Air miles be damned. I say the best way to find out about the joy and complexity of our world is through novels | Pushpinder Khaneka

For me it started with Colombia and Gabriel García Márquez. As I read 200 books from different regions, I gained a clarity news reports seldom giveSign up for our new weekly newsletter Matters of Opinion, where our columnists and writers will reflect on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading and moreDear reader, are your shelves heaving under the weight of books by dead white folks? Do your eyes glaze over at the mention of foreign fiction? Is your reading diet missing the vibrant flavours of stories from Africa, Asia and Latin America? Restricting your reading to novels from Europe and North America is like going to an all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet and just eating tortillas. Why do that?I have been getting to know about countries in the global south through literature. Being an intrepid traveller, current events addict and avid reader led me inexorably to read books from around the world. The book that most reeled me in to the ability of literature to open the door to another country was Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, a dazzling, magic-realist ride through Colombia’s fortunes and misfortunes. Eventually, a cocktail of wonder, wishfulness and wanderlust inspired me to write a book about the joy of seeing the world through books.Pushpinder Khaneka is a journalist and the author of Read the World: The Best Books on Africa, Asia and Latin America Continue reading...

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