a book from every country in europe 🌍

[@jack_edwards]

a note: a handful of countries are missing as I unfortunately couldn't find any books in english (or translated into english) from these places -- for example Luxembourg, Slovakia, Malta, etc. -- if you have recommendations from these countries, please send them my way! I added a note at the end of the video but appreciate it's a long one so you may look at the comments before getting all the way to the end. i'll be doing a bonus video at the end of the series where i fill in the gaps i had to miss along the way, as it was incredibly difficult to research sometimes!! and please also send me your recs for other countries outside of europe, as I'm working on compiling these lists as we speak!

[@oliviabinfield6549]

Uršuľa Kovalyk from Slovakia has English translations of her two books: The Night Circus and other stories & The Equestrienne

[@matteopullicino]

Recommendations from MALTA: I would suggest 'In the Name of the Father (& of the Son)' by Immanuel Mifsud or 'The Lives and Deaths of K. Penza' by Clare Azzopardi ... Trust me!

[@gottmiksshoe6786]

I think there's an English translation of "Amok" by Tulio Forgiarini (for Luxembourg) floating around the internet somewhere

[@domika26]

For Slovakia, the best one I would recommend is The Taste of Power (Ako chutí moc) by Ladislav Mňačko!

[@barboralackova7122]

Slovakia: And That's The Truth poetry collection by Milan Rúfus

[@familyberente1407]

Intro 0:00 Albania 2:35 Andorra 3:36 Armenia 4:34 Austria 6:03 Azberbaijan 7:09 Belarus 8:18 Belgium 9:07 Bosnia Herzegovina 10:17 Bulgaria 11:16 Sponsor AD 12:10 Croatia 13:14 Cyprus 14:40 Czechia 15:02 Denmark 16:12 Estonia 16:43 Finland 17:54 France 18:48 Georgia 19:46 Germany 21:11 Greece 22:01 Hungary 22:46 Iceland 24:06 Ireland 25:19 Italy 26:37 Kosovo 27:41 Latvia 28:52 Lithuania 29:52 Moldova 31:00 Netherlands 32:08 Norway 33:15 Portugal 33:51 Poland 34:24 Romania 35:37 Serbia 36:46 Slovenia 37:51 Spain 39:13 Sweden 40:04 Switzerland 41:28 Turkey 42:31 Ukraine 43:09 United Kingdom 44:20 Outro 45:36

[@polina4997]

+ Armenia 4:50

[@ТараБургустина]

Russia?

[@familyberente1407]

@@ТараБургустина Russia was not in the video

[@c.han.b_]

Legend!

[@myroslavplakhotnyk8780]

*Ukraine

[@marre3429]

I love this! As a translator, it feels great to be mentioned:)

[@jojoinwonderland1602]

Your work is crucial! I did a translation certificate with my MFA, and I am in awe of brilliant translators, whose names should always appear on book covers with the authors’ names. ✨

[@MarieA38]

Without translators millions of people around the world wouldn’t be able to discover and love so many books. You guys are so important and deserve more appreciation, I’ve read many translated books 😊

[@sofiachacon9130]

I’m a translation and interpretation student and is so crucial the way you have to educate yourself with cultural context when doing a translation specially for context in stories!

[@Brasidas69]

I read a translation of an English cook book were the translator did more than just converting measures like cups, ounces and fahrenheit into the metric system and celsius. This translator also put some extra effort into the work, and must have actually cooked several of the dishes in the book. When exotic ingredients to non UK citizens were mentioned, the translator included his/her own suggestions to substitutes, and how to make them on your own. I make that dish perhaps five times each year, and I'm grateful every time I read the recipe. On the other side of the spectrum you have low wages, tight deadlines and probably a company policy of translating word by word. I read a car manual which at times felt awkward to read and hard to understand. At one point in the text had logical errors. How to handle the windscreen wipers mad no sense. Something was missing. Part of this could probably be blamed the original author, who probably was an engineer. The sentences were too long and tried to convey too much information. The translator could have improved the text. Shorter sentences and organizing many details into easy to read lists would have improved the final product. But no, just a word by word translation of an already bad text.

[@MrRenanmach]

It’s about time a big book influencer starting something like this, I know sometimes they do a “travel over the world book search” but it’s always like Japan, Italy, India… But a complex project like this deserves a lot of credits.

[@scarlettgorn4832]

Exactly! Not to mention this series will, hopefully, help with possibly internationalising the careers of some of the authors mentioned in these videos

[@afoxasden]

Not a big book influencer but Emmie has been doing this for years and she now created a book club on Fable where she reads books from all over the world (truly, she has Zimbabwe, Iceland, Chile, Syria...) Definitely recommend, she's an amazing reader and has wonderful insights into the books she reads and shares!

[@Shiibai]

This video shows how much we can learn from different cultures. If you’re into discovering profound knowledge, Nixorus is another place where you might find life-changing ideas.

[@stephanndon]

they have one of the best book i read, great suggestion!

[@hikarieve]

goated books!

[@Isabellawes]

ty

[@gretam767]

Hi, from Lithuania here. Ruta Sepetys is of Lithuanian descent, however, she was born in the USA. In Lithuania, she is not considered a Lithuanian author. Even though I did not read this particular book, I would recommend "A White Shroud" by Antanas Škėma or "Vilnius Poker" by Ričardas Gavelis instead. Happy reading!

[@TheLoveRadio1]

Same thing with Ukrainian book. I don't know if there was any kind of research done. I feel like Kurkov is much more popular abroad than in Ukraine. Plus, we consider him a bit controversial. I'd recommend Jack to check out HURI Books, as they now actively translate classic and modern authors people in Ukraine actually read and enjoy, like Serhii Zhadan, Valerian Pidmohylnyi, Lesya Ukrainka, etc.

[@mmitrofanovaite]

The moment I saw the name of this video I knew you would pick a Ruta Sepetys book for Lithuania. Unfortunately, she does not speak Lithuanian or write in Lithuanian. Agree with above comment, there are much more Lithuanian authors out there :)

[@gabijapagojute7437]

I agree as well, please pick up a book from Kristina Sabaliauskaitė, she writes books with a lot of historical knowledge of Lithuania and her books are also translated in many languages. I think she would be the best author to represent Lithuania in writting!

[@smolbugsy]

yeeees Vilnius Pokeris is a amazing choice i think!

[@katedavis2494]

The book he shows and describes is also not about Lithuania but Romania.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Not even the EU can unite the continent like Jack can. Edit: Caro6367 suggested the best name: Union Jack

[@ugwumiracle3549]

Now that just patronising. 😢

[@Caro6367]

Union Jack 👀😂

[@PokhrajRoy.]

@@Caro6367 DAMNNNNN I SHOULD USE THAT. Thanks

[@Caro6367]

haha you’re welcome ☺️

[@FF-mr2qe]

True 😂

[@glisovicanja]

hey jack, a fellow serbian reader here! i’ve read the dictionary of the khazars and i need you to follow my advice on it - do not read this book as you normally would (from back to back). it’s formated as an actual dictionary, with terms and their explanations and reading it from the beginning to the ending only makes it hard to understand. it’s also separated into three “books”, and each book represents the beliefs of 3 different religions. what i suggest you to do instead, and what my literature teacher suggested me to do, is to read about princess ateh, the khazars, the khazar polemics and the kaghan, which are the terms that appear in all 3 books! that way, you’ll be able to understand the premise of the story and how each religion looks at the khazars. then, read about anything else you want in a completely random order because it will be a lot easier, regardless of how crazy it sounds, trust me! oh and it would make it easier if you took notes while reading, because i really want you to understand and enjoy this novel in order to get a proper introduction of the serbian postmodernism, which is the period this book belongs to :) however, in case this one doesn’t work, i’d recommend “when pumpkins bloomed” by dragoslav mihailović, which is my favorite serbian novel of all times! enjoy :)

[@M.Nihankin]

Not a Serbian; but here to agree. The book welcomes you to create your own unique experience with it. Noted on the novel rec as well!

[@PileceKrilce]

Mi baš nemamo lako štivo za preporuku 😂

[@glisovicanja]

@@PileceKrilceUpravo tako, ahaahah

[@purplelily7764]

This sounds like the most insane way to read a book but now I’m really intrigued

[@danijelaostojic6182]

To je meni štivo za uzrast srednje škole. (Bez uvrede.) Bila sam oduševljena tada, ali sada, posle dvadeset godina, ne smatram ga tako dobrim piscem. Prosečnim, možda. Više izvikanim da je nešto posebno. Žao mi je što je odabrao njega kao predstavnika naše književnosti. Možda bi Jelena, žene koje nema bila bolja...

[@Remuku]

I have NEVER seen an English book tuber talk about The gray house!!! I literally awed when I looked at the screen and saw it!

[@tinybird8513]

same!!! i hope it'll get more recognition abroad

[@juliager5702]

Omg, yes! I was doing some house chores while listening to this video and didn’t even know that it’s English name is the “Gray house”, but then the description hit me and I was like, wait, isn’t it? Wouldn’t compare it to the House in the cerulean sea, tho😅

[@sunrise.deadie8853]

i head first time of this book and i will try to find it in german it sounds awesome

[@MagicSchool-iu9ru]

Morlest holds the key to forbidden money books, which have truly transformed my life, it's worth exploring.

[@elsalydman7949]

Tove Jansson also created Moomin! Her Moomin books are great, my favorite is Moominvalley in November. Greetings from Finland!

[@jack_edwards]

wow i actually didn't realise this!! thank you!!

[@esverker7018]

I was going to say, definitely a great choice to represent Finland.

[@meli6875]

@@jack_edwards love that you chose Jansson

[@damnitaintright]

i literally thought it was common knowledge and everyone knew that but i guess not lol

[@Anni-zf6zn]

My fave from moomin books is Moominpappa at Sea it is a great book about a father who feels the toxicly masculine urge to move his entire family to a far away island just because he wants to study the sea and protect his family. The book delves themes like loneliness, homesickness, acceptance, uncertainty, ownership and family. tove the Summer Book was also really nice, just a little slice of life with old grandma and her granddaughter (Tove's mother and her niece)

[@deborahlee7496]

Hahahah the eurovision book contest😂 love this series already! The reccs by Jack and also by the comment section🤌 Can't wait for the rest!

[@tinybird8513]

the Gray House is my most favorite book. Never EVER seen anybody mention it!!! It's incredible! The world building within just one house, the characters, the writing, everything is so amazing. I reread it fully about three times and every single I pick up all the hints and secrets you don't understand the first time. I haven't read it in English, so hopefully the translation is as good as the original.

[@stuckinthewoodz]

YESSSS its sooooo good🤌🤌🤌🤌

[@arktikfox.]

it's my favourite book as well, i got so hyped when he mentioned it

[@ДарьяБондарук-ь2ж]

Best book I've ever read Every time I reread it (like 10+ times over 9 years) I always find something new for myself it's just incredible

[@jessicalockwood5181]

It's SO good !! Read this in November and I think about it all the time

[@hialice123]

Madonna in a Fur Coat is an amazing book. Soo excited for the review video

[@mariina6002]

Such a cool video! Hermann Hesse is an interesting choice for the Swiss book, because we, the people from Switzerland, don‘t really see him as a Swiss author😄 Another good pick would be Franz Hohler, who has been super popular here for many years, or if you like classics, the black spider by Jeremias Gotthelf is incredible!☺️

[@CoeurLumineux]

Hijacking your comment as a fellow Swiss person to add some recommendations hehe For anyone that speaks German (or French as there is a French translation) I recomment Kim de l'Horizon's "Blutbuch", it is absolutely fantastic and critically acclaimed, I am also a fan of Markus Werner. For something more classical (and shorter), I would also recommend Conrad Ferdinand Meyer who wrote realist novels.

[@ipapaveri]

Love this project! For Ukraine, I would also recommend Metamorphosis and The Orphanage, both by Serhiy Zhadan. Zhadan is a treasured and celebrated writer and his books and poetry are incredible - harrowing, brilliant, fierce, dazzling, lyrical, and magical. He is often called the bard of Ukraine. I think you would really enjoy his work!

[@hippient99]

I read The Orphanage and it left me speechless

[@retsuko6]

Totally agree! I read so much Ukrainian literature and then I see Kurkov and I’m like who tf is he? I think Oksana Zabuzhko will also be a good choice for advanced readers, but I hope ” the Colony”and “I see you are interested in the darkness” will one day hit the English market and people will enjoy them as much as I did 🫶

[@alicalica298]

🇦🇱 Albania 2:35 🇦🇩 Andorra 3:37 🇦🇲 Armenia 4:33 🇦🇹 Austria 6:02 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan 7:09 🇧🇾 Belarus 8:18 🇧🇪 Belgium 9:07 🇧🇦 Bosnia 10:17 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 11:16 🇭🇷 Croatia 13:15 🇨🇾 Cyprus 14:37 🇨🇿 Czechia 15:03 🇩🇰 Denmark 16:14 🇪🇪 Estonia 16:42 🇫🇮 Finland 17:53 🇫🇷 France 18:47 🇬🇪 Georgia 19:46 🇩🇪 Germany 21:10 🇬🇷 Greece 22:01 🇭🇺 Hungary 22:44 🇮🇸 Iceland 24:05 🇮🇪 Ireland 25:19 🇮🇹 Italy 26:38 🇽🇰 Kosovo 27:41 🇱🇻 Latvia 28:51 🇱🇹 Lithuania 29:51 🇲🇩 Moldova 31:00 🇳🇱 Netherlands 32:07 🇳🇴 Norway 33:15 🇵🇱 Poland 34:24 🇵🇹 Portugal 33:50 🇷🇴 Romania 35:37 🇷🇸 Serbia 36:46 🇸🇮 Slovenia 37:51 🇪🇸 Spain 39:13 🇸🇪 Sweden 40:04 🇨🇭 Switzerland 41:28 🇹🇷 Turkey 42:31 🇺🇦 Ukraine 43:09 🇬🇧 UK 44:20

[@yanaivanova8194]

i have a really cute story relating to "the time shelter" as a Bulgarian myself. my friend's grandmother had a birthday and her grandpa gifted her this book. the message inside read "to you, my love, for being my shelter for 50 years" it was the cutest thing i have ever heard

[@stefi_5314]

Hi! I'm from Romania and I must tell you that Ruta Sepetys's book is also about our country, the book is about Florian, a boy who lives in the communism times, in Bucharest. I really enjoyed it, but i must admit that if you want something about Lithuania, you must read Between shades of gray! Also this is such an interesting series👏🏻 ❤!

[@vielent]

THE GRAY HOUSE!! its my favourite book ever. i've read it when i was 14 and listened to an audiobook when i was 18 and this book got stuck in my heart ever since. Its so good to see the gray house get recognision it deserves. Mariam's writing is amazing!! i hope to see more english speaking booklovers talk about it after your video.

[@MiaAb93]

Amazing video! I have couple additions for Balkan region. For Montenegro, the most famous one is "Mountain Wreath" by Petar Petrović Njegoš, but I would suggest "The Ray of the Microcosm". For North Macedonia I would suggest "My Husband", a short stories book by Rumena Bužarovska. And I would recommend Ivo Andrić, who won Nobel prize for literature in '61 ("The Bridge on the Drina" is the most famous one, but I would suggest "The Damned Yard" or "The Woman from Sarajevo")

[@jakipop3397]

I was about to write the exact same comment. It's a real, real shame to have a video about European literature and leave out all these classics.

[@juulian1306]

I second "My Husband". I couldn't put that book down. Haven't read the other ones yet. Thanks for the recommendations.

[@elenad7357]

you would love the brillian friend by Elena ferrante, also new York times gave it the best book of the 21st century

[@anjah8249]

I just wanted to add that it's not a stand-alone book, but a book series consisting of 4 books. Also the first book ends right in the middle of the plot. I would still highly recommend it of course.

[@ashleydolan1964]

​@anjah8249 this is crazy I'm in the middle of reading the story of a new name and found out from your comment that it's a part of a four-book series and I feel so stupid😭😭

[@Hannah_96]

@@ashleydolan1964 LOL

[@marlyd]

Those books got me so frustrated that no one was communicating how they felt about each other 😂

[@mariadocarmolince9036]

Absolutely thrilled you picked Fernando Pessoa for portugal! I loveeee his poetry, it is so vast and all the thematics he explores are so deep! Greetings from Portugal 🇵🇹:)

[@marinnah656]

I could imagine it was so hard to research for this video and get the translations! But honestly it gives me the vibe in a lot of cases, that they represent more the "international view" than being popular in the actual region. Like all german speaking authors´ books have something to do with the war, with the balkans similar case.. I can just talk from my case as an Spanish but never heard that book, and it feels to me such a miss when we have great (modern) authors like Almudena Grandes, Fernando Aramburu... that I would recommend a thounds time more and I thought this was kind of the idea of the video, to highlight what "national" authors are reading the people in the country..

[@katerynachornomaz4122]

if you really wanna have a taste of Ukrainian literature, I would highly recommend anything from Oksana Zabuzhko you can find, Serhiy Zhadan (he's like a modern classic, and he's currently fighting in the East of Ukraine), Sophia Andruhovych, Yuri Izdryk's poetry, Artem Chekh, Tamara Duda's Daughter, or Maria Matios. This is obviously not a complete list =) You can also try the book Ukraine 22: Ukrainian Writers Respond to War (the title's self-explanatory)

[@the_doomcliff]

Those are some good, good suggestions!

[@katerynachornomaz4122]

@@the_doomcliff hope it helps =)

[@shiinway]

agree, andriy kurkov def not the best choice

[@olgapisotska4584]

Tamara Duda's Daughter!!!!!

[@misty9863]

Another must-read from Sweden is the devastating Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren - it is absolutely brilliant (and will emotionally wreck you) 💛💙

[@marie6315]

I loove Astrid Lindgren, she’s such a big part of my childhood ❤️

[@lottilu]

I am not even swedish but I loved every single one of her storys. I basically grew up on her, definitely one of my fav authors of all time. I recently reread brothers lionheart, it is such an incredible book.

[@rebekka9845]

Every scandi/nordic children bookshelf has at least one book of Astrid Lindgren. ❤ Wonderful writer.

[@lyramidsummer5508]

Oh Pippi Longstocking. With her horse and monkey. A precious part of my childhood

[@janos.nicole]

Amazing idea! I am from Slovakia and one of my all time favourites is "The Taste Of Power"-Ladislav Mňačko. It's a novel which criticises the totalitarian regime (especially in the 50s in Slovakia) but also debates power, propaganda, etc. I would say it's a bit similar to Orwell's 1984, so I definitely recommend the book since it's relevant even today. However, I've read it in Slovak so I cannot garantee the translation will be as good as the original. PS: I love your videooos 🩷💗 you're such an inspiration 😚

[@Hillary429]

Love this thumbnail!! 🗺️

[@jack_edwards]

omg thank you I spent so long making it ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@catianaplans4794]

Same - It is so intriguing and brings the point across excellently.

[@deborahlee7496]

Same!

[@onkabetsekwili2954]

When you get to Africa, specifically South Africa, I'd recommend The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena. 🇿🇦 Love your work😅

[@Arawn505]

Yes! It's a good overview

[@mkarli1362]

I am not from Poland but Stanislaw Lem is a famous science fiction author. I have read Return from the Stars. There's also Solaris.

[@kokorospirit5006]

The Invincible

[@jakubkosz1009]

Lem said about Tokarczuk's literature that her literature offended his mind, but in order to write a polemic about it, he would have to finish reading her book, so he has no intention of doing so. I world said that she is overhyped

[@Ryuu44]

​@@jakubkosz1009 All commenters from other countries: "ooooh, cool, so nice you react to our famous author's work. I hope you enjoy it, and this are other great books you could like". Typowy Polak: "nah, she sucks, don't read her". That's why we can't have nice things.

[@cloacky4409]

@anotherwanderingwisp858 it's not that good tbh

[@kamile258]

Ruth Sepetys is half American, half Lithuanian, born in the U.S., lives in the U.S., and as much as we Lithuanians are proud of her, not sure if you can claim her book to be "from Lithuania" (I'm pretty sure she doesn't speak Lithuanian) :-) I recommend such classics as Ričardas Gavelis "Vilnius Poker" or maybe Jurga Ivanauskaite's "Placebo". Not sure how difficult it is to get these book in English, I would be more than happy to gift "Vilnius Poker" you! :-) Ruth Sepetys' books are great though!

[@tabitaaitonean9766]

Romanian here✋🏻 I just wanted to say that I love the concept of this challenge! I’ve read I Must Betray You by Rita Sepetys (Lithuanian option) and absolutely loved it, and I know you will too. However… the book is actually set in Romania 1989, just before the fall of the communist regime. It’s from the point of a 17 year old living in the capital city and it really resonated with me on multiple levels, especially since my parents were of high school age when these events happened. Anyways, I haven’t personally read another book by a Lithuanian author, but if someone else suggests one I hope you will swap it because it’s not really a representation of Lithuania.

[@monwren]

She's also not Lithuanian, she's American of Lithuanian descent who hasn't lived in Lithuania.

[@bashfulnath]

I have not read any of these but I asked some friends and some Slovak books that have been translated are - Rivers of Babylon by Peter Pistanek (the name of the book is the same in slovak so be careful to find rhetorical english version) the book was also adapted into a movie - Fleeting Snow by Peter Vilikovsky (and his other books) he sadly died in 2020 but is well renowned for his prose and he’s won a slovak literary prize - Or if you want a classic author Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav was a poet in 18th century, his books are taught in literature classes to this day and one of his collections has been translated The Bloody Sonnets or A Song of Blood I would also recommend a tiny Icelandic book The Blue Fox by Sjon I got it recommended by an employee in a bookstore when I was there last year and it was magical and strange.

[@sherlock9882]

HES READING IF ON A WINTERS NIGHT A TRAVELER!!!! I have loved this book for years and have actually recommended it to Jack before. I had all but given up hope of ever seeing it on this channel. The excitement is unreal.

[@EmiZViolet]

I flipped out when I saw it, I was ready to be disappointed by no Calvino pick. Hopefully more people will check him out now!

[@disab4649]

Italo Calvino and Milan Kundera are two of my all time favorite authors and I'm so glad they made the list. To be fair though my favourite Italo Calvino is The Invisible Cities.

[@gretatamosaityte3052]

As a Lithuanian, I’d recommend adding a book by a Lithuanian author that lives and writes in Lithuanian like Kristina Sabaliauskaite. Ruta Sepety’s books are brilliant, but she writes in English and lives in the USA.

[@kellykotlyarova181]

from Estonia I recommend the book “Purge” by Sofi Oksanen (it’s translated to English), the author is actually Finnish/Estonian but the story is about Estonia’s history 🇪🇪

[@starjessicafang]

Already so excited about those series!! 😻😻😻 love how you constantly try to bring people’s attention to literatures from all over the world. It’s lovely and wonderful🩶

[@JohhhSss]

I love that you do this Jack! I'm from Estonia and I would definitely recommend another one for you - The Man Who Spoke Snakish, also by Andrus Kivirähk. I cannot put into words how good it is. For something a bit slower, but still a great read is Vargamäe - First volume of Truth and Justice pentalogy by A.H. Tammsaare, translated by Inna Feldbach and Alan Peter Trei. It was written in early 1900s so can be a bit slow going, but also worth a read as it is a classic in Estonia. I also loved the Summer Book by Tove Jansson, it was so sweet! If you liked that then definitely also explore her other books!

[@jack_edwards]

Thank you so so so much for the recommendation!!

[@karakask5488]

There's also Radio by Tõnu Õnnepalu. It's about a film maker that has an obsession for a woman from his youth. It's meandering but also hypnotic. At first I thought I was going to be confused and lost and now it's stuck with me for years after I read it.

[@maika0395]

I read "the man who spoke snakish" earlier this year and have to say I was really disappointed. There was so much sexism and violence that I didn't have a good time reading it. The themes explored were quite interesting (colonisation within Europe, disappearance of a culture, religion/ organized religion...) but the style of writing and the killing of nearly every character was too much for me. I did like the snake friend, though ;)

[@somebodyx588]

Was also coming here to recommend books from Estonia! "Man who spoke snakish" is one of the biggest modern hits by the same author as the children's book though yeah it can be a bit of a hit or miss, I've gifted it to several of my foreign friends some of whom have liked it and others not at all, it's a sort of pseudomythology of Estonia. If you like classics and historical fiction I'd recommend something by Jaan Kross, he has several books in English, for example "The Czar's madman", if you're interested in the soviet time "Burning cities" by Kai Aareleid, and for poetry "Vivarium" by Maarja Pärtna. I'm imagining the translated fiction shelf in the book store I worked in... Tõnu Õnnepalu's "Border state" is also in English, but I don't remember it much. And I was fond of Mati Unt's "Diary of a blood donor" in high school but don't remember that much either except that it's a sort of reimagining of "Dracula"...

[@motographerrr]

@@jack_edwardsI second both, but Truth and Justice is THE book every estonian has to read (also in the school curriculum)

[@ursalemii]

So excited for this series!! Especially for Africa. Im from Eritrea which is a tiny country in East Africa that's often overlooked but I hope you include it here

[@DanielaMaria1998]

I just finished Black Foam by Haji Jabir and it had me gripped all the way through! That ending will stay with me forever.

[@emilyerdmann7553]

I think Eritrea will be fine, I am wondering about Djibuti... 😂

[@jojoinwonderland1602]

@@emilyerdmann7553For Djibouti, I read Les enfants du khat by Mouna-Hodan Ahmed, so that’s an option if you read French! I’ve been reading books for many African countries in French because I can’t always find English translations, especially for women writers (I’m reading only women for the challenge). If you don’t speak French, sorry to be unhelpful. 😬

[@tobiasradesater1383]

@@emilyerdmann7553 Transit by Abdourahman A Waberi

[@threefootpole]

I'd love this type of video for Africa!! That'd be superrr intriguing for me.

[@hesfra]

🇮🇹 Italian subscriber here, I love that you are going to read Calvino! It feels somewhat like an unusual choice, even if he is one of the most important Italian writers of the 20th century. I can’t wait for you to share your opinions. With that being said, as someone already commented, I suggest you read Elena Ferrante's "My Brilliant Friend" book series. I tend to overlook very popular books because I sometimes find that they don't hold up to the hype, but I read the first book ("My Brilliant Friend") many years ago and it stuck with me. I genuinely think reading Elena Ferrante's work marked a turning point in my life; her writing shaped me both as an individual and a reader. Elena and Lila, Ferrante's most famous characters, feel like real people to me, and I still think about them in my day-to-day life, even after all these years. Off topic, I have a question about the English schooling system: don't you study other countries' literature? Not even a bit? Because in Italy, in high school, in the "Italian literature" class, alongside Italian literature, we study English, French, German and at times Spanish and Russian literature to give context and better understand Italian authors in their historical and cultural context. This is still absolutely not enough but I find it very useful and it taught me to have a very open approach to literature.

[@fernandabarbosa5015]

34:18 Have you ever read José Saramago? A Nobel Prize Portuguese author that I love. I read all his work already and it's marvellous.

[@jack_edwards]

noted! i will do my research into him!

[@fernandabarbosa5015]

​@jack_edwards From Saramago, my favourites are (titles in Portuguese): A Jangada de Pedra, Memorial do Convento, Ensaio sobre a Cegueira, O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo, História do Cerco de Lisboa. Another Portuguese authors: Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (poet) Afonso Cruz (poet) João Tordo (fiction) Domingos Amaral (historical fiction) ... Excelent idea this one of travelling through Europe without leaving your chair!! Enjoy your readings 📚

[@virginiasoares826]

​@@fernandabarbosa5015Sophia de Mello Breyner is one of my favourites! But not sure if she is translated in english.

[@elpa6206]

one of my favourite authors, brilliant. Please read "Blind" and then "Seeing". Just fantastic, I can't get these books out of my head.

[@otaku18032005]

Please do! Blindness is one of my favourite book ever, you won't expect what it is until you are a couple of chapters in. Masterfully written, a suggestive premise that serves as an excuse for a social and philosophical analysis on human kind. It is gruesome as, thanks precisely to that gruesomeness, it has some of the most impactfully beautiful scenes (without spoiling, there is one very simple scene, almost at the end of the book, where Saramago compares some characters to the 3 graces, that I keep thinking about randomly years after having reading it. A super simple scene, but brings a much needed beautiful and pure moment to the story)

[@Bibliophilie]

Thomas Mann is a classic German author; his book Buddenbrooks got him the Nobel Prize for Literature. If you want to read Anti-War " All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque is also a famous German book. For more Fantasy I can recommend Michael Ende's "Neverending Story" and "Momo". :)

[@sternentalerswald]

I really wanted to get through Buddenbrooks but I haven't made it yet. And I've heard The Magic Mountain would be even harder to get through. So I recommend everyone to make sure they are into that kind of books. (I really enjoyed everything I read from Michael Ende though.)

[@emilyerdmann7553]

Death in Venice is a good place to start, a short book, pretty dark but worth it.

[@TinaTissue28]

The Neverending Story is very much a book that deserves to be read/analysed more! I read it as a teenager because I really liked the song and finally understood why they couldn't fit everything into the movie. Really recommend people to read it for just the last arc alone

[@thetimetraveller2671]

Also quite good by Erich Maria Remarque (even if sadly not as famous): Arc de Triomphe, Der schwarze Obelisk and Drei Kameraden. I've read nearly everything Remarque has published and if you enjoy reading about people in the 1920s - 1940s and their circumstances (later on especially circumstances of being a German refugee) then Remarque will be great for you!

[@AngelWitch-nq4gs]

I absolutely love this concept and can't wait for all the book recs and reviews from around the world! Just an addition for a great contemporary German writer: Mariana Leky, especially "What You Can See From Here" (translated by Tess Lewis) - witty, quirky, charming, down-to-earth characters that will win your heart. I personally have so far shied away from reading The Magic Mountain, as I think a lot of native German speakers have. But Jack tackling it motivates me to try as well at some point. Love Michael Ende, but who doesn't ;)

[@eveanime5675]

I'm so glad to see Lithuania represented here, but I feel like there are better choices for literature. As much as Rūta Šepetys is loved in Lithuania, she is a fully american author. She was born and raised there, plus continues living there. Even though she is the daughter of lithuanian immigrant parents, she herself (as far as I'm aware) has never actually lived here. On top of that, if you google Rūta Šepetys, the first thing you'll see is AMERICAN writer. I still think she is a great author, however, the book you choose is not even set in Lithuania, which is why I just felt like commenting a few extra options if you ever get the chance to dive into them. One of the most celebrated lithuanian books, by a lithuanian author, is "forest of the gods" by Balys Sruoga. This book is about the author himself and his experience being a war prisoner in a concentration camp. It's filled with dark humor and is mandatory reading here. The other book I wanted to recommend is by an jewish lithuanian writer. It's called "Stalemate" by Icchokas Meras. It has a very interesting structure, all odd chapters follow our main character and all the even ones are about his siblings (or the other way around, I can't recall exactly). On top of that, through out each chapter there is a chess game happening which will determine who lives and who dies. The one thing about this book I feel the need to add is that the lithuanian title is so much better. If I were to translate it, it would be something like "a draw only lasts a moment". This title will explain the crucial decisions made in this book. Lastly, if you still plan on reading something else by Rūta Šepetys, I recommend either "Between shades of grey" and "Salt to the sea" as those are the two books of hers that are actually popular here. I know you probably won't even see my comment or read it, but if by chance you do, I wanted to say that I truly appreciate you even helping promote literature from all around the world. You are such an amazing creator and I love your content

[@valldda]

This ^^^ I was about to comment before I saw this. I want to add The White Shroud by Antanas Škėma and Whitehorns Windmill by Kazys Boruta.

[@astrida111]

važiojamm

[@sofikrav]

Thank you for this, Jack! This is incredible. I'm from Ukraine and I would definitely recommend another one for you "Voroshilovgrad" by Serhiy Zhadan and "The Moscoviad" by Yuri Andrukhovych

[@jeeranko3359]

The Gray House is... different. That's the word. It's haunting and piercing, a surreal experience, definitely not for everyone, but it sure needs to be read. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it! Oh, also! The best book from Finland I've ever read was The Forest of the Hanged Foxes by Arto Paasilinna. Just brilliant! Highly recommend.

[@DanielaMaria1998]

Doing this challenge myself and it's super fun! I have to say I am a bit disappointed your not reading a Samarago book from Portugal (our only literature nobel prize winner) if your interested in reading outside of this challenge "Blindness" by Saramago is an amaziiing character study of people in extreme situations, I really believe its the type of novel you would enjoy, its truly world shifting.

[@CantinhoLiterariodaRita]

That was my immediate thought: José Saramago and Blindness. 🤍

[@lmao_iris]

omg i read it recently and it's one of the most amazing books I've read. only annoying thing was the way that the dialogue was written LOL

[@jack_edwards]

thank you for the recommendation! looking forward to reading it!!

[@sofiaribeiro8688]

Was about to comment exactly this. Blindness is an absolute must.

[@claudiamedeiros1192]

⁠@@jack_edwards José Saramago from Portugal is a must! He’s the only portuguese writer with a Nobel prize. The book Blindness is the most famous but I also love Death at Intervals, if you are looking for one that is at the same time clever and good sense of humor ❤

[@vitanismagic]

Hello from Norway. Happy to see you reading Henrik Ibsen as he is one of our most well-known authors, but i would like to recommend Jon Fosse to you as he won the nobel price last year.

[@lene.m]

I second this!

[@doreene11]

I think he read one of his books last year, so maybe that's why he chose a different author

[@TullaRask]

Another Norwegian here, many has put Ibsen behind Shakespear so he would have to read him sometime :) I love Peer Gynt.

[@emilsalomonsen3436]

Also Norwegian here. I absolutely recommend “the birds” by Tarjei Vesaas, one of my favourite books ever!

[@noranavardauskaite8235]

Love this idea! Also, a note about Lithuanian choice: Ruta Sepetys is an american author of lithuanian decent, so reading something from an author who lived and wrote in Lithuania might provide even more interesting insights. You could pick up something like Tula by Jurgis Kuncinas or The White Shoud by Antanas Skema which I know are translated to English.

[@uzstiklo7141]

If people prefer contemporary authors, Kristina Sabaliauskaitė could be a good choice.

[@smolbugsy]

i am in love with Tula, i think that would be a great choice

[@АртемРомакін-ч1к]

As a Ukrainian, I can also recommend "The Orphanage" by Serhiy Zhadan or "The Longest Journey" by Oksana Zabuzhko

[@gopikaputhuparambil7635]

Love this new series! Excited for the Asia video. It's gonna be MASSIVE!

[@lapvona]

africa is going to be massive too and i’m excited for the rest of the videos

[@gopikaputhuparambil7635]

@@lapvonaOMG YES!

[@snehapradhan5591]

I really love how invested you are in not just reading but in reading different things. This has made me really explore different genres and i plan to soon start exploring different language authors too! ❤

[@alison4451]

For America and/or Canada it would be so special to me if you could highlight an indigenous author!

[@trikebeatstrexnodiff]

42:31 - 43:09 Ayyy so happy to hear you are excited to read Madonna in a Fur Coat! Here are some facts about it (no spoilers): -> It was first published between December 1940 - February 1941 in a newspaper, and got published in book format in 1943. -> The author wrote the book while serving in the military and would rush to get it received by the newspaper on specific days. In one of those days he fell from a horse he was riding and broke his right arm, thus he started writing the rest of the novel with his arm rested in a can filled with hot water. -> Initially, the author thought of 3 different titles before settling on "Madonna in a Fur Coat". These titles were: "Büyük Hikaye" (The Big Story) "Lüzumsuz Adam" (The Unnecessary Man) "Yirmi Sekiz" (Twenty Eight) -> At the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that a Vietnamese-Indian movie will be released based on this book! The movie is currently in production! 🌟 -> The book mostly takes place in 1920s Berlin and is a love story between Maria (a Jewish artist and singer from Berlin, she is dominant, outspoken and successful) and Raif (a Turkish soapmaker-to-be from Balıkesir, he is submissive, shy, melancholic and silent. I loved reading every word of his monologues so much) Although the plot may seem like just another love story, as its critiques usually say, it is deeper and way more layered than that with its intriguing character dynamics, with a few plot twists, with its touches to relatable issues like how a person can make many mistakes with their nice and posh life due to how unfamiliar he is with himself and with the society he lives in etc. Mind I remind you that the book is only 177 pages. -> Apparently, Maria is a real person whom Sabahattin Ali, the author, was in love with when he was a young man in 1920s Berlin. The author's daughter said in a BBC interview that as she read the letters of the two; Maria and Ali would take long walks hand in hand for example. Trivia/Bonus: There is a comment by a user named Lavinia on a popular Turkish book-review website about the book, and this comment literally embodies my relationship I had while reading the book. ❗️(I don't think it may count as a spoiler but if you feel like you can get spoilers from the roller coaster of specific emotions while reading the book, you should not look any further. And btw, I hope you will read the book if you haven't, it's worth the hype!)❗️ It goes as; "The book goes very well at the beginning, it makes you experience multiple emotions near the middle, and in the middle you feel, "Enough is enough!" You feel like crying, everything goes great in the middle-end, but in the end it leaves you with a huge trauma..." I hope you'll read this book, as it's worth its hype!

[@lurkeraccountyes]

Hi Jack! White Rūta Šepetys is of Lithuanian descent, I am pretty sure she has never lived in Lithuania herself, so in my opinion her work can't quite be considered as "from Lithuania". If you'd rather read something by a Lithuanian writer that has actually lived in Lithuania, I very much recommend Vilnius Poker by Ričardas Gavelis, it's an incredible book with a great English translation. I have lived in Lithuania for a while myself, and it is a very important book there.

[@sannitammilehto]

Tove Jansson has such a wholesome way of writing, I truly hope the sentiments get trough in the translation! Another (more modern) Finnish writer I would recommend checking out (for real standout writing) is Miki Liukkonen. The Master of Silence is at least one that has been translated into English already, and it’s also one of his shorter works so not a too intense one to start with.

[@jack_edwards]

thanks for the recs!!

[@somebodyx588]

I've read most of Tove Jansson's adult books in English and the translation is really on point and some of the books have great forewords etc as well (by Ali Smith for example! Another of my favourite writers) so nothing to worry about there! "The summer book" is a good starting point but my personal favourite is "Fair play" :D And for wild Finnish experiences I'd recommend "Summer fishing in Lapland" by Juhani Karila. It's a strange one but was my favourite book of last year - hope the English translation does it justice, I read it in Estonian myself.

[@elderscrollsswimmer4833]

Arto Paasilinna as well. He is one of the most translated authors in Finland.

[@adelak.8054]

OMG!!! I love this video! 🥹🫶🏻 🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿 there's a little tiny problem with Kundera, he left Czechia after 1968 and since that time he lived in France and later wrote books just in french and "forgot" about Czech (i wrote it just in a few words, it's more complicated story). we consider Milan Kundera as Czech author and he is one of the biggest, but it's complicated. 😄💛

[@BeBraveBeHumble195]

29:52 For Lithuania, I think 'Between Shades of Gray' by the same author, Ruta Sepetys, is more suitable recommendation, since the setting of the story is started in Lithuania. The story is also poignant and heartbreaking in the best possible way. Well, this is just another recommendation, I'm a fan of Ruta Sepetys and I love all of her books, I will definitely read her grocery list if she allows me 😂😂

[@marinastalder6556]

This is really amazing, thank you so much! As alternatives for Switzerland, I can recommend Max Frisch (Homo Faber, Andorra) or Friedrich Dürrenmatt (Physicists, The Visist, The Pledge - which was made into a great movie with Jack Nicholson) :)

[@dominikschmalstieg2912]

I definitely second that, those were the first two I thought of. And Nicolas Bouvier if one wants to add travel literature.

[@Goldlucky13]

great recs! i am happy to say i have already read a few of these authors before! but without really thinking about where they were from. it's definitely important to read perspectives from totally different countries, languages, worldviews. the world is a beautiful place and im so grateful these stories are accessible to speakers of other languages!

[@qquiess]

Greetings from Czechia! If you ever feel like reading another Czech book, I highly recommend The Cremator by Ladislav Fuks. That book really spoke to me, it was the perfect balance between disturbing, strange and humorous. There is also a film from 1969 based on this book.

[@v1nnc]

Mann I thought my country was going to appear in a Jack Edward’s video before and now it finally happened 😭😭

[@Bncmp]

What country?🤭

[@v1nnc]

@@Bncmp Georgia

[@Bncmp]

@@v1nnc makes sense everyone forgets about georgia😭 i was surprised he added Cyprus too

[@v1nnc]

@@Bncmp yeah 😄

[@magpiewrites]

Привет из Молдовы 🩵

[@theskydeity]

As a huge fan of Slavic mythology who has a tattoo of Baba Jaga’s hut, I immediately added the Croatian book to my tbr! Thank you, Jack 🩶

[@karliope]

a german book that really stuck with me is perfume: the story of a murderer by patrick süskind. it's beautifully written and also very strange and kind of disturbing.

[@matildecameira9212]

I'm Portuguese and I feel like you would love "Humus" by Raul Brandão. It's an existential little book that takes place in a small Portuguese village. Also, you should read (any book really) by José Saramago, he's our only Nobel Prize winner. Personally I would suggest "Blindness", but I believe almost all of his books are translated into English.

[@isaleiberg4168]

recommending The Door by Magda Szabó from Hungary as well!!

[@jack_edwards]

ooooh thank you for the recommendation!!

[@01Elvi]

omg same! also for Hungary, i'm here to proselytize about Antal Szerb and his Journey by Moonlight!! def more accessible than Krasznahorkai and very magical/funny

[@lindylouwho550]

The Door is nothing short of magnificent 😊❤

[@jojoinwonderland1602]

Magda forever ❤

[@juirigoyen]

Brazilian here! I LOVE the door!!! Its incredible.

[@Maria-cb4yu]

The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan is super good! ❤

[@mills9488]

actually very surprised by your choice of the hungarian book. but anyway heres a fun fact. lászló krasznahorkai also wrote a book titled satantango, and theres a movie adaptation of it that is 7 and a half hours long. happy reading jack, or anyone that ever wants to get into hungarian lit! there are so many gems.

[@svetlana7579]

hiii! i'm guessing you're a fellow hungarian, but for the sake of everyone else understanding us, i'll continue in english. i have a genuine question: where did you hear about krasznahorkai? i'm asking, because until i started watching english-language booktubers who are doing this challenge i had never, ever heard of the guy and i don't know if i was failed by our spectacular school system or it was just my streak of misfortune. and may i ask for a review of the 7+ hour film, pretty please?

[@dorottyaantal6542]

@@svetlana7579 Hello fellow Hungarian! :) It is strange and sad to see that many Hungarians have never heard about him. He is among the Nobel Prize speculations for a decade now, he also won the Man Booker Prize, and his books are sold in every bookshop in Hungary. In literary podcasts, or online magazines he is mentioned almost every week, and he participates in all literary events. To be honest, I don't think that his books are for everyone, their language is VERY difficult, pacing is really slow, so I would not recommend them for a summer holiday. But once in a lifetime it worth it, my favourite is definitely Sátántangó. The film was an interesting experience, if you like the novel, it would be a great weekend program with some friends and a lot of food and drink. :)

[@svetlana7579]

@@dorottyaantal6542 Wow, this man has amassed quite the accomplishments! I feel rather sheepish for not knowing any of this, but I will make up for it by reading some of his works once I have the time to do so. Hopefully having read Anna Karenina voluntarily means that I will enjoy Sátántangó (your description of his writing style reminded me of AK). Thank you so much for the information and the review too, both the film and the book are now on my 'to consume' list and I think with enough food I could bribe a few friends to watch the former with me!

[@pursisimplueo]

I’m not Hungarian but I would have thought The Door by Magda Szabó would be the book for Hungary.

[@glimmeringshard]

Oh I read Satantango but I felt I was missing some cultural context to the book which probably makes it so worthwhile

[@sharonnn.zeller]

As a lit graduate from Italy, I would highly suggest to research deeply Italo Calvino’s life. He was such an important personality, and his books can be really understood after knowing about his life and pursuits. For example, his mother was an important botanist, hence his love for plants and nature (especially evident in his other works) ❤️

[@gemanonumbers]

He was even born in Cuba! :-)

[@liv8784]

I would recommend two hungarian books, one is 'Embers' by Sándor Márai, and the other is 'The Paul Street Boys' by Ferenc Molnár. Both deal with different topics at different time periods, but are so worth reading! (and they're also both translated into english)

[@miral9241]

You should absolutely read “Homo faber” from Max Frisch and “The Pledge” from Dürrenmatt!!! Two of the most famous authors from Switzerland! ❤ Both books have been adapted to movies, in the film The Pledge, Jack Nicholson plays so so well!!

[@cassandrenadler]

Hi Jack, great video, my TBR just got longer 🙈😅 While Der Steppenwolf from Herman Hesse is a great book that I recommend, I am not sure if it really counts for Switzerland. A Swiss author that I would recommend is Friedrich Dürrenmat, especially two plays, now modern classics in the German language: - The physicists - The visit

[@SchoggiGurke]

100% agree, those are my 2 favorite Dürrenmatt books and also some of my fave books ever tbh 🤓🤓

[@likemonstersinlove]

Wholeheartedly agree!

[@lilyb.9789]

Relieved to see I am not the only one who was surprised by that Swiss choice. My quick French-speaking suggestions : - Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz. "Derborence" ("When the Mountain Fell") is probably is his best-known work. To get a full blast of the Alpine life... - Blaise Cendrars. I loved "L'Or" ("Sutter's Gold"), more poetry than novel.

[@likemonstersinlove]

@@lilyb.9789 yes, ramuz is a GREAT suggestion! My favourite is Farinet's gold

[@cassandrenadler]

@@lilyb.9789 thank you for the suggestions 😊

[@alvaaaa_]

Hi jack! so excited for the rest of this series!! I am from sweden and my personal favourite book from here is "Stolen" by Ann-Helen Laestadius which is about our native population Sami. i wholeheartedly recommend it as it truly changed my perspective on my own country. Such a good book.

[@maika0395]

I read the German translation of that book and loved it! I didn't know a lot about Sami culture and reindeer and it broke my heart to read about the traumatic experience of the people!

[@alvaaaa_]

@@maika0395 i’m glad you enjoyed it! it feels like a very important read

[@isabelleakerlindhognert1076]

Yes yes yes Stolen is so good and important! I for some reason haven't read the sequel Straff (don't know if it's been translated to English yet?) yet, but I definitely will soon.

[@alvaaaa_]

@@isabelleakerlindhognert1076 straff is also very good, not as good as stolen but still amazing. it’s pretty new so it might now have been translated yet but it will for sure

[@StaceySeelie]

I have had Stolen in my TBR list for a while. I may have to bump it up and read it sooner!

[@nigarvalehli3034]

Omg as an azerbaijani, I really loved this video. I would also recommend Ali and Nino, it is a romance story between an azerbaijani boy and a georgian girl and I think you would really like it.

[@readrosebooktube1467]

That’s such a great concept jack im so excited to follow this series! Another great idea for Belgium is The Real Life by Adèle Dieudonné, a gripping thriller that’s only like 200 pages

[@muriellapropella]

such a beautiful idea! i am from germany and one of my favoriten books is called „alte sorten“ by ewald arenz, which is getting translated now under the title „tasting sunlight“! i had to read it for an educational uni class and turns out, i absolutely loved it!

[@neela-7256]

Momo, please read Momo by Michael Ende (author of the neverending story). I think Momo is more approachable and easier to read, especially for people that try to get into reading again and don’t know where to start, it’s technically for children, but I think it’s so much better as an adult, very philosophical for children, perfect and reflective for grown ups.

[@HarperArrow]

Hello, Lithuanian here. 'I Must Betray You', is a book about Romania, has nothing to do with Lithuania. Ruta Sepetys is an American-Lithuanian author, who writes historical fiction about various countries. One google search of Lithuanian authors who write about Lithuania (as you did with Latvian one) would have given you beautiful books about Lithuanian lives and literature. Valdas Papievis is a great author, Balys Sruoga wrote the most gut wrenching book 'Forest of the Gods'.

[@sofijalalic6631]

I’m amazed by your idea! I’m hoping you have a great time reading all of this interesting books. I’m from Serbia, and three of our best authors, of my opinion, that I would recommend to you are Ivo Andrić (who is Nobel prize winner for his literature work), Meša Selimović and Miloš Crnjanski. I really think you will love their different styles of writing, but very deep and thoughful lessons too. They are gems of world literature.

[@letiziadinca4500]

I really think you should read The name of the rose by Umberto Eco for Italy: it’s set in the Middle Ages, it’s an incredibly complex and layered book, he was a genius (even though kind of controversial)

[@sophiealka3431]

OMG the Summer Book by Tove Jansson is one of my favourite books of ALL TIME SO GOOD

[@jojoinwonderland1602]

So delightful!

[@morela58]

when i comes to polish authors id like to recommend Stanisław Lem, particularly "Solaris". amazing example of very moving and human sci-fi novel

[@exactitudeee]

I'm sad that you got rid of The Brothers Karamazov. Was keen when I saw it on the thumbnail and in the stack :(

[@zubatski]

I got upset too when i saw the time stamps.

[@beththebookworm]

I hadn't heard that Kadare passed yesterday, what a sad loss for literature. I am so happy to see Kurkov and Calvino in there, and I just got reminded that My Cat Yugoslavia is still on my TBR. Some suggestions: For Greenland, try Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen; for another Czech recommendation, try The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek. For additional Italian suggestions check out Niccolò Ammaniti - I'm Not Scared is a good book to start with. For Türkiye, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar's The Time Regulation Institute is a classic. From Sweden, I can recommend The Details by Ia Genberg and from Iceland Magma by Thora Hjörleifsdóttir both of which I recently read and give a look into human relationships. I could suggest more, but I must stop before I get (totally) carried away!

[@josefernandezmartinez8749]

I haven’t read Javier Marías’s work, but if someone asks me to recommend some literature from Spain 🇪🇸, I always say, “Choose a Carmen.” You have “Variable Cloud” by Carmen Martín Gaite, which left me speechless with how amazing and impactful it was in my life and how beautifully it was written (I even cried thinking I could never write like that). Then there’s “Nada” by Carmen Laforet, which is always a mandatory read in high school. Everyone I have talked to about this book loves it. I remember I read it at the beginning of university and again when I finished, and I found it to be a completely different book because I was a completely different person.

[@barborasvorenova]

Hi Jack! I have a an idea for a Slovak book: The Shop on Main Street by Ladislav Grosman. "Looking at the Holocaust through the eyes of a complicit individual, the narrative follows a good-natured carpenter living in a Slovak town in 1942 who unwittingly becomes a participant in a moral crisis involving the abuse and persecution of Jews." There was a also a movie based on the novel which won the1965 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

[@Lea-tw5kc]

I mean Thomas Manns the Magic Mountain is a classic, buuuuut I feel like something from this century represents the country and mentality much more, I would highly highly suggest What you can see from here by Mariana Leky

[@kemon.6757]

It was so interesting to see "The Tobacconist" in this video. At first I thought i don't know the book but then you read the blurp and i recognized it. In German it is called "Der Trafikant" and we had to read it for German class and i really liked it!❤

[@imawfulljusttosee]

Love you for doing this🫶 I’m from Czechia but my biggest problem with our literature at school is exactly the same as yours, only that we only get to know authors from few european countrys (England, Germany, France, Russia) + Czechia + some US… and that’s fucking all… I recetly read a book by a nigerian author (it was Famished road by Ben Okri…weird but beautiful and really painful book) and was thinking , how come there’s no attention towards this literature, we never realy talk about African and Asian culture in our school, so I think, this what you do is very cool..🫶🫶

[@arutlit62]

As much as I love The Gray House it was originally written in Russian. It occurred to me that there are probably not so many books translated from Armenian to English, which is a pity. I do hope you enjoy Petrosyan’s writing though, she’s amazing!

[@wearetheblackparade7]

Not a "hungry Hungarian" joke, Jack! 😂 never heard that one before... Good luck with Krasznahorkai, I haven't read anything from him but I hear it's a challenge. Thank you for your videos, and for always championing translators! Lots of love from a Hungarian translator

[@jojoinwonderland1602]

Your work is so necessary! 📚❤

[@IirisL]

My cat Yugoslavia is technically a Finnish book. The author lives in Finland and it was originally written in Finnish. He was born in Kosovo but considered to be a Finnish author.

[@jack_edwards]

unfortunately it was really hard to find any other english books from kosovo so had to work with what i could find!!

[@andjela3527]

I was about to write the same thing lol I think the right move would've been to ask your followers for recs. It's also a shame not to have any book from Montenegro. Even if you couldn't find a recent book, there's The Mountain Wreath right there...

[@meikusje]

​@@andjela3527 he's not done yet, so if you have recommendations you can always drop them

[@forcekrivanjeva8880]

I agree with your point. However, a lot of the book is also set in Kosovo and shows an amazing point of what life for kosovar women was like during Pajtim Statovci's mother's youth.

[@jwi1085]

​@@jack_edwardsthis might be a good book for h Finland, Tove Jansson wrote in Swedish the national language in Finland

[@ffion-hafdavies724]

I’m gutted the UK Countries weren’t split up :( Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have such great fiction outside of the ‘English’ literature we’re always overshadowed by. Local Fires by Joshua Jones is a personal Welsh favourite but Waterstones do ‘Welsh Book of the Month’ which you can find online. I really hope to see some Welsh rep soon :)

[@MaelysCha]

I just bought Local Fires, thank you for the recommendation

[@Suedetussy]

Maybe later in a special episode about the UK. 😊

[@nabakoll]

For Estonia, definitely read "The Man Who Spoke Snakish" by the same author mentioned in the video - Andrus Kivirähk. That book is one of the most popular books in Estonia and gives a good insight into our beliefs, traditions, our history and truly, the essence of being an Estonian.

[@catharinan9709]

Mostly all of them sound soo interesting! Such a good variety of topics. Can’t wait for the rest of the series, really great work 🫶🏻

[@niestetennajn3456]

'Flights' is such a peculiar book! It touches a lot of difficult topics - what I remember most is the story with the syringe... won't spoil it though. But at the same time the book seems unfinished or as it is a collection of never published before fragments of Tokarczuk's prose. Fun fact: in May in Wrocław there was a music festival on which they played concerts inspired by 'Flights', and the fragments were recited - amazing combination!

[@amilahajdarevic6524]

Love this idea Jack. I have to say I am a little disappointed you didn't choose Meša Selimović "The Fortress" for Bosnia and Herzegovina because it is a classic and my favourite book of all time. If you can find a translation, I highly recommend it. 😊

[@justhelena4761]

Tbh I think Jack would love Catch the Rabbit ✨

[@I_love_dark_souls_2_and_you]

please read the gray house, mariam's worldbuilding is insane

[@TheSilverfull]

I have an Estonian recommendation. Andrus Kivirähk has also written non-children's fiction. I'd recommend his "The Man That Spoke Snakish". It's set in a fictional medieval Estonia while the land was being taken over in the Northern Crusades and includes elements of Estonian folklore and traditional Finno-Ugric culture.

[@Remuku]

As a Latvian I absolutely never see any representation as a whole in the internet space, and booktube as well. So seeing my favorite booktuber not only mention one of my favorite latvian books, but also read it in the future is something I never thought I would get to experience. I am so thankful you made this video. In Latvian Soviet Milk is actually called " Mātes piens " which means " Mothers milk " and all through out the book the idea of mothers breast milk being given to a child is something that connects the parent with their kid no matter what. The idea of the mothers milk being absent in main characters relationship with her daughter is one of the vocal points so I'm interested if translation was able to show that. Personally, I had troubles separating grandmother's, mothers and her daughter storylines, but hopefully translation gave it justice haha Sorry for my poor English Anyone who actually read that wall of text, thank you so much I am so happy I was able to talk about part of my culture ( another books I would recommend is " Lāčplēsis " and " Nāves ēnā ", first is an amazing folk tale that has metal opera for it and the second one is really tradical story about a group of man trapped on a pice of ice, fated to die )🇱🇻🇱🇻🇱🇻

[@MimiFilo]

Well done!!! great initiative although I am very sad to see there was nothing from Slovakia which might be due to the lack of translations. Thats why Im so happy about an upcoming translation (Spring 2025) of an amazing debut This Room Is Impossible to Eat by Nicol H. translated by the great Julia Sherwood. I am sure you will like this book!

[@claram5482]

While I LOVE that you're doing this, I'm commenting with some criticism... Ruta Sepetys is an American who doesn't speak Lithuanian and I Must Betray Ypu doesn't even deal with Lithuanian history. A better choice would be Forest of the Gods by Balys Sruoga, about his lived experience in a Nazi concentration camp, or even The Hour of the Wolf, and alt-history YA novel by Andrius Tapinas that serves as a great introduction to Lithuanian history and culture.