I used to have a cookbook for kids — still do, come to think of it — called Cooking is a Way Round the World. Hence the post title. To quote Julie:
In one of my Goodreads groups, a clever person had the idea of each of us challenging ourselves to read a book by an author from every country. Obviously, this is a big challenge, and not something that can be banged out in three minutes, or even three months (for most of us!)
This struck me as an excellent idea. I think of it as like Munroing: there may be a few nutters who race to climb all 284 peaks in the fastest possible time, but for most people it’s a lifetime target, just picking off a few a year as opportunity allows.
Until the sport’s governing body comes up with an official set of rules, I’m allowing myself any genre, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, whatever; and I’m starting with the 192 member states of the UN plus any additional pseudo-nations I think are worth adding. At the moment the target is 201*. Just racking my brains for books I’ve already read, my initial score was 36.
My current total is: 134
Details below the fold.
You can also see which countries I’ve ticked off on a map here.
‘Countries’ which are not UN member states are marked with an asterisk.
Afghanistan - Albania – Algeria – Andorra – Angola – *Antarctica - Antigua and Barbuda – Argentina – Armenia – Australia – Austria – Azerbaijan – Bahamas – Bahrain – Bangladesh – Barbados – Belarus – Belgium – Belize – Benin – Bhutan – Bolivia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Botswana – Brazil – Brunei Darussalam – Bulgaria – Burkina Faso – Burundi – Cambodia – Cameroon – Canada – Cape Verde – Central African Republic – Chad – Chile – China – Colombia – Comoros – Congo – *Cook Islands – Costa Rica – Côte d’Ivoire – Croatia – Cuba – Cyprus – Czech Republic – Democratic Republic of the Congo – Denmark – Djibouti – Dominica – Dominican Republic – Ecuador – Egypt – El Salvador – Equatorial Guinea – Eritrea – Estonia – Ethiopia – Fiji – Finland – France – Gabon – Gambia – Georgia – Germany – Ghana – Greece – *Greenland – Grenada – Guatemala – Guinea – Guinea-Bissau – Guyana – Haiti – Honduras – Hungary – Iceland – India – Indonesia – Iran – Iraq – Ireland – Israel – Italy – Jamaica – Japan – Jordan – Kazakhstan – Kenya – Kiribati – Kuwait – Kyrgyzstan – Laos – Latvia – Lebanon – Lesotho – Liberia – Libya – Liechtenstein – Lithuania – Luxembourg – Macedonia, FYRO – Madagascar – Malawi – Malaysia – Maldives – Mali – Malta – Marshall Islands – Mauritania – Mauritius – Mexico – Micronesia, Federated States of – Moldova – Monaco – Mongolia – Montenegro – Morocco – Mozambique – Myanmar – Namibia – Nauru – Nepal – Netherlands – New Zealand – Nicaragua – Niger – Nigeria – North Korea – Norway – Oman – Pakistan – Palau – *Palestine – Panama – Papua New Guinea – Paraguay – Peru – Philippines – Poland – Portugal – Qatar – Romania – Russia – Rwanda – Saint Kitts and Nevis – Saint Lucia – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Samoa – San Marino – Sao Tome and Principe – Saudi Arabia – Senegal – Serbia – Seychelles – Sierra Leone – Singapore – Slovakia – Slovenia – Solomon Islands – Somalia – South Africa – South Korea – South Sudan – Spain – Sri Lanka – Sudan – Suriname – Swaziland – Sweden – Switzerland – Syria – Tajikistan – Tanzania – Thailand – *Tibet – Timor-Leste – Togo – Tonga – Trinidad and Tobago – Tunisia – Turkey – Turkmenistan – Tuvalu – Uganda – Ukraine – United Arab Emirates – UK [*England - *Northern Ireland - *Scotland - *Wales] – United States of America – Uruguay – Uzbekistan – Vanuatu – Venezuela – Vietnam – Yemen – Zambia - Zimbabwe
Afghanistan
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
Algeria
The Stranger, Albert Camus
Andorra
The Teacher of Cheops, Albert Salvadó
Angola
The Whistler, Ondjaki
Antigua and Barbuda
Annie John, Jamaica Kincaid
Argentina
Labyrinths, Jorge Luis Borges
Australia
Brilliant Creatures, Clive James
Azerbaijan
How Life Imitates Chess, Garry Kasparov
Bahamas
Mama Lily and the Dead, Nicolette Bethel
Barbados
Whispering Death: The Life and Times of Michael Holding, Michael Holding with Tony Cozier
Belarus
Voices from Chernobyl, Svetlana Alexievich
Belize
Beka Lamb, Zee Edgell
Bosnia and Herzegovina
How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone, Saša Stanišić
Brazil
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, Jorge Amado
Burkina Faso
Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman, Malidoma Patrice Somé
Burundi
The Running Man, Gilbert Tuhabonye
Cambodia
Survival in the Killing Fields, Haing Ngor and Roger Warner
Canada
Being in Being : The Collected Works of a Master Haida Mythteller, Skaay of the Qquuna Qiighawaay (trans. Robert Bringhurst)
Cape Verde
The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo, Germano Almeida
Chad
Told by Starlight in Chad, Joseph Brahim Seid
Chile
House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende
China
Wild Swans, Jung Chang
Colombia
The Autumn of the Patriarch, Gabriel García Márquez
Congo
Broken Glass, Alain Mabanckou
Cook Islands
Island Boy, Sir Tom Davis, Pa Tuterangi Ariki
Côte d’Ivoire
Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote, Ahmadou Kourouma
Croatia
The Culture of Lies, Dubravka Ugrešić
Cuba
Three Trapped Tigers, Guillermo Cabrera Infante
Cyprus
Echoes from the Dead Zone, Yiannis Papadakis
Czech Republic
The Good Soldier Švejk, Jaroslav Hašek
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Life and a Half, Sony Lab’ou Tansi
Dominican Republic
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz
Djibouti
The Land Without Shadows, Abdourahman A. Waberi
Ecuador
Beyond the Islands, Alicia Yánez Cossío
Egypt
The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 1940-1640 BC, trans. R.B. Parkinson
Equatorial Guinea
Shadows of your Black Memory, Donato Ndongo
Eritrea
Who Needs a Story? — Contemporary Eritrean Poetry in Tigrinya, Tigre and Arabic, ed. Charles Cantalupo and Ghirmai Negash
Estonia
Treading Air, Jaan Kross
Ethiopia
Warrior King, Sahle Sellassie
Finland
The Year of the Hare, Arto Paasilinna
France
Chéri, Colette
Germany
Steppenwolf, Hermann Hesse
Greece
Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis
Greenland
Across Arctic America, Knud Rasmussen
Grenada
Ragamuffin, Tobias S. Buckell
Guatemala
The President, Miguel Angel Asturias
Guinea
The King of Kahel, Tierno Monénembo
Guyana
From Sir, With Love, E.R. Braithwaite
Haiti
Masters of the Dew, Jacques Roumain
Honduras
Complete Works and Other Stories, Augusto Monterroso
Hungary
Journey By Moonlight, Antal Szerb
Iceland
Independent People, Halldór Laxness
India
The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
Indonesia
This Earth of Mankind, Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Iran
My Father’s Notebook, Kader Abdolah
Iraq
Thirsty River, Rodaan Al Galidi
Ireland
Ulysses, James Joyce
Italy
The Leopard, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
Japan
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami
Jordan
Cities of Salt, Abdelrahman Munif
Kenya
A Grain of Wheat, Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o
Kuwait
The Chronicles of Dathra, a Dowdy Girl from Kuwait, Danderma
Kyrgyzstan
The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years, Chingiz Aitmatov
Laos
Mother’s Beloved: Stories from Laos, Outhine Bounyavong
Lebanon
The Book of Khalid, Ameen Rihani
Lesotho
Chaka, Thomas Mofolo
Liberia
Redemption Road, Elma Shaw
Libya
The Bleeding of the Stone, Ibrahim Al-Koni
Madagascar
Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo
Malawi
The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison, Jack Mapanje
Mali
The Fortunes of Wangrin, Amadou Hampaté Bâ
Malta
The Maltese Baron… and I Lucian, Francis Ebejer
Marshall Islands
Life in the Republic of the Marshall Islands , ed. Anono Lieom Loeak, Veronica C. Kiluwe, Linda Crowl
Mauritius
Blue Bay Palace, Natacha Appanah
Micronesia, Federated States of
My Urohs, Emelihter Kihleng
Moldova
From Tajikistan to the Moon, Robert Frimtzis
Mongolia
The Blue Mountain, Galsan Tschinag
Mozambique
We killed Mangy-Dog & other Mozambique stories, Luis Bernardo Honwana
Myanmar
From the Land of Green Ghosts, Pascal Khoo Thwe
Nauru
Legends, Traditions and Tales of Nauru, Timothy Detudamo
Nepal
The Soul of the Rhino, Hemanta Mishra
Netherlands
The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank
New Zealand
The Bone People, Keri Hulme
Nicaragua
The Country Under My Skin, Gioconda Belli
Nigeria
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
North Korea
This is Paradise! My North Korean Childhood, Hyok Kang
Norway
The Ice Palace, Tarjei Vesaas
Pakistan
Kartography, Kamila Shamsie
Palestine
The Butterfly’s Burden, Mahmoud Darwish
Papua New Guinea
Maiba, Russell Soaba
Peru
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Mario Vargas Llosa
Philippines
Noli Me Tangere, José Rizal
Poland
The Secret Agent, Joseph Conrad
Portugal
The Maias, José Maria de Eça de Queiroz
Qatar
Qatari Voices, ed. Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar and Carol Henderson
Russia
The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Saint Lucia
Tiepolo’s Hound, Derek Walcott
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
City of Arches, Vivian Child
Samoa
Leaves of the Banyan Tree, Albert Wendt
San Marino
The Republic of San Marino, Charles de Bruc
Seychelles
88 Days – A true story of Somali Pirates in the Indian Ocean, Francis Roucou
Sierra Leone
The Devil That Danced on the Water, Aminatta Forna
Singapore
Equal to the Earth, Jee Leong Koh
Slovakia
Rivers of Babylon by Peter Pišťanek
Solomon Islands
The Big Death: Solomon Islanders Remember World War II
Slovenia
The Golden Boat by Srečko Kosovel
South Africa
Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela
Spain
Don Quixote, Cervantes
Sri Lanka
Anil’s Ghost, Michael Ondaatje
Sudan
Season of Migration to the North, Tayeb Salih
Suriname
The Free Negress Elisabeth, Cynthia Mc Leod
Swaziland
The Wah-Wah Diaries, Richard E. Grant
Switzerland
The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse
Syria
A Woman in the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolution, Samar Yazbek
Tajikistan
The Sands of Oxus, Sadriddin Aini
Tibet
Born in Tibet, Chögyam Trungpa
Togo
An African in Greenland, Tété-Michel Kpomassie
Tonga
Songs Of Love: New And Selected Poems (1974-1999), Konai Helu Thaman
Trinidad and Tobago
Beyond the Boundary, C.L.R. James
Uganda
Abyssinian Chronicles, Moses Isegawa
United Arab Emirates
The Diesel, Thani al-Suwaidi
United Kingdom:
Crome Yellow, Aldous Huxley
Opened Ground: Selected Poems, 1966-1996, Seamus Heaney
Whit, Iain Banks
Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas
United States of America
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Uruguay
Soccer in Sun and Shadow, Eduardo Galeano
Ukraine
Only Yesterday, S.Y. Agnon
Uzbekistan
The Railway, Hamid Ismailov
Vanuatu
Black Stone, Grace Mera Molisa
Vietnam
The Paradise of the Blind, Duong Thu Huong
Yemen
The Hostage, Zayd Mutee‘ Dammaj
Zambia
Poceza m’Madzulo: Some Chinyanja Radio Plays of Julius Chongo with English Translations, Ernst R. Wendland
Zimbabwe
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller
*The UN states, with the UK broken down into four regions, plus Palestine, Tibet, Antarctica, Greenland and the Cook Islands. EDIT: And as of July 2011, South Sudan; which isn’t a member of the UN yet, but I assume will be soon.
14 Comments
I don’t know what rules you’ve set up for yourself, since we’re all different, but Alexander McCall Smith was actually born in Zimbabwe, though he writes about Botswana. I’m filing him under Zimbabwe, I think, though it appears Zimbabwe is a much easier country to fill than Botswana!
I don’t really know what rules I’m using either, but I don’t think McCall Smith qualifies. I think I might scratch him altogether and look for someone else for Zimbabwe.
Tsitsi Dangarembga is another Zimbabwean.
Thanks, I’ll keep her in mind.
Harry, we’re flexible on the rules. I’ve already reclassified a few books and expect this to continue; certainly when I read an author who’s clearly a better fit. I’ve also shifted some of my exemplars from the books I’ve previously read–this morning I thought “Michael White! He’s an Aussie writer whose work is incredibly relevant to my profession! I should list him rather than Garth Nix!”
Good :)
The point of the exercise, for me, is to read a lot of books I wouldn’t otherwise have read, and I’m sure that will happen however I approach it.
At the moment the prospect seems a little daunting, but I’m not setting a deadline and I should have a few decades left to tick off the remaining 163 countries, so there’s no rush.
That’s exactly it for me, too, Harry. My horizons can get way too narrow if I don’t take care to expand them. I’m very excited about some of the books I’ve put on my list, but I never would have thought to look for them if not for this challenge.
Some books from The Bahamas:
Bahamas – No Seeds in Babylon or God’s Angry Babies, Ian Strachan, or You Can Lead A Horse To Water, Winston Saunders
All are available online.
You could also read my play, which is available from Lulu.com. I take full responsibility for the awfulness of the photos.
Yes, it occurred to me I could order Jee Leong’s book to tick off Singapore, as well.
I might pick your brains for other Caribbean writers later, as well.
I’ve posted longer lists on Shoshana’s blog.
Excellent, thanks for that.
Thanks Harry for your lovely commentaries, reviews and insight. As we re-read the literary world map about us all through Heraclitean Fire I wonder if we could stop by at some ports of call and re-fuel with what’s new by way of titles, the read, the unread, and the yet to be read… What I mean is, say, how about stopping by at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and checking out what’s new there. Be invited, feel most invited, great countries, great cultures and great lovers of the word, and check out The Anuki Country Press. There could be more from that island in the Pacific…
You should try reading Kim Young-Ha’s books or Shin Kyung-sook’s books for South Korea part. They are both good and available in English, I believe.
Thanks, I’ll them out!
[Check them out, rather. Doh.]
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