One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel García Márquez
Translated by Gregory Rabassa
There are two kinds of Gabriel García Márquez fans: Love in the Time of Cholera types and those who defend the stance that this landmark example of Latin American magical realism is the greatest work by the Colombian Nobel Prize winner. Wherever you fall, One Hundred Years of Solitude deserves a read for its brilliant narrative.
The Three Musketeers
by Alexandre Dumas
Translated by Lord Sudley
It’s unacceptable if your only experience with the musketeers involved either seeing the film adaptations of this Romantic-era novel or eating the mushy candy bars named after this Dumas classic, which is as exciting today as it was when it was originally serialized in the mid-19th century.
Candide
by Voltaire
Translated by Burton Raffel
'Mainali Fiction Honour' to Sagar
Voltaire’s greatest written achievement, this satirical novel about the adventures, misadventures, and disillusionment of a young man named Candide is also one of the most important works from the Age of Enlightenment. Though a slim volume, it’s not an easy read. But you’ll savor each word till the end.
Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Maybe you’ve read Dostoyevsky’s brilliant 1886 work, but have you read it in Russian? If not, do the closest thing possible without learning the language and make this translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky — as well as their other translations of his other classics — a priority. It’s superbly done.
The Stranger
by Albert Camus
Translated by Matthew Ward
The Nobel Prize winner’s classic tale of an Algerian man who could seem to care less about anything — including the death of his mother, the Arab man he murders, and the fate that awaits him for his crime — is a perfect existential allegory. This new translation by Matthew Ward is better than the one published in English in 1946.
1Q84
by Haruki Murakami
Translated by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel
1Q84, a surreal romance nearly 1000 pages long, was an overnight sensation in Japan. While some might protest that 1Q84 isn’t his greatest work, there’s no doubt that this epic turned Japan’s most popular writer into an international literary superstar with few contemporaries.
Invisible Cities
by Italo Calvino
Translated by William Weaver
Calvino was one of those writers who existed on a whole other level. While all of his works are essential, his short story collection, Cosmicomics, might not be the best place to start, and you might not want to get wrapped up in all three books from the Our Ancestors trilogy. Start here, get hooked, and discover the rest from there on.
My Name Is Red
by Orhan Pamuk
Translated by Erdağ Göknar
Finding a bad book in the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer’s collection of works is a difficult task. This novel, which earned Pamuk comparisons to everybody even Kafka, might simply be the best place to start if you’re looking to dive into the world of Pamuk.
The Angel’s Game
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Translated by Lucia Graves
David Martin, the writer of sensationalist novels, gets an offer of a lifetime: he is to write a book unlike any other – a book with the power to change hearts and minds. This brew of detective thriller, supernatural horror tale, and love story is a delight to read because of its wonderfully crafted witty language.
