Non-western classics

There is a lot of talk in this group about European or American classics. What about non-western classics? I am not an expert but would like to get some recommendations.
I have read the 1001 nights and Qur'an, though the latter cannot be considered fiction of course.
There is the Sanskrit Ramayana and Mahabharata which I know of but haven't read.
Can anyone advise on the classics of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian or other non-Western, non-Christian literature?

An absolute must-read is Gilgamesh, a Sumerian epic along the same lines as Homer or the Norse Edda. Get a taste on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh

A Chinese classic that I found enjoyable is the Shu Ching, 'The Book of Histories' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shu_ching), which can be compared to Herodotus or some books of the Old Testament.

I have a book written in Japan in the 10th century called Tale of the Lady Ochikubo. It was pretty good, a Japanese version of Cinderella, though it went into more detail about the "happy ending."

I'm looking forward to someday reading The Tale of Genji and Dream of the Red Chamber.

Persia's Shahnameh by Abolqasem Ferdowsi is a must. The history of Persia from the creation of the world until the Muslim Conquest. Many memorable and famous figures, including Achilles-like hero Rostam, the tragic prince Seyavash, and the bizarre adventures of Sekandar Shah (Alexander the Great).

How old does it have to be? I recently read some of Rashamon, by Akira Kurosawa and I really liked it. It was written in the early 20th century.

For Asian classics there are several resources on LT you can look up.

Asian Fiction & Non-Fiction
- very good and active group

Japanese Literature
- not so active but you can find my thread Lilisin's Japanese adventure where I discuss only Japanese literature.

Reading Globally
- good group to look at for country-specific literature
- specifically, here is a thread (January theme read - JAPAN discussion thread) where we discussed Japanese literature for a month; lots of interesting info there

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Nickelini's suggestion is definitely a fantastic Japanese classic but just to note, it's spelled Rashomon. Also note that the author is Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Akira Kurosawa is the name of the director who turned the short story into a movie.

thanks for correcting my errors, Lilisin! I never remember how to spell Rashomon/Rashamon, and I just took the author name that the touchstone called up without even thinking. Of course it's Ryunosuke Akutagawa--no excuse for not remembering that because I wrote a paper on it and only typed Akutagawa about 100 times. My brain doesn't seem to want to turn on today.

No worries!
We all have those moments! :)

I've been wanting to read the Mahabharata, but I'm confused by the translations and abridgments. Anyone have a recommendation (or a disrecommendation) of a particular one?

The University of Chicago got started on a great rendition of the Mahabharata. I have read its first three volumes and love it. They have plans to complete the series, but they are moving very slowly on it with one very expensive hard bound volume much later in the series available in addition to the initial volumes.

The Clay Sanskrit Library undertook to do the whole thing. They are truncating their projects. I cannot tell for sure whether that truncation means that they will not do the whole Mahabharata. I have both volumes of book six; that is the book that follows the initial run from the University of Chicago, and it is the book that contains The Baghavad Gita. I haven't read these volumes yet.

There is a very old Indian translation into English which you can find available with some careful searching. It is allegedly dull. The Mahabharata should not be dull. I will get it if the other series or some alternative don't work out.

I have recently acquired The Mahabharata, an abridgment by John D. Smith. It comes with good recommendations and looks good in my hands, but I have not started it. It supposedly is a fluid narrative despite the omissions which are glossed. It looks to me like a good place to start.

There is lore that says that having as powerful a book as the Mahabharata complete in one's house is dangerous.

Beware, the Mahabharata can become an obsessive pursuit.

Have fun,

Robert

I do not know when or how a book becomes a classic (and I am new in this group, so you might have had this discussion already!), but here are some suggestions:
- In China, I would guess that some work by Lao She can already be considered as a classic, for example his famous Pousse-pousse.
- In Japan, the Musashi books by Eiji Yoshikawa are a great classic that many Japanese have read: the characters are so famous that they are used in the daily life to describe people! It is a long read, but really entertaining (good as a beach book for the summer for those who are going on holidays soon!). The 2-books edition is: La pierre et le sabre and La Parfaite lumiere.
Enjoy the read!

Just to help out with raton-liseur's recommendations.

In the English edition (by Kodansha International), Eiji Yoshikawa's work is in one tome called Musashi. His Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan (Taiko for short) is also fantastic.

Thanks for translating in more understandable words! ;-)
Let me know if the touchstones appear in French or are directly translated in English for you. If the translation is not automatic, I'll make sure I look for the English title myself.
Le pousse-pousse seems to be the Rickshaw boy.

Yes, the translation is not automatic. But I don't mind the recs in French since that's the main language I read in. ;)

Try the Water margin by Shi Naian. It's a classic Chinese - often hilarious. I read it in a superlative French translation ; I hope you can find some equivalent in English.

>16 h-mb: Would that be the Pléiade-edition? I'm looking for a good translation.

> 17 It's the Folio edition (mass market paperback). I don't know who did the translation for the Pleiade.

> 18 Thank you!

I Am a Cat by Soseki Natsume, written in the New Meiji era is a great comment on human behavior, vices, and follies from the perspective of a cat with a wry sense of humor. It was very enjoyable.

There are also many classics by African and South American writers. Just start with any book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia) or Chinua Achebe (Nigeria).

Chinese talk about the 'four great novels'. They include Journey to the West, Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh and A Dream of Red Mansions. The first one is popular with children, and is like a fairy tale; the second is historical fiction; the third is about a hundred or so outlaws who have certain similarities to Robin Hood; and the last is a romance. All of them are massive, multi-volume sets. Not exactly a beach read. But if you really want to learn about Chinese literature, they are the canon.

Another Chinese classic is The Scholars. I read an English translation about ten years ago ... I don't remember a great deal about it, except that it is a satire on the examination system potential civil servants had to endure (in the 18th century? not sure).