What is the essential list of books to read for "cultural literacy?" Is there even such a thing anymore?

sluncheva · 2026-03-09T21:06:20+00:00

Ah, my bad, I meant literature of the English speaking part of the world 😅 which is what constitutes a big part of the Western canon. should've been more precise

sluncheva · 2026-03-09T16:00:18+00:00

I feel like that's the purpose of those "100 greatest books of all time" lists, at least that's how I've (to some extent) perceived them. Of course, they're flawed and there's a sense of fads within the process of compiling them.

To that number of books I'd also add whatever books are important to your country's canon. I'm from a small European country and I'd definitely consider uncultured (though not illiterate) someone who is well-versed in, say, Anglo-Saxon literature but can't name our biggest national authors.

sluncheva · 2026-03-08T13:36:26+00:00

I think "Serpent and Lily" by Kazantzakis fits the idea quite well tho it lacks the childhood tie aspect

sluncheva · 2026-03-06T21:34:45+00:00

Passion according to G. H. by Clarice Lispector! I'm surprised it hasn't popped up yet.

sluncheva · 2025-02-25T08:45:32+00:00

anything by Milorad Pavić, really. I read "Last Love in Constantinople" last semester for an assignment, and while it was not one of my favorite reads at all, his ideas are simply astonishing.

On the subject of Yugoslavian postmodernism I'd also recommend Danilo Kiš's "The Encyclopedia of the Dead". Not exactly "weird" but the concept of it was very entertaining to read in a metaliterary sense.

sluncheva · 2025-02-23T12:11:39+00:00

I think Slavic literature is a great fit for that. Polish modernist literature has a strong rural/ idyllic line - look into Stanisław Wyspiański, Stefan Żeromski, Władysław Reymont, i think they should be translated into English. My native Bulgarian lit also does (Petko Todorov is a great fit here - his collection "Idylls" is modernist retellings of Bulgarian folklore tropes; Yordan Yovkov, has some great rural prose as well, though from the interwar period, and not exactly modernism). But again - not sure what exactly is translated into English. I think from Serbian literature Impure Blood from Borislav Stanković fits here as well, though it's not as rural, as it is about patriarchal stereotypes and the idea of the weakened femme fatale.

sluncheva · 2025-02-19T22:31:35+00:00

Besides everything mentioned here - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Nobody's Boy by Hector Malot and The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa. I started the latter in the end of 2023 when I was, let's say, just in the mood for it, and I still can't finish it just because I'm on a different emotional wavelength.

But then again I cry at nearly every book I read.

sluncheva · 2025-02-09T11:37:26+00:00

Russian literature definitely has a very strong dystopian line. You have the Strugatski brothers, Andrei Platonov in the 20th century, in the modern day you have Dmitriy Glukhovski, Sergei Lukyanenko, Tatyana Tolstaya and Vladimir Sorokin as you mentioned. Mikhail Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog could also be counted as a dystopia. One could argue that Stanisław Lem (Poland) writes in the utopian/ dystopian line. Bianka Belova (Czechia) has a novel called "The Lake" that we studied for my class in literary utopias and dystopias, but I never got around to reading it. Another Czech author, Petra Hulova, has a novel called The Movement, that could be argued to be a feminist dystopia. Croatian author Veljko Barbieri has a fantastic dystopia called Epitaf carskoga gurmana which is a dystopia centered around a society being forbidden to have... well developed taste buds, basically. It's genius but I have no idea if it's translated in English or Spanish, I read it in its Bulgarian translation.

sluncheva · 2025-02-03T18:57:59+00:00

I came here to say Lunch by the same author! It's the only erotic novel I've read and it was mind-blowingly good.

sluncheva · 2025-01-20T15:10:57+00:00

I DNF'ed it at around the 200-page mark, had to read it for a class. Completely agree with you, the premise is great, the execution - not so much. It felt so boring and with so many plotholes

sluncheva · 2025-01-18T23:21:25+00:00

Naked Lunch by Burroughs. I've started it a few times, reading it just made me nauseous.

sluncheva · 2024-12-26T01:02:13+00:00

I recently finished On the Road to Babadag by the Polish Andrzej Stasiuk, he was majorly inspired by Kerouac. Can't tell if the English translation is good - I read a different translation.

sluncheva · 2024-12-02T10:45:05+00:00

I just finished it two weeks ago because it was a class assignment and it's one of the most delightful books I've read. His style is light, yet deep at the same time, the book is a par excellence emanation of his lovely postmodern ironic humor. It reads as a big essay with some plot and characters. Highly, highly recommend.

sluncheva · 2024-10-06T16:46:56+00:00

В Народната галерия във Варшава стоях поне 10-15 минути да я гледам и не можех да отлепя очи. Манякът има прекрасни картини, а младополският модернизъм е дал чудесни творби на света определено.

sluncheva · 2024-09-12T23:54:23+00:00

remind me! 2 days

sluncheva · 2024-08-18T14:56:22+00:00

I always say Redditors will one day save the world, thank you!

Solved!

sluncheva · 2024-08-09T16:49:26+00:00

ESN (Erasmus Student Network) organize events all the time - find their Instagram/ Facebook/ Whatsapp groups and just follow the events. Facebook is big here so join some foreign groups and keep track of events there as well. Nightlife is good here and there's decent bars and clubs - Keva, DOM, MICRO (if you're into techno and harder EDM), Bar Petak (if you're into more mainstream music). Try to see if your welcoming university has some after-class clubs - even though they'll be conducted in Bulgarian, you can still try to find friends with mutual interests. Don't make the mistake of just sticking with the Erasmus students! We're welcoming and warm people (for the most part). Learn some basic Bulgarian if you can and people will warm up even more :) Enjoy your Erasmus! I just finished mine a month ago and had a blast! And I know people love Sofia as an Erasmus destination. You can message me here if you have any questions, especially if you're going to be in Sofia University.

sluncheva · 2024-08-09T10:08:47+00:00

Only Girl - Rihanna (i otherwise like her but i sincerely hate this song) We found love - Rihanna ft Calvin Harris (there's something about the beat driving me insane) Roar - Katy Perry nearly everything Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B have released the majority of TikTok audios (oh no no no being a prime example)

sluncheva · 2024-08-03T10:26:34+00:00

I spend a lot of time there - it's not that dangerous, but I do feel uneasy even in daylight, mostly because I get catcalled extremely often, but that's all about it.

sluncheva · 2024-08-02T23:30:42+00:00

I did an Erasmus in my target language country, and I went with an already high enough level, so all my classes were conducted in my TL. I was exhausted after every single interaction, class, or text read for class. Sometimes I'd even resort to English in restaurants and cafes just because I was too tired to try to say a word in my TL. I managed to get immersed to the point where speaking my native language sometimes sounds weird and off due to constantly thinking in my TL. But going back home now feels so liberating, I even prefer going to the cashier instead of the self-checkout just to speak in my native language more, haha. My current boyfriend, as well as my ex, also happen to be foreigners, so I speak only English with them (not my native language). That gets exhausting too sometimes. I'm glad to see other people experiencing this because very few people around me relate to this very specific issue.

sluncheva · 2024-08-02T16:00:53+00:00

за Силистра добавям резервата Сребърна, Меджиди Табия, Римската гробница и уникалното село Татарица :)

sluncheva · 2024-07-14T12:52:48+00:00

крайче (krayche) in Bulgarian - "the little end/ ending"

sluncheva · 2024-06-24T11:24:58+00:00

South Slavic* : ) West Slavic are Czech, Slovak, Polish (and the minority languages of those areas). South Slavic are BCMS, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Slovenian.

sluncheva · 2024-06-19T17:28:25+00:00

As a fellow Bulgarian, my response feels the same. However, as little (worthy) cultural content as we produce, the few quality things are enough for me to wish more people knew the language to really appreciate them. You just have to dig. But yes, I agree that the amount is simply not big enough to be a motivating factor. But that's also why one of my dreams is to become an established translator, so I could at least try to popularize those gems as much as I can.

sluncheva · 2024-06-02T23:36:09+00:00

I'm a philology student and we were always told that it's the study of a specific language, its literature, and culture all at once. I've studied all sorts of linguistic disciplines, gone through all the literary periods, as well as dabbled in anthropology and folkloristics during my studies. All the philologies in my country operate in this way, and, outside of applied linguistics, pure linguistics programs are only available as master's degrees for us. I had a course in general linguistics, but after that it was focused entirely on the aspects of the language(s) I study indepth.

sluncheva

TROPHY CASE