Invitation to World Literature

Invitation to World Literature: 13 Global Fiction

It’s amazing what goodies you can find online if you know where to look. Today’s post is a continuation of the theme of must-read books. As the host and participant of the Read the World Extreme Reading Challenge, it’s important for me to know where to find the kinds of books that the most successful people read. While searching for courses to take for my non-degree liberal arts education, I discovered Invitation to World Literature. A big part of the extreme reading challenge, is to read books from around the world. For those who cannot participate in the Read the World Extreme Reading Challenge, reading the 13 books included on the Invitation to World Literature reading list, is a good place to start. (This is another repurposed post, Getting an Education from Books, Part II.)

I own all 13 books. But I have read eight of them so far. Invitation to World Literature consists of 30-minute videos based on the 13 books. A video for each book. What I appreciated most of all is the diversity of people talking about the stories and how the book impacted their lives. And where possible, the authors talk about their own work. A few of the books mentioned, the authors are still alive. The people in the video also read dramatically from the book. As you figured out already, I did not pursue a liberal arts education in university. Therefore, I am not a classic literature major. With that in mind, I found Invitation to World Literature very beneficial. Watching the videos helped me to better understand the books. They helped me to better grasp the hidden meaning of the text.

13 Global Fiction from Invitation to World Literature

1. Gilgamesh: A New English Version
2. My Name Is Red
3. The Odyssey
4. Bacchae
5. The Bhagavad Gita (Penguin Classics)
6. The Tale of Genji: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
7. Journey to the West (The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1)
8. The Popol Vuh (Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of The Mayan Book of The Dawn of Life and The Glories of Gods and Kings)
9. Candide
10. Things Fall Apart
11. One Hundred Years of Solitude
12. The God of Small Things: A Novel
13. The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights (Modern Library Classics)

Invitation to World Literature: What Next?

I personally think that the 13 global fiction on this reading list are worth the read. Don’t take my word for it, watch the videos on the Invitation to World Literature site. For some of the books, it makes sense to read the abridged version because they are so long. Out of the eight books that I read, I loved Gilgamesh and the Arabian Nights the best.

 Gilgamesh: A New English Version My Name Is Red The Odyssey The Bacchae of Euripides The Bhagavad Gita The Tale of Genji  The Journey to the West Popol Vuh Candide Things Fall Apart The God of Small Things: A Novel One Hundred Years of Solitude  Tales from the Thousand and One Nights 

&

Participate in the Read the World Facebook Group! Please take the conversation to my  Facebook page.