If You Can Only Read One Book Per Country, Make It This
“I am hardly the first person to have ever thought ‘wouldn’t it be neat to read books written by authors from every country in the world, at least one each?’,” says Giulia [last name not given], whose recent question on Reddit sparked a deep, fascinating look at the books readers recommend being read from their country.
“I like gathering recommendations and opinions from multiple sources and eventually converging onto a book with (1) a premise that intrigues me, (2) which has been recommended as representing some part of the national or regional culture well and (3) that will keep my momentum going for the rest of the list!,” she said.
In the r/booksuggestions subreddit, Giulia asked what she admitted to being a tough question: If you only read one book from my country, make it…, leaving space for users to drop their suggestions into the thread.
And respond they did.
Book suggestions poured in from around the world, including titles that have been translated into English, as well as those which haven’t.
“I think different people understood the question differently: some people clearly recommended a book they particularly liked from a given country, without further considerations, while others opted for the books that they thought contained the best essentialised summary of their culture à la ‘this will explain what it’s like to be X or live in X’, and others went for what are considered their national classics. It’s a good mix, and I’m happy people kept it open,” said Giulia.
Her goal in asking the question was to help develop a project for her reading life.
“I like to strengthen my knowledge by just revisiting a certain topic (in this case, country) multiple times and creating connections between different pieces of media and putting myself in a place where I need to research something to understand the missing links. I have a similar list to this one, with movies from various countries!” she said, noting that because people took the question in so many different ways, she feels like there are now multiple projects on her hands. Born in Italy and residing there until she was about 18, Giulia has lived in other European countries for the last 8 years.
In what will be familiar refrain for everyone who enjoys a book or two, Giulia is excited about the reading future ahead with these recommendations, but she’s also intimidated by the reality of time being a limited resource.
“I plan on taking these lovely recommendations as guidelines for what books to buy next, after I am done with the pile I currently have on my desk! As a whole, I definitely consider this a bit of a reading challenge, as with every day that passes, I realise that the number of books I will read in my lifetime is finite, and if I don’t start making smart choices now, I will never be able to peek into all these other realities that exist in the world,” she said.
So, what’s on the list? A little bit of everything!
“I think different people understood the question differently: some people clearly recommended a book they particularly liked from a given country, without further considerations, while others opted for the books that they thought contained the best essentialised summary of their culture à la ‘this will explain what it’s like to be X or live in X’, and others went for what are considered their national classics. It’s a good mix, and I’m happy people kept it open,” said Giulia.
Her goal in asking the question was to help develop a project for her reading life.
“I like to strengthen my knowledge by just revisiting a certain topic (in this case, country) multiple times and creating connections between different pieces of media and putting myself in a place where I need to research something to understand the missing links. I have a similar list to this one, with movies from various countries!” she said, noting that because people took the question in so many different ways, she feels like there are now multiple projects on her hands. Born in Italy and residing there until she was about 18, Giulia has lived in other European countries for the last 8 years.
In what will be familiar refrain for everyone who enjoys a book or two, Giulia is excited about the reading future ahead with these recommendations, but she’s also intimidated by the reality of time being a limited resource.
“I plan on taking these lovely recommendations as guidelines for what books to buy next, after I am done with the pile I currently have on my desk! As a whole, I definitely consider this a bit of a reading challenge, as with every day that passes, I realise that the number of books I will read in my lifetime is finite, and if I don’t start making smart choices now, I will never be able to peek into all these other realities that exist in the world,” she said.
So, what’s on the list? A little bit of everything!
- Albania: The General of the Dead Army by Ismail Kadare
- Argentina: Fictions by Borges; Rayuela by Julio Cortázar
- Australia: Candy: A novel of love and addiction by Luke Davies; Cloudstreet by Tim Winton; Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey; The secret river by Kate Grenville; The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay; The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- Austria: Chess Novel by Stefan Zweig
- Azerbaijan: Ali and Nino by Qurban Saeed
- Bangladesh: Shesh Bikeler Meye by Zahir Rayhan
- Belgium: The Misfortunates by Dimitri Verhulst; Any book from Eric Emmanuel Schmidt
- Bosnia: Bridge Over Drina by Ivo Andrić; Derviš i smrt by Meša Selimović; The Legend of Ali-Pasha by Enver Čolaković
- Brazil: Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis; The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Machado de Assis
- Canada: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (or the Handmaid’s Tale or Alias Grace); The Black Donnellys by Thomas P. Kelly.; Anything by Alice Munro; The Life of Pi by Yann Martel; Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald; Any Mordecai Richler
- Chile: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño; El Obsceno Pájaro de la Noche by José Donoso; Los Detectives Salvajes by Roberto Bolaño (Donoso’s novel is a bit more complicated, because it requires a certain level of knowledge about his previews work and the context of the book but it is a masterpiece); La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende
- China: 活著 by 余華 （“To Live” by Hua Yu)
- Colombia: 100 Años de Soledad by Gabriel García Marquez
