World Literature

Why World Literature?

We live in an increasingly global world. We’re connected by phone, Internet, snail mail, newspapers, magazines, television. Technology has enabled me to ‘meet’ many fellow book enthusiasts from all parts of the world, sharing our love of literature through blogs, Library Thing and GoodReads. I’ve read hundreds of books in my lifetime and yet I feel my reading has been somewhat limited. I know little about the literature of South America for example, have barely touched the surface with China and Africa.

World in Literature Project begins I want to broaden my reading horizons… 50 books in 5 years has an appealing symmetry about it but it’s also realistic.

I’ll know when I’ve reached the end of the project. The problem is knowing where to start; choosing the countries and then the authors. Selecting just one region like Asia could be too narrow a focus but conversely if I used, for example, the Commonwealth countries the choice might get overwhelming. I decided I needed something a little more manageable to get me started.

The plan I’ve hit on is to begin by using two imaginary lines that connect different cultures and countries around the world – the Equator and the Prime Meridian. Together these give me 21 countries with an appealing mix of cultures, from Asia to Africa and Western Europe.

So I kicked off this project in 2013 with a focus on reading books from countries along the Equator and countries along the Prime Meridian. I’m also keeping track of books read by authors from other countries

The Rules

• Books set in a particular country will not count towards this challenge. The book has to be written by an indigenous author.
• Authors have to have been born or lived in the particular country to count but could be living elsewhere