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  An in-depth look at _____________ ?

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  With so many of us getting into non-English world literature, I thought it might be fun if we picked a country or a region and really dove into the canon of that group of people in a more systematic way. It would require a little bit of research and it would have to be a country or region where we could find English translations for more than just the most recent bestsellers. It wouldn't be a formal undertaking, per se--not as scheduled as our group reads. We would decide as a group when and what we wanted to read, and take turns doing some of the research. We might also read some non-fiction--biographies, histories, and so forth.
  
  Is anybody else interested? and, if so, what country or region(s) do you think you might like to delve into?

  Suze started this discussion 1 year ago. ( reply | permalink )

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  Riddley 

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  Good idea. The first to come to my mind is Spain as I've read very little since Cervantes and feel pretty ignorant so it would suit me. But so would so many other countries.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Marisa H 

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  Spain isn't a bad idea! I suspect many of us are under-read in that category and yet a lot of Spanish lit is available in translation. I'd like to go beyond Cervantes and Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

  Most people are probably already doing okay regarding French lit I suppose... Germany would be another country of interest for me personally (regarding both classics and contemporary, the latter being something we hear little about). On the other hand, it'd be REALLY nice to take an in-depth look at the writing coming out of a non-Western country. I'd be game for just about any African country (I am sadly ignorant of most African writers), India, Vietnam and the Philippines are other places that come to mind (out of personal interest and a desire to familiarize myself with the writing).

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  CRBozeman (edited)

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  Great idea. Spain does sound interesting. If we were to go non-western, I would be very interested in India or Japan.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Riddley 

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  If we go for a non 'western' country, I'd like to put China up for consideration?

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Halo 

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  Great idea! I really enjoy reading authors from different countries- I have an interest in China, Japan, India, Spain, & Germany. I’m fairly ignorant about any author not of North American or British origins, so I’d be game for anything.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Suze 

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  I'll leave this up for awhile so everyone can list the countries that they're interested in, and then we can have a vote ^_^

  India does sound interesting to me, as well; what little I've read of Indian literature, I've liked.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Riddley 

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  I've read a fair bit of Indian writing but most (if not all) of it was written in English. It would be interesting to see if there was a big difference between that and work translated from some of India's other languages.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Rise 

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  I'm all for it. The Middle East region - Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, etc. speaking countries - is a big hole in my shelf. The same with Africa. All other countries mentioned here too. For sure the little I've read of one country is not representative at all of the diversity of writing in that country.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Suze 

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  If the first one goes well, we can always do another country, too, after we wrap up the first to our satisfaction. The Middle East is also a big hole in my shelf.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  sweetafton 

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  I'd be interested in Nigerian lit and Chinese, too.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Louisa van der Luyden 

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  Great idea, Suze! I am always interested in reading more authors from Portugal and Spain, as well as from Latin-America.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Suze 

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    Portugal and Spain might be an interesting duo to do together--especially with the Arab/Middle Eastern influence in the region.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Rise 

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    Brazil will be nice too. A big Portuguese-speaking country.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Riddley 

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    Brazil crossed my mind - I can't think of a single Brazilian book that I've read.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Suze 

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  Just to let you guys know in advance--if nobody minds, I am going to take Japan and Latin America (except Brazil) off the table just because we have done a lot of Japanese and Latin American lit in here already. I can think of many group reads from these two regions, plus a lot of our members have already been going through books from those countries and I don't want people to get bored. I would really love for us to sink our teeth into something we haven't tackled as a group yet :D

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Marisa H 

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  That makes sense, Suze. Japan and Latin American lit are pretty popular and it'd be nice to dig into a country or region of the world that's a bit less talked about.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Dragonfly 

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  I'm game for any of these suggestions but also am interested in France, Germany and Russia. I haven't read a lot of modern works from those countries.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Marisa H 

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  Oh, just had a thought as I added one of Shahrnush Parsipur's novels to my TBR pile: what about Iran?

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Marisa H 

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    Following that wave, here's a website I've been using to learn about Iranian authors and poets: http://www.parstimes.com/literature/

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Suze 

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    I'm going to include Iran in the Middle East, if that's okay. I think that region is interesting, too.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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