Reading Around the World

[Silver]

Here is the list I compiled. I tried to do my best to decipher which authors seem to have books available in English translation. I did not include Russia in this list because I feel that Russian literature is about as familiar as English/American literature is. I tried to address other countries which may not be as well explored.

Ireland

Maria Edgeworth

Sydney Owenson

Charles Maturin

John Banim

France

François-René de Chateaubriand

Anne-Louise-Germaine de Staël

Jean-Baptiste Cousin de Grainville - The Last Man

Claire De Duras

Victor Hugo

Honoré de Balzac

Stendhal

George Sand

Eugène Sue

Paul Féval

Gustave Flaubert

Emile Zola

Alphonse Daudet

Émile Gaboriau

Guy de Maupassant

Andre Gide

Gaston Leroux

German

Heinrich von Kleist

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué

Hermann Hesse

Heinrich Mann

Scotland

Christian Isobel Johnstone

Sir Walter Scott

Susan Edmonstone Ferrier

Sweden

Benjamin Constant

Fredrika Bremer

Viktor Rydberg

August Strindberg

Selma Lagerlöf

Hjalmar Soderberg

Switzerland

Gottfried Keller - Green Henry

Johanna Spyri

Denmark

Hans Christian Andersen

Søren Kierkegaard

Belgium

Hendrik Conscience - The Lion of Flanders

Brazil

José de Alencar

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis

Hungary

Mór Jókai

Géza Gárdonyi

Austria

Adalbert Stifter

Leopold von Sacher-Masoch

Norwegian

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Jonas Lauritz Idemil Lie

Knut Hamsun

Netherlands

Multatuli

Italy

Giovanni Verga

Paolo Mantegazza

Emilio Salgari

Luigi Pirandello

Finland

Aleksis Kivi

Juhani Aho

India

Bankim Chatterjee

Rabindranath Tagore

Spain

Enrique Gaspar

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

Poland

Henryk Sienkiewicz

Bolesław Prus

Stefan Żeromski

Japan

Natsume Sōseki

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I have on my wish list shelf a book of short stories - Les Diaboliques by Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly. That might dovetail nicely with your short story idea and the around the world theme.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Ireland - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Portugal - Eça de Queirós

Netherlands - Louis Couperus

Germany - Theodor Fontane

France - Gaston Leroux (whose short story mysteries are interesting)

[Lily]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "...France - Gaston Leroux (whose short story mysteries are interesting)"

Also, author of The Phantom of the Opera, which is rather fun to contrast with the movie and Broadway play. Finally read it a few years ago now.

[Silver]

Lily wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "...France - Gaston Leroux (whose short story mysteries are interesting)"

Also, author of The Phantom of the Opera, which is rather fun to contrast with the movie and Bro..."

I keep debating with myself if I want to read that one or not.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

And sometimes I get confused. It's the French author Maurice Leblanc who has the fun mysteries.

I did read Phantom a few months ago. I've never seen the movie so can't compare.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I have not read these authors I've posted, by the way (except Leblanc and Leroux), but have books on my Wish List for them. I'd look forward to finding others interested in trying them.

[Lily]

Silver wrote: "'..France - Gaston Leroux' ...'author of The Phantom of the Opera,...' I keep debating with myself if I want to read that one or not. ..."

It is a fairly short read, although even at that I wouldn't necessarily scoot it to the top of one's TBR -- more for when the fancy strikes and nothing else happens to appeal. The Broadway play is a favorite of my son.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Did you picture these as some opportunities for group reads?

[MadgeUK]

Gosh! Have read some of those in the distant past of my youf but am willing to revisit them.

Well done Silver and THANKS!!

[Denise]

How about Benito Pérez Galdós for Spain as well? He is considered the 'Spanish Dickens'. Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer is my favorite Spanish poet, too, and falls in the right time period; he wrote short stories, too. I don't know if his work is readily available in English, though.

[Silver]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Did you picture these as some opportunities for group reads?"

Yes, it is my intent to hopefully introduce some of these works as group reading

[Deborah, Moderator]

I would also suggest George Moore - Ireland. His best book is Esther Waters which is very good. You've put some of my favorites on this list. I love that we're branching out.

If we consider plays as well, Ibsen would also be good.

Love the idea about the short stories too.

[Hedi]

We could add the following for:
Germany
E.T.A. Hoffmann and
Thomas Mann (Buddenbrooks).

Uruguay
Horacio Quiroga

BTW, Gottfried Keller and Johanna Spyri are from Switzerland not Sweden. ;-)

[Pip]

Other big names for Spain: Clarín, Valle-Inclán, Ramón María del and any of the Generation of '98 which fit into our timescale. Possibilities: Pío Baroja, Unamuno and Azorín.

[Pip]

(Damn! I've just noticed that Pío Baroja's Basque Trilogy, which were all written before 1910, are unavailable in translation. If anyone fancies reading them with me in Spanish, I'd be delighted as Baroja is from my adoptive hometown:-))

[Denise]

The only Baroja I have is El árbol de la ciencia, which I read in college. However, I do have some Valle-Inclán that I don't think I've read, as well as a book by el Duque de Rivas that I haven't read and fits in the correct time period. I could maybe be up for a side read sometime, or even a group read if anyone else is interested and can get one in English (I have them in Spanish).

Divinas Palabras
Retablo de La Avaricia, La Lujuria y La Muerte
Luces de Bohemia

(I have all the Sonatas, but I'm not sure which I've read or not read)

[Pip]

@Denise - I've read one of the Sonatas too, and think it was Primavera but not entirely sure! Any time you fancy a Spanish buddy read, please get in touch.

[Kirk]

For France, you left out Dumas, Proust, Verne.

[Silver]

Kirk wrote: "For France, you left out Dumas, Proust, Verne."

There were really were so many French authors,is was becoming overwhelming and I knew those ones were fairly well known as it is.