A Macedonian here, or as it's in your spreadsheet North Macedonian (although for Macedonians this is not the preferred name we like being used because we were made to change it for historical-political reasons from Bulgarians and Greeks), the book you've selected for my country is not actually from my country as far as i know. I've never even heard of that book and that author and according to wikipedia that author is Bulgarian which as I mentioned earlier it's controversial. A book I would recommend from my country is anything from Goran Stefanovski (I recommend Wild flesh) or Petre M Andreevski (I recommend Pirej), they touch on the suffering of the people in my country.
I am taking those recommendations and adding it to my own spreadsheet. If you have more recommendations though, I'd happy to read more Macedonian books (I really like the country, so reading books from it is something I'd like to do)!
If you called as EX- Yugoslavia, which is your country real name and stop trying to steal the history of other countries people wouldn't be that angry 😊
I'm surprised by how many of the same books we've chosen, like American Visa for Bolivia, and The Rainbow Troops for Indonesia (both are quite good!) I especially enjoyed and recommend (although they are not on your list) Captains of the Sands from Brazil, The Invention of Morel from Argentina, and The Good Soldier Svejk from Czechia.
Oh my god, brazilian here. You will love Dom Casmurro, and if it’s possible, try reading other Machado de Assis books, he is phenomenal. Specially “Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas”, this is my favorite of him.
This is incredible omg, I'm gonna use your spreadsheet to make my own, thank you so much for it!!! Also, I looked it up, and the Andorra book is originally in Spanish!
Also, one way to figure out the original language of a book is to check English Wikipedia (either the book's page or the author's page), because they include the original title. Salvadó's page lists "The teacher of Cheops" as "El mestre de Kheops". Because the title uses "mestre", rather than "maestro", I can safely assume it was originally written in Catalán (and for languages I'm not familiar with, I'd check Google Translate, DeepL, or similar sites capable of language detection)
I'm not Austrian myself, but having read Chess recently for my studies, I'd say it's an excellent choice. Zweig was a Jewish author born in the 1880s and, inevitably, all of his work was burned by the Nazis. Chess in particular falls under "exile literature" (a german "genre" of literature written while in exile, during the Nazi regime) and was Zweig's very last work. Shortly after, in 1942, Zweig, along with his wife, committed suicide by poison.
This is such a good template and v inspiring! For the Marshall Islands I think you’ve got a ~travel book so I’d highly rec IEP Jaltok by Marshallese poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner :)) Also, I’ve suggested this to a few ppl who are reading from every country, to include West Papua - they’ve been under occupation by Indonesia since the 60s w a sham referendum. I haven’t found a book entirely by a West Papuan writer so far (censorship is bad and I’ve only seen diaspora voices in articles/chapters) so The Road by John Martinkus is on my list for now
Thank you very much! I'm doing a similar challenge myself (I've compiled a different list of countries and decided on some criteria). I'm doing a couple other things too, but all prioritizing a decolonial perspective and local voices, so I've come across things like this a lot. I really appreciate the info and the rec, it is so hard to find them sometimes (let alone access the books in question).
Hi, I might be late on this topic & I'm not Guatemalan myself but I know that they have two important authors there who won a Nobel Prize, so it might be easier for you to find their books in your library: 1- Miguel Ángel Asturias, Nobel Prize for Literature 1967 2- Rigoberta Menchú - Nobel Peace Prize 1992. I'm actually Italian, so I'd recomment some personal favorites: - Primo Levi: If this is a Man (memoir about his experience in a Nazi concentration camp) - Michela Murgia: Accabadora (Fiction based on an old tradition unique to the island of Sardinia) - - Zerocalcare: any of his graphic novels, maybe start with Kobane Calling.
Also, for a lot of the countries listed you have books originally in English and about the country's history, rather than by an author from that country (I see that this is the case for Uzbekistan & Turkmenistan, for example) - I think it might be more helpful to look for translated literature from those & other such countries? After a few minutes on Google I found The Devils' Dance by Hamid Ismailov from Uzbekistan & The Tale of Aypi by Ak Weksapar for Turkmenistan. I know availability might be more limited for such books, but I personally think they seem more fitting to the spirit of the challenge. Good luck!
Yeah unfortunately I do have to consider availability - I would LOVE to buy 198 books, but I don't have that kind of money haha! I will check those out though and see if I can get my hands on them, thank you for the suggestions!
Hi there! For Hungary I would like to recommend "The Paul Street boys" by Ferenc Molnár. It is one of the most beloved and widely known classics of Hungarian literature in comparison to "Darkness at noon" (which, I'll admit, most of us have never heard of). The Paul Street boys is a must read for pupils not only in Hungary, but even in some of its neighbouring countries.
Catalan is the only official language in Andorra. The author apparently writes in both Catalan and Spanish, but that novel won the 1998 Nestor Lujan Award for historical fiction in Catalan, so the original is in Catalan. The translator seems to know Catalan, Portuguese and Spanish and is based on Barcelona, so the translation must also be straight from Catalan into English. Most of the books translated from Catalan into English are by Catalonian authors, so finding one from an Andorran must have been certainly challenging.
I see that for Uruguay you choosed Eduardo Galeano’s “Open Veins of Latin America”. Good book :) a really heavy read though. I recommend you to read “The Truce” by Mario Benedetti ❤🇺🇾
I said about 8 years ago that I wanted to read a book from every country, and made a list of the ones I have done, and some notes as to ones that could fulfill some of the prompts, but have been chipping away at to so very slowly, so I'll take a look and see if my library has any of these for counties I have read.
How are you doing with this challenge? I like Solaris for Poland (but Flights won a newer Noble prize it is a weird book though) and I'd suggest The Push by Ashley Audrain for Canada. Both are excellent. I was born in Poland, but I live in Canada. And Scarlet and Black for France; there are better French books (more enjoyable) but I've reread that one about 4 times and it's very thought provoking.
This is such a cool project! My one recommendation (which might slightly make things harder depending on if you decide to take it, so, sorry) is to swap The Island of Missing Trees for Turkey with another one of Elif Shafak's books - the book takes place in Cyprus and concerns Cypriot history, rather than Turkey itself, and while there are ethnically Turkish characters, they see themselves as Cypriots or Turkish Cypriots rather than Turks. Because of all that it wouldn't be my first choice of "Turkish Literature"(tm) - I'd recommend another one of Shafak's books, such as 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, or a different author such as Orhan Pamuk. If you're leaning towards classics more than contemporary fiction (as in, trying to check out what the literary canon looks like), you could also read Sabahattin Ali's Madonna in a Fur Coat (though most of the story takes place in Germany, not Turkey).
thank you SO MUCH for the spreadsheet, i've cleared it out and i'm adding in books that suit my own tastes and stuff (it's crazy that some countries have literally like 1 or 2 books) but i'm not a spreadsheet maker at all so thank u sm for this one !!
Hello for Kuwait, I think you would be able to source Saud Alsanousi books. Two that I'm sure are translated from Arabic to English are Mama Hissa's Mice and The Bamboo Stalk. Alsanousi is a very prominent author amongst Kuwaitis and other Arabs, and his novels often reflect parts of Kuwaiti society that some refuse to see or acknowledge. I would prefer Mama Hissa's Mice but it might be a personal taste.
For audiobooks I recommend Everand (you get more for the price than Audible and they have a cheaper subscription, plus you get e-books). For some obscure ones there is Open Library page. I'm doing this project myself and I'm enjoying the process so much.
May i use ur spreadsheet too? I meant reading the same books as u ( I want a little surprise for the upcoming year and finding new favourite reads without having to search a lot for good ones )
I would definitely recommend choosing an Irish and a Scottish and a welsh writer- perhaps only as long as they have written a text that represents their culture in opposition to their British colonial history. The people that are from indigenous Scottish, Irish and Welsh communities have unique language, culture, histories, and beliefs, and all were destroyed by English colonialism. It’s definitely worth including them!
Just curious, how long did it take you to read all of that? Btw, I am from Myanmar and the book you read is a good one. I would suggest "Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia" if you are interested a bit more about the country.
Might it be more accurate that you are reading a book set in every country?For example, for Burundi, the author is American talking about Burundi. Might I ask why this choice eg vs reading a book from a Burundian author like Gael Faye for example?
I am trying my best to find a book by an author from every country - for many it is quite challenging! So yes, for several countries these are books set within them rather than written by someone from them. I will take a look at the author you mentioned thank you for the suggestion :)
@@RoseEvans01Glad to hear, and thank you for the response! Much appreciated - I think it's really important to prioritise books from authors of the region, especially from African/indigenous voices over western ones tbh regarding their own experiences. Not all eg Romeo Dallaire is a good (not the best, but not bad) choice for Rwanda, but yh in general it's a good rule of thumb.
Hi! don’t see Puerto Rico. My recommendation, When I was a Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. From Dominican Republic, read In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. A great historical fiction, which I’m pretty sure you would enjoy, better than Junot Diaz.
As a chilean, instead of Neruda (yes, he´s a Nobel, but currently under cancellation due to his problematic life and alleged r4pe description on one of his autobiographical books). I recommend our other Nobel prize winner and a woman none the less, Gabriela Mistral (poetry. Far less problematic than Neruda). Also, a contemporary chilean author to look for is Isabel Allende, she's big now and have some very acclaimed novels (magical realism) like The house of the spirits or The japanese lover. A classical children's literature author we also have Marcela Paz, and her Papelucho, which depicts the costumbrist adventures of a highly imaginative boy and is part of every chilean kid formation, the way Tom Sawyer or Little women are for the US.
Common , Elif Şafak from Turkey :). Hard pass. She had to flee the country becasue she sided with the coup attempters in 2016. She has also some hardcore plagiarism issues at her table. Read Orhan Pamuk instead that is good. Still I applause your efforts ,you couldn't know her background and stance. Happy Reading!
@@Busha69the problem is the other side is not so hot on free speech either.They are one and the same but couldnt agree on leeching the country.For examle these people stole answers to the national university exam putting their pupils in key positions in the government.Millions of yörüngesinde people were effected.They were also aganist gezi protests.
@@Busha69 She wasn't aganist authoritarian rule.The other side which she supported was as terrible as the other.For example they stole the national university exam answers for ages giving their pupils upper hand.Then they moved those people to key positions in the government.Both parties were against Gezi protests for example. We don't want to choose one evil over the other. She was one of the selected few that party tolerated for face-value.Made a lot of money, undermined democratic institutions, accused good people so they stayed in prison for ages.
![reading around the world [ep 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GX7C0FZLVwk/mqdefault.jpg)
A Macedonian here, or as it's in your spreadsheet North Macedonian (although for Macedonians this is not the preferred name we like being used because we were made to change it for historical-political reasons from Bulgarians and Greeks), the book you've selected for my country is not actually from my country as far as i know. I've never even heard of that book and that author and according to wikipedia that author is Bulgarian which as I mentioned earlier it's controversial. A book I would recommend from my country is anything from Goran Stefanovski (I recommend Wild flesh) or Petre M Andreevski (I recommend Pirej), they touch on the suffering of the people in my country.
I am taking those recommendations and adding it to my own spreadsheet. If you have more recommendations though, I'd happy to read more Macedonian books (I really like the country, so reading books from it is something I'd like to do)!
You are referred to that because otherwise you are claiming a history that does not belong to you
If you called as EX- Yugoslavia, which is your country real name and stop trying to steal the history of other countries people wouldn't be that angry 😊
Because there is no such thing as "Macedonian". It's all Bulgarian.
why not an older macedonian book , written before the 1940s :D oh wait...
I'm surprised by how many of the same books we've chosen, like American Visa for Bolivia, and The Rainbow Troops for Indonesia (both are quite good!) I especially enjoyed and recommend (although they are not on your list) Captains of the Sands from Brazil, The Invention of Morel from Argentina, and The Good Soldier Svejk from Czechia.
Oh my god, brazilian here. You will love Dom Casmurro, and if it’s possible, try reading other Machado de Assis books, he is phenomenal. Specially “Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas”, this is my favorite of him.
Oh hell yeah, amazing rec. I loved that book (argentinian here, hi neighbour lol)
Neat spreadsheet. Read A Windup Bird Chronicle this last year, hope you enjoy it, gets pretty wild at times.
This is incredible omg, I'm gonna use your spreadsheet to make my own, thank you so much for it!!! Also, I looked it up, and the Andorra book is originally in Spanish!
Also, one way to figure out the original language of a book is to check English Wikipedia (either the book's page or the author's page), because they include the original title. Salvadó's page lists "The teacher of Cheops" as "El mestre de Kheops". Because the title uses "mestre", rather than "maestro", I can safely assume it was originally written in Catalán (and for languages I'm not familiar with, I'd check Google Translate, DeepL, or similar sites capable of language detection)
I'm not Austrian myself, but having read Chess recently for my studies, I'd say it's an excellent choice.
Zweig was a Jewish author born in the 1880s and, inevitably, all of his work was burned by the Nazis. Chess in particular falls under "exile literature" (a german "genre" of literature written while in exile, during the Nazi regime) and was Zweig's very last work. Shortly after, in 1942, Zweig, along with his wife, committed suicide by poison.
For Venezuela I read it would be night in caracas. I was able to get it from the library so it might be more accessible for you too!
This is such a good template and v inspiring!
For the Marshall Islands I think you’ve got a ~travel book so I’d highly rec IEP Jaltok by Marshallese poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner :))
Also, I’ve suggested this to a few ppl who are reading from every country, to include West Papua - they’ve been under occupation by Indonesia since the 60s w a sham referendum. I haven’t found a book entirely by a West Papuan writer so far (censorship is bad and I’ve only seen diaspora voices in articles/chapters) so The Road by John Martinkus is on my list for now
Thank you very much! I'm doing a similar challenge myself (I've compiled a different list of countries and decided on some criteria). I'm doing a couple other things too, but all prioritizing a decolonial perspective and local voices, so I've come across things like this a lot. I really appreciate the info and the rec, it is so hard to find them sometimes (let alone access the books in question).
Hi, I might be late on this topic & I'm not Guatemalan myself but I know that they have two important authors there who won a Nobel Prize, so it might be easier for you to find their books in your library:
1- Miguel Ángel Asturias, Nobel Prize for Literature 1967
2- Rigoberta Menchú - Nobel Peace Prize 1992.
I'm actually Italian, so I'd recomment some personal favorites:
- Primo Levi: If this is a Man (memoir about his experience in a Nazi concentration camp)
- Michela Murgia: Accabadora (Fiction based on an old tradition unique to the island of Sardinia) -
- Zerocalcare: any of his graphic novels, maybe start with Kobane Calling.
Oh my god Rose, this is the coolest nerdiest thing I have seen
It may indeed be the nerdiest thing I have ever done 😂
this is such an incredible idea, got a lot of recommendations from the spreadsheet, thanks!
Also, for a lot of the countries listed you have books originally in English and about the country's history, rather than by an author from that country (I see that this is the case for Uzbekistan & Turkmenistan, for example) - I think it might be more helpful to look for translated literature from those & other such countries? After a few minutes on Google I found The Devils' Dance by Hamid Ismailov from Uzbekistan & The Tale of Aypi by Ak Weksapar for Turkmenistan. I know availability might be more limited for such books, but I personally think they seem more fitting to the spirit of the challenge. Good luck!
Yeah unfortunately I do have to consider availability - I would LOVE to buy 198 books, but I don't have that kind of money haha! I will check those out though and see if I can get my hands on them, thank you for the suggestions!
Hi there!
For Hungary I would like to recommend "The Paul Street boys" by Ferenc Molnár. It is one of the most beloved and widely known classics of Hungarian literature in comparison to "Darkness at noon" (which, I'll admit, most of us have never heard of). The Paul Street boys is a must read for pupils not only in Hungary, but even in some of its neighbouring countries.
It's amazing! I'm in awe!
You inspired me to do the same :)
Catalan is the only official language in Andorra. The author apparently writes in both Catalan and Spanish, but that novel won the 1998 Nestor Lujan Award for historical fiction in Catalan, so the original is in Catalan. The translator seems to know Catalan, Portuguese and Spanish and is based on Barcelona, so the translation must also be straight from Catalan into English. Most of the books translated from Catalan into English are by Catalonian authors, so finding one from an Andorran must have been certainly challenging.
I see that for Uruguay you choosed Eduardo Galeano’s “Open Veins of Latin America”. Good book :) a really heavy read though.
I recommend you to read “The Truce” by Mario Benedetti ❤🇺🇾
Although I'm South Korean but for North Korea, "Friend" by Paek nam nyong
I said about 8 years ago that I wanted to read a book from every country, and made a list of the ones I have done, and some notes as to ones that could fulfill some of the prompts, but have been chipping away at to so very slowly, so I'll take a look and see if my library has any of these for counties I have read.
How are you doing with this challenge? I like Solaris for Poland (but Flights won a newer Noble prize it is a weird book though) and I'd suggest The Push by Ashley Audrain for Canada. Both are excellent. I was born in Poland, but I live in Canada. And Scarlet and Black for France; there are better French books (more enjoyable) but I've reread that one about 4 times and it's very thought provoking.
This is such a cool project! My one recommendation (which might slightly make things harder depending on if you decide to take it, so, sorry) is to swap The Island of Missing Trees for Turkey with another one of Elif Shafak's books - the book takes place in Cyprus and concerns Cypriot history, rather than Turkey itself, and while there are ethnically Turkish characters, they see themselves as Cypriots or Turkish Cypriots rather than Turks. Because of all that it wouldn't be my first choice of "Turkish Literature"(tm) - I'd recommend another one of Shafak's books, such as 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, or a different author such as Orhan Pamuk. If you're leaning towards classics more than contemporary fiction (as in, trying to check out what the literary canon looks like), you could also read Sabahattin Ali's Madonna in a Fur Coat (though most of the story takes place in Germany, not Turkey).
This is great, thank you!
from argentina i would also recommend Mariana Enriquez and Julio Cortázar ❤
thank you SO MUCH for the spreadsheet, i've cleared it out and i'm adding in books that suit my own tastes and stuff (it's crazy that some countries have literally like 1 or 2 books) but i'm not a spreadsheet maker at all so thank u sm for this one !!
This is so cool. I would love to use it as starting point
Hello for Kuwait, I think you would be able to source Saud Alsanousi books. Two that I'm sure are translated from Arabic to English are Mama Hissa's Mice
and The Bamboo Stalk. Alsanousi is a very prominent author amongst Kuwaitis and other Arabs, and his novels often reflect parts of Kuwaiti society that some refuse to see or acknowledge. I would prefer Mama Hissa's Mice but it might be a personal taste.
For audiobooks I recommend Everand (you get more for the price than Audible and they have a cheaper subscription, plus you get e-books). For some obscure ones there is Open Library page. I'm doing this project myself and I'm enjoying the process so much.
I highly recommend Cantoras by Caro de Robertis for Uruguay!
Hi! For Costa Rica I recommend Jose Leon Sanchez or Fernando Contreras Castro
May i use ur spreadsheet too? I meant reading the same books as u ( I want a little surprise for the upcoming year and finding new favourite reads without having to search a lot for good ones )
Wow. This is impressive. Have you made much progress on this list so far?
I would definitely recommend choosing an Irish and a Scottish and a welsh writer- perhaps only as long as they have written a text that represents their culture in opposition to their British colonial history. The people that are from indigenous Scottish, Irish and Welsh communities have unique language, culture, histories, and beliefs, and all were destroyed by English colonialism. It’s definitely worth including them!
Just curious, how long did it take you to read all of that? Btw, I am from Myanmar and the book you read is a good one. I would suggest "Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia" if you are interested a bit more about the country.
I have definitely NOT yet read all of these xD I have read about ten so far, I imagine it will take me at least a year or two haha!
How you like"The God of small things " by Arundhati Roy?
Might it be more accurate that you are reading a book set in every country?For example, for Burundi, the author is American talking about Burundi. Might I ask why this choice eg vs reading a book from a Burundian author like Gael Faye for example?
I am trying my best to find a book by an author from every country - for many it is quite challenging! So yes, for several countries these are books set within them rather than written by someone from them. I will take a look at the author you mentioned thank you for the suggestion :)
@@RoseEvans01Glad to hear, and thank you for the response! Much appreciated - I think it's really important to prioritise books from authors of the region, especially from African/indigenous voices over western ones tbh regarding their own experiences. Not all eg Romeo Dallaire is a good (not the best, but not bad) choice for Rwanda, but yh in general it's a good rule of thumb.
Hi! don’t see Puerto Rico. My recommendation, When I was a Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. From Dominican Republic, read In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. A great historical fiction, which I’m pretty sure you would enjoy, better than Junot Diaz.
As a chilean, instead of Neruda (yes, he´s a Nobel, but currently under cancellation due to his problematic life and alleged r4pe description on one of his autobiographical books). I recommend our other Nobel prize winner and a woman none the less, Gabriela Mistral (poetry. Far less problematic than Neruda). Also, a contemporary chilean author to look for is Isabel Allende, she's big now and have some very acclaimed novels (magical realism) like The house of the spirits or The japanese lover. A classical children's literature author we also have Marcela Paz, and her Papelucho, which depicts the costumbrist adventures of a highly imaginative boy and is part of every chilean kid formation, the way Tom Sawyer or Little women are for the US.
I loved Allende's trilogy Memories of the Eagle and the Jaguar! But I did read it when I was like 12 so I should probably give it a re read
Common , Elif Şafak from Turkey :). Hard pass. She had to flee the country becasue she sided with the coup attempters in 2016. She has also some hardcore plagiarism issues at her table. Read Orhan Pamuk instead that is good. Still I applause your efforts ,you couldn't know her background and stance. Happy Reading!
How terrible of her to be against authoritarian rule and for free speech wow
@@Busha69the problem is the other side is not so hot on free speech either.They are one and the same but couldnt agree on leeching the country.For examle these people stole answers to the national university exam putting their pupils in key positions in the government.Millions of yörüngesinde people were effected.They were also aganist gezi protests.
@@Busha69 She wasn't aganist authoritarian rule.The other side which she supported was as terrible as the other.For example they stole the national university exam answers for ages giving their pupils upper hand.Then they moved those people to key positions in the government.Both parties were against Gezi protests for example. We don't want to choose one evil over the other. She was one of the selected few that party tolerated for face-value.Made a lot of money, undermined democratic institutions, accused good people so they stayed in prison for ages.