Around the World in 80 Books
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- Create Date：2021-11-20 10:19:11
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：David Damrosch
- ISBN：0593299884
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Diane Hernandez
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Looking for some new books to read？ Need a gift for the reader in your life？ Around the World in 80 Books solves both issues！With five suggested books in each of the world’s sixteen regions， there is something for everyone included here。 Books as diverse as The Divine Comedy and Stuart Little rub shoulders with college literary class favorites Mrs。 Dalloway and Ulysses。 Within each individual book’s section is more than just a synopsis and a review。 The author also gives some background to the a Looking for some new books to read？ Need a gift for the reader in your life？ Around the World in 80 Books solves both issues！With five suggested books in each of the world’s sixteen regions， there is something for everyone included here。 Books as diverse as The Divine Comedy and Stuart Little rub shoulders with college literary class favorites Mrs。 Dalloway and Ulysses。 Within each individual book’s section is more than just a synopsis and a review。 The author also gives some background to the author’s time period and even how other books have impacted the author’s writing style。Since I love books， I have read many of the books listed in Around the World in 80 Books。 However， I found the book chapters so cogent and informative， I might read a few again from a completely new perspective。 5 stars and a favorite！Thanks to Penguin Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review。 。。。more
Kim
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In January 2020， David Damrosch was developing a plan。 He was going to follow in the footsteps of Jules Verne’s legendary hero， Phileas Fogg， and travel around the world and in so doing， reflect on the books he associates with certain locations， and see how literature affects the real world， and vice versa。 But when Covid-19 started burning across the world， the restrictions and lockdowns the pandemic brought about ensured that Damrosch wasn’t going to be traveling anywhere for a long time。 Inst In January 2020， David Damrosch was developing a plan。 He was going to follow in the footsteps of Jules Verne’s legendary hero， Phileas Fogg， and travel around the world and in so doing， reflect on the books he associates with certain locations， and see how literature affects the real world， and vice versa。 But when Covid-19 started burning across the world， the restrictions and lockdowns the pandemic brought about ensured that Damrosch wasn’t going to be traveling anywhere for a long time。 Instead of sighing in despair and giving up on his round the world journey， though， Damrosch invited readers to follow him on a literary journey， and so for sixteen weeks from May through August 2020， he delved into five books a week， taking his readers to see places and meet people most of them had probably never encountered before– all through the pages of books。 Around the World in 80 Books is the result of those literary travels， and invites even more readers to plot a course through the wonders of world literature。There are probably few American literary luminaries as suited to showcasing the scale and scope of the world’s books as David Damrosch， a Harvard professor of comparative literature and the founder of the Institute for World Literature。 He writes as authoritatively about Virginia Woolf’s Mrs。 Dalloway as he does about Wu Cheng’en’s Journey to the West， and if he’s wrong about Matsuo Bashō’s poetic influences， it seems that one would have to be as informed about seventeenth-century Japanese poetry as Bashō himself to prove Damrosch wrong。 And while it would have been easy for Damrosch to look out from an ivory tower and condescend to walk among the masses to talk down to them about the glories of ancient poetry， it feels more like Damrosch is excited about the books he’s discussing and wants everyone else to be excited about them， too。 As for genre， he’s not just bringing Very Serious Books About Very Serious Topics to the table。 He throws genre fiction into the mix， speaking glowingly of Donna Leon’s Venetian Commissario Brunetti murder mystery series and Tibetan author Jamyang Norbu’s Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes， as well as giving serious consideration to E。B。 White’s children’s classic Stuart Little and finishing off his world tour with a beautiful discussion of J。R。R。 Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings。 Everyone is welcome at the table of global literature， and every book is welcome， too。When opening Around the World in 80 Books for the first time， there are two approaches a reader might take: first， one can devour the entire book in a handful of sittings and take in a smorgasbord of literary offerings all at once; or second， one can slowly sample sections one at a time， getting a taste of this or that and whetting the appetite for more choices down the road。 The second one is a little less dizzying in its scope， though however they choose to approach it， the reader would do well to have a pen and paper or preferred book app to hand， as it’s nearly impossible not to find an appealing title that must be added to the endless To Be Read list at every stop along the way。There is a flock of ” ‘fill in number here‘ Books to Read Before You Die” titles out there， but too few of them portray the breadth and depth of the global literary imagination as fully as Around the World in 80 Books。 And though this list of eighty books will provide many readers with enough titles to last them a year or more， Damrosch provides even more suggestions in the final pages。 His list， after all， is not the One List to Rule Them All。 It’s a list of suggestions of great books that are great for different reasons。 But its purpose is exactly what the title suggests it is: a round the world trip that takes place in the comfort of your own living room。-------Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review。 This did not affect my opinion。 。。。more
Cat
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I'm always excited to find someone's "must read" lists of books。 I have read some of the books reviewed in here， but have now discovered new ones to add to my ever growing list of books to read！ David Damrosch adds lots of new insig'ht to the books I've read， and writes so well of others， I feel like I''ve missed out！ I love reading literature from other countries and cultures。 I certainly don't ever expect to travel or live in other parts of the world， so reading authors from those far-flung pl I'm always excited to find someone's "must read" lists of books。 I have read some of the books reviewed in here， but have now discovered new ones to add to my ever growing list of books to read！ David Damrosch adds lots of new insig'ht to the books I've read， and writes so well of others， I feel like I''ve missed out！ I love reading literature from other countries and cultures。 I certainly don't ever expect to travel or live in other parts of the world， so reading authors from those far-flung places is a great introduction to other pov。 Robert McCloskey"s book need revisiting， as do the Arabian Nights。 I had no idea there was more than one collection and am looking forward to finding a copy of the shorter one for reference。I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review。 。。。more
Krista
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Drawing on my experiences abroad， I decided to loosely mimic Phileas Fogg’s route from London eastward through Asia， across the Pacific to the Americas， and finally back to London。 I would recall， and often actually revisit， a group of particularly memorable locations and the books I associate with them， both to see how literature enters the world and to think about how the world bleeds into literature。 In January of 2020， I was plotting my itinerary， building it around upcoming talks and con Drawing on my experiences abroad， I decided to loosely mimic Phileas Fogg’s route from London eastward through Asia， across the Pacific to the Americas， and finally back to London。 I would recall， and often actually revisit， a group of particularly memorable locations and the books I associate with them， both to see how literature enters the world and to think about how the world bleeds into literature。 In January of 2020， I was plotting my itinerary， building it around upcoming talks and conferences。 Then came Covid-19。 David Damrosch （chair of Harvard University's department of comparative literature） has built a career on introducing （sometimes even translating） non-English texts into the Western canon。 Planning a series of literary talks around the world for 2020， Damrosch thought he might visit a globe-encircling series of cities that mimicked Phileas Fogg’s imaginary eighty day journey and write a book about those experiences that could further “introduce a broader readership to the expansive landscape of literature today”; but then Covid hit and the world shut down and Damrosch’s project was iced。 Until， that is， he decided to host his tour online — taking inspiration from Xavier de Maistre’s Voyage autour de ma chambre （a fanciful “Grand Tour” of the chambers of an aristocrat who found himself under house arrest in 1790） — with house-bound Damrosch exploring an exotic locale through five books per week， covering eighty diverse books over his sixteen week project。 This book is the result of that project。Starting with novels （and some poetry collections） set in London （mimicking Phileas Fogg’s launching point）， Damrosch then voyages out to Paris （discussing Proust to Perec）， Kraków （Primo Levi and Franz Kafka to Olga Tokarczuk）， Venice， the Middle East， Africa， Israel and Palestine， Tehran， India， China， Japan， South and Central America， Caribbean Islands and an island off the coast of Maine （which was the childhood home of the author; surprisingly more literary than one might anticipate）， New York City and back to London （with a special look at Tolkein）。 Much of the familiar Western canon is referenced throughout — books such as In Search of Lost Time， The Odyssey， and Candide have been reframed countless times by a diverse range of authors through time and space; every memory-inducing bite of rice cracker is a Proustian moment — and Damrosch masterfully uses the familiar to not only demonstrate how world literature has responded to the West， but also to underline how they have developed independent canons of their own。 Around the World in 80 Books is quite long ， and sometimes dense， but I found it consistently fascinating （and I will say that I imagine it would be infinitely more interesting to actually take a course in Comparative Literature from Damrosch） and it gave me much inspiration for further reading。 （Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms。）It would be impossible to go over all eighty （one） of Damrosch’s selections （and countless other references）， but to give a sense of how he links things together: Beginning in London， Damrosch notes that the city is well （if very differently） described by authors as diverse as Virginia Woolf， Charles Dickens， and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle。 He points out that Woolf didn’t think much of those other two writers （she wrote a famously damning essay on David Copperfield and once wrote of Sherlock Holmes’ beloved sidekick， “to me Dr。 Watson is a sack stuffed with straw， a dummy， a figure of fun”）。 Damrosch further writes of the complexity that Woolf brings to her title character in Mrs。 Dalloway: “Devising her own version of Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness technique， and like him adapting the ancient Greek unities of time and place for her novel， Woolf draws on Sophocles and Euripides as well as on Chekhov， Conrad， Eliot， Joyce， and Proust。” （This kind of intertextuality is frequently， exhaustively， noted。） When Damrosch’s imaginary travels take him to India， he begins with an analysis of Rudyard Kipling’s Kim， writing， “Kipling can be said to have invented India for many foreign readers， much as Oscar Wilde thought that Dickens and Turner had invented London。” Part of this analysis is a thorough introduction to Kipling’s Indian character Hurree Chunder Mookerjee （an employee of the colonial government and an agent in the “Great Game” of espionage）， and this becomes vital later when Damrosch introduces us to novelist Jamyang Norbu’s most famous work （which sees a resurrected Sherlock Holmes and Hurree Chunder Mookerjee collaborating on a case in the Himalayas）: Grounded in Norbu’s creative rereading of Kipling and Conan Doyle， The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes blends genre fiction and political advocacy in a mode of metafictional play， in which Tibetan Buddhism is shown to be a moral resource for the whole world， transcending greed and the quest for domination， in an ideal blend of religion and science， ancient and modern， East and West together。 The book has been translated into many languages， including French， German， Hungarian， Spanish， and Vietnamese。 （I particularly liked the fact that Holmes’ discovery of Buddhism helps him kick his drug addiction。） Many sections play out like this: Damrosch acknowledges that a European first introduced Western readers to a foreign land （as did Kipling for India or Marco Polo for China）， then discusses authors （like Salman Rushdie or Norbu） who have written as emigres or exiles about their homelands， and then concludes with a modern author （in this case， Jhumpa Lahiri） who writes for a modern audience at a generational remove from the locale。 This feels balanced （acknowledging the initial Westernised view of a location and then including the voices of the locals） and feels like it is giving equal say to two sides of a global conversation。 One more example of the depth of intertextuality to be found in this book: Writers such as （Derek） Walcott， James Joyce， and Jean Rhys， who all grew up on colonized islands， can feel the need to invent a language suited to their island’s modest material circumstances， intense localism， and distance from the metropolitan centers of politics， history， and culture。 Island-based writers often orient themselves in the world with reference to other islands， near or far。 In this chapter， we’ll proceed from Walcott to two of his inspirations， Joyce and Rhys， and then to Margaret Atwood’s feminist rewriting of Joyce’s rewriting of Homer， and finally to Judith Schalansky’s mapping of remote islands around the world。 And I’ll end with Damrosch’s own conclusion; on the absolute necessity of reading widely in world literature: Jules Verne didn’t content himself with sending his heroes around the world in eighty days， but also propelled them to the moon and immersed them 20，000 leagues under the sea。 In antiquity， restless Odysseus was said to have left Ithaca late in life， not for another sea voyage but for its opposite， a journey on land until he’d find a place where people wouldn’t know what an oar was used for。 The list of new literary destinations is endless。 With the world falling apart in so many ways， and the pandemic’s aftershocks likely to long remain with us， it’s good to connect in the ways we can， over the things that matter to all of us， as we tend our gardens and perform le tour du monde dans nos chambres。 。。。more
Chrissy For Paperback Treasures
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Written during the height of the pandemic and a time when travel wasn’t an option， Around the world in 80 books is an exploration， a travel guide to the world around us。 Starting where Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg began in Around the world in 80 days， you will journey through books old and new。 As someone who works within the travel industry， I know first hand how difficult the last few years have been for many。 The toll that quarantine and isolation has taken on our social and mental health。 That Written during the height of the pandemic and a time when travel wasn’t an option， Around the world in 80 books is an exploration， a travel guide to the world around us。 Starting where Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg began in Around the world in 80 days， you will journey through books old and new。 As someone who works within the travel industry， I know first hand how difficult the last few years have been for many。 The toll that quarantine and isolation has taken on our social and mental health。 That’s why I was so excited when I read about Around the World in 80 Books。 Huge Thanks to Netgalley， Penguin Press， and David Damrosch for an advanced copy of it！！I’m not much of a tv person。 I know that I can easily travel all over the world through tv shows or on youtube， but books are my thing。 I love the premise of being able to wander the globe through books。 I know we already do this naturally when we read， but would you go travel a foreign country without a plan？ That’s what makes this book so unique。 It’s a map。 A plan of travel。 When I read that David had previously had a facebook group focused on this journey， I was quite sad to have missed out on it。 I have definitely added some books to my TBR list （as if that wasn’t already long enough） thanks to this wonderful journey I’ve been on。 Sadly the delivery of the premise here wasn’t for me。 While I can appreciate the intention behind the breakdown and expanse on why each book was chosen and how it goes into the next book， I felt that it was a bit long and drawn out and found myself skipping ahead in parts。 I could definitely blame this on my ADHD but it happened far too many times for that to have been the cause。 While I really did enjoy exploring the literature， the essay style just isn’t for me。 I would recommend this book to any literary fanatic who wants to take a journey outside of their comfort zone， with the warning that it may seem more like reading a textbook， but the books offered up inside， are well worth the read。 。。。more
Dan
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My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group- The Penguin Press for an advanced copy of this literary travel study。A book has the the ability to take us away from the our lives， be it humdrum or with way too much drama。 Even constrained a novel can show us a life that we don't know， might be preferred， or a life that is alien to out understanding。 Writing a book has that same ability especially during a quarantine that suddenly made a full life with travel and conference plans so much My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group- The Penguin Press for an advanced copy of this literary travel study。A book has the the ability to take us away from the our lives， be it humdrum or with way too much drama。 Even constrained a novel can show us a life that we don't know， might be preferred， or a life that is alien to out understanding。 Writing a book has that same ability especially during a quarantine that suddenly made a full life with travel and conference plans so much smaller。 David Damrosch in his book Around the World in 80 Books: A Literary Journey has created a world tour for himself and readers taking us to familiar locales and to far-flung destinations using the works of great writers to make our journey possible。 Using the idea of the classic travel/adventure novel by Jules Verne， Mr。 Damrosch follows the itinerary of the main character Professor Phileas Fogg， with a few exceptions traveling from London， to Europe， Africa， the Middle East and so on。 Five writers from each area are chosen， reflected on， some more than others。 Some regions have themes that the books cover， some writers are familiar with each other， some works are classics， some have been recent or even recently discovered。 Once you understand this isn't primer about literature in various countries， more of a travel book using books as your tourist destinations， the choices in authors make more sense。 Some authors might be new， some very familiar， but approached in a different way that makes them apt for the section they appear。 Categorizing this book is difficult。 The book really isn't a travel book， nor is it a literary companion。 The authors chosen and the social and historical eras the books describe are interesting， but with some works there is just too much to read， and with with others too little。 I think there might be a new genre or topic created for books like these。 Quarantine books。 Writing about the world while social distancing， reading and referenceing from your own library or Google。 This was a fun book， full of facts and I quite enjoyed it。 However it did make me long for the time I can put a book down and go to the supermarket with less fear and difficulty of going to some foreign climes。 。。。more
Sue
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Inspired by Around the World in 80 Days， the first film he recalls seeing as a child， David Damrosch， Chair of the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard， offers readers a literary world tour with his new The World in 80 Books。 Conceived as an online course during the pandemic， Damrosch’s book “explores works that have responded to times of crisis and deep memories of trauma。” However， he quickly points out that the chosen books are not “all doom and gloom” because readers also “need li Inspired by Around the World in 80 Days， the first film he recalls seeing as a child， David Damrosch， Chair of the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard， offers readers a literary world tour with his new The World in 80 Books。 Conceived as an online course during the pandemic， Damrosch’s book “explores works that have responded to times of crisis and deep memories of trauma。” However， he quickly points out that the chosen books are not “all doom and gloom” because readers also “need literature as a refuge in troubled times。”Through the pages and his comments on chosen books that fill those pages， Damrosch guides readers on a personally selected itinerary of five books to suit each stop on the route: London， Paris， Krakow， Venice-Florence， Cairo-Istanbul-Muscat， The Congo-Nigeria， Israel-Palestine， Tehran-Shiraz， Calcutta/Kolkata， Shanghai-Beijing， Tokyo-Kyoto， Brazil-Columbia， Mexico-Guatemala， The Antilles and Beyond， Bar Harbor， and New York。 The diversity of his book choices mirror the diversity of the destinations: Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights， Boccaccio’s The Decameron and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck， Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude and Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis， Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy and Jumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies， Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji and E。 B。 White’s Stuart Little， just to name a few。 Each destination also focuses on a different theme。 For example， the Cairo-Istanbul-Muskat theme is “Stories within Stories，” the Calcutta/Kolkata theme “Rewriting Empires，” and the Brazil-Columbia theme “Utopias， Dystopias， Heterotopias。” Damrosch repeatedly introduces new places， literary works， and ideas。Whether readers seek Damrosch’s thoughts on books they already know or wish to discover important global books they have not read， this is a thoughtful， thought-provoking non-fiction look at great literature。Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Press for an advance reader copy。 。。。more
Meagan
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I always enjoy it when life imitates art， so really enjoyed Damrosch's channeling "Around the World in 80 Days" as he developed this book。 （Coincidentally， I haven't read the source material， but I'd really like to and it was already on my list before reading this。）It's also interesting to see what an author chooses as representative of a given place， and where our choices overlap。 I've read a good few of Damrosch's selections， and appreciated his take on them， whether or not we came to the same I always enjoy it when life imitates art， so really enjoyed Damrosch's channeling "Around the World in 80 Days" as he developed this book。 （Coincidentally， I haven't read the source material， but I'd really like to and it was already on my list before reading this。）It's also interesting to see what an author chooses as representative of a given place， and where our choices overlap。 I've read a good few of Damrosch's selections， and appreciated his take on them， whether or not we came to the same conclusion。Damrosch very effectively encourages the reader to read books not just by authors we are reasonably confident we'll agree with， but of those who we don't。 This can help us reexamine why we believe what we do， and either change or minds or help us articulate even further our own beliefs。 That being said， there are some books/authors that--thanks to this read--I don't feel the need to pursue further， lol （namely， Virginia Woolf 。。。 good to know of content advisories that will either drive people to a book， or further away）。I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley。 All opinions are my own。 。。。more
Maureen
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A booklover's guide to world in 80 books。 I'm always on the look-out for good lists of books I should read or could read or may read。 This one does not disappoint。 Damrosch truly covers the world from Mrs Dalloway in London， all the way back around to The Lord of the Rings in Middle Earth。 He provides a real sense of time and place for each of the books covered， as well as comparing and contrasting the authors discussed throughout。 I wrote down the name of every book and author and now I need to A booklover's guide to world in 80 books。 I'm always on the look-out for good lists of books I should read or could read or may read。 This one does not disappoint。 Damrosch truly covers the world from Mrs Dalloway in London， all the way back around to The Lord of the Rings in Middle Earth。 He provides a real sense of time and place for each of the books covered， as well as comparing and contrasting the authors discussed throughout。 I wrote down the name of every book and author and now I need to get reading。 Bibliophiles will want a reference copy for their libraries。Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book。 。。。more
Jessica
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The premise of this book was so intriguing that I am overjoyed PENGUIN GROUP The Penguin Press sent me an advanced readers copy through NetGalley。 To be transported by a book to another place， another time， another world --is it not exactly why we read？ David Damrosch combines classic and modern literature in this transporting work。 Around the World in 80 Books invites readers to evaluate how they interact with society around them through their reading and their experiences while reading about t The premise of this book was so intriguing that I am overjoyed PENGUIN GROUP The Penguin Press sent me an advanced readers copy through NetGalley。 To be transported by a book to another place， another time， another world --is it not exactly why we read？ David Damrosch combines classic and modern literature in this transporting work。 Around the World in 80 Books invites readers to evaluate how they interact with society around them through their reading and their experiences while reading about the interactions of authors to their works and their world。 Readers are transported into the minds of Virginia Woolf， Rudyard Kipling， Jhumpa Lahiri， and so many more， learning about the context of seminal works and how they fit to the space of the writers mind and the context of their society。 Some chapters are slower than others， some will have more books added to the to-read list than those read， but every chapter is a uniquely captivating look at a collection of works that span the globe。 This is a marvel that any bibliophile needs to pick up。 。。。more
Bernie Gourley
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David Damrosch’s comp lit world tour has a simple premise。 You’re a traveler and the pandemic strikes， how do you travel by book while trapped at home？ For those who think travel and reading are unrelated endeavors， I disagree。 As a traveler and avid reader， I’ve always found the two intertwined in building a greater understanding of the world。 Reading is an essential part of traveling， and I read literature from every place I visit。 Why？ Because people the world over are guarded， yearning to ma David Damrosch’s comp lit world tour has a simple premise。 You’re a traveler and the pandemic strikes， how do you travel by book while trapped at home？ For those who think travel and reading are unrelated endeavors， I disagree。 As a traveler and avid reader， I’ve always found the two intertwined in building a greater understanding of the world。 Reading is an essential part of traveling， and I read literature from every place I visit。 Why？ Because people the world over are guarded， yearning to make good impressions。 Because of this， one gets a partial and distorted view of other cultures。 Poets and novelists round out the picture by airing the dirty laundry of their people。 It’s not that revealing the dark and ugly edges of a culture is their foremost objective， but those are good sources of tension in a novel and of emotional resonance in a poem。 [Seeking out what’s not so pretty about a culture might seem like a tawdry undertaking， but falling in love with a place is like falling in love with a person， if you do so without first seeing their bad habits， it’s not really love。 It’s just childlike infatuation。] tThe book’s organization is straightforward。 There are sixteen locales， and five books are discussed for each。 I enjoyed Damrosch’s “syllabus。” The eighty books included a pleasant mix of works I’ve read， those I’ve been meaning to read， and [most importantly] those I’d missed altogether。 Any source that reveals new reading material to me will definitely find favor。 tThe book starts in London （apropos of its titular connection to the Jules Verne novel） and moves through Europe， the Middle East， Africa， over through Asia， back around to Latin America， and finally to North America to conclude （as trips generally do） back at home。 tThe book is weighted heavily toward the literature side of the travel-literature nexus。 That’s not a criticism， it’s just worth noting for travelers who aren’t avid readers of literary fiction and poetry， because they may find this book gets a bit deep in the literary weeds。 （The sections don’t focus single-mindedly on the listed book， but meander through the author’s oeuvre and influences。） While many of the selections are indisputably excellent choices for traveling by book， others lack a connection that is readily apparent （e。g。 the final book， Lord of the Rings。） Again， I didn’t find that to be a negative as there was always something to be learned from the discussions， and – who knows - it may have even expanded my thinking。 tIf you’re a traveler / reader， you should definitely consider giving this book a read。 。。。more
Geoffrey
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