Project: World

The other day, reading an article in the New York Times about some country or other, I began to try to picture the location of the country. Sadly, I realized that I could not name the countries that bordered said country. What more, I found myself truly hardpressed to say anything about this country at all.

Later that night, I awoke from a fitful sleep. Unable to get more rest, I lie there thinking, and in a momentary flash of nighttime insight, came up with an idea: I would read one book about every country in the world, thus attempting to gain at least some rudimentary knowledge of the history, the culture, and the geography of each nation. I would approach the world alphabetically, thus avoiding any bias and ensuring full world coverage. For ease's sake, I would only concentrate on "recognized" nations, thus ignoring such countries as Abkhazia (not an internationally recognized country, but rather considered a part of Georgia). I imagine that in cases such as this one, I will nonetheless learn of the disputed areas (thus, in my readings on Georgia, I will surely come across information on Abkhazia, etc.), and my list will remain somewhat approachable.

FAQ

How many countries (books) will you research?

There are 192 UN recognized countries in the world. In addition the Vatican (Holy See) can be considered a nation-state. I therefore plan to read 193 books.

Won't this take you a long time?

I read rather quickly, but yes, I do imagine that it will probably take over a year.

What kind of books will you be reading?

I have decided to be rather wide in the genre scope of this undertaking. If I were to only read history books, I know that I would drop the project very quickly. I have therefore decided to read any book that I feel will help acquaint me with the culture, history, and geography of a country. Some fiction, some non-fiction, some travelogue, etc.

So, I will soon present the first installment in what I hope will be an exciting and succesful undertaking. Stay tuned for Afghanistan.