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Books like Enders Game in other Countries/Cultures?
Hello! What is like Enders Game in other countries/cultures? I was surprised (and yet not surprised) to learn how much of an impact that book has had on children, leadership, strategy, etc. During this pandemic, especially at the start, when things felt like they were constantly changing, “The Enemy’s Gates are Down” constantly played in my head as we navigated all those changes. And thinking about how EG had an impact on myself as a child, and my own children, I began to wonder if other countries/cultures had their own version of the book. It doesn’t have to be the same mindset as EG, in fact, the reason I thought about it is to view a formative book through another countries/cultures eyes. Something that is a classic (defined loosely, like a widely read book), ideally geared toward young adults, that delves into navigating life or the transition between child and adult. You can read about others assessments of EG in Enders World. This is such a diverse group, I hoped others might be able to point me in the right direction. Thanks!
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Another fan here! I found ‘Speaker for the Dead’ (Book 2 of the Ender series) at the school library in primary school and decided to read it based on the interesting title. That began an obsession with all the Orson Scott Card books I could get my hands on.
Card was eerily ahead of his time – so many of the ‘science fiction’ elements that feature in the Ender series have now become a reality. Card is able to capture empathy, leadership and motive so well and he brings the characters to life. Quite fascinating! I still have a copy of Enders Game with me and never tire of reading it. The Alvin Maker series is another favourite.
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Thanks for the reply! Will have to check out Alvin Maker.
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Although I am not a fan of Ender’s Game, I would suggest Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, which Card declared as inspiration for his book. While Asimov’s writing is more challenging than Cards, Foundation has just been released as a series adaptation on Apple+, which is very well produced.
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Thanks for the reply! We watched an episode of that series and I found it fascinating how they depicted the simulated world. The thought behind finding books similar to Enders Game (American author) from other countries/cultures geared toward young adults was to try to view another perspective on problem solving, approaching challenges, life, growing up, etc. If you’re not a fan of Card, is there an author/book that you do like that is in this vein? After some searching around online, I came across Botchan by Natsume Soseki. Looked at several translations, and decided to go with the one by J. Cohn (Penguin Classics version). The Cohn translation made the book the most easy to read and funny for a native English reader. The hope is that my children might pick it up to read next so I wanted it to be as humorous as possible. Botchan was described as a beloved humorous novel in Japanese lit, similar to “coming of age stories” like Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye. I’m about half way through and there are some laugh out loud moments, and some interesting perspectives. The book is short so I might read the one translated by Umeji Sasaki (Tuttle version) next. Cohn has excellent credentials and his book was even highlighted as a great translation within the Tuttle forward, but it would be interesting to see how a native speaker’s translation is different. If anyone has another country/culture book to recommend for this thought experiment, please do!
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Great post!!!
I must admit, I had to look up Enders Game b/c I am not familiar with it… Seems dystopian, so I’ll tip my hat to the classic Brave New World and 1984. (Huxley and Orwell)
I’m from the U.S. so I suppose an “American” classic of futuristic commentary might be Mark Twain’s Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.
My husband is from Turkey, so I’ll ask him tomorrow during breakfast! <3
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Thank you for your reply! Orwell’s 1984 was a read that I enjoyed in school, and I’ll have to look into those other two books. Twain’s book sounds especially promising. Another American dystopian book is Fahrenheit 451. For books that are young-adult focused: Lord of the Flies (I had to look up if it was American or English, and it is BRITISH), A Wrinkle in Time (American sci fi). Red Badge of Courage also comes to mind, and that is American. Maybe Kafka’s Metamorphosis (German speaking Bohemian author) would fall into this group, but it’s been a long time since I’ve read that story. I finished Botchan, and to me it was more like A Catcher in the Rye than Huckleberry Finn with regard to accessibility of the story for children. Now I’m reading Bushido. It is not young adult focused, but someone recommended it for a Japanese perspective. It’s not fictional, but it has a really interesting story behind why it was written and who wrote the book. The Japanese author desired to write something about the moral instruction of Japan’s people for a Western audience. I think morality perspectives is underlying what’s prompted my interest in finding young adult books from other countries/cultures to share with my children. Bushido is short but densely packed, in a good way. I’m enjoying it a lot, but I think its accessibility would be more for adults or perhaps older teens. Please let me know about any Turkish book recommendations! It doesn’t have to be dystopian or futuristic. But ideally it would be a fictional classic targeted toward young adults in this very amorphous category I’ve described. ???? Thanks again!
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So, I have some information for you.
First- The Lord of the Flies by Golding is NOT an American work; he’s Brittish.
Second, I asked my husband about YA literature in Turkey. His first suggestion was very traditional… like an equivalent to Beowulf or The Odyssey… Then when I asked him for a Turkish version of Harry Potter or The Hunger Games, he told me this:
Tutunamayanlar- Ogus Atay
Huzur- Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar
DISCLAIMER: I’m not endorsing the above titles. The first seems to be very dystopian; the second, very (possibly skewed?) historical fiction.
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Thank you for your reply! Well that’s quite embarrassing about Golding and LOTF! I thought it was British and then I did a quick online search to double check and could have sworn I read American so I typed what I did in my post. LOL. I don’t even know how that happened because I just tried looking up my search history and nothing. I guess that just goes to show how important it is for me to be more careful about my web researching and critical thinking about what I read online! Yikes! Reminds me of the time I read something online, misunderstood, and then wrote an essay giving a politician credit for creating the internet. Thank goodness it was not the main point of the essay, more a passing comment, but my professor had a really good laugh. Thank you for the two book recommendations, will definitely check them out!
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No worries or judgement!
My husband delivered… Leyla ile Mecnun is a classic… then there’s Tutunamayanlar. and Huzur, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar.
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That’s a cool discussion! Reading the discussion made me remember a story by Lewis Padgett, Mimsy Were the Borogoves. In the story, a scientist from the future sends educational toys, which are found by children in 1942. The toys include a cube that interacts with your thoughts if you hold it, and a puzzle made of wire, which has a 4th dimension. The story was adapted into a movie The Last Mimzy. However, I don’t know how good is the movie.
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Thank you for your reply! I hadn’t heard of that one, but it sounds interesting, will look it up.
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I thought of another novel with similar themes – Daddy by Loup Durand. It was translated and printed in English. There is a theme interwoven, comparing every decision to that of a chess move. The protagonist is 5 or 6 years old from memory (a genius obsessed with chess) – this is why I associate it with Enders Game.
Daddy is based during WW2, whereas Enders Game is set on Earth (and beyond) in a realistic, not too distant future. Back in 1980 it would have seemed farfetched, however.
The ‘Enders Shadow’ series is worth reading also – a parallel timeline written from another child’s perspective. Could be a popular read for a tween interested in strategy/psychology and is less outwardly violent than Ender.
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I’ve just looked it up – the protagonist in Daddy is 11 years old. This makes better sense considering the storyline. It’s hard to find but worth looking for – one of those gems. My copy has long since disappeared – I’ll need to try and find it myself now!
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Thank you, will check it out
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