The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
FALL CHALLENGE 2013
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20.9. Moderator's Pet: Bucket's Task: Expanding the Classic Canon
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Thank you to @Vicky for creating a list of books that work for this task that are also on the 1001 books list! Any of these would be an excellent choice:
Chinese
Monkey: A Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en
A Dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 1 by Luo Guanzhong
Rickshaw Boy by Lao She
The Water Margin: Outlaws of the Marsh by Shi Nai'an
Middle Eastern
The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore
In the Heart of the Seas by S.Y. Agnon
A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights
Japanese
Rashomon by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata
The Sea of Fertility and The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Kokoro by Sōseki Natsume
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
Some Prefer Nettles by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Yukio Mishima
Banana Yoshimoto
David Grossman
Kenzaburō Ōe
Haruki Murakami
Sun Tzu
Orhan Pamuk
Wu Cheng'en
Cao Xueqin
Luo Guanzhong
Lao She
Shi Nai'an
Rabindranath Tagore
S. Y. Agnon
Amos Oz
Tayeb Salih
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Yasunari Kawabata
Sōseki Natsume
Murasaki Shikibu
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki


The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
Am I doing this correctly?
http://www.interleaves.org/~rteeter/g...


However...
David Grossman is listed but clicking on his name does not bring up The Yellow Wind. Could I read this book of his since his name is listed?
and...
Black Elk is listed so could I read this book - Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux - which are Black Elk thoughts spoken to the author in a series of meetings?
Dee wrote: "eeek...this might be my dreaded task of the season...but hey, its all about pushing boundaries right?"
You know, I had no familiarity with any of these authors except Murakami and Yoshimoto - but when I started checking my library website, I found a lot of books that sounded really interesting - so I think this will be a good way to find some authors I never read before.
You know, I had no familiarity with any of these authors except Murakami and Yoshimoto - but when I started checking my library website, I found a lot of books that sounded really interesting - so I think this will be a good way to find some authors I never read before.

Chinese
Monkey: A Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en
A Dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 1 by Luo Guanzhong
Rickshaw Boy by Lao She
The Water Margin: Outlaws of the Marsh by Shi Nai'an
Middle Eastern
The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore
In the Heart of the Seas by S.Y. Agnon
A Tale of Love and Darkness and Black Box by Amos Oz
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
Japanese
Rashomon by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Thousand Cranes and The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter by Yasunari Kawabata
The Sea of Fertility and The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Kokoro by Sōseki Natsume
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
Some Prefer Nettles by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Thanks, Vicky! That's a big help, as I'm always looking to cross another book off the "1001" list.
Great task, Bucket!

#6 - Kathy G. -
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima will work! Enjoy!
#7 - Ty - Great choice!
#8 - Angela - Hope you find it fun to try something totally new!
#9 - Gayla - Glad you're excited; enjoy!
#10 - Jennifer W. - Both of those authors are great!
#11 - Bea - Any book by an author listed will work, except for African and Native American authors. So any book by David Grossman, including The Yellow Wind will work. Black Elk won't work as he is listed under the "Native American" heading. The Art of War of course works too!

#13 - Jayme(the ghost reader) - Both of those titles will work. Enjoy!
#14 - Elizabeth - Sounds good! Enjoy!
#15 - Connie - Sounds good!

#17 - Ann A - Thanks! I'd love to hear which you pick and if you enjoy it.

I also noticed The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights was on the list provided if you want to tackle a chunkster! I read it last year, but it took me about 4 months to get through!


It might be fun to read Cao Xueqin's book for this task, and Pauline Chen's for another, such as task 15.6: Far East.

LOL I must agree with you....I am currently looking at my library's website and so far they don't have any of these books or authors!!!!!! Guess that is what happens when you live in a small town of 600 people :(


Transliterated differently here, but same book.

@Deana - Shahnameh absolutely works - that's a bold choice, and very fitting for this task. Hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to claim your big book tickets. They'll be well-deserved. :)

I realize that with some of the names I am unable to determine the gender, due to my unfamiliarity with the language, but I do read some Eastern authors and figured at least one name or two would jump out at me. Does anyone know which if any are written by women?
It's not that I only read books written by women, but when someone compiles a "best of"/"great books" kind of list with no effort at gender parity, I will most likely write to *him* and point that out.
Peebee wrote: "Is it just me, or are there no female authors on this list?
I realize that with some of the names I am unable to determine the gender, due to my unfamiliarity with the language, but I do read som..."
Banana Yoshimoto is female. I am not familiar with most of these authors, so can't help beyond that.
I realize that with some of the names I am unable to determine the gender, due to my unfamiliarity with the language, but I do read som..."
Banana Yoshimoto is female. I am not familiar with most of these authors, so can't help beyond that.
Books mentioned in this topic
Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (other topics)The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (other topics)
Norwegian Wood (other topics)
Kokoro (other topics)
The Red Chamber (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Haruki Murakami (other topics)Haruki Murakami (other topics)
Cao Xueqin (other topics)
Pauline A. Chen (other topics)
Haruki Murakami (other topics)
More...
In honor of the Azure Dragon of the East, I thought it would be fun to explore what we think of as the classic canon, and read beyond the usual English and American authors. Let's explore some Asian classics - old or new!
Read an eastern classic title or author from this list: Great Books - Non-Western Literature. Any book by an author on this list is acceptable, not just the book associated with the link for the author's name.
For this task, the Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern titles/authors will work from any time period listed, but not the African or Native American listings. Additionally, the auxiliary reading titles will not work. The listed anthologies WILL work, as will compilations that contain titles, authors, or genres (such as Indo-Islamic poetry) listed at the link. If you read an anthology or compilation that is not listed, please explain in your post how the book you've chosen fits the task requirements.
REQUIRED: In your post, please note the time period and geographic section in which the author's name is found.