chinese literature.”
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
(1944). “The seventeen pieces in Ficciones demonstrate the
whirlwind of Borges’s genius and mirror the precision and potency of his
intellect and inventiveness, his piercing irony, his skepticism, and his
obsession with fantasy.”
Where There’s Love, There’s Hate by
Silvina Ocampo and Adolfo Bioy Casares (1946). “Both genuinely suspenseful
mystery fiction and an ingenious pastiche of the genre, the only novel
co-written by two towering figures of Latin American literature.”
The Street by Ann Petry (1946).
“The poignant, often heartbreaking story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman,
and her spirited struggle to raise her son amid the violence, poverty, and
racial dissonance of Harlem in the late 1940s.”
The President by Miguel Ángel
Asturias (1946). “A story of a ruthless dictator and his schemes to dispose of
a political adversary in an unnamed Latin American country usually identified
as Guatemala.”
The Living Is Easy by Dorothy West
(1948). “One of only a handful of novels published by black women during the
forties, the story of ambitious Cleo Judson is a long-time cult classic.”
The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato
(1948). “Sabato’s first novel is framed as the confession of the painter Juan
Pablo Castel, who has murdered the only woman capable of understanding him.”
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
(1948). “The poignant and fascinating story of a young man who is caught
between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic
family and the impact of Western ideas.”
Nisei Daughter by Monica Sone
(1952). “A Japanese American woman tells how it was to grow up on Seattle’s
waterfront in the 1930s and to be subjected to ‘relocation’ during World War
II.”
The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos
Tutuola (1952). “Drawing on the West African (Nigeria), Yoruba oral folktale
tradition, Tutuola described the odyssey of a devoted palm-wine drinker through
a nightmare of fantastic adventure.”
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
(1952). “As he journeys from the Deep South to the streets and basements of
Harlem, from a horrifying ‘battle royal’ where black men are reduced to
fighting animals, to a Communist rally where they are elevated to the status of
trophies, Ralph Ellison’s nameless protagonist ushers readers into a parallel
universe that throws our own into harsh and even hilarious relief.”
(Di’s
comment: My second choice for the Great American Novel title, after Moby Dick).
Go Tell It on the Mountain by
James Baldwin (1953). “With lyrical precision, psychological directness,
resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and
compassionate, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy’s discovery of the
terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront
Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935.”
The Dark Child by Camara Laye
(1954). “A distinct and graceful memoir of Camara Laye’s youth in the village
of Koroussa, French Guinea.”
The Sound of Waves by Yukio
Mishima (1954). “A timeless story of first love. It tells of Shinji, a young
fisherman and Hatsue, the beautiful daughter of the wealthiest man in the
village.”
(Di’s
comment: The only Mishima I have read is Spring Snow. He’s a
madman, but stylistically he’s much more interesting than Tanizaki and
Kawabata. More visual. Great metaphors).
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
(1956). “The first novel in Nobel Prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz’s magnificent
Cairo Trilogy, an epic family saga of colonial Egypt that is considered his
masterwork.”
The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi
(1957). “In a series of colorful, unforgettable scenes, Enchi brilliantly
handles the human interplay within the ill-fated Shirakawa family.”
Memoirs of a Woman Doctor by Nawal
El Saadawi (1958). “Rebelling against the constraints of family and society, a
young Egyptian woman decides to study medicine, becoming the only woman in a
class of men.”
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
(1958). “Tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center
around Okonkwo, a ‘strong man’ of an Ibo village in Nigeria.”
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by
Kenzaburō Ōe (1958). “Recounts the exploits of 15 teenage reformatory boys
evacuated in wartime to a remote mountain village where they are feared and
detested by the local peasants.”
The Guide by R. K. Narayan (1958).
“Formerly India’s most corrupt tourist guide, Raju—just released from
prison—seeks refuge in an abandoned temple. Mistaken for a holy man, he plays
the part and succeeds so well that God himself intervenes to put Raju’s newfound
sanctity to the test.”
(Di’s
comment: I have read The English Teacher, The Bachelor of
Arts, and Mr Sampath. Loved Narayan’s prose, struggled with
certain Indian beliefs and customs).
Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule
Marshall (1959). “This beloved coming-of-age story set in Brooklyn during the
Depression and World War II follows the life of Selina Boyce, a daughter of
Barbadians immigrants.”
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine
Hansberry (1959). “Hansberry’s award-winning drama about the hopes and
aspirations of a struggling, working-class family living on the South Side of
Chicago connected profoundly with the psyche of black America—and changed
American theater forever.”
Down Second Avenue by Es’kia
Mphahlele (1959). “A landmark book that describes Mphahlele’s experience
growing up in segregated South Africa. Vivid, graceful, and unapologetic, it
details a daily life of severe poverty and brutal police surveillance under the
subjugation of an apartheid regime..”
God’s Bits of Wood by Ousmane
Sembène (1960). “In 1947-48 the workers on the Dakar-Niger railway came out on
strike. This novel is an imaginative evocation of how those long days affected
the lives of people who lived along the hundreds of miles of track.”
The Ambiguous Adventure by Cheikh
Hamidou Kane (1961). “This long-unavailable classic tells the tale of young
Samba Diallo, a devout pupil in a Koranic school in Senegal whose parents send
him to Paris to study philosophy.”
A House for Mr Biswas by V.S.
Naipaul (1961). “When he marries into the domineering Tulsi family on whom he
indignantly becomes dependent, Mr. Biswas embarks on an arduous–and
endless–struggle to weaken their hold over him and purchase a house of his
own.”
The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe (1962). “After
missing the last bus home following a day trip to the seashore, an amateur
entomologist is offered lodging for the night at the bottom of a vast sand pit.
But when he attempts to leave the next morning, he quickly discovers that the
locals have other plans.”
(Di’s
comment: Very good book, but I prefer the film).
Selected Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks
(1963). “Showcases an esteemed artist’s technical mastery, her warm humanity,
and her compassionate and illuminating response to a complex world.”
A Backward Place by Ruth Prawer
Jhabvala (1965). “Six colourful, comic characters inhabit A Backward
Place. All but one are Westerners who have come to Delhi to experience an
alternative way of life.”
The Interpreters by Wole Sowinka
(1965). “The Nobel Laureate’s first novel spotlights a small circle of young
Nigerian intellectuals living in Lagos.”
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by
Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley (1965). “In this riveting account, he tells of
his journey from a prison cell to Mecca, describing his transition from hoodlum
to Muslim minister.”
The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa
Thiong’o (1965). “Christian missionaries attempt to outlaw the female
circumcision ritual and in the process create a terrible rift between the two
Kikuyu communities on either side of the river.”
Efuru by Flora Nwapa (1966).
“Efuru, beautiful and respected, is loved and deserted by two ordinary
undistinguished husbands.”
A Handful of Rice by Kamala
Markandaya (1966). “The novel depicts the hard struggle of life in a modern
city and its demoralization. Ravi , son of a peasant, joins in the general
exodus to the city, and, floating through the indifferent streets, lands into
the underworld of petty criminals.”
The Doctor’s Wife by Sawako
Ariyoshi (1966). “This novel is really two stories: on the one hand, the
successful medical career of Hanaoka Seishu, the first doctor in the world to
perform surgery for breast cancer under a general anesthetic; on the other
hand, the lives of his wife and his mother, who supported him with stoic
resignation, even to the extent of finally volunteering to be used as guinea
pigs in his experiments.”
Jubilee by Margaret Walker (1966).
“Tells the true story of Vyry, the child of a white plantation owner and his
black mistress. Vyry bears witness to the South’s antebellum opulence and to
its brutality, its wartime ruin, and the promises of Reconstruction.”
The Time of the Hero by Mario
Vargas Llosa (1966). “Set among a community of cadets in a Lima military
school, it is notable for its experimental and complex employment of multiple
perspectives.”
Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse (1966).
“The story of a young woman who was caught in the radioactive ‘black rain’ that
fell after the bombing of Hiroshima.”
Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono
(1966). “Toundi Ondoua, the rural African protagonist of Houseboy,
encounters a world of prisms that cast beautiful but unobtainable glimmers,
especially for a black youth in colonial Cameroon.”
Season of Migration to the North by
Tayeb Salih (1966). “A rich and sensual work of deep honesty and incandescent
lyricism. In 2001 it was selected by a panel of Arab writers and critics as the
most important Arab novel of the twentieth century.”
Silence by Shūsaku Endō (1966).
“Father Rodrigues is an idealistic Portuguese Jesuit priest who, in the 1640s,
sets sail for Japan on a determined mission to help the brutally oppressed
Japanese Christians and to discover the truth behind unthinkable rumours that
his famous teacher Ferreira has renounced his faith.”
One Hundred Years of Solitude by
Gabriel Garcia Márquez (1967). “Tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and
death of a mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family.”
Thousand Cranes by Yasunari
Kawabata (1967). “While attending a traditional tea ceremony in the aftermath
of his parents’ deaths, Kikuji encounters his father’s former mistress, Mrs.
Ota. At first Kikuji is appalled by her indelicate nature, but it is not long
before he succumbs to passion.”
(Di’s
comment: I have read The Sound of the Mountain and Snow
Country. Very Japanese. Prefer Naruse’s film adaptation of the
former).
Again,
I have read very, very little. What do you think about this list?
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