Good novels in English?

Look For
FiFTY ShAdes Of Grey
            By
       E L JaMes


Good Luck

Here is a list for your choice 

Very famous author, psychological challenges, most definitely NOT stereotyped, but NOT recently published. Indeed, a classic that may not have been translated into Vietnamese. "The Enormous Room", by e.e. Cummings. Why would it be of interest to Vietnamese audiences? Well, this is the 100 year start of the First World War in which over 140,000 Vietnamese participated in, as soldiers, as fighter and observation pilots, as front line ambulance drivers, and as war workers. It is an autobiographical novel by a famous poet, and the only novel he ever published. It begins with his imprisonment by the French on suspicion that he did not support the war....  A deeply human novel.

sbonilla75 wrote:

Look For
FiFTY ShAdes Of Grey
            By
       E L JaMes


Good Luck

thank you sbonilla, and that hot book has been translated into Vietnamese, not by me though, not long after it was published

charmavietnam wrote:

Here is a list for your choice 

yeah charmavietnam, thank you. That's what I've been doing for days so far   

lirelou wrote:

Very famous author, psychological challenges, most definitely NOT stereotyped, but NOT recently published. Indeed, a classic that may not have been translated into Vietnamese. "The Enormous Room", by e.e. Cummings. Why would it be of interest to Vietnamese audiences? Well, this is the 100 year start of the First World War in which over 140,000 Vietnamese participated in, as soldiers, as fighter and observation pilots, as front line ambulance drivers, and as war workers. It is an autobiographical novel by a famous poet, and the only novel he ever published. It begins with his imprisonment by the French on suspicion that he did not support the war....  A deeply human novel.

That's very helpful lirelou. I just found that book on amazon. Seem there's a new edition published this year. I would check about it's copyright and see if my publisher wants to skip some of their criteria. Thank you!

Gabriel Garcia-Marquez died today.  He originally wrote in Spanish but was fluent in English and his books are well-translated.  You couldn't do much better than One Hundred Years of Solitude.

May this good kind man requiem in pace

PermaLurker wrote:

Gabriel Garcia-Marquez died today.  He originally wrote in Spanish but was fluent in English and his books are well-translated.  You couldn't do much better than One Hundred Years of Solitude.

May this good kind man requiem in pace

Really sorry to hear that. May him rest in peace.

And thank you so much for your recommendation. I found it's Vietnamese translation has been published though. But I would definitely read the book. Really like it

I have read many books and, for a variety of reason, a couple have stuck in my mind.

The mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy
The fourth estate - Jeffrey Archer (The writing style is puerile, but I enjoyed it anyway)

Neither are new but both fit all the other criteria.

mas fred wrote:

I have read many books and, for a variety of reason, a couple have stuck in my mind.

The mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy
The fourth estate - Jeffrey Archer (The writing style is puerile, but I enjoyed it anyway)

Neither are new but both fit all the other criteria.

Thanks a lot for your recommendation mas fred. Found them and added to my list

While I liked One Hundred Years of Solitude, I found it sad that the Nobel committee didn't have better survey of Latin American literature to choose from. I rate Augusto Roa Bastos (of Paraguay) well above Garcia Marques, especially in the magical realism department as Roa Bastos's magical elements were more finely tuned to the story (Hijo de Hombre) and more credible. Adalberto Ortiz (of Ecuador) also outshines Garcia-Marquez, but while his tale of a Black orphan (Juyungo) raised by jungle Indians making a ethno-cultural journey through manhood to arrive at the realization that he was first and foremost an Ecuadorian might have teaching points for some of Vietnam's minorities, I think the idioms used might be difficult to properly translate into Vietnamese.

Perhaps what attracted the Nobel committee to Garcia-Marquez was that he fictionalized his own country so as to render it 'universal', though no Latin readers would have identified it as anywhere but Colombia.

lirelou wrote:

While I liked One Hundred Years of Solitude, I found it sad that the Nobel committee didn't have better survey of Latin American literature to choose from. I rate Augusto Roa Bastos (of Paraguay) well above Garcia Marques, especially in the magical realism department as Roa Bastos's magical elements were more finely tuned to the story (Hijo de Hombre) and more credible. Adalberto Ortiz (of Ecuador) also outshines Garcia-Marquez, but while his tale of a Black orphan (Juyungo) raised by jungle Indians making a ethno-cultural journey through manhood to arrive at the realization that he was first and foremost an Ecuadorian might have teaching points for some of Vietnam's minorities, I think the idioms used might be difficult to properly translate into Vietnamese.

Perhaps what attracted the Nobel committee to Garcia-Marquez was that he fictionalized his own country so as to render it 'universal', though no Latin readers would have identified it as anywhere but Colombia.

Thanks always for your advise lirelou. I would definitely take it very seriously for consideration

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'newly published,' but books by Barbara Kingsolver have many of the qualities that you seem to be looking for.  The Poisonwood Bible is a favorite, 1998. Maybe too old. She has many others, also good. A classic taught in American High School is To Kill a Mockingbird. It was written by a young woman, told from the point of view of a young girl, and deals with social conflicts (among other things) in the US. Published in 1960, it's still relevant.

Amy Tan, a Chinese-American, has written many fun things. Her latest is The Valley of Amazement, 2013. Her Joy Luck Club is also a classic, but was published in 1989. Good luck!

there are so many "good" books, but I recommend one I am reading yet again - "Don't Die Before Your Death"  ~  by Yevgeny Yevtushenko - he is a great Russian poet and this biographic novel, about the thaw time in the Soviet Union, is delightfully written with a poet's hand and imagination. The language used is quite devine. - best wishes Jeff

"Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw where the American musical film "My Fair Lady" was based upon may be a good start for Vietnamese students.