1.
I think, first of all, both foreign works and China's works have their own merits in quality and characteristics in content. It doesn't mean that whoever is good is necessarily bad. However, if you can read foreign novels, you will read more wonderful stories and more interesting writing methods. For example, The Sound and the Fury is about the decline of families in the southern United States, which is similar to The Dust Settles by China writer Alai. But the former is written by stream of consciousness, and you will be surprised that the novel can still be written like this.
2.
Even if I say so, there are still many people who don't like reading foreign novels. They tried to read them many times, but all failed. In fact, I think there are many misunderstandings about reading in China, especially parents and teachers. Nowadays, in order to cultivate their children's interest in reading, parents usually let their children read four classic novels: Notre Dame, Shakespeare, Childhood, On Earth and My University.
Seriously, children are not interested in these books. Take four classic novels as examples. The four classical novels are really a good book, but it is hard for children to accept. The first is the ancient vernacular, which is different from the current language and difficult to understand; Secondly, these stories have been seen on TV countless times, but once the children have finished watching them, they find that the TV is still good and the books can't be read at all. The stories written by foreign famous books are really "classic", but classic means "old". Let the children read very old stories written by people long ago. Coupled with the obstacles of translation and characters' names, it is difficult for children to understand.
So do adults. If you are going to read foreign novels now and start reading Shakespeare, Gorky, Tolstoy, or even The Sound and the Fury I just mentioned, you will definitely not be able to read it. You have just started, and you have lost interest, so you will be doomed to hope to read many famous books again and again and fail again and again.
3.
So my suggestion is to read more interesting foreign novels first, and cultivate interest from these novels. This is also very useful for children. You can't read Shakespeare, but you can definitely read Rowling's Harry Potter. You can't see those famous books, but of course you can read simple but attractive bestsellers such as Stealer, Island Bookstore and Island.
After reading more, you will find that foreign novels are so rich and wonderful that you will naturally look for the themes and stories you want to read.
4.
Many people think that an important reason for not understanding foreign novels is that the names of characters are too complicated to remember. I watched The Education of Love in high school. There are many characters in it, and everyone's background is different, so I wrote down the names and family backgrounds of the characters while watching. For example, XXX: the son of a businessman. Later, I read it and found that this person has other characteristics, so I added my record: XXX: the son of a businessman, timid, with two brothers at home.
That's what I did when I first read a foreign novel. Now that many years have passed, I don't need this method anymore. Read too much, your brain is very sensitive, and you remember the words clearly.
Finally, you will find that the names of foreigners are simpler than those of China people. For example, in The Great Gatsby, Daisy, Tom Buchanan, Calve and so on, these names are very common. You will read about a person named Evelyn in this novel and a person named Evelyn in that novel. Go around, there are so many names. Read with this mentality, and you will find that the name is not a problem.
5.
It's not your fault that some books can't be understood, but because of poor translation. There are various versions of The Great Gatsby. At first glance, you may think Salina's Long Night is similar to Long Night, but it actually has a more classic name, called Long Night. Some translators translate well, while others translate poorly or a little carelessly.
The book Memories in the Fog is well translated, at least its language translation is very beautiful, and China people feel cordial and have no sense of distance after reading it. So I have recommended this book many times. I believe most people can understand and even learn how to write beautiful sentences.
6.
People's mood will also affect the reading experience. If you are confused in the face of love and confused in the face of ideals, read The Great Gatsby and The Little Prince, and you will definitely fall in love with it. If you are impetuous and can't calm down, reading Peter Kamenqing will definitely cure you.
My mood at every stage will affect my reading choice, and I believe you are more or less the same. The point is, you have to spend some time looking for the book you want to read.