Around the World in 65 Books - A Retrospective

 

Back in 2023 I read a number of translated novels from different countries and, enjoying the contrast in cultures, wondered if I could plot a route around the world and read a novel from each country along that route.

The original plan was 1 novel each from 65 different countries. But I got distracted at various points along the way, and it soon became obvious that getting a sense of a country from one view point was impossible. And so I ended up reading 100 novels from 77 different countries.

The challenge has been amazing, I've read books I would never have come across otherwise and have some new favourite authors. There were a few books I didn't enjoy, but I read them all to the end, and got something from every single one.

Picking out highlights from such a diverse group is difficult, but I marked each out of 100 as I read (more of a gut feeling than anything mathematical) and these, in reverse order for dramatic purposes are my top five:

5. The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa (Japan)

A very stylish, calm and collected look at how totalitarian governments can take away who we are, a piece at a time.

4. When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Solà (Spain)

A series of vignettes told from various points of view (including the mountains themselves, which weave together to give an initmate portrayal of a place and a community. 

3. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (Poland)

A dark tale set in the bleak Polish forest, where shadows lurk in the peripheries. A story that stays with you long after you close the book.

2. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (USA)

An Appalachian retelling of David Copperfield. Both Dickensian and modern.

1. Verdigris by Michele Mari (Italy)

A masterpiece, visceral and enigmatic. A childhood tale that blends reality with the dark imagination of a child brought up on Lovecraft and Scott, and comes up with something that is neither, and both.

So what next? Well, I'm going round again, but this time more slowly.

The Complete List

(I only started this blog at Kenya, reviews for the earlier books can be found on my goodreads page.)

1 UK             Pine by Francine Toon

2 Ireland     The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

3             Prophet Song by Paul Lynche

4 Iceland     The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

5 Greenland  Last Night in Nuuk by Niviaq Korneliussen

6 Canada     Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

7 USA            Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

8 Mexico     Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

9 Cuba           Havana Red by Leonard Padura

10 Haiti     Dézafi by  Frankétienne

11     God Loves Haiti by Dimitry Elias Léger

12 Jamaica     Augustown by Kei Miller

13 Panama     Come Together, Fall Apart by Cristina Henríquez

14 Colombia    The Devil of the Provinces by Juan Cárdenas

15 Peru     Red April by Santiago Roncagliolo

16 Brazil     Of Cattle and Men by Ana Paula Maia

17     There Were Many Horses by Luiz Ruffato

18 Argentina    Open Door by Iosi Havilio

19 Chile     The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán

20 Easter Island The Last Tree on Easter Island by Jared Diamond

21 French Polynesia Breadfruit by Célestine Vaite

22 Samoa     Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel

23 Fiji             Kava in the Blood by Peter Thomson

24 New Zealand Backwaters by Emma Ling Sidnam

25             The Bone Tree by Airana Ngarewa

26 Australia    Monkey Grip by Helen Garner

27     Mullumbimby by Melissa Lucashenko

28 Papua New Guinea Four Corners by Kira Salak

29 Indonesia    Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan

30 Con Dao     The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

31 Vietnam     The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

32 Philippines The Songs of Salanda by H Arlo Nimmo

33             Manila Noir by Various

34 Taiwan     The Stolen Bicycle by Wu Ming-Yi

35 South Korea Greek Lessons by Han Kang

36 North Korea The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea by Bandi

37 Japan     The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

38     The Rainbow by Yasunari Kawabata

39 Japan     Butter by Asako Yuzuki

40 Russia     A Dream in Polar Fog by Yuri Rytkheu

41             A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

42 Mongolia    The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag

43 China     The Day the Sun Died by Yan Lianke

44              Ghost Music by An Yu

45 Tibet            Old Demons New Dieties by Varioius

46 India     Shakchunni by Arnab Ray

47     Tell the Tale, Urvashi by Dalip Kaur Tiwana

48 Pakistan     Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid

49 Afghanistan Nothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on Wednesday by Jamaluddin Aram

50             Tali Girls by Siamak Herawi

51 Iran     The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat

52 Iraq     Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi

53             The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon

54 Syria            Huddud's House by Fadi Azzam

55 Palestine     Sand-Catcher by Omar Khalifah

56             The Trinity of Fundamentals by Wisam Rafeedie

57 Israel     Homesick by Eshkol Nevo

58 Egypt     The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany

59 Sudan     A Mouthful of Salt by Reem Gaafar

60 Ethiopia     The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste

61 Kenya     One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina

62 Uganda     A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

63 DR Congo Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila

64 Congo     Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou

65 Gabon     Mema by Daniel Mengara

66 Equitorial Guinea La Bastarda by Obono, Trifonia Melibea

67 Cameroon  How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

68     Cruel City by Mongo Beti

69 Nigeria     The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola

70                     And So I Roar by Abi Daré

71 Niger     The Epic of Askia Mohammed by Nouhou Malio

72 Algeria     The Stranger by Albert Camus

73 Morocco     The Sand Child by Tahar Ben Jelloun

74 Spain     Beautiful and Dark by Rosa Montero

75             Mammoth by Eva Baltasar

76             When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Solà

77 France     Faces on the Tip of My Tongue by Emmanuelle Pagano

78             Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes

79             My Life as Edgar by Dominique Fabre

80 Belgium     The Edges by Angelo Tijssens

81 Holland     The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld

82 Germany    Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

83 Denmark    Money to Burn by Asta Olivia Nordenhof

84 Poland     Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

85 Slovakia     In the Name of the Father by Balla

86 Austria     Gargoyles by Thomas Bernhard

87 Switzerland Great Fear on the Mountain by Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz

88 Italy     Verdigris by Michele Mari

89             Cazzarola!: Anarchy, Romani, Love, Italy by Norman Nawrocki

90 Albania     The File on H by Ismail Kadare

91 Greece     The Murderess by Alexandros Papadiamantis

92 Bulgaria     Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov

93 Romania    Life Begins on Friday by Ioana Pârvulescu

94 Hungary     Satantango by László Krasznahorkai

95 Ukraine     Lucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets

96 Russia     The Blizzard by Vladimir Solokin

97 Finland     Troll: A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo

98 Sweden     When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén

99 Norway     Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsen

100 UK             Holy Island by LJ Ross