I'm tired of reading translated stuff, especially when most of its authenticity is debated. So, what are best literature written in english.
>Inb4 Shakespeare
Shakespearean English might as well be a different language.
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Finnegans wake, simple as. anyone who says otherwise is a pseud
>Finnegans wake
Can anyone actually unserstand it, or do people just pretend to?
understand*
You should read it, look up all of the references and stuff
The Blithedale Romance, by Hawthorne. Severely underrated.
>Shakespearean English might as well be a different language.
You've either never read any Shakespeare or you're completely moronic. More likely both.
Why are his works translated into modern English then?
Specifically to cater to the people who THINK they can't understand it as is, and who for whatever reason decide not to put in the effort (which, as it happens, is worth it).
That's harsh. For people just getting into Shakespeare it can be very hard to understand what he's saying. He uses loads of archaic words and his sentence structure can sometimes be foreign. For example, a simple sentence such as
>Marry, am I!
is impossible to understand unless you're used to reading him. It translates to "Indeed, I am!" but we simply don't use "marry" to mean "indeed" anymore, nor do we use the "am I" word order, unless we're asking a question.
Another one is "an", or "anon". A sentence like
>"an't please you sir, I'll see thee anon"
is once again incomprehensible to a modern reader, unless you look up the archaic definition of "an" (it means "if") and "anon" (meaning soon).
So yeah, for a first time reader it's wise to get an annotated edition which will explain the unclear parts, until you're used to the way Shakespeare writes and can read on your own.
Literally just look up words that you don't understand. If you've read anything written in / before the early 1900s, or by a modern writer with a decent vocabulary, then you should already be used to doing this. Shakespeare is literally assigned to grade schoolers; he is not a difficult read.
I only recognize 4 books in that pic.
The Dream Life of Balso Snell
Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Watt
Hedyphagetica
Start with the Keats.
Aren't poems much harder to understand than prose?
Walt Whitman.
Most of the best English literature is written in difficult or old timey language. If you want to stick to your Faulkner and your Woolf and Hemingway by all means, but much of our greatest literature is poetry, and is not how people talk today.
But read Dickens if you want a great Novelist
Faulkner, Woolf and Hemingway are each great.
Dickens is turgid trash.