Want to know what books Kushanava Choudhury recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Kushanava Choudhury's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Robert Arlt, Colm Tóibín | 3.43
The first novel by one of the greatest writers of Latin American literature is a semiautobiographical story reflecting the energy and chaos of early 20th-century Buenos Aires
Feeling the alienation of youth, Silvio Astier's gang tours neighborhoods, inflicting waves of petty crime, stealing from homes and shops until the police are forced to intervene. Drifting then from one career and subsequent crime to another, Silvio's main difficulty is his own intelligence, with which he grapples. Writing in the language of the streets and basing his writings in part on his own... more The first novel by one of the greatest writers of Latin American literature is a semiautobiographical story reflecting the energy and chaos of early 20th-century Buenos Aires
Feeling the alienation of youth, Silvio Astier's gang tours neighborhoods, inflicting waves of petty crime, stealing from homes and shops until the police are forced to intervene. Drifting then from one career and subsequent crime to another, Silvio's main difficulty is his own intelligence, with which he grapples. Writing in the language of the streets and basing his writings in part on his own experience, with his characters wandering in a modern world, Arlt creates a book that combines realism, humor, and anger with detective story. Although astronomically famous in South America, Roberto Arlt's name is still relatively unknown in Anglophone circles, but the rising wave of appreciation of South American literature is bringing him to the fore. less See more recommendations for this book...
2
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ADAM THIRLWELL
'Our very best writer today' Milan Kundera
Sparkling with comic genius and narrative exuberance, I Served the King of England is a story of how the unbelievable came true. Its remarkable hero, Ditie, is a hotel waiter who rises to become a millionaire and then loses it all again against the backdrop of events in Prague from the German invasion to the victory of Communism. Ditie's fantastic journey intertwines the political and the personal in a narrative that both enlightens and entertains. more WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ADAM THIRLWELL
'Our very best writer today' Milan Kundera
Sparkling with comic genius and narrative exuberance, I Served the King of England is a story of how the unbelievable came true. Its remarkable hero, Ditie, is a hotel waiter who rises to become a millionaire and then loses it all again against the backdrop of events in Prague from the German invasion to the victory of Communism. Ditie's fantastic journey intertwines the political and the personal in a narrative that both enlightens and entertains. less 
Kushanava ChoudhuryI Served the King of England is a Czech picaresque novel which narrates the whole 20th century history of Czechoslovakia – Nazism, Stalinism – from the perspective of a semi-literate waiter whose only goal seems to be to try to get laid. (Source)
See more recommendations for this book...
3
The famous confession of Alexander Portnoy, who is thrust through life by his unappeasable sexuality, yet held back at the same time by the iron grip of his unforgettable childhood. Hilariously funny, boldly intimate, startlingly candid, Portnoy’s Complaint was an immediate bestseller upon its publication in 1969, and is perhaps Roth’s best-known book.
Portnoy's Complaint n. [after Alexander Portnoy (1933-)] A disorder in which strongly-felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature. Spielvogel... more The famous confession of Alexander Portnoy, who is thrust through life by his unappeasable sexuality, yet held back at the same time by the iron grip of his unforgettable childhood. Hilariously funny, boldly intimate, startlingly candid, Portnoy’s Complaint was an immediate bestseller upon its publication in 1969, and is perhaps Roth’s best-known book.
Portnoy's Complaint n. [after Alexander Portnoy (1933-)] A disorder in which strongly-felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature. Spielvogel says: 'Acts of exhibitionism, voyeurism, fetishism, auto-eroticism and oral coitus are plentiful; as a consequence of the patient's "morality," however, neither fantasy nor act issues in genuine sexual gratification, but rather in overriding feelings of shame and the dread of retribution, particularly in the form of castration.' (Spielvogel, O. 'The Puzzled Penis', Internationale Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalyse, Vol. XXIV, p. 909.) it is believed by Spielvogel that many of the symptoms can be traced to the bonds obtaining in the mother-child relationship. less See more recommendations for this book...
4
Syed Mujtaba Ali, Nazes Afroz | 4.63
দেশে বিদেশে-কে বাংলা সাহিত্যের প্রথম সার্থক ভ্রমণকাহিনী হিসেবে গণ্য করা হয়। দেশে বিদেশে-র মত অন্য কোনো ভ্রমণকাহিনী আজ পর্যন্ত বাংলা সাহিত্যে এতটা জনপ্রিয়তা অর্জন করতে পারেনি। একটি ভ্রমণকাহিনী হওয়া সত্ত্বেও আফগানিস্তানের ইতিহাসের একটি অনবদ্য দলিল এই বই। লেখকের রম্য রসাত্বক বর্ণনা, বিভিন্ন পরিচিত কিংবা অপরিচিত মানুষের সাথে রসালাপ, ভ্রমণের সময় বিভিন্ন স্থানের বর্ণনা এবং শেষ পর্যায়ে এসে আফগানিস্তান ছেড়ে আসার কাহিনী অসাধারণভাবে তুলে ধরা হয়েছে এই বইতে। more দেশে বিদেশে-কে বাংলা সাহিত্যের প্রথম সার্থক ভ্রমণকাহিনী হিসেবে গণ্য করা হয়। দেশে বিদেশে-র মত অন্য কোনো ভ্রমণকাহিনী আজ পর্যন্ত বাংলা সাহিত্যে এতটা জনপ্রিয়তা অর্জন করতে পারেনি। একটি ভ্রমণকাহিনী হওয়া সত্ত্বেও আফগানিস্তানের ইতিহাসের একটি অনবদ্য দলিল এই বই। লেখকের রম্য রসাত্বক বর্ণনা, বিভিন্ন পরিচিত কিংবা অপরিচিত মানুষের সাথে রসালাপ, ভ্রমণের সময় বিভিন্ন স্থানের বর্ণনা এবং শেষ পর্যায়ে এসে আফগানিস্তান ছেড়ে আসার কাহিনী অসাধারণভাবে তুলে ধরা হয়েছে এই বইতে। less Kushanava ChoudhuryAli was one of the most erudite Bengali writers of his generation…His classic book is about his stint in Kabul in the 1920s during King Amanullah’s rule. (Source)
See more recommendations for this book...
5
Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fukœ—the curse that has haunted the Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.
Diaz immerses us in... more Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fukœ—the curse that has haunted the Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.
Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot Diaz as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time. less 
Timothy FerrissRaised in a culture where men are powerful, sexual, and dominant, the Klingon-speaking, D&D-playing chubby boy thinks he’ll never find true love or physical affection. Oscar struggles as a young immigrant from the Dominican Republic living with his older sister and mother in Paterson, New Jersey. A fun read with lots of geek culture, great history, and oh, it also won the Pulitzer Prize. (Source)
See more recommendations for this book...
Don't have time to read Kushanava Choudhury's favorite books? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.