Round the World Reader Targets Every Country

A Cotham bookseller is on a global mission - to read at least one book by an author from every country in the world.

Andy

Barnes, who works at Waterstones in Broadmead and also volunteers at Cotham's Oxfam

bookshop on Cotham Hill, has set himself the challenge of reading at

least one book from all 192 countries officially recognised by the

United Nations.

"I have started to list books from other nations

(ones without UN membership) as I read them," admits the obsessive

reader, "but 192 is still the stated target."

Andy's most recent read (number 136) is by Belarusian author Ales Adamovich, whose book The Punitive Squads

is a violent tale of atrocities in World War II. "Everything on the

list is a novel in the broad sense - including novellas and memoirs written as

novels" explains the thirty-something, who reads all the

books in English translations. 

Two

particular challenges have been finding the books and determining

which country to attribute certain authors to. "I tag my books by the

extant nation that I think best represents a particular writer, which

can lead to some authors being tagged from nations that didn't exist

when they were alive." Andy has found the Oxfam shop itself a great

source of supply. "It's a testament to the shop and the donations we

get" he explains. Book 132, for instance, was Riding the Whirlwind

by Habte Bereket Selassie, an Eritrean writer. Recent discoveries at

the shop on Cotham Hill have included works from Croatia (Slavenka

Drakuli), Egypt (Alaa

al-Aswany) and Chile (Isabel Allende).

A personal favourite has been the writings of Kunzang Choden, the first woman from Bhutan to write a novel in English. Her works, which Andy describes as "wonderful discoveries" include Bhutanese Tales of the Yeti and The Circle of Karma.

Andy started his round-the-literary-world journey about four years ago and set himself the task as a personal challenge. "What began as a slightly silly idea has become an incredibly

rewarding journey through world literature."

Although he thinks it is unlikely he will ever complete the project due to the limited availability of translated work from some countries - Mauritania and Leichenstin have proved two of the more difficult countries to source - Andy intends to keep going as long as he can.

Reflecting on his travels which are about 75% complete, he adds, "My reading has

also helped me to a much greater understanding of the world Oxfam is

trying hard to change."

Photo credit: CarbonNYC