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Classic books for intermediate learners | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Alois M. Heptaglot Newbie Brazil Joined 5206 days ago 10 posts - 29 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Spanish, French, English, German, Italian, Dutch Studies: Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Hindi, Greek, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Arabic (classical), Swedish, Turkish | Message 1 of 5 16 February 2011 at 2:44am | IP Logged | ||
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I've been wondering whether anyone has actually begun a thread such as this before. Since I haven't found anything alike in my short history of "leeching" through these pages, I've decided to start one myself.
Every one here is familiar with self-teaching methods like Assimil, Living Language, Linguaphone, TY, etc, and we're also aware that what these methods provide, and what makes them valuable for us, is a thorough and systematic, pedagogically structured, companion in the first stages of our discovery of the language. They work as guides supplying us with a daily dose of new vocabulary, grammar, listening practice, all in a smoothly gradual rythm... The issue is, after we finish these courses, there comes a moment when we, rather abruptly, find ourselves completely guideless and disoriented, not knowing well what to do, having, in order to continue making progress, to just throw ourselves in the formless world of the internet and university libraries, dictionary at hand, in a blind search for pages in the target language, now that we don't have our friendly guides with us anymore... I've been struggling with this stage in a number of languages. Since I believe I'm not alone and a considerable number of learners here are serious students who wish to advance through the reading good literature (I mean either artistic or scientific works), I thought it would a good idea for each of us to write a little "guide", into the literature of his native language, for us upper-intermediate students who have finished their self-teaching manuals, have thus mastered the grammar, and have now to face real-world texts with the sole aid of dictionaries. Very importantly, though, the texts should deal with the culture its language conveys. The underlying belief here is that, if one is learning, say, Modern Greek, and is after books to broaden his vocabulary and reading practice in that language, he should be given books dealing with Greece, either literary prose written in more plain and direct style (remember, we're upper-intermediate students, mostly) or classic works in the fields of History, Politics and Culture of Greece. So, I believe the list should contain works dealing with the revelant country, more or less directly. Moreover, the little guide should also include a list on big internet bookstores where these works are available, a list of the best publishing houses of his country and, ideally, some site where e-book editions of the works are available for free. In order to avoid controversy, though, I believe we should only include "classic" works on the list, i.e., works which enjoy almost-universal reputation as models of (contemporary) language and scientific quality. This would necessarily exclude contemporary "literary" crap from showing up in the list. The issue here, however, is that we should also avoid extra-complicated works. In a list for the English language, for instance, it wouldn't be wise, however classic it may be, to include Joyce's Finnegans Wake, because these lists are intended as a little guide for intermediate-to-advanced level learners who are having their first encounter with the literature of the language. We should hope to find a delicate balance between quality and linguistic accessiblity. If this idea is well-received by the forum members, I'll post my recommended list into Portuguese, focusing on the Literature, Historiography and Sociology written in and about Brazil. Edited by Alois M. on 16 February 2011 at 2:47am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Alois M. Heptaglot Newbie Brazil Joined 5206 days ago 10 posts - 29 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Spanish, French, English, German, Italian, Dutch Studies: Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Hindi, Greek, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Arabic (classical), Swedish, Turkish | Message 2 of 5 18 February 2011 at 2:11am | IP Logged | ||
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Ok, I’ll post my recommended books here for those interested in Brazil. If I’m not followed by other people this thread had better be transferred to the Portuguese forum (?). I hope this may be useful for (the few?) Portuguese learners out there.
Literature: These are the lusophone writers usually grouped among the greatest literary masters of all time: Portuguese Luís de Camões, Fernando Pessoa (poetry), Eça de Queiroz and José Saramago (prose), and Brazilian Machado de Assis, Guimarães Rosa, Clarice Lispector (prose), Castro Alves, Carlos Drummond, Manuel Bandeira, Cabral de Melo Neto (poetry) and Nelson Rodrigues (drama). Of course there are many other great and highly popular writers (it would be an unforgettable flaw not to mention, at least, names like Jorge Amado, , Graciliano Ramos, Vinícius de Moraes, Cecília Meirelles, Álvares de Azevedo, Augusto dos Anjos, Erico Veríssimo, Lins do Rego...) but those are the names everyone who’s embarking on the discovery of the Portuguese letters should be familiar with at first, in my opinion. Not all of them, however, would be a profitable reading from start (since I’m pretty dumb at poetry, I’ll focus on prose here). Guimarães Rosa, for example, however classic he may be, should be avoided at all costs in the beginning. He writes in a highly idiosyncratic and experimental fashion, the reason why he’s frequently nicknamed the “Brazilian Joyce”. Works like Grande Sertão: Veredas (his timeless masterpiece) and Sagarana should definitely figure among the titles of your collection, yet they would require a lot of courage and knowledge to be approached. In a first encounter, I’d instead recommend the greatest novelist of the Portuguese language ever (whom Harold Bloom actually called “the supreme black literary artist of all time”, yet he would rather be considered a mulato by our standards): Machado de Assis. He writes in a rather direct and plain style. Begin with his short stories and then move on to his best novels (Dom Casmurro, Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas, Quincas Borba, Esaú e Jacó and Memorial de Ayres). When you’re comfortable with his writing, you’re ready to explore other great names as Eça de Queiroz, Clarice Lispector (the “Brazilian Woolf”?) and Saramago, but don’t leave his works after the first reading: the elegance of his prose was never surmounted and one should rejoice its beauty and wisdom continually. There’s a contemporary writer, Milton Hatoum, recently winner of Prêmio Jabuti, which I’d also like to recommend (Dois Irmãos and Relato de um Certo Oriente). If you want literature in motion (literally!), watch Lavoura Arcacia, perhaps the greatest Brazilian film to date. History, Anthropology, Sociology, Economics…: The other category of readings I’m especially interested and that I'd like to share here are those works in the field of social sciences delving into a specific national reality and trying to make sense of it. Perhaps because of the highly complex and, in some respects, unique set of processes that gave birth to Brazil and its people, those intellectuals who dealt exclusively with it were even assigned a general collective designation: Intérpretes do Brasil, and their books constitute some sort of literary genre on its own. These books are mandatory reading for everyone who wants to understand the history of the fifth largest country in the world. The first book on the list, though, is an exception: História do Brasil - by Boris Fausto (Edusp): this is actually a secondary-degree reference work to Brazilian History widely read by college students preparing to enter University. Perhaps you should begin here and build up your politics- and economics-related vocabulary. Raízes do Brasil - Sérgio Buarque de Holanda (Companhia das Letras): the first classic in the list is this wonderful essay by “weberian” Sociologist Sérgio de Holanda (btw, father of the greatest lyricist of Brazilian music, Chico Buarque). It deals with colonial history and the underlying flaws of the First Republic (there are some very interesting remarks on Nheengatu, the language spoken by virtually all (even white and black) Brazilians well until the late 18th century). O Povo Brasileiro - Darcy Ribeiro (Companhia das Letras): I’d actually recommend everything penned by Darcy, our most genial anthropologist (As Américas e a Civilização, O Indio e a Civilização, his outstanding auto-biography Confissões, containing some of his delightful memories among the natives....) but, if you’re to have only one, choose this one. He partitions Brazil into five historic-cultural regions and traces the cultural history of each one separately. Brazil actually began as five nearly-independent migratory fronts, and so his approach makes sense. Casa-Grande & Senzala - Gilberto Freyre (Global): this is perhaps the most difficult on the list, yet it is such a huge classic and has to be mentioned. Like Darcy, he also deals with the formation of the Brazilian people, from an anthropological perspective. He is particularly interested in the intimate lives, the household, the affections, making very accurate observations on the sentimental and, sometimes with sordidly explicit remarks, sexual (mostly interracial) aspect of the life during the Colonial period. He draws from the smallest details in unusual sources (popular songs, folktales, private letters, even culinary recipes and secret nicknames). This is a sensual, very tropical and a delightful book to read... Formação do Brasil Contemporâneo - Caio Prado Jr. (Brasiliense): Caio Prado was the first to adopt a Marxist approach to Brazilian history. He is teamed up with Freyre and Sérgio Buarque in some sort of “Trinity” of classic Brazilian historians. Tristes Trópicos - Lévy-Strauss (Companhia das Letras): this is actually French literature dealing with Brazil, yet it could be perfectly read in this beautifully illustrated translation. Legendary French ethnologist Claude Lévy-Strauss lived in Brazil during the 1930’s and did extensive field-research among the Indians there. This is his biographical account of the period, intertwined with visionary anthropological and philosophical remarks. His world-view is perceptibly that of a European, totally lacking the colorful sensuality and emotional attachment of our native writers, very melancholic and at times poignantly pessimistic. De Castelo a Tancredo - Thomas Skidmore (out of print…): well, this is another work by a foreigner, American brazilianist T. Skidmore. It’s unfortunately out of print right now, but it is the best and most complete account of the Military regime (1964-1985), the gloomiest yet also one of the most interesting periods of our recent history. Internet Bookstores http://www.livrariacultura.com.br/scripts/cultura/index.asp http://www.submarino.com.br/menu/1060/Livros Some of the best Publishing Houses http://www.companhiadasletras.com.br/ http://www.record.com.br/ http://www.objetiva.com.br/ http://www.wmfmartinsfontes.com.br/home.asp http://www.ediouro.com.br/site/ http://www.editora34.com.br/ http://www.edusp.com.br/ http://editora.cosacnaify.com.br/Default/1/Default.aspx http://www.zahar.com.br/ http://www.lpm.com.br/site/default.asp (Pocket format) Edited by Alois M. on 18 February 2011 at 4:37am 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| lingoleng Senior Member Germany Joined 5290 days ago 605 posts - 1290 votes  | Message 3 of 5 18 February 2011 at 2:49am | IP Logged | ||
Thank you very much, Alois, these are valuable recommendations. They'll find the right place and a grateful reception. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| purplepixie Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5017 days ago 26 posts - 31 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Greek | Message 4 of 5 21 February 2011 at 9:56am | IP Logged | ||
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This sounds like an excellent idea.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| clumsy Octoglot Senior Member Poland lang-8.com/6715Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5170 days ago 1116 posts - 1367 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, Japanese, Korean, French, Mandarin, Italian, Vietnamese Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swedish Studies: Danish, Dari, Kirundi | Message 5 of 5 21 February 2011 at 1:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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OK.
Famous Polish writers: Adam Mickiewicz - you must read his "pan Tadeusz". Bolesław Prus - Lalka - a classic. Henryk Sienkiewicz - Krzyzacy. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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