Agreed that all selections so far look enticing - but I have to throw in another one with a little bit of nationalistic pride:
Six Characters in Search of an Author, by
Luigi Pirandello. The first performance of this 1921 play by Pirandello (who was awarded the
Nobel prize in 1934) caused a riot as too odd, and after a new revised edition published in 1925 with a preface/explanation by the author (that you can find translated e.g.
here).
The amazon blurb reads:
Quote:
Luigi Pirandello's masterpiece, "Six Characters in Search of an Author", presents the playwright's views about the isolation of the individual from society and from himself. This play within a play chronicles six characters as they seek an author to tell their story, and to present their real lives on stage. But do their realities make better tales than fiction?
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It is available translated in the public domain (including on MR).