British literature-I will die for honour. American literature-I will die for freedom. French literature-I will die for love. Russian literature -I will die.

I simply love Russian literature the best.

I love both Russian and Latin American literature. My personal favorites are: “Crime and Punishment,” “Brother Kamarazov,” “The Idiot” by Dostoyevsky. Another genius writer of Russian literature is Turgenev who also has written fantastic novels such as “Fathers and sons,” and “First Love.” From Latin America Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and Julio Cortázar are phenomenal writers. As a Latin American myself who has lived abroad I would say Latin American literature resonates a lot with Russian literature, authors love to denounce both social and psychological issues. Some books from Latin American authors I recommend are “100 years of solitude,” “The feast of the Goat,” and “Hopscotch.” (They are listed in the same order respective the previously mentioned authors)

Being an Iranian, I personally believe Persian poets such as Rumi, Khayam, Ferdowsi, Saadi and many others are among great literary individuals of the world. Please tell me if you have read any Persian poetry 🌼

Man you speak like you are whispering wisdom, great job...I love it....

I really enjoy German literature, though my exposure is rather limited: a bit of Hesse, Mann, and Fontaine (as well as some medieval stories like Parzival). Currently reading a compilation of Tolstoy's works and greatly enjoying them. I haven't read any French literature at all yet, which is something I definitely need to correct.

I love russian and german lit, but I’d say that everyone should read Brazillian Literature. “To the worm that first gnawed at the cold flesh of my cadaver I dedicate as a fond remembrance these posthumous memoirs.” Original: “Ao verme que primeiro roeu as frias carnes do meu cadáver dedico como saudosa lembrança estas memórias póstumas” Machado de Assis

The 19th century is the golden age of Russian literature. Number 1 on this list is Alexander Pushkin, Number 2 is Mikhail Lermontov, and then a whole list of remarkable classics of Russian literature Nikolai Gogol, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Anton Chekhov, Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Goncharov, playwright Alexander Ostrovsky and many others,

I’m delighted to find this hidden gem channel 🤩 Keeping posting such videos

I read French literature in French I read Spanish literature in Spanish English literature in English Unfortunately I don’t know Russian so I read it in Spanish Or German etc When your read in the original language I think is the best

I will reccomend some great pieces of literature from Southern part of India. 1. Cilapatikaram - A tale of an Anklet 2. Thirukural

Spanish and Italian (Dante, Cervantes, Unamuno, Calderon de la Barca, Petrarch) and German (Hesse, Goethe)

American literature: I will die stuck in traffic! Asian literature (general): I will die in shame for dishonoring my family name! Australian literature: I will die on the other side of the world for abstract geopolitical reasons that I have no connection to! Brazilian literature: I will die for my ex-wife's second husband's third ex-fiancee who once starred in a forgotten soap opera on local tv but has since moved in with her neighbor's best friend! Canadian literature: I will die in the wild! Eastern European literature: I will die sandwiched in between two great powers vying for absolute supremacy over my chicken farm! Indian literature: I will die to fight the colonial oppressors but I will live to oppress the lower castes! Indian literature redux: I will die after protecting my son from a killer but I was reborn as my son's killer! Mexican literature: I will die, wait I'm already dead, looking for my relatives! Japanese literature: I will die but soon my friends will resurrect me with the mythical dragon balls! Japanese literature redux: I will die in a supernatural allegory to the horrors of the damages caused by nuclear weapons! Latin American literature (general): I will die alone, of a broken heart, after everyone I have ever loved has died of cholera, been murdered, or forced to work to death in a banana plantation! Scandinavian literature: I will die after I have fought and killed the bear who chewed off my foot by pummeling it to death with my own foot! Spanish literature: I will die in the gallows after killing someone for ethereal reasons but I will have the last laugh! 😊

I am just getting into the classics in the past couple of years, but I feel much like the privileged class of the old, we are fortunate that a cornucopia of literary art is available at our fingertips. Rather than ranking the great books I am just thankful to experience the plethora of stories from across borders and epochs and gain a semblance of humanity through its arts.

I'm an English major, my mother tongue is arabic, and every few months I get this sorrowful feeling of having neglected the Arabic language. so a few years ago I've decided to read 5 arabic books a year, and they have never failed me.

Fascinating! your passion is inspiring and contagious

Right now I am totally enamored with Russian literature... I have added a few Dostoevsky books to my Audible collection, listening to The Brothers Karamazov (P& V). Out of the public library I have P & V translations of Chekhov short stories, The Master and Margarita & War and Peace. I've only had the War and Peace for a couple days-: so far I've only read Pevear's introduction and the very first chapter. The other stuff I'm taking one or two chapters at a time- and a short story by Chekhov at a time. To leave Russia for a moment I read a story from Dubliners or a chapter from a Tale of Two Cities.

I’m in a Russian phase right now. Brazil had a hold on me, French still does, but I always come back to English / American Lit. Tolstoy is an experience, but Cormac McCarthy’s new book is a must-read.

Eastern Europe has some great literature. Too bad they aren't often translated to English.

It's like flavors of icecream. They're all good if you keep an open mind. If someone you love recommends a book - you should feel like you're in good hands and read it.

My favorite literature comes from England, Japan, Czech, Germany and the US. There are of course countries which I have read very little from and I know that I need to check out, like Russia and France.

The answer is simple. Russian literature is in another level.

French! Proust, Flaubert, Hugo, Stendhal, Appolinaire, Camus... too many to name!

I delved into Icelandic literature. I was astonished how quirky it was. Fairly short and easy to digest, the fairytale aspect of the stories had me spellbound.

i prefer Russian Littelature

Russians baby! Hands down.

I would say Russin and French because they revolutionised literature not in the western or English speaking world but around the globe. English literature mainly was revolutionary in the English speaking world which was very advanced due it's progressing industry epoch, therefore it reached many people and became popular not because of the ideas it held (although some English writers had written very intellectual pieces) but because it was easy to bring to everyone since most of the people started learning English by then in order to communicate. But everyone has their own preference for literature, being born as a Russian speaking person I of course grew on Russian literature and always found it to be too rough and too realistic and dramatic and philosophical for my taste, as if I was about to die any second now and I need to gasp all the human knowledge before that. Therefore, as a child I liked the French one which was non the less realistic but not as brutal as Russian. Currently my most favourite is 20th century American and especially everything that has to do with slavery and citizen war, but I know tastes change and so I am not expecting to praise it now. I also enjoy Hebrew/ Israeli literature but it is only because I live there and no one will ever understand it unless they live in Israel so I will never recommend it...

please make a video on the article on win hof breathing. Its incredible

I love Russian writers, they are The Best! 🕊️

Wow! Great video/article! I myself, don´t think there is a country with best literature, but I like knowing where the author is from, like you say, you get a glimpse of a culture and that is very enriching.

Serbian literature all the way. From Miloš Crnjanski, Petar Petrović Njegoš, Ivo Andrić, Dobrica Ćosić, Branko Nušić to Milorad Pavić. All original, dark, hard, real and beautiful, definitely worth a read!

I love Russian literature more than any other!!

British and Russsian literature. I love Jane Austen and Trollope so much and Anna Karenina kills you every time and Turgjenjev is magic.

I am an Iranian by birth. I know much about Iranian literature but as great works of art in Persian have not been translated in English or French they are not very well known in the world . Most of the readers in the west are , more or less, familiar with Rumi or Khayyam . However, there are wonderful poets and writers such as Ferdowsi whose great epic masterpiece The Shahnameh is somewhat equal to the works of Homer. Modern authors have fantastic books, too. I will be very happy if you can talk about such works and in case you need help I will be delighted to be of help.

Very enlightening episode. Thank you.

Have you read Lermontov? He was right after Pushkin. In his short life - he was killed at the duel at the age of 26 - he achieved a lot. Tolstoy himself said that had he lived to a ripe old age, none of them would know if there was any point in writing at all (meaning that in comparison with Lermontov they would all look too insignificant).

Ronald Firbank actually got there before Joyce, in a few exquisite short ultra camp comedies written during the Great War. Hence, so many of the great writers of the 30s were glad to mention that they were influenced by Firbank, but didn’t rate Joyce so highly.

If you are interested in eastern literature, I would strongly recommend Selected Short Stories from Rabindranath Tagore🇮🇳

Brilliant video by the way, god damn!

Thank yoy for this video :) I believe it is a matter of upbringing and exposure ....I agree that one can't talk about world literature because there are thousands of languages .... there are literatures that haven't been translated into English or any other major language .... the literatures that I have been exposed to ....in my opinion Persian poetry is unparalleled .... so is Urdu and Kashmiri Poetry..... English prose including fiction is matchless ... If I have to rank I will do it like this: 1. Persian Poetry and Urdu Poetry 2. English/ Russian/ French prose and fiction 3. Kashmiri Poetry PS: This is based on my upbringing and exposure ....

Contemporary Russian literature is fab too. Sorokin, Pelevin, Shishkin, Tolstaya, Prilepin, Vodolazkin, Akunin. So so many. Travel, learn other languages, everywhere is wonderful.

I'm French and although I've studied texts from the canon at school I'm still completely baffled by the 16th century. Especially Montaigne, but even Rabelais is almost unreadable today for several reasons: context - the religious wars. Without a clear understanding of the brutal savagery of the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants you can't figure out what is at stakes in the satire of Rabelais and the philosophy of Montaigne. Language: in the 16th century Italian had become the de facto secular lingua franca over Europe thanks to the Italian poets and scientists of the Renaissance. So all the writers, both in prose and verse, wanted to write in the most sophisticated ways possible. And compared to Montaigne, Shakespeare is a limerick writer (only regarding the language, not the content). Things improved in the 17th century thanks to the creation of l'Académie Française by Richelieu, but it almost killed poetry for two centuries. But the French language reached a level of clarity even beyond Latin that would allow the Enlightenment philosophers to invent a proper philosophy of right that led to the creation of the modern state.

You are uttering truisms. My favorite literature is what Deuluze calls “ minor literature. He write about a Kafka, I would add a Borges and Cortazar. In addition to Joyce who is excellent, Italy Svebo. To me a single story by Joyce is worth all of Ulysses. This is because even a great writer can write encyclopedic works and also minor works that are works of genius.

I disagree on the last part. Liking certain literature is not necessary about liking a country of its origin. For example, I always enjoyed American XXth century sci-fi literature, but I genuanly dislike American society and their perception of the world in general. At the time they just happend to be good at the genre I by some reason like. Russian authors were good at sci-fi too, but they often were either too optimistic or too serious and pretentious (for my taste at least).

Sanskrit language has literature that is vast and ancient and most of it is spiritual and metaphysical. The western world's inability to comprehend it does not diminish is greatness. But there were quite a few lovers of Sanskrit in the west too especially the Germans . Max Muller is well known The longest epic poem in the world written by Ved Vyasa is The Mahabharata of which the Bhagvat Gita is a part . Besides there were great writers like Kalidasa Bhatrihari apart from the anonymous great voluminous works of the Upanishads/ Vedas All Buddhist and Jain scriptures too are in Sanskrit Sanskrit literature is vast in drama narrative prose touching all facets of life like science Ayurveda Yoga etc and Panini, Valmiki, Kalidasa, Bhatrihari, Adi Shankara are only a few examples..

বাঙালী

Wow you speak fast but your thoughts and insights flow. What a gift . Keep it coming

Excellent analysis - I have subscribed. My own vote would be for the 19th century French writers - Hugo, Dumas, Flaubert, Zola, Maupassant etc, although there are some great English, German and Russian novels written in the same era.

The impressive thing about English and French literature is the depth. The literature of England really begins with Chaucer in the 1380s. You then have 600 years in which poets and writers in England are influenced by those who went before. So Shakespeare is influenced by Chaucer, Milton by Shakespeare, Blake by Milton, Wordsworth by Blake, and so on right up to Larkin and Geoffrey Hill. It’s a single body of literature rooted in one small place.

Where does Irish literature come into this scheme? Wonders an Irish woman.

I do have a bachelor's degree in Dutch literature and I must say, it's really amazing. Not totally objective and neutral of course, but it's so diverse. From 13th century works like 'Karel ende Elegast' to the big three of 20th century W.F. Hermans, Harry Mulisch and Gerard Reve, you should really dive into it!

I feel like each country has their own reasons why their literature is fantastic. My personal favorite is Russian literature. But I also love Faulkner and Hemingway. The novel Musashi by Yoshikawa is fantastic and another favorite and Mishima is also fantastic. Cervantes, Jorge Borges and Roberto Bolano are favorites from South America. But they all have there own amazing differences.

Having Tolstoi over Hugo as the best noveslist of all time is at least very arguable in my opinion.

When it comes to Mystery and Ghost stories, the British writers are unsurpassed. I have read tales of Genji and it absolutely fascinated me. I had no idea of the sophistication and elegance of the culture in that time period. Their society was as complex as any European. We learn a lot when we explore writing from other cultures and other times.

Portuguese Literature: "Tobbaco Shop" or "Naval Ode" by Alvaro de Campos. / Book of Disquiet by Bernard of Soares

As a suggestion consider reading both Jose Saramago (Blindness) and Fernando Pessoa (Disquiet).

I'm a Bosnian economy student i grew up reading german and russian philosophy,but the american post modernism is by far my favourite literature, great video btw.

By the way I rarely hear from english speakers about Theodore Dreiser though here in Russia he's considered to be one of the best American novelists. My special thanks to him for his American tragedy❤

Russian Literature ❤️

Sadly, it seems a lot of people are put-off by American literature nowadays. Which breaks my heart because it's my favorite.

As a Chinese , I personally recommend you which is one of the Four Great Classic Novels of Chinese literature. And I also recommend all LuXun's novels and essays. Sometimes I feel sad that we can't fully understand and experience other country's culture because of the difference between the languages. So I work hard to study English, forcing myself to read the English original edition. Fortunately It's hard but worthy. And your videos help me a lot, thank you.

I must say, sir, i find you fascinating !

You are talking about the evolution of literature. Art, music, architecture seems to have parallels literature. Your enthusiasm is compelling, what day do you have off?

I agree impossible to really choose from any objective or intellectual standpoint as how can you compare. Beautiful to visit all over the world through literature. So I would stick with my homeland, ireland, as my heart is connected to the land and stories here. We have Joyce, seamus heany, beckett, wilde, Sean o Casey, yeats, maeve binchy, Cs lewis and more I'm sure. Even other writers with Irish roots like Jonathan swift and bram stoker. Even the brontes' dad lived just outside my hometown so the Irish is in their blood too. Also living here I can see how literature and storytelling is entwined in the landscape and alive in the culture, even outside of 'great' literature, with Irish myths, storytellers at the pubs and cultural events sharing local folklore, we have children's writers on the scene today such as oliver jeffers and the prolific Martin waddell, the immense creativity and storytelling performances at our local theatres, and even stuff like Lisa magee's screen play 'derry girls' which has been dubbed by some as modern classic and enjoyed by many across the world.

German! Mann, Kafka, Hesse and Rilke are favourites ......

A lot of russian "literature" is just about their obsession with Kavkazians. Idk why but Russian poets were genuinely obsessed with the Caucasus. Pushkin is a good example.

There is no one great literture. There are only great writers: Cervantes, Shakespeare, Eliot, James, Joyce, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Flaubert, Balzac, Kafka, Mann.....

This was such a great video. I’m American with my Master’s degree in British Literature and I have to say it is the nearest and dearest and best to my heart. But I love French literature (The Count of Monte Christo, The Three Musketeers) I love Russian literature as well. I think you say it best that different literature takes us to different worlds and perhaps, because of that the literature that is incomparable to any of us is the world we best find ourselves home in.

I find Latin American literature quite accesible for ‘Westerners’. Even in Europe, there is a wide variety of cultures and differences and there will be cultural elements hard to understand to others. There is a lot of lost in translation. I think some pieces of work achieve a universal status though. I don’t have a particular preference, I read North American, British, Latin American, French, Russian and German mostly. My first degree is in English and I grew up reading Poe, Stevenson, Wells, H. James… and as a teen I read Mann, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Zweig not that I understood Death in Venice age 12!

You made this topic extremely interesting..

Thanks for the video! The only book by Tolstoy I've read is What is Art (reviewed it too!), and I think by that point, Tolstoy was in full on retreat mode, and wasn't interested in being part of the general media/art scene anymore. I felt that he wasn't criticizing things because they weren't up to the level he wanted, but because they challenged his increasingly cloistered worldview. By the end he believed the only worthwhile thing he'd written were some late devotional short stories, and the rest could burn, haha. Still, I'd definitely like to get into some of his novels, and I have a P & V translation of Anna Karenina waiting for me! Hoping to get around to some Kenyan, Peruvian, and French authors this year or next as well! :)

Anna Karenina❤️❤️❤️

Not saying that English Literature is the best - although the influence of Dickens on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky is profound. I don't think it's possible to work this out unless you've read every book in the world. I'll put my neck out here though - I think that England has produced the funniest literature - Dickens, Waugh, Kingsley Amis and P.G Wodehouse for example. No one will have the nerve to doubt that Tolstoy is great, although you would be hard pushed to find any laughs! Gogol is very funny though, similar to Dickens in that sense.

I think America has had some great writers, but it is analogous to sports teams with a couple great players and a weak bench. We have Melville, Steinbeck, Harper Lee, but not much more (limiting the discussion to novelists). I think Pynchon and McCarthy have cult following,s but neither has a broad-based following. I would give my vote to England because of the depth and breadth of Shakespeare and Dickens' work.

Ben, you are so wonderful. I cannot wait to introduce you to my grandson in a few years. He will get the wonderful stuff I am only getting now. Oh, I'm sure someone has already told you, but Onegin is pronounced o NYAY gen.

Great video 👍🏼

I'm from Brazil and English Literature is my favorite. French Literature comes second. In both cases, I always gravitate around the 19th century.

You can enter French literature and don't exit in your life time.

you should give The Upanishads a try sometime!

When I was young, I was obsessed with Russian literature. I also found I loved French and Japanese literature. Now that I'm nearly 60, I'm in love with Latin American literature. And, in fact, I can vouch that Latin American literature doesn't get the respect it deserves because most people seem to not know about all that region's great authors and their books.

I reckon we should read literature in the original language as much as possible. I love Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Proust, Steinbeck, Christie, Pirandello ... Unfortunately, as Italian, I believe we've not been enough fruitful over the past few decades. I suggest historical novels by Valerio Manfredi, though.

I would say the country of your origin that brought forth your Mother tongue in written literature. That aha moment that you experience as a young reader, when what you've just read, corresponds with the language you know and speak best. The moment when reading becomes meaningful and your lifelong journey with reading starts. You might've had scaffolded aid along the path, facilitated by a passionate teacher, or perhaps a home where books were made available to you, either bought or loaned from the library. Thereafter, you can expand, read widely, from literature collected from all over the world, translated into the language that comes naturally to you ..

Well I really have no idea about it 😂😂😂.

6:50 American 9:45 Colin Wilson

Latin American: Argentina, Uruguay, Columbia(Garzia Marquez), Peru...

Persian for sure

Just to comment briefly in response, I've long believed Russian stuff was the best, hands down. However, I seem to have pre determined my opinion without truly delving into much else. I arrogantly thought, surely nothing can beat this. I may still be correct in my idea, but my goodness, how I am loving American lit thesedays. The quest continues.

Russian literature and Hindi Literature. Though India consists of many languages and each language has its own distinctive literature. I'm aware of only Hindi literature as I am a native Hindi speaker. I have been a student of English literature till my masters. Our college curriculum mostly focuses on British literature with one semester on classic Greek literature, French lit, African lit, Norwegian lit, American lit. But my most favorite remains the Russian classics and I would love to explore more courses and contemporary works in this language. But it's a shame that people even in my nation remains oblivious of the rich native literature that every language offers. I don't know much about their translations, but if only the world could come to know about the gravitas of Hindi literature, it would alone triumph British and American literature. We have works that are political, lyrical and even magical realism. The Indian English literature pales in comparison. I'm pretty sure that's exactly how every native speaker of my country would feel about their local literature and it's a shame we ourselves are missing out on each other's greatness.

Britain, though Tolstoy is great.

Our home might be across the sea, and we can access to it by great literature. Perfectly said. Thanks alot!

While I am partial to the anglosphere, I've got to give lots of credit to the French and the Russians

Germany and Russia.

Patrick White, 🇦🇺

Sorry for necroposting but come on. The French clearly had a huge impact, and so did the Italian and German literatures (to cite a few examples, everything from Russeau, Dumas, Sartre or Camus, everything from Goethe, a lot of stuff from Manzoni, Pirandello, Pasolini, Umberto Eco) or even famous Nobel winners like Fernando Pessoa and Saramago. I'm always amazed how few books from around the world English-speaking readers read, because as a European nearly half or more of the books I read are either in english or translated from other languages. Heck I'm 18, it's not like I read a lot of books in my life but I tend to differentiate a lot. But I also have a lot of difficulties with russian literature, I can't stand Dostoevsky's style at all and I hate that I can't enjoy it lol

Whatever language Shakespeare wrote in. No Shakespeare no great World literature

Alllll are great! Yeah some are more famous and on point - Russia, USA, France, England but for me all are great because from every siingle word you can learn something.

The era of American literature definitely started shortly after WW1. You can argue that this was just the beginnings of the era that includes the american works you mentioned, but to not talk about Hemingway, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, and others who wrote from the 20s onwards doesn't seem right to me. Especially Hemingway, given how much influence the man had on American Literature going forward, well into the works you mentioned (Iceberg theory, his writing style in general) Edit: I know you mentioned Hemingway specifically in the alien section, but it just seems like it's a shame they weren't mentioned in the earlier section since it seems that they actually were the start of this American golden age of literature that you were talking about.

Doesn't France have the most Nobel prize winners in Literature? Maybe they have the best literature if we go by countries

Ireland 📖

mongolian language is best to use in literature or write poem. Cuz theres too many words to choice to describe everything. But i swear only mongolian people can write poem or books with mongolian language its crazy difficult to understand as other nation. But easy to me