Reading the World
A few years ago, I came across Ann Morgan’s project “A Year of Reading the World” . Basically, she realized that even as an avid reader, she was completely unfamiliar with most non-English literature, even in her native continent of Europe. After some thought, she decided to work on this problem by committing to read one book from each UN recognized country in the world (plus one non-recognized territory) in order to explore a bit beyond the traditional English language canon.
When I first came across the project, I wanted to lead a similar effort to fill my high-school library with one book from every country, and create some basic curriculum encouraging teachers to get students reading at least portions of this literature. Unfortunately, the other project leaders and I came down with a severe case of senioritis, which among other hurdles, meant the project never came to fruition. While I may re-visit it at some point, for now, that is one which I've let go of.
Instead, I've decided that even if I can just read all 197 books, that will be a good place to start. My mom has committed to the challenge with me, and together we have begun making progress. I encourage you to join us! For now, you can track our slow and steady progress here (we are not trying to read them all in one year).
For many people, reading this many books may seem like a gargantuan task, and more books than you even plan to read for fun in the rest of your lives! (If you're interested in how many books you might have left, and other such numbers, see an outstanding Wait But Why post here, which puts these into visual perspective)
What I might suggest instead, is using a random number generator, set to pick a number between 1 and 197. Then, choose a book that corresponds to the country with that number on my list (simplified to include the books I will be reading) or Ann's list, which includes many more options to choose from, at least for most countries. I'd be willing to bet that what you read will surprise you. I recently finished a book from Albania, reading the entire novel as if it was purely fiction. Only afterwards did I realize that the premise is in fact based upon very real aspects of Albanian history and their codified blood feud system, which still exists to some extent in a few parts of the nation.
Lastly, although it may be tempting to simply pick books from countries you are familiar with, I would encourage you to try and do the exact opposite. This is not to say you should not read books from your favorite foreign states, but rather that the whole point of the project is to expose us to brand new ideas and lived realities of the world's diverse groups and peoples. So leave your comfort zone behind and travel the world–all without having to go further than your local library.
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Picture is a stained glass peacock in Shimbashi Station, Tokyo. At the risk of sounding cliché, I think it might be fair to compare just reading English literature to only seeing the body of the peacock. Once you try foreign literature you can begin to see some of the beautiful tail feathers which make the bird so iconic.
