When's the last time you read books like these?

[Queen Michael]

I'm curious about this, so let's hear it. When did you last read:

1. A novel by a black writer. Any black writer. It doesn't count if it's Roots, Invisible Man, 12 Years a Slave or another of those books that we white people read to feel that we can't be racist since we read that kind of book. In short, it can't be a book specifically about being black. I know you don't always know the face of a writer, so just tell em the last one you know was black. Several people have replied that they don't ever check the race of writers. Well, maybe you don't, but lots of books have pictures of the writer on the inside of the cover. It doesn't require any effort to know the race of the writer in that case. If you don't know the answer, just post that you're not sure you've ever read a novel by a black person.

2. A translated novel, written by a foreign writer. But it can't be just anybody from another country than yours -- it has to be one of those countries that doesn't produce a zillion bestsellers. Not the USA, not Canada, not the UK... In short it has to be one of those countries that people never read books from. Like Romania, Korea, Portugal, Argentina... And I know it's an insane generalization to say people never read books from there, but I think you get what I'm trying to say. Basically not English or your native language.

EDIT: Lots of people ask me why I'm curious about question #1. Well, many answered it with "I don't know if or when I read something by a black writer, because race doesn't matter to me and I never check what the writers look like." Well, let's be honest here, people -- if I'd asked for a white writer, every single person would have been able to name at least one writer they knew was white that they'd read. Even though they "don't care about race and never bother to look up what a writer's face looks like." And that says something about our society, though I'm not sure what yet.

 

[Jacco]

I dont see why reading a black writer makes you racist or not. If I like a book, the race of the author isn't exactly my first question.

And I dislike translated novels because more of than not, they are only a shell of what the original is. Unless the author is bilingual and did the translation themselves.

For instance, my great uncle wrote a rather famous book called Bless Me, Ultima in English but he grew up speaking Spanish and did the translation himself. As a result, it is widely considered one of the best Chicano books around because it maintains what it is in each language.

 

[Elfgore]

Never for the black writer. I read mostly fantasy and I don't know of many black fantasy writers.

For in a different language, none yet. But I do plan on buying and reading metro 2033 (Russian) and the witcher series (Polish, I believe)

 

[tippy2k2]

I have absolutely zero clue. I read constantly (my usual output is one book every two weeks unless I hit something I REALLY like, in which case I cut that sum'***** down faster than the thing got printed) but I really don't know what authors look like. Hell, many times, I don't even remember their names, let alone took the time to see what they looked like. Unless your name is Jim Butcher or John Ringo, I don't follow authors; I follow books.

Was there a black author in there? Maybe...

As to question #2, I do actually know the answer to that because they made a big deal about it in the foreword; The "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy. That guy was....Swiss? I want to say Swiss but I don't know that for a fact. I could Google it but I'm a busy guy! I got other threads to play in!

 

[Queen Michael]

As to question #2, I do actually know the answer to that because they made a big deal about it in the foreword; The "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy. That guy was....Swiss? I want to say Swiss but I don't know that for a fact. I could Google it but I'm a busy guy! I got other threads to play in!

The guy was Swedish, like me. Which is kind of indicated by the fact that the entire book trilogy takes place in Sweden.

 

[Liquidprid3]

Like tippy said, I was never much for following authors. I just read books that I think are good. Same with movies, I don't follow directors. Just good movies. Not really my thing, just like I don't really care about who is in what movie or TV show. It doesn't interest me, just give me something entertaining. Unless its Nick Cage. The Internet has made me love anything he's a little bit more even if it isn't good.

 

[Queen Michael]

Like tippy said, I was never much for following authors. I just read books that I think are good.

But doesn't it make sense to read more books by a writer if you liked a book s/he wrote, since that indicates s/he mgiht have done a good job with the rest of his/her books?

 

[madwarper]

1) /shrug. I pick the books I want to read based off genre, not the race of the author.

2) Are we counting manhwa? Because, I've been reading Ability, Girls of the Wilds, ID, Witch Hunter, XO Sisters, etc.

 

[Queen Michael]

1) /shrug. I pick the books I want to read based off genre, not the race of the author.

2) Are we counting manhwa? Because, I've been reading Ability, Girls of the Wilds, ID, Witch Hunter, XO Sisters, etc.

1. Doesn't really answer my question about when the last time you read a black writer was.

2. Nope. It has to be a novel.

 

[madwarper]

1. Doesn't really answer my question about when the last time you read a black writer was.

Like I said, I read books. I don't research the authors. If a book is good, then it's good. If not, then not.
The race of the author should be irrelevant.

But, the last time I read a novel where I *did know* what the author's race was Langston Hughes and Mia Angelou back in high school English class, but you already said those don't count.

2. Nope. It has to be a novel.

Then, I suppose you're also going to disqualify The Diary of Young Girl?

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

1. I really don't pay attention to the race of the author since, to me, that shouldn't matter considering the book should speak for the author and their talents. I have no idea if I've read a book by a black author. I don't pick my books by race, but if it interests me enough to even bother picking it up.

2. I've read a book by a Spanish author that was about philosophy. I've read some by Russian authors though. Other than that, to my knowledge I don't think I've read anything that was written by someone from a country that doesn't produce a whole lot of books.

 

[Weaver]

I legitimately have no idea if I've read a book by a black author or not, I never check the race of the authors I'm reading.

The last translated book I probably read would have been Thus Spoke Zarathustra. I read it about 4 years ago.
The book was German and from 1883 so I'm not sure if that falls into your countries that produce a zillion bestseller list or not.

 

[Padwolf]

1. I wouldn't know. I don't really know the faces of authors, like you said. I wouldn't know the last time I read a book wrote by a black author. Hell I wouldn't know the last time I read a book written by a white author.

2. Just last week. Metro 2033, Russian. Absolutely love it, I've read it about 4 times now. The sequel has finally been translated to English so I'm hoping to pick the book up soon! I can't wait!

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

For the first one I have absolutely no clue, since I usually don't bother learning anything about the author unless I really like the book. Hell, I can't even remember the last time I looked at the back cover of a book to see the author's picture, so unless the author has a "black name" I would never know he/she is black. The only times I read black authors knowing that they are specifically black would probably have been back when I went to high school since they forced us to read things like "A Raisin in the Sun," but I guess those don't count for the OP since they were pretty much all about being black and growing up under racial segregation.

For the second one, I'm not sure what you mean by countries that don't produce bestsellers all the time. I can tell you that I read a lot of books that are historically recognized as important, like War and Peace, or Don Quixote (which I'm currently reading), or Dante's Divine Comedy.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

All the time. Last November I read a Japanese novel in Spanish (Moju) and a Latin novel in English (Satyricon) and I'm currently reading an Italian novel originally written in Slovenian but translated to Spanish (Alamut). I've also read Spanish translations of Russian, French, Chinese, German, Czech and Portuguese novels. Usually I try to read a novel in its original language, so I can read English and Spanish books without having them translated. If I don't know the language then I try to find the closest thing to it. For example I read Dante's Commedia in Spanish because as a romance language it would be closer to the original than English. But a German book like Goethe's Werther or Hesse's books I'd rather read in English, because roots.

I also read Color Purple but since it doesn't count...

 

[Queen Michael]

Then, I suppose you're also going to disqualify The Diary of Young Girl?

I sure am! Sorry, but what I'm interested in here is novels. And since that's not a novel, well...

 

[viscomica]

1. I don't keep count. I don't follow a particular author even if I liked some of his / her books and lately I've been reading from the beatnik generation so I honestly don't know how to answer this.

2. Sure! I've read a few Swiss novels and I've also read a few french novels both in French and translated. I like some Latin American authors as well and I've read one or two Russian books (because a while back I got interested in the Russian revolution). Also, Murakami. He has to count.

 

[Something Amyss]

1. A novel by a black writer.

Not a clue. I often know very little about the authors in question in any field, let alone race.

Well, maybe you don't, but lots of books have pictures of the writer on the inside of the cover. It doesn't require any effort to know the race of the writer in that case.

Almost 100% of the books I read are on Kindle, and most of them don't have images, period. I doubt I'd know which authors were black unless they explicitly said they were written by a black author.

2. A translated novel, written by a foreign writer. But it can't be just anybody from another country than yours -- it has to be one of those countries that doesn't produce a zillion bestsellers. Not the USA, not Canada, not the UK... In short it has to be one of those countries that people never read books from. Like Romania, Korea, Portugal, Argentina... And I know it's an insane generalization to say people never read books from there, but I think you get what I'm trying to say. Basically not English or your native language.

I've been reading Taiko off and on since I found out they finally put it in Kindle format. Does that count?

Before that (if it doesn't count), I finally finished War and Peace a couple months back. Before that, the first (translated) Witcher book (If I remember the chronology right, there was one or more published prior).

I don't read a lot of translated works, but I've been through my share.

 

[Fijiman]

I wouldn't have a clue in the slightest. The last time I can think of where I might have read something fitting into one of those categories was back in either middle or high school.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I wouldn't have a clue what race the writer of a book I read is in most instances, although I did read L'Etranger by Albert Camus as a related text for existentialism during highschool. It wasn't a set text, I chose it, and it was translated from French.