Do you read “classical” books from other countries/languages in translation?

brainofme

As I was thinking about some books to recommend for another thread, this topic came to my mind…

I mean there are some typical must-read books in every language from some “classical” authors you know, if you grow up in a specific country. (I don’t use the word “classical” meaning a specific time/style in literature. More in the sense “must-read and kind of older” - books/authors. haha.)

For me - having German as my mother tongue - there was no way to graduate school without having read the most important works of authors like Goethe, Schiller, Lessing etc.

But it’s difficult to recommend these authors to someone not speaking German, because of the translation. So I wonder, do you read this kind of authors from other languages in the translation? I mean I have read some Shakespeare in the German translation but of course this is not the same as reading the original. But it’s this kind of books that are difficult to read and understand if this is not your mother language.

So I would like to know if you are interested in “classical” books/authors from other countries at all, or if you say “reading the translation doesn’t make too much sense”?

To my embarrassment I have to admit, that I don’t know a lot of foreign “classical” must-read authors. What have been the books that you had to read in school? What are the typical authors from your country/language that you just “have to know”?

(if you are interested I could give you some german, austrian and switzerland - recommendations)

bernmodi

My mother tongue is German, too; the only foreign languages I know are French and English. I'm usally trying to read a book in its original language, and I consider this quite a gain. There are lots of books out there you can read without having a master degree in a foreign language. Someone recently mentionned Wuthering Heights in this forum - a wonderful book you can read easily, even if you don't understand every word. I find Shakespeare more difficult. But there are these wonderful editions of his work, where you have the original text on one side, and the German translation on the opposite side (Reclam Verlag, try it out!), very helpful! Reading Shakespeare is no fun if you have to look up every third word in a dictionary and still the wit is lost on you!