challenge: books from 20 nations in one calendar year

[John]

my challenge is a simple one meant to diversify the scope of my reading agenda. between 08/24/09 and 08/23/10, i endeavor to read books by authors who were born in at least 20 different countries. please feel free to make suggestions or join this challenge. updates to come.

1) chile - roberto bolano / 2666
2) japan - haruki murakami / kafka on the shore
3) united states - rebecca solnit / wanderlust (currently reading)
4) china - ma jian / red dust
5) argentina - jorge luis borges / fictions (currently reading)

[edit: 6 Oct 09]

[John]

1) chile - roberto bolano / 2666
2) japan - haruki murakami / kafka on the shore
3) united states - rebecca solnit / wanderlust
4) china - ma jian / red dust
5) argentina - jorge luis borges / fictions
6) south africa - greg marinovich and joao silva / the bang bang club
7) spain - miguel cervantes /don quixote (up next)

[edit: 11/6]

[John]

1) chile - roberto bolano / 2666
2) japan - haruki murakami / kafka on the shore
3) united states - rebecca solnit / wanderlust
4) china - ma jian / red dust
5) argentina - jorge luis borges / fictions
6) south africa - greg marinovich and joao silva / the bang bang club
7) france - andre gide / the counterfeiters
8) spain - miguel cervantes /don quixote (currently reading)

hm. i'm finding myself with ample reading time, which is making this challenge look far more doable - even with other reads spliced in - than i'd originally thought. who knows, maybe don quixote will bring me to a grinding halt. or i'll endeavor to read the damn thing twice. maybe i'll slow myself down by trying to hunt up obscure titles in bangkok's ostensibly mainstream-friendly shops.

[edit: 11/21]

[John]

1) chile - roberto bolano / 2666
2) japan - haruki murakami / kafka on the shore
3) united states - rebecca solnit / wanderlust
4) china - ma jian / red dust
5) argentina - jorge luis borges / fictions
6) south africa - greg marinovich and joao silva / the bang bang club
7) france - andre gide / the counterfeiters
8) spain - miguel cervantes / don quixote
9) thailand - char korbjitti / the judgment
10) russia - vladimir nabakov / pale fire (currently reading)
11) austria - heinrich harrer / seven years in tibet (currently reading)

old 900 page don q. slows things down...
[edit: 01/02/10]

[John]

1) chile - roberto bolano / 2666
2) japan - haruki murakami / kafka on the shore
3) united states - rebecca solnit / wanderlust
4) china - ma jian / red dust
5) argentina - jorge luis borges / fictions
6) south africa - greg marinovich and joao silva / the bang bang club
7) france - andre gide / the counterfeiters
8) spain - miguel cervantes / don quixote
9) thailand - char korbjitti / the judgment
10) russia - vladimir nabakov / pale fire
11) austria - heinrich harrer / seven years in tibet
12) uk - virginia woolf / mrs. dalloway (currently reading)
13) australia - tim winton / cloudstreet (currently reading)

[John]

1) chile - roberto bolano / 2666
2) japan - haruki murakami / kafka on the shore
3) united states - rebecca solnit / wanderlust
4) china - ma jian / red dust
5) argentina - jorge luis borges / fictions
6) south africa - greg marinovich and joao silva / the bang bang club
7) france - andre gide / the counterfeiters
8) spain - miguel cervantes / don quixote
9) thailand - char korbjitti / the judgment
10) russia - vladimir nabakov / pale fire
11) austria - heinrich harrer / seven years in tibet
12) uk - virginia woolf / mrs. dalloway
13) australia - tim winton / cloudstreet
14) canada - margaret atwood / oryx & crake (currently reading)

[John]

1) chile - roberto bolano / 2666
2) japan - haruki murakami / kafka on the shore
3) united states - rebecca solnit / wanderlust
4) china - ma jian / red dust
5) argentina - jorge luis borges / fictions
6) south africa - greg marinovich and joao silva / the bang bang club
7) france - andre gide / the counterfeiters
8) spain - miguel cervantes / don quixote
9) thailand - char korbjitti / the judgment
10) russia - vladimir nabakov / pale fire
11) austria - heinrich harrer / seven years in tibet
12) uk - virginia woolf / mrs. dalloway
13) australia - tim winton / cloudstreet
14) canada - margaret atwood / oryx & crake
15) ukraine - joseph conrad / heart of darkness
16) turkey - laszlo krasznahorkai / the melancholy of resistance (next on my list)

[John]

1) chile - roberto bolano / 2666
2) japan - haruki murakami / kafka on the shore
3) united states - rebecca solnit / wanderlust
4) china - ma jian / red dust
5) argentina - jorge luis borges / fictions
6) south africa - greg marinovich and joao silva / the bang bang club
7) france - andre gide / the counterfeiters
8) spain - miguel cervantes / don quixote
9) thailand - char korbjitti / the judgment
10) russia - vladimir nabakov / pale fire
11) austria - heinrich harrer / seven years in tibet
12) uk - virginia woolf / mrs. dalloway
13) australia - tim winton / cloudstreet
14) canada - margaret atwood / oryx & crake
15) ukraine - joseph conrad / heart of darkness
16) turkey - laszlo krasznahorkai / the melancholy of resistance
17) iran - sadegh hedayat / blind owl (currently reading)

[Erich]

Can I recommend different authors for countries already listed? For example I would go with Mishima Yukio from Japan and for Thailand I would try Khamsing Srinawk or The White Shadow by Sangsuk....

[John]

you can recommend anything you like! the books/authors selected here are by no means a reflection on my familiarity with them or their origins. some of these titles i read for my book club, some had been on my shelf, some came recommended from friends, some are classics i'd never read, others i'd simply been meaning to read. though none were read purely by chance.

there are many ideas one could spin off this that would create interesting reading lists - regional reading list, city specific lit, etc. why not have a go at your own challenge and then we can talk shop?

mine, updated (yes, i've lost steam for this challenge in recent months. i didn't know it then, but ample reading time made this one a bit too easy.):

1) chile - roberto bolano / 2666
2) japan - haruki murakami / kafka on the shore
3) united states - rebecca solnit / wanderlust
4) china - ma jian / red dust
5) argentina - jorge luis borges / fictions
6) south africa - greg marinovich and joao silva / the bang bang club
7) france - andre gide / the counterfeiters
8) spain - miguel cervantes / don quixote
9) thailand - chart korbjitti / the judgment
10) russia - vladimir nabakov / pale fire
11) austria - heinrich harrer / seven years in tibet
12) uk - virginia woolf / mrs. dalloway
13) australia - tim winton / cloudstreet
14) canada - margaret atwood / oryx & crake
15) ukraine - joseph conrad / heart of darkness
16) turkey - laszlo krasznahorkai / the melancholy of resistance
17) iran - sadegh hedayat / blind owl
18) iceland - halldor laxness / independent people (currently reading)

[John]

so... during my challenge period time i read 45 books and yet failed to reach the goal of 20 different nationalities among authors. hm. failed at precisely the goal of the challenge, though i do feel that i diversified my reading list.