Colombian Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel García Márquez’s universally adored chronicle of the Buendía family is one of the most important works of modern Spanish-language fiction. Spanning seven generations while tackling such timeless themes as love, loss, and the inescapability of fate, Cien A?os de Soledad is a masterful display of the power of the Spanish language, and an essential text of the Magical Realism literary movement.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is to German what William Shakespeare is to English, and there is no better introduction to Goethe’s brilliance than his magnum opus, Faust. Often considered the greatest work of German literature, Faust is Goethe’s poetic take on the German legend of the eponymous protagonist who, dissatisfied with his life, sells his soul to the devil in exchange for limitless knowledge. At the end both funny and tragic, reading this play is the perfect way to improve your German.
Often one of the first books assigned to French-language students around the world, Nobel Prize-winner Albert Camus’ 1942 novella about an absurd act of cruelty committed by an Algerian man named Meursault is unmatched in its profound exploration of the human psyche and the absurdity of life. Written in simple language and short enough to be read in one sitting, L’?tranger is ideal for improving your French.
4. Se Una Notte D’inverno Un Vaggiatore (If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler)
《寒冬夜行人》
Italo Calvino’s 1979 mind-bending classic of postmodern fiction is one of those books that can commonly be found at the top of contemporary authors’ lists of “All-Time Favorites." Suspenseful in content and groundbreaking in form, Se Una Notte D’inverno Un Vaggiatore seamlessly transitions between multiple perspectives and genres while investigating the unique power of literature.
5. Преступление и Наказание (Crime and Punishment)
《罪与罚》
The Russian language is nearly synonymous with Great Literature, and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Преступление и Наказание is its chief ambassador. Though it has been given many faithful translations into English, there is no better way to understand the depths of the “great Russian soul" than by reading antihero Raskolnikov’s internal struggle in its original language.
6. Widok z Ziarnkiem Piasku (View with a Grain of Sand)
《一粒沙看世界》
No list of great world literature would be complete without poetry, and Polish Nobel Prize-winner Wis?awa Szymborska’s 1995 collection Widok z Ziarnkiem Piasku is good poetry. Through the course of these 100 poems, Szymborska contemplates the full spectrum of the human experience—from the most minute of happenings to the most extreme of feelings—while taking the Polish language to new limits of creative expression.
For these books in their original language and more, be sure to remember: You shouldn’t worry about understanding every word on the page! The point is to absorb how the language works in a formal setting, and even if you don’t understand everything in front of you, you’re gaining invaluable exposure to how your new language functions. Reading in a new language is difficult at first, but with some perseverance, you’ll be shocked at how quickly you’ve become a master of both the spoken and written word. Happy reading!
