Books

4578 readers

174 users here now

A community for all things related to Books.

Rules

Be Nice

Official Bingo Posts:

Related Communities

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

dresden_do

[email protected]

Is it a negative thing that I exclusively read books in English rather than in my native language? (self.books)

submitted 11 months ago by pauzalala to c/books

31 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I primarily engage with fiction, particularly fantasy literature, and occasionally delve into non-fiction.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] jordanlund 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think it largely depends on what you're interested in and what your native language is.

For fantasy, the genre leans very English-centric because it was invented by Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, or if you want to take it back to brass tacks, Edmund Spenser and the Fairy Queen.

That's not to say other languages don't have fantasy, notably the Witcher series in Polish or (I'd argue) the Night Watch books in Russian (dark fantasy).

If you can read Polish or Russian, I suggest both those series, if you can't, well, they are translated into English. :)

[–] pauzalala 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Polish or Russian???? Let alone English!!!!!! 😆 Thanks for the suggestions

[–] jordanlund 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I think that's the brilliant part of learning English, the best books get translated to English, but may not necessarily be translated into your native language.

For science fiction, I'd be LOST trying to read Stanislaw Lem in Polish or Roadside Picnic in Russian. No idea if any of that is in your first language.

Take a look at the Cemetary of Forgotten books series by Carlos Ruiz Zafon as well, translated from Spanish, or in Spanish if you can read them. Not really fantasy, more like gothic romance, all quite good.

[–] pauzalala 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

"Cemetery of Forgotten" sounds like my type. I'll have a look. Thanks

[–] jordanlund 2 points 11 months ago

Sorry, my bad... forgot a capital:

"Cemetary of Forgotten Books" :)