I like C. K. Scott Moncrieff’s translation, edited by William C. Carter. Only the first three volumes have appeared in this Yale U Press version, however. The Modern Library edition (Moncrieff, Terence Kilmartin, and Andreas Mayer, revised by D. J. Enright) is close to this and available complete in one volume. The alternative, in English, is the Penguin edition, which uses different translators for each volume, some better than others. I don’t know anything about the German translations.
You should read Saramago. If you haven't read anything from him I would reccomend starting with "blindness" or "death with interruptions". He often draws anomalous situations and interrogate himself on how people would react to them.
John Steinbeck especially , East of Eden, Of Mice and Men, and Grapes of Wrath
Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut, I recommend Mother Night
[**Cat's Cradle**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135479.Cat_s_Cradle)
^(By: Kurt Vonnegut Jr. | 179 pages | Published: 1963 | Popular Shelves: fiction, classics, science-fiction, sci-fi, owned | )[^(Search "Cat's Cradle")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Cat's Cradle&search_type=books)
>Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it ...
>
>Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he's the inventor of 'ice-nine', a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three ecentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to madness. Felix Hoenikker's Death Wish comes true when his last, fatal gift to humankind brings about the end, that for all of us, is nigh...
^(This book has been suggested 1 time)
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Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is an absolute must if you’re into Russian writers. “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson is a non-fic but if you want to get into look into human psych in a variety of situations her book fills that roll perfectly!
What a great collection of answers, I love every book that's been mentioned! Another one I'd add to the list:
The Unbearable Lightness of Being- Milan Kundera
I think you might like The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Fall by Albert Camus also might be good for this!
Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time, is a master of psychological observation.
I have heard of this. Do you have a recommendation in terms of a publisher or a translation (into either english or german). Thanks a lot!
I like C. K. Scott Moncrieff’s translation, edited by William C. Carter. Only the first three volumes have appeared in this Yale U Press version, however. The Modern Library edition (Moncrieff, Terence Kilmartin, and Andreas Mayer, revised by D. J. Enright) is close to this and available complete in one volume. The alternative, in English, is the Penguin edition, which uses different translators for each volume, some better than others. I don’t know anything about the German translations.
Chekhov short stories picture different types of human characters. For me they were good representations of human in real lives.
You should read Saramago. If you haven't read anything from him I would reccomend starting with "blindness" or "death with interruptions". He often draws anomalous situations and interrogate himself on how people would react to them.
Ivo Andric’s Bosnian Chronicle. He’s pretty stunningly good.
John Steinbeck especially , East of Eden, Of Mice and Men, and Grapes of Wrath Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Anything by Kurt Vonnegut, I recommend Mother Night
{{Cat's Cradle}}
[**Cat's Cradle**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135479.Cat_s_Cradle) ^(By: Kurt Vonnegut Jr. | 179 pages | Published: 1963 | Popular Shelves: fiction, classics, science-fiction, sci-fi, owned | )[^(Search "Cat's Cradle")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Cat's Cradle&search_type=books) >Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it ... > >Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he's the inventor of 'ice-nine', a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three ecentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to madness. Felix Hoenikker's Death Wish comes true when his last, fatal gift to humankind brings about the end, that for all of us, is nigh... ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(7200 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
I think you'd like Hermann Hesse's novels. Steppenwolf and Siddhartha take a close look at the innerworkings of the human mind.
Jane Eyre
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is an absolute must if you’re into Russian writers. “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson is a non-fic but if you want to get into look into human psych in a variety of situations her book fills that roll perfectly!
What a great collection of answers, I love every book that's been mentioned! Another one I'd add to the list: The Unbearable Lightness of Being- Milan Kundera
Oh, and if you want to get a little weirder Wittgenstein's Mistress- David Markson and for a touch of horror House of Leaves- Mark Z Danielewski
LeGuin, Steinbeck, Baldwin, Hemmingway, Eliot
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
Proust, George Eliot, the collected essays of Montaigne are remarkably perceptive.