Book recommendations?

[Miles]

Carol wrote:

> "Werther" greatly influenced the English Romantics and their Victorian
> successors. It's a classic Bildungsroman. Wasn't it the first novel in
> that genre, Miles?
>
> Carol, who read it in English for a course in Romanticism

Miles:
Well, not really a Bildungsroman, since it ends with the suicide of the main 
character ;), so it's not a story of becoming mature, but of refusing to do 
so.
According to Wikipedia, German Romantics in literature is what is called 
"Sturm und Drang" (might best be translated "storm and longing", and a 
special hello to Durmstrang). It was not the first, but is maybe the best 
novel in that genre.

Anyway, it still reads "fresh" in German, some old-fashioned words, but the 
language feels very modern, after about 240 years quite a surprise.

I'm afraid that most people in the English and German speaking countries are 
not that much aware of the connections of our literature traditions. Many 
English classics mentioned here or elsewhere I've never heard of, I read 
only few in translations and even fewer in the original - while I know quite 
a lot of German classics (at least considering my generation).

Speaking of traditions, upthread

Carol wrote:
> I have reread and would recommend the Bible (must reading for
> anyone who wants to be culturally literate with regard to Western
> culture regardless of religion or the absence thereof, and for sheer
> beauty and poetry and effect on Western culture, I would recommend the
> King James version. If your concern is an accurate translation, try a
> more recent one).

Miles again:
English speaking countries are not the only sources of "Western culture", 
and Bible translations are important for the development of many modern 
languages in "our" countries. I don't doubt you know this well enough, I 
just sort of stumbled over your generalization. What I think is true for the 
King James translation and English, is maybe even more true for German and 
the Martin Luther translation. Luther and his "High German" variation from 
Saxony became standard for orthography and punctuation, and is the source 
for modern German since today.

Miles, still coughing due to very much classical dust on his bookshelves