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