The Best of South American Literature (from each country)

[@Fiction_Beast]

This is episode 1 of Read the World series. Please help me by suggesting a great novel from other countries. Here is a playlist of South American novels: kzbin.info/aero/PLyKyeehuJVIHlai2eo5CLy33Bn3KS6Gi6

[@gerozayas9425]

Your channel is definitely one of the best on KZbin regarding Literature. Excellent work, thanks a lot for this content. I really appreciate it.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Wow, thank you!

[@marioabnercolina5931]

Actually, "Aunt Julia..." is a minor novel among Vargas Llosa's. He has three masterpieces, which are "Conversación en la Catedral" "La Guerra del Fin del Mundo" "La Ciudad y los Perros"

[@Fiction_Beast]

I agree. Conversation in the cathedral is perhaps his best.

[@not_emerald]

Brazilian fan here. I'm glad you picked Brás Cubas as our best work. Machado de Assis is absolutely brilliant, he makes references to world literature all the time, his short stories are also amazing. While I was never too fond of Brazilian literature - I know, it may sound bad, but I just don't relate to much of what is written -, he surely stands out among our authors. :)

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thank you! He's one of my favourites

[@joaquinalvarez109]

I love your channel and Borges! I think he has less international recognition than his literature deserves.

[@Fiction_Beast]

thank you!

[@Salad507]

Loved this episode! "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was the book that kindled my love for literature. It was the first time I had read a story that I could relate to because of the setting, daily routines, mindsets and other nuances that it depicted, because I too grew up on a rural town. I may not be Colombian, but Gabo alone makes me proud to have them as my neighbors.

[@Fiction_Beast]

That's interesting. when I read it i didnt relate to it much, so it all seemed very distant but amazing and magical. I think he uses magical realism the best among all those magical realist writers.

[@Salad507]

@@Fiction_Beast yeah! He's the face of magic realism. I hope you make a similar video about the best books of Central America some day. 😁

[@Fiction_Beast]

I’m very unfamiliar but I’ll do my best.

[@vernicejillmagsino9603]

Encanto from Disney is the Adaptations

[@kabiansadi]

I've read a few of your picks. I'm Brazilian and agree a lot with your Machado 's pick. I also love Obscene Bird of Night by José Donoso, a Chilean classic and one of my favorite writters. Recommend a lot.

[@alvihussain5729]

hahah the alchemist bit was really funny

[@dayana6811]

I almost faint ahahaha

[@zhanruide84]

I discovered your channel over Christmas and have been really stimulated by the content. I’m slowly trying to “read the world” myself - 67 countries in so far - and am thus very interested in your recommendations and reviews. Thanks for your hard work, please keep the videos coming - they are very much appreciated.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Really appreciate your support. 67 countries is impressive. well done!

[@faisalsalam33]

Really enjoyed ur video. Pls make a video on books which have magical realism elements, from different parts of the world.

[@Vic-mc6tb]

Working my way through the big blue Borges book. It's collection every reader should have on their shelves.

[@albertopalhares7522]

I'm new to the channel and i really enjoy your work! have you tried these brazilian books? "Dry lives" from Graciliano Ramos, "The devil to pay in the backlands" from Guimarães Rosa, "Sea of death" and "Captains of the sands" from Jorge Amado and "The passion according to G.H" and "The hour of the star" from Clarice Lispector. They are also really great brazilian books.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Great suggestions. Thanks so much. Clarice Lipspector is on my list.

[@guilhermebrasildesouza4726]

Thank you so much for your channel!!! I love your content!!! Your a phenomenal Dostoyevsky reader.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Appreciate it.

[@liviacleary2610]

Thank you. I enjoyed your channel. I was born in Chile. We have great writers and poets. You forgot to mentioned Gabriela Mistral, "literature nobel price 1945". I love also Pablo de Rokha, one of our great poet. It is hard to choose one. Bañados is also one of them. Neruda with "El canto general" got the literature nobel price. Blest Gana,Jose Donoso, Baldomero Lillo con "Subterra"...... congratulations I subscribed your channel...

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thanks for sharing! It's one of my dreams to visit Chile someday.

[@liviacleary2610]

@@Fiction_Beast you would love it.....

[@MrLugine]

Such a great vid, will def checkout some of these books

[@adameggers8146]

Very much enjoyed the video and thanks for helping understand the meaning of the title 2666.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Awesome.

[@andrewdunbar828]

Great stuff. I'm a big fan of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Borges, and the Savage Detectives by Bolaño since I'm far too slow a reader for 2666. I think I read Pantaleon and the Visitadoras by Vargas Llosa but I'm probably mixing up the Spanish and English titles since I was trying to read in Spanish a lot in those days. For Chile I was recommended Mala Onda by Alberto Fuguet and would be interested in hearing your review if you get around to reading it at some point. It's a coming-of-age novel written by a Gen-Xer who like Bolaño was also reacting to Magical Realism / the Latin American Boom and founded a little movement called "McOndo". Not one of the greats but interesting. I'm surprised how many of the other novels and authors I've never heard of before - some of them sound like I should read them. I'd really love to see a video like this on Central America at some point too! Oh I almost forgot, my choice for Brazil is Budapest by Chico Buarque. I was really fascinated by Hungary and found it exciting that there was a literary intersection of Latin America and Hungary. In fact this is one I'd love to dig out and read again now.

[@Fiction_Beast]

I’m going to bed so I’ll read your comment again tomorrow. Plenty to think about. Yes I’m on my way around the world so Central American for sure. Help me out as I don’t know much about the region.

[@adelabartolomei1656]

My favorite South American writer is Mario Vargas Llosa - loved his works, especially Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. When I think of magical realism, beside Gabriel Garcia Marquez with my favorite Memories of My Melancholy Whores and Love in the Time of Cholera, the name of Isabel Allende comes to my mind. She was born in Lima, Peru, but at a small age she moved to Chile. Her masterpiece is considered to be The House of Spirits where she creates very real, very human characters with a sprinkle of stardust :-) it's magical realism. I was convinced by your videos to start reading Jorge Luis Borges - I know a lot about his life, but never adventured in his works. Currently I am reading "Borges and the eternal orangutans" - an acclamation for Borges written by Luís Fernando Verissimo, a Brazilian author.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thanks for sharing. Borges is not easy, so needs a re-reading. I have made two videos talking about 10 of his short stories, so if you get stuck you can watch my videos explaining the stories.

[@inthebookwoods818]

Love the content! Watching this for the second time.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@dayana6811]

As an Ecuadorian, I would recommend the following books La Emancipada by Miguel Riofrío: the first Ecuadorian novel, portrays the life of a woman who defies society by running away from an arranged marriage and living her own life, as the title suggests (The Emancipated) Cumandá by Juan León Mera: the story of a catholic missionary in the deep Amazon forest, who finds a tribe with a beautiful girl who he falls in love with, just to discover she was her sister, who he thought was dead in an arson provoked by natives years before A la Costa by Luís A Martínez: the odyssey of a sullen man surrounded by poverty and havoc, traveling to the Coastal region of Ecuador during the Banana Craze Era. A true monomyth story shaped by the historical background (i.e. the liberal revolution) Finally, I recommend the tales of Pablo Palacio. He is basically our Kafka, all his stories are sinister and pessimistic. My favorites are El antropófago and La double y única mujer

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thank you for the recommendations.

[@ReligionOfSacrifice]

Thank you for this video. I have added on Goodreads the following books to read. "Oroonoko" by Aphra Behn, "Doña Bárbara" by Romulo Gallegos, and "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García.

[@akkaines]

Wonderful video again👍

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thanks again!

[@donaldkelly3983]

Of those listed, I've read only Vargas Llosa, Borges, and de Assis. AJ and SW was the first I read of his novels. It was funny and struck me as more personal than his other books. De Assis was only last year, but the reading experience was the best I have had in awhile. I think I was born with Borges already in my mind.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Awesome.

[@rickharsch8797]

Yes, 13 countries. One choice alone grates: Conversation in the Cathedral is far more important and virtuosic than AJ. Argentina: Arlt should be mentioned, his great novel The Seven Madmen\The Flamethrowers is one of the great novels of the 20th century. Also, I'm not sure Llosa and Garcia Marquez were such good friends...Brief Life is my choice, too, for Uruguay...Ficciones can't be wrong. For Brasilia, Os Sertoes should be mentioned even if it is not fiction. Also Rosa's Sertoes novel. Bastos, certainly. Several are new to me, of course. Thanks for that. Good survey.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Llosa and Marquez were friends before a fall out. Thanks for the feedback and new suggestions.

[@michaelallport5816]

While French Guiana is a Departmemt of France it is geographically in South America. Perhaps, you can make an addition to this video by including the aforementioned country. Thanks.

[@CulainRuledByVenus]

8:19 Also, if anyone can tell us how to acquire an English translation if such a thing exists...

[@sonakshilahiri2603]

hahahhaah u did give us a heart attack with the alchemist hahahha

[@surajporey1484]

You almost made me surprised!

[@Fiction_Beast]

Oops! 😅

[@marivg8948]

My guess about magical realism has more to do with Indigenous beliefs, shamanism, magical rituals w/ drug use such as peyote, mushrooms, ayahuasca, etc. than it does about Catholicism because half of Europe is Catholic but I don't see a lot of magical realism there. Magical realism has roots with the Indigenous beliefs in S. America. I would extend that to all of Latin America and Chicano writers in the US. Example from US magical realism would be "Bless Me, Ultima."

[@Fiction_Beast]

South America is predominantly catholic with roots in Southern Europe while North America has stronger roots in non catholic Northern Europe. Also magic realism is also present in the Philippines another catholic country. Again Catholic miracle is just one explanation.

[@Bombadil-ez9ns]

I'm obviously behind on some joke. So far behind that I didn't even see a comment that bothers to explain it. Why would selecting The Alchemist give people heart attacks? It's kind of simplistic, like a children's fable, but I remember loving it.

[@TheSalMaris]

I think you forgot one country on the South American continent (unless you include the Falkland Islands)-- French Guiana. I had to look up authors from there like Alfred Parépou, Léon-Gontran Damas, and Bertène Juminer. I am unfamiliar with their writings, perhaps you can enlighten us. Otherwise, thank you for this video, it's inspiring me to read those I have yet to read.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Is French Guina an independent country? Anyway thanks for the suggestions.

[@TheSalMaris]

@@Fiction_Beast No, I believe they are still a territory, but they appear to have a separate literary tradition-so, I maintain they should be included in your survey. Thank again.

[@Fiction_Beast]

You make a good point. I should have included.

[@TheSalMaris]

@@Fiction_Beast Your video non the less

[@TheSalMaris]

Your video nonetheless has inspired me to read some authors That were otherwise unknown to me- thank you for all your efforts and knowledge.

[@lsf698]

Machado's novels are great, but Machado as a novelist is not on the same level of the greatest ones as Victor Hugo or Dostoievski. But Machado's short stories are the greatest IMHO! I prefer his short stories than those by Twain, Tolstoi, Tchekhov, Borges...

[@Fiction_Beast]

good to know. thanks for the comment.

[@rickharsch8797]

At that level comparisons are irrelevant. I think, in fact, Dostoevsky would have been stunned by Machado...

[@barrymoore4470]

Interesting and revelatory video, highlighting some works and authors meriting wider recognition. I do have a minor quibble about how your headline is phrased, as I submit there is no such thing as South American literature per se (though you are clear that you are addressing key works by individual countries), but rather Spanish literature, Portuguese literature, English literature, etc., all represented by authors originating from countries on the South American continent. I believe it best and most accurate to refer to literatures in terms of the languages in which they are written, but I realize there is no universal consensus on how to define this important cultural category of literature. Referring to Argentina, Borges is of course outstanding, but I would also like to recommend the 1956 novel 'Zama' by Argentine writer Antonio Di Benedetto (1922-1986), a neglected masterpiece that only relatively recently was accorded an English translation from the original Spanish. The story takes place during the colonial era in what is today Paraguay, and is an exploration of existentialist thinking that was, at the time of composition, so strong among Western intellectuals.

[@markspano3468]

Love your channel. I’m waiting for italian writers.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thank you! Here kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIO1inZph8uDirs

[@sivid22]

i am from the south american country called brazil. Congratulation for your work!!!

[@Fiction_Beast]

Wonderful.

[@brunofranco4416]

While Machado is our greatest writer, i whouldnt say that Postumous Memoirs captures brazilian culture, it is meant to be universal.

[@Fiction_Beast]

It's universal for sure.

[@brunofranco4416]

@@Fiction_Beast If you want books that capture the culture of Brazil i recommend Capitães da Areia, Auto da Compadecida, O Tempo e o Vento, Macunaíma, Casa de Despejo and Ideias Para Adiar o Fim do Mundo(sorry, dont know how they're called in english).

[@Fiction_Beast]

Awesome. One of the problem is that some great authors are not translated into English but I’ll check them out. Thanks a heap!

[@brunofranco4416]

@@Fiction_Beast You're welcome, but i think it will be easy to find them translated, since these are pretty famous titles as far as i know.

[@MagnumBullets47]

​​@@Fiction_Beast I would recommend you also "Vidas Secas" (Dried Lives) from Graciliano Ramos, another great brazilian writer.

[@jaydorota3625]

One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez I'm currently reading. . the rest of it except Jorge Luis Borges I don't know them. . .thanks for this video.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Well now you know

[@jaydorota3625]

@@Fiction_Beast yeah, thanks. .

[@sarinahasselas1163]

Great video ! Thank you ! What about French Guyana ???? They're novelists there too.

[@LuisPerez-tx5jo]

Oroonoko by Aphra Behn is not Surinamese literature….it’s British Literature. Only the setting is in Suriname

[@Fiction_Beast]

You're right. I did mention that in video.

[@barrymoore4470]

Right, and the novel was written centuries before Suriname was even established as a sovereign nation.

[@roysayak]

Laurence Sterne was Irish 1:35

[@vodkatonyq]

Doña Barbara is not more famous than 100 Years of Solitude.

[@Fiction_Beast]

says who?

[@vodkatonyq]

@@Fiction_Beast book sales.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Good point but I would say Dona has been more famous due to tv shows and films. Don’t you think so? Are you Latin American?

[@dayana6811]

@@Fiction_Beast As a Latin American, I've never heard of Doña Bárbara before, maybe I'm just ignorant. Also my father had the entire collection of Gabriel García Márquez, so I was introduced to Latin American Literature with Gabo

[@paulandreigillesania5359]

Do you share the opinion that the Philippines also shared in the Latin American literary boom and/or Mexicanidad

[@Fiction_Beast]

Magical realism is present in the Philippines literature, I dicussed May Day Eve a while back.

[@jaydorota3625]

This is great. .

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thanks mate!

[@jaydorota3625]

@@Fiction_Beast how about Isabelle Allende?

[@jnbfilm56]

For Chile I would have preferred to see José Donoso, instead of Bolaño. Bolaño may be more popular, but he wrote his biggest works about México, not Chile

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll check it out.

[@jnbfilm56]

@@Fiction_Beast thanks for the like! Great content, keep it up. You inspired me to read In search for lost time. Greetings from Colombia

[@dayana6811]

Ikr, I'm not from Chile so when it was revelated Bolaño was actually Chilean I was very confused

[@GreatLeity]

I'm a bit disappointed that in 2022 we get recommends for Bolaño, a quite modern author, but Colombia's "best" is still a 55 year old novel

[@Fiction_Beast]

Which you’re not happy with?. Bolano or marques?

[@GreatLeity]

@@Fiction_Beast marquez. I'm trying to read more authors from colombia but it's difficult when everyone on the internet says the same one name

[@Fiction_Beast]

Oh I agree. My video was trying to reach someone less inclined to read. Also I chose a book worthy of representing that country. But you’re right. I guess the downfall of having such a giant means others remain i the shadow.

[@andrewdunbar828]

You almost gave me a heart attack!

[@Fiction_Beast]

Glad you’re okay 😂

[@AM-yi4dd]

“Top 12 books, the best books from each country” - Lol what makes you think that you are an authority in the “top 12 books?” I geez

[@IdealPeach0731]

The Alchemist!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤯🤯🤯💆🏻‍♀️💆🏻‍♀️💆🏻‍♀️

[@Fiction_Beast]

😅

[@burntumber]

a shit list for me: Clarice Lispector, Julio Cortazar, Eduardo Galleano, Nicanor Parra, The Hora Zero movement

[@Fiction_Beast]

Those are great writers. Yes, the list could have been much longer for sure.

[@KnightfallFelix]

Aphra Behn isn't Surinamese lol.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Correct.

[@_sh4rp]

We know more about the moon than Latin America 😂😂 as a latin america I think it applies to me, didnt learn anything about my own history in school

[@jiroleon7215]

Quit Catholic to escape it's idolatry,,,,