Top Ten Books Begging To Be Read in Their Original Languages

Translation is in part an art form, but an art form that by definition must take liberties. Edith Grossman, one of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s translators, said that when you’re reading a foreign text, you’re reading the translator, not the author. You’re reading the author’s ideas, but not his words. Here are some novels that make it worth learning the native language.

10

The Unbearable Lightness Of Being - Milan Kundera
This book is a Cold War masterpiece, following the lives of artists and intellectuals in Communist-controlled Prague in the late 1960’s. Unafraid to brilliantly tackle love and existentialism, the true weight of this Czech novel surely lies in its language.

9

Snow - Orhan Pamuk
Winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, Pamuk’s work has been translated in over fifty languages, but none more pure than its original Turkish. Like Turkey itself, Kar (Snow) is a whirlwind of mysticism, humor, and political friction.

8

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami
Easily one of today’s most “in vogue” writers, Murakami is known for his simplicity, his sense of 1950’s noire and his penchant for integrating pop culture into his work. A great controversy has been sparked inside the literary community, contending that in its original language perhaps Murakami is less enigmatic than he appears in translation—only one way to find out.

7

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Another Nobel Prize winner, this Columbian author and journalist has garnered just about every type of accolade a writer can dream of. One Hundred Years of Solitude is, in the eyes of many, Marquez’s greatest novel. It follows “the rise and fall, birth and death of the mystical town of Macondo.” It is beautiful, enchanting, and undeniably altered from its original in translation.

6

The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolaño
The Savage Detectives is the novel that took Bolaño from popular author to literary demigod. Following the path of a troupe of Mexican poets through lust, darkness, and inspiration, this book, originally published in Chile, sinks the reader in a world dominated by language. What better way to honor the late writer than to read his work with the words he intended?

5

The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
One of the most famous wordsmiths in history, this German modernist is perhaps best known for his novella, The Metamorphosis. Basic plot: a traveling salesman wakes up, only to realize he’s transformed into a giant cockroach. Seem strange? Maybe the original German will clear it up.

4

If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler - Italo Calvino
Perhaps the writer for whom it’s most essential to read in his own language, the Italian author is notorious for his genius yet opaque plotlines. This self-reflexive work is about a reader trying to decipher a book called If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler. Calvino is sardonic, sometimes difficult, and always rewarding.

3

The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
The seminal work of the Russian master, The Master and Margarita was originally printed in the Soviet Union with 12% of the text removed or otherwise censored. Centered around bureaucracy and the Devil, it’s considered one of the greatest Soviet satires and sits amongst the top works of the 20th Century.

2

In Search of Lost Time - Marcel Proust
A semi-autobiographical novel in seven parts, this novel highlights the concept of “involuntary memory.” The French writer is thought to have had a profound impact on 20th Century literature.

1

War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
It’s been said that War and Peace is the finest novel ever written. While that may be true, not many have been able to read it in its original form. Critics have contended that Tolstoy actually has a very dry wit that doesn’t translate—this, of course, would change the entire perception of the great work. Pick up Russian and decide for yourself!

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