# What's the first foreign-language book you managed to finish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2001, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113 "2001-10-28T16:41:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/21 "2001-10-29T03:56:09Z")
Der Richter und sein Henker, by Durrenmatt-- cute short little detective novel. I think it is also the only foreign language novel I have made it through. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/22 "2001-10-29T07:55:41Z")
If drama counts, my first was _Captivi_ in Latin by Plautus. ---
**Author:** ![Niobium\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/23 "2001-10-29T07:59:30Z")
“The first one I finished in portuguese was “O cartomante e otros cuntos” by Machado de Assis.” that book sounds dodgy in English! ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/24 "2001-10-29T10:26:00Z")
“Xi You Ji”. kinda like The Odessey (sp?), but in chinese, and with way more magic. forgot who wrote it, though… ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/25 "2001-10-29T11:28:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cougarfang \* > \*\*“Xi You Ji”. kinda like The Odessey (sp?), but in chinese, and with way more magic. forgot who wrote it, though… \*\* Cougarfang, you read Journey to the West? In Chinese? Man, that’s like a gazillion page long epic buddhist journey to the end of the world within a fingernail. And it’s written in a kinda archaic style of Chinese. I’m impressed. I’ve only read the english edition. ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/26 "2001-10-29T11:36:49Z")
well, i was forced into it, and once i started, it got to be pretty interesting. i always think the original is better than the translation… and Sun U Kon (the monkeyguy) is worth the whole thing… 😃 [sub]but i kept thinking of deep-fried monkey steak all the way through the book…[/sub] _d&r_ _too late_ **KERPOW!** ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/27 "2001-10-29T12:00:54Z")
**Le Petit Prince** here as well. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/28 "2001-10-29T12:07:29Z")
One more _L’Etranger_. ---
**Author:** ![stofsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/29 "2001-10-29T12:08:11Z")
Does _Ulysses_ count? Even if my first language is English? ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/30 "2001-10-29T16:04:36Z")
In French, the first work I remember reading through completely was _Cyrano de Bergerac_, but that was in high school for French IV. I tried Verne’s _Paris au XXieme Siecle_ while at Georgetown but I was rustier than I thought. In Italian, it was Ignazio Silone’s _Vino e pane_ - I understood enough of it to get most of the story and a little of some of the abstract discussions as well. In Russian I’ve finished off _Oblomov_ and have _Doktor Zhivago_, _Dvenadsat’ Stul’ev_, and _Zolotoi Telionok_ waiting in line after I finish translating a book on Bellman’s songs from Swedish and an interesting little work called “Marxism and the Philosophy of Language” by Voloshinov. I also have a copy of _Obabakoak_ gathering dust on my shelf, but I’m gonna have to really dig back into Basque in order to even think about cracking the cover. Languages are my life 😃 Oh, and **stofsky** : Yes. ---
**Author:** ![MJH2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@MJH2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJH2)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/31 "2001-10-29T16:59:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stofsky \* > \*\*Does _Ulysses_ count? Even if my first language is English? \*\* If so, then my first was _A Clockwork Orange_! If not, then _De bello gallico_ in Latin and Turgenev’s _Asya_ in Russian. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/32 "2001-10-29T20:13:49Z")
Not counting the abridged-and-watered-down versions of Spanish classics we read in my high school classes, mine would be _Estas Alli, Dios? Soy Yo, Margaret_. This, by the way, is how I learned the Spanish word for “bra,” and how I found out Judy Blume is deadly serious when you’re ten and freaking _hilarous_ when you’re eighteen. ---
**Author:** ![daffodil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@daffodil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffodil)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/33 "2001-10-29T23:55:34Z")
Thank you, Lark and Estilicon. I was having a go on: “Del amor y otros demonios”, but it’s really to hard. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![daffodil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@daffodil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffodil)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/34 "2001-10-29T23:57:50Z")
- that should be \*too \* hard. ;o ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/35 "2001-10-30T00:51:26Z")
daffodil If you really want to read a beautifull book in spanish I would recommend “los pasos perdidos” by the cuban author Alejo Carpentier. I would also recommend you “Pedro Paramo” by Juan Rulfo. Being an argentinian I would recommend Jorge Luis Borges (he really deserved the nobel prize) It’s difficult but it’s worth the prize I don’t know any other author that can tell a magnificent story in 2 pages. Try finding “El milagro Secreto” (the secret miracle) ---
**Author:** ![Kathleen\_de\_Trelare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4bbf92/32.png) [@Kathleen\_de\_Trelare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kathleen_de_Trelare)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/36 "2001-10-30T01:01:42Z")
Pride and Predjudice when I was 10. I THOUGHT 😕 it was a foreign language. It took me nearly three weeks. As much as I read now, that seems like an eternity to spend on one book. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/37 "2001-10-30T02:16:00Z")
“Norwegian Wood” (“Noruei no Mori”), by Murakami Haruki. Two fucking volumes, took me two months, and it SUCKED. What is so great about this guy? Why is he the critics’ darling when he releases English translations. Admittedly, the adolescent lesbian scene was a turn-on, but how is it great literature? Besides, he mistranslated the title of the song (he renders it as “Norwegian forest” rather than “wood from Norway”) and makes it the title of the book. Although the subject matter makes me wonder if he didn’t do it on purpose, as it could reflect his understanding of the lyrics. Wow, is this more than any of you ever wanted to know, or what? ---
**Author:** ![alondra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@alondra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alondra)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/38 "2001-10-30T03:41:36Z")
daffodil: I read _Del amor y otros demonios_ in English (my native language) and struggled with it too. So don’t feel bad 🙂 Estilicon: I absolutely agree with you, Garcia Marquez is never really easy. I should have said short and _simpler_ 😉 than the others, because relatively speaking, it’s the only novel by him that I could think to recommend. The others are even more complex. Out of curiosity, how familiar are you with Ernesto Sabato? I know that he’s Argentinian, and that he paints as well as writes… I read one of his novels, _El tunel_ and loved it. It’s somewhat difficult to find his work here, in English at least, and I’d like to read more of it. ---
**Author:** ![blackmonday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/53a042/32.png) [@blackmonday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blackmonday)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/39 "2001-10-30T06:37:14Z")
I dug through a collections of Kafka stories, including The Metamorphosis, and The Trial. I got all the words, but couldn’t see what the stories were about. When I re-read in English, the same thing- I wasn’t seeing that he was talking about alienation and the police state. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113/40 "2001-10-30T15:18:46Z")
Not counting the children’s books I read when, um, I was a child – _Se questo è un uomo_ by Primo Levi. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-foreign-language-book-you-managed-to-finish/90113.md?page=3)