Recommended Reading/Literature by origin

By region

China
Essential works
Three Kingdoms (14th century) by Luo Guanzhong	Story of the Stone (18th century) by Cao Xueqin	Strange Tales From a Chinese Studio (1740) by Pu Songling	The Real Story of Ah Q (1922) by Lu Xun	Camel Xiangzi (1937) by Lao She
Further recommendations
Classic	The Dragon King's Daughter (Tang dynasty) by
	Six Yuan Plays (Yuan dynasty) by
	Outlaws of the Marsh (14th century) by Shi Nai'an
	The Story of the Western Wing (14th century) by Wang Shifu
	Journey to the West (16th century) by Wu Cheng'en
	Creation of the Gods (16th century) by Xu Zhonglin
	The Peony Pavilion (1598) by Tang Xianzu
	Stories Old and New (1620) by Feng Menglong
	The Plum in the Golden Vase (17th century) by Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng
	The Carnal Prayer Mat (1657) by Li Yu
	The Scholars (1750) by Wu Jingzi
	Six Records of a Floating Life (1808) by Shen Fu
Modern	Family (1933) Ba Jin
	The Importance of Living (1937) by Lin Yutang
	My Country and My People ( ) by Lin Yutang
	Wild Grass ( ) by Lu Xun
	Rainbow ( ) by Mao Dun
	Fortress Besieged (1947) by Qian Zhongshu
	Border Town ( ) by Shen Congwen
	Selected Stories ( ) by Shen Congwen
	Teahouse ( ) by Lao She
	Love in a Fallen City ( ) by Eileen Chang
	The King of Trees ( ) by Ah Cheng
	Red Sorghum ( ) by Mo Yan
	Life and Death are Wearing Me Out ( ) by Mo Yan
	The Three-Inch Golden Lotus ( ) by Feng Jicai
	Brothers ( ) by Yu Hua
	To Live ( ) by Yu Hua
	Soul Mountain ( ) by Gao Xingjian
	Waves ( ) by Bei Dao
	The August Sleepwalker ( ) by Bei Dao
	Five Spice Street ( ) by Can Xue
	Vertical Motion ( ) by Can Xue
Recommendation images

Czech Republic
Essential works
May (1836) by Karel Hynek Macha	The Good Soldier Svejk (1923) by Jaroslav Hasek	Three Novels (1933) by Karel Capek	I Served the King of England (1983) by Bohumil Hrabal	The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984) by Milan Kundera
Further recommendations
Pre-WW2	The Sorrowful Eyes ( ) by Ivan Olbracht
	Hidden History ( ) by Otokar Brezina
	The Grandmother ( ) by Bozena Nemcova
	The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch ( ) by Ladislav Klima
	R.U.R. ( ) by Karel Capek
	War With the Newts ( ) by Karel Capek
	Antilyrik & Other Poems ( ) by Vitezslav Nezval
	Valerie and Her Week of Wonders ( ) by Vitezslav Nezval
	Prague Tales ( ) by Jan Neruda
	The Arsonist ( ) by Egon Hostovsky
	The Poetry ( ) of Jaroslav Seifert
	Vanishing Lung Syndrome ( ) by Miroslav Holub
	Narrative Poems ( ) by Vladimir Holan
	Dreams at the End of the Night ( ) by Ewald Murrer
	How I Came to Know Fish ( ) by Ota Pavel
	Fingers Pointing Somewhere Else ( ) by Daniela Fischerova
	White Book ( ) by Pavel Kohout
	Saturnin ( ) by Zdenek Jirotka
	Summer of Caprice ( ) by Vadislav Vancura
Post-WW2	Closely Watched Trains ( ) Bohumil Hrabal
	Too Loud a Solitude ( ) by Bohumil Hrabal
	Love and Garbage ( ) by Ivan Klima
	Immortality ( ) by Milan Kundera
	The Garden Party and Other Plays ( ) by Vaclav Havel
	The Questionnaire ( ) by Jiri Grusa
	The Guinea Pigs ( ) by Ludvik Vaculik
	The Cremator (1967) by Ladislav Fuks
	A Prayer for Katerina Horovitzova ( ) by Arnost Lustig
	A Bohemian Youth ( ) by Josef Hirsal
	City Sister Silver ( ) by Jachym Topol
	The Engineer of Human Souls ( ) by Josef Skvorecky
	The Other City ( ) by Michal Ajvaz
	Europeana ( ) by Patrik Ourednik
	The Seven Churches ( ) by Milos Urban
	Of Kids & Parents ( ) by Emil Hakl
German-language	The Golem ( ) by Gustav Meyrink
	The Green Face ( ) by Gustav Meyrink
	The Trial ( ) by Franz Kafka
	The Metamorphosis ( ) by Franz Kafka
	A Hunger Artist ( ) by Franz Kafka
	Blaugast ( ) by Paul Leppin
	Severin’s Journey into the Dark ( ) by Paul Leppin
	The Raging Reporter ( ) by Egon Erwin Kisch
	Tycho Brahe’s Path to God ( ) by Max Brod
	The Maimed ( ) by Hermann Ungar
	Boys & Murderers ( ) by Hermann Ungar
	The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge ( ) by Rainer Maria Rilke
	The Selected Poetry ( ) of Rainer Maria Rilke
Recommendation images

Germany
Essential works
The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) by Goethe	Thus Spake Zarathustra (1885) by Friedrich Nietzsche	The Magic Mountain (1912) by Thomas Mann	The Man Without Qualities (1942) by Robert Musil	The Tin Drum (1959) by Gunter Grass
Further recommendations
Classic	The Robbers and Wallenstein (1781) by Friedrich Schiller
	the Marquise of O and Other Stories (1808) by Heinrich von Kleist
	The Broken Jug (1806) by Heinrich von Kleist
	Faust (1832) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
	Danon's Death (1835) George Buchner
	The Rider on the White Horse (1888) by Theodor Storm
	Effi Briest (1895) by Theodor Fontane
Modern	Buddenbrooks (1901) by Thomas Mann
	The Loyal Subject (1914) by Heinrich Mann
	The Metamorphosis (1915) by Franz Kafka
	The Trial (1925) by Franz Kafka
	The Castle (1926) by Franz Kafka
	Siddhartha (1922) by Hermann Hesse
	Steppenwolf (1927) by Hermann Hesse
	Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929) by Alfred Doblin
	The Visit (1956) by Friedrich Durrenmatt
	The Physicists (1961) by Friedrich Durrenmatt
	The Flounder (1977) by Gunter Grass
	Cassandra (1984) Christa Wolf
	Perfume (1985) by Patrick Suskind
	The Last Word (1988) by Christoph Ransmayr
Recommendation images

Iran
Essential works
The Conference of the Birds (12th century) by Farid ud-Din Attar	The Rubaiyat (12th century) of Omar Khayyam	The Essential Works (13th century) by Rumi	The Divan-i (14th century) of Hafiz	The Blind Owl (1937) by Sadegh Hedayat
Further recommendations
Classical	Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (~1000)
	Vis and Ramin (11th century) by Asad Gorgani
	The Secret of Laughter: Magical Tales from Classical Persia edited by Shusha Guppy
	Haft Paykar (1197) by Nizami Ganjavi
	Borrowed Ware: Medieval Persian Epigrams edited by Dick Davis
	The Rose Garden (1259) by Sa'di
Modern	Three Drops of Blood (1932) by Sadegh Hedayat
	The Patient Stone (1967) by Sadeq Chubak
	The Little Black Fish and Other Modern Persian Stories (1968) by Samad Behrangi
	Missing Soluch (1979) by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
	Women Without Men (1990) by Shahrnush Parsipur
Untranslated	Garshaspnama (11th century) by Asadi Tusi
	Chosrow and Shirin (1180) by Nizami Ganjavi
	Tutinama: Tales of a Parrot (14th century)
	1001 Days (1712) by Francois Petis de la Croix
Recommendation images

Japan
Essential works
The Tale of Genji (11th century) by Murasaki Shikibu	Kokoro (1914) by Natsume Soseki	Rashomon (1915) by Akutagawa	Naomi (1924) by Junichiro Tanizaki	Snow Country (1947) by Yasunari Kawabata
Further recommendations
Classical Literature (until 1600's)	The Gossamer Years (974) by Mother of Michitsuna
	The Pillow Book (1002) by Sei Shonagon
	The Tales of Ise by Anonymous
	Hojoki (1212) by Kamo no Chomei
	Essays in Idleness (1330) by Yoshida Kenko
	The Tale of Heike (1371) by Anonymous
Edo Period (1603-1868)	The Life of an Amorous Woman (1686) by Saikaku Ihara
	Hagakure: the Book of the Samurai (1716) by Yamamoto Tsunetomo
	Four Major Plays (~1720) by Chikamatsu Monzaemon
	Chushingura (1748) by Takedo Izumo, Miyoshi Shoraku, Namiki Senryuu
	Tales of Moonlight and Rain (1776) by Ueda Akinari
Modern Literature (1868-1945)	Ukigumo (1887) by Futabatei Shimei
	Pagoda, Skull and Samurai (1889) by Koda Rohan
	In the Shade of Spring Leaves (1892-6) by Higuchi Ichiyo
	Japanese Gothic Tales (1900) by Izumi Kyoka
	The Broken Commandment (1906) by Toson Shimazaki
	The Quilt and Other Stories (1907) by Katai Tayama
	The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa (1924) by Kenji Miyazawa
	Botchan (1906) by Natsume Soseki
	I Am a Cat (1905) by Natsume Soseki
	The Wild Geese (1913) by Mori Ogai
	The Paper Door and Other Stories (1927) by Shiga Naoya
	During the Rain & Flowers in the Shade (1930) by Kafu Nagai
	Musashi (1935) by Eiji Yoshikawa
	The Makioka Sisters (1943) by Junichiro Tanizaki
	Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1940) by Edogawa Ranpo
Post War (1946-present)	The Counterfeiter and Other Stories by Yasushi Inou
	Palm-of-the-Hand Stories by Yasunari Kawabata
	The Master of Go (1954) by Yasunari Kawabata
	The Setting Sun (1947) by Osamu Dazai
	Fires on the Plain (1951) by Shohei Ooka
	The Waiting Years (1957) by Fumiko Enchi
	Confessions of a Mask (1948) by Yukio Mishima
	The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (1956) by Yukio Mishima
	Spring Snow (1963) by Yukio Mishima
	Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids (1958) by Kenzaburo Oe
	A Personal Matter (1964) by Kenzaburo Oe
	Black Rain (1966) by Masuji Ibuse
	The Box Man (1973) by Kobo Abe
	The Woman in the Dunes (1962) by Kobo Abe
	Silence (1966) by Shusaku Endo
	The Samurai (1980) by Shusaku Endo
	The Twilight Years (1972) by Sawako Ariyoshi
	Almost Transparent Blue (1976) by Ryu Murakami
	Kitchen (1988) by Banana Yoshimoto
	Norwegian Wood (1987) by Haruki Murakami
	The Elephant Vanishes (1991) by Haruki Murakami
	The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1995) by Haruki Murakami
	The Housekeeper and the Professor (2003) by Yoko Ogawa
Recommendation images

Mexico
Essential works
Cantares Mexicanos (16th century)	Poems, Protest, and a Dream by Sor Juana	Confabulario and Other Inventions (1952) by Juan Jose Arreola	Pedro Páramo (1955) by Juan Rulfo	The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962) by Carlos Fuentes
Further recommendations
Translated	Florentine Codex ( )
	The Broken Spears ( ) Miguel Leon-Portilla
	The History of the Indies of New Spain ( ) by Fray Diego Duran
	The Memoirs ( ) of Fray Servando Teresa de Mier
	The Bandits from Rio Frio ( ) by Manuel Payno
	El Zarco ( ) by Ignacio Manuel Altamirano
	Santa ( ) by Federico Gamboa
	Anthology ( ) by Alfonso Reyes
	Song of the Heart: Poems ( ) by Ramon Lopez Velarde
	Nostalgia for Death: Poetry ( ) by Xavier Villaurrutia
	The Underdogs ( ) by Mariano Azuela
	The Burning Plain and Other Stories ( ) by Juan Rulfo
	The Labyrinth of Solitude ( ) by Octavio Paz
	Battles in the Desert & Other Stories ( ) by Jose Emilio Pacheco
Untranslated	Comedias Escogidas ( ) by D. Juan Ruiz de Alarcon
	Los Relampagos de Agosto ( ) by Jorge Ibarguengoitia
	Muerte sin fin ( ) by Jose Gorostiza
	Los Dias Terrenales ( ) by Jose Revueltas
	Farabeuf ( ) by Salvador Elizondo
	Los Cuervos Estan de Luto ( ) by Hugo Arguelles
	Cronica de la Intervencion ( ) by Juan Garcia Ponce
Recommendation images

Netherlands
Essential works
Max Havelaar (1860) by Multatuli	Amsterdam Stories (1910s) by Nescio	Beyond Sleep (1966) by Willem Hermans	Parents Worry (1988) by Gerard Reve	The Discovery of Heaven (1992) by Harry Mulisch
Further recommendations
Translated	Lucifer ( ) by Joost van den Vondel
	A Posthumous Confession ( ) by Marcellus Emants
	In Praise of Folly ( ) by Erasmus
	In a Dark Wood Wandering ( ) by Hella S. Haasse
	The Waning of the Middle Ages ( ) by J. Huizinga
	The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
	The Ten Thousand Things ( ) by Maria Dermout
	Eline Vere ( ) by Louis Couperus
	Chapel Road ( ) by Louis Paul Boon
	I Dreamed in the Cities at Night ( ) by Remco Campert
	Omega Minor ( ) by Paul Verhaeghen
	Cheese ( ) by Willem Elsschot
	Turkish Delight ( ) by Jan Wolkers
	The Darkroom of Damocles ( ) by Willem Frederik Hermans
	Wonder ( ) by Hugo Claus
	The Following Story ( ) by Cees Nooteboom
	Character ( ) by F. Bordewijk
	The Twin ( ) by Gerbrand Bakker
	Tomorrow Pamplona ( ) by Jan van Mersbergen
Untranslated	Camera Obscura ( ) by Hildebrand
	De Stille Kracht ( ) by Louis Couperus
	Van De Koele Meren des Doods ( ) by Frederik van Eeden
	De Avonden ( ) by Gerard Reve
	Terug naar Oegstgeest ( ) by Jan Wolkers
Recommendation images

Norway
Essential works
A Doll's House (1879) by Henrik Ibsen	The Wild Duck (1884) by Henrik Ibsen	Hunger (1890) by Knut Hamsun	Growth of the Soil (1917) by Knut Hamsun	The Wreath (1920) by Sigrid Undset
Further recommendations
Classic	Brand (1866) by Henrik Ibsen
	Hedda Gabler (1891) by Henrik Ibsen
	Pan (1894) by Knut Hamsun
Contemporary	Beatles (1984) by Lars Saabye Christensen
	Naïve. Super (1996) by Erlend Loe
	Out Stealing Horses (2003) by Per Petterson

Russia
Essential works
A Hero of Our time (1841) by Mikhail Lermontov	War and Peace (1869) by Leo Tolstoy	The Brothers Karamazov (1880) by Fyodor Dostoevsky	The Plays of Anton Chekhov (1886–1904) by Anton Chekhov	The Master and Margarita (1967) by Mikhail Bulgakov
Further recommendations
19th Century	Dead Souls (1842) by Nikolai Gogol
	Diary of a Madman and Other Stories (1842) by Nikolai Gogol
	Oblomov (1859) by Ivan Goncharov
	Sketches From a Hunter's Album (1852) by Ivan Turgenev
	Fathers and Sons (1862) by Ivan Turgenev
	The Golovlyov Family (1876) by Mikhail Saltykov
	Great Short Works of Leo Tolstoy by Leo Tolstoy
	Anna Karenina (1877) by Leo Tolstoy
	Notes From Underground (1864) by Fyodor Dostoevsky
	The Idiot (1869) by Fyodor Dostoevsky
	Crime and Punishment (1866) by Fyodor Dostoevsky
	Demons (1872) by Fyodor Dostoevsky
	Woe from Wit (1823) by Aleksandr Griboyedov
	The Collected Stories by Anton Chekhov
	The Collected Stories by Alexander Pushkin
	Lady McBeth of Mtsensk and Other Stories (1865) by Nikolai Leskov
20th Century	Life and Fate (1959) by Vasily Grossman
	Heart of a Dog (1925) by Mikhail Bulgakov
	Doctor Zhivago (1957) by Boris Pasternak
	Quiet Flows the Don (1934) by Mikhail Sholokhov
	The Collected Stories by Ivan Bunin
	We (1921) by Yevgeny Zamyatin
	Petersburg (1913) by Andrei Bely
	The Foundation Pit (1930) by Andrey Platonov
	Envy (1927) by Yuri Olesha
	A School for Fools (1960s) by Sasha Sokolov
	Invitation to a Beheading (1936) by Vladimir Nabokob
	The Complete Works by Isaac Babel
	Kolyma Tales (1954-73) by Varlam Shalamov
	Today I Wrote Nothing by Daniil Kharms
	Roadside Picnic (1971) by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
Recommendation images

South Africa
Essential works
I Write What I Like (1978) by Steve Biko	Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) by J.M. Coetzee	July's People (1981) by Nadine Gordimer	Ways of Dying (1995) by Zakes Mda	Disgrace (1999) by J.M. Coetzee
Further recommendations
Contemporary	The Way of the Women (2004) by Marlene van Niekerk
	Zoo City (2010) by Lauren Beukes