In the fall of 2009, I embarked on a personal reading project: I would attempt to read a work of fiction from every country in the world! I was motivated by an awareness of my own ignorance about so many nations, and the idea that this might be a fun way to learn more. I would combine my fiction reading with some reading about the history of the country in question.
I knew there would be many challenges, and I was not disappointed on that front. There were obvious ones, such as the availability of books translated into English (the only language I read), especially from smaller nations. Other, subtler ones appeared: What is a country? What does it mean to say that a book is part of the literature of that country? How does one choose when a country has one of the “great literatures” (like Russia or France)? Is it a worthwhile exercise if the only available book from a country is terribly written or poorly translated?
My solution: relax and enjoy. My games, my rules, and I can make them up and bend them as I go along. To see my list and my personal set of rules, read on! (See also my note on “Interludes”)
